Big, beachy, glam curls with your hair straightener

Somewhere on the interwebs has to be the secret to perfect curls.  I've probably tried them all.  I wish I could remember where I saw this trick, but I'm on a new laptop without access to history viewing.

This is my hair.  It's past my shoulders, straight, very thick, layered a bit, and likes to bleach very pale in the sun so I routinely dye it darker to prevent that.  Current color is John Frieda 4R which is suppose to be reddish but it was so subtle it was gone in a few washes.

This is a pretty simple process.  You need dry hair and a straightener.  Heat resistant gloves, hair protector spray, and hair spray are option.  I use a volumizing hair spray.

Put up the top half of your hair.  

Take a section of hair.  Smaller = tighter curls.  I use about 2" wide and the entire layer (that's not pinned up, anyway).  By that I mean, there's no hair that would go UNDER this curl that I need to curl as well.  Clear as mud?  Anyway, take your section of hair and roll it up around two fingers, then slip you fingers out and hold it in place.

Take your curling iron and carefulllllyyyy press your little roll.  I clamp, move my fingers, and then slightly unclamp and move it so that it gets the whole curl, usually 1/2 at a time.  If you make sure the end is clamped it won't come undone.  I promise this is easier than it sounds, once you try it!

If you can stand the heat, or have gloves, you might want to hold the curl in place after you are done with the straightener, just until it cools.  It will be HOT though.  I'm thinking of finding heat-safe gloves and maybe bobby pinning the little roll up after it's heated.

I tend to like things to happen fast, so as I move towards the back of my head, I take wider sections or even just wrap them around the curling iron for a quick curl.  I'm more into big bouncy curls around my face and then looser waves everywhere else.  Depends on your style.

Do the entire bottom section, spray, let your hair down, and repeat for the top section.

Not fondling myself- trying to give the curl a lighter background so you can see it :)

When all is said and done, I'm pretty happy with the curls, which is rare!

Total time, including blow drying my still-damp hair and waiting for my Chi to heat up, plus pausing here and there to attempt cell phone selfies:  About 18 minutes.