Hi there! I don't know if any of you have been watching the latest American Horror Story season - you should be though, it's utterly stunning visually and the stories finally have some sort of gravitas and cohesion again, which was sorely lacking in season 3 and 4 if you ask me. ANYWAY, when watching episode 10, I was struck by how gorgeous Chloe Sevigny's hair looked. Angelic, messy curls and waves and a bit of frizz (I actually think frizziness can look very beautiful in a soft, seventies type of way) - I instantly wanted to recreate the look.
See what I mean? Of course, these are just grainy screenshots, but this was definitely one of those defining moments that show how Chloe Sevigny so often succeeds in injecting her own stylish je ne sais quoi into her parts. I mean, she even rocked the sister wife look on Big Love.
So, after browsing pinterest, as you do, for different curling methods, I figured I'd try some hybrid mix of no-heat curling and my regular 1"/2.5mm curling iron. Allow me to demonstrate!
I know that there are many different ways to curl your hair overnight, without using any heat, and after contemplating my options I settled on french braids. First and foremost, because french braids are very comfortable to sleep on. I'm a difficult sleeper, and I simply can't deal with all kinds of bulky things stuck in my hair, tossing and turning all night to find a position that doesn't poke my scalp.
I have had positive experiences with pin curls and rag curls, both being reasonably comfortable to sleep in, but I did both of those when my hair was much shorter (shoulder length). The longer your hair is, the bulkier the rolls of hair you pin/roll around the rag become, and the less comfortable the whole deal is. I was also not in the mood to spend at least half an hour putting my hair up into little rolls, and a french braid only takes a minute or two. Most importantly: I wasn't looking for bouncy curls, but for relaxed waves, and braids give you waves rather than curls.
There's no need to keep your braids super neat, but I would advise three things:
- slightly dampen your hair before braiding, not so much that your hair will still be damp in the morning (you can skip this if your hair is super thick or if it curls easily)
- apply styling mousse to your hair, carefully combing through so you don't end up with crunchy bits
- make sure your braids go down as far as possible, or you are stuck with wavy hair and straight ends, like I was
In the morning, carefully check if your braids are dried all the way by putting a finger through the thickest centers of the braids, and if there's still some dampness left, grab your blow dryer and dry the hair while it's still in the braid. When everything's nice and dry, release the hair from the braid and shake your hair loose, for example by doing some light headbanging.
Right now, you should have messy waves in your hair, which is already a
cool look if you're going for that Coachella vibe, but I wanted some
more body and volume to my hair, and to take it away from that literal
"I slept in braids" look. Step 2!
I took about 6-7 strands of hair on either side of my head (this is the part where you improvise), and wrapped them loosely around my 1 inch/2.5mm curling iron. Pro tip: if you hold the curling iron horizontally while curling your hair, the curls will fall looser and longer, while holding the iron vertically will give you tighter curls. This picture demonstrates it perfectly, and I can vouch for this beauty hack to be true!
Continue adding curls until you're happy with the result, and finish with a good dose of hairspray. I usually spray upwards into my ends, and also spray a bit with my head upside down, to keep the hairspray from giving me a helmet of styled hair. We want this to look carefree, not neatly styled. DON'T comb through the waves because that will make the end result too smooth, what we're going for here is to have separated locks of wavy hair, which is key to that beachy look.
And this is the end result! I was very pleased with it, although I can't say it looks exactly like the example set by Chloe Sevigny. This is a great way to limit the amount of heat-damage while still getting a quick and easy wavy hairstyle that looks soft and romantic.
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