Insider Hacks On Achieving Heatless Curls

Who doesn’t love a head of healthy, bouncy hair curls, or gorgeous soft waves - without the havoc that heat styling can wreak on your hair? Fortunately, there are quite a few ways to achieve those luscious curls while keeping your hair in optimal health. We’re going to share six hot but heatless curling hacks with you.

Steps to Achieving Heatless Curls

1. Overnight Braids

This is one of the easiest ways to get loose curls. Before you go to bed, take a shower, then, when your hair is only slightly damp, plait it in braids. Remember to braid as close to the end as possible so you don’t have a significant amount of uncurled hair. When you wake up the next morning, simply loosen the braids, then brush through with a wide brush or wide-toothed comb to separate the curls.

2. Hair Rollers

Rollers, or curlers, are one of the few beauty products associated with both glamorous models backstage, and grannies in nightgowns. There are as many different types of hair rollers as there are cool styles to create with them. "Rollers are a great option whether you’re trying to get beach waves or more defined coils," says Anthony Dickey, hairstylist and founder of the Hair Rules salon.

"It’s a safer, healthier alternative to heat styling and works for all hair types." Once you have put your hair in rollers, wrap your head in a scarf to ensure that they stay in place. Keep them in overnight and in the morning, remove the rollers and comb through your hair with your fingers to separate.

3. Headband

A headband makes it very easy to curl your hair overnight. This method doesn’t make tight rolls so much as it does loose waves. Just take a stretchy headband and put it on as you normally would. Take strands of hair and loop it over the headband as many times as necessary for your length of hair. In the morning, untangle your hair from the headband and comb your fingers through it to separate the curls. This method makes loose waves rather than tight rolls.

4. T-shirt Halo

This method is similar to the headband method, but it tends to create ring-like curls rather than gentle waves. Take a t-shirt and twist it in on itself until it makes a rope. Tie the ends of the “rope” together with a hair tie. Place it on your head. Then, starting from the front, pull up a section of hair and wind it around the halo. Once your hair is all wound up, wait until it’s dry and remove the halo. Use your fingers to separate the curls so you don’t deflate them.

5. Twists

You can do twists with a piece of toilet paper, a pipe cleaner, or even clean baby wipes. This works best on shorter, thinner hair because otherwise you can quickly become overwhelmed by the amount of work. Just take a small section of your hair and roll it up in the material of your choice, starting from the bottom.

Once you reach the height where you want your curl to start, tie the twist off. Repeat across the entirety of your hair. Allow to dry naturally or dry with a blow dryer on the no heat setting. Undo all the twists and run your fingers through the curls to separate them. This is a great way to do anything from super tight curls to much looser waves.

6. The French Braid

This is a great way to curl your hair all the way up. Regular braids will only curl your hair from the nape of your neck downward, but a French braid can curl close to your scalp. For best results, make sure you do two French braids, one on each side, or you might end up with an uneven curl that only follows along the midline of your scalp.