How to Curl Your Hair with a Flat Iron - Yes, Curl

It's the Chi Curl, and I've been mastering it before blogging about it. Couldn't give you a recommended how-to post without being able to curl my own hair with my flat iron, and with a Chi flat iron nonetheless. So here it is. How to curl your hair with your flat iron. After mastering this, you can throw that bulky round brush away!

To show you the curl, half of my hair in this picture just got curled with the flat iron in about 7 minutes. The other half remains straight so that you can see the difference. There are two big tricks to curling your hair with a flat iron: timing and your wrist. Depending on your flat iron, it may take a bit to master this combination. It did me, that's for sure. I thought my Chi was broken and tried to return it, but didn't want to bother. Then one morning, the curls sprang to life.

The curl is in the wrist: Glen is the rock-in-roll hair dresser for WTS Hair in Columbus OH who taught me this technique. He is pulling the hair from top to bottom through the flat iron. But do you see how his wrist is turned? He is turning the flat iron to have the curls go underneath. I have since gotten more layers, and want the layers to curl away from the face, so I have been grabbing my hair so that instead of pointing to the floor, as shown, it points to the ceiling.

Slow that curl: You must pull the flat iron slowly down the small section of hair you have. And by small, I mean small and thin so that the flat iron can cook it properly. Resist pulling the flat iron quickly through your hair, as if your hair is a ribbon that you are curling with the edge of scissors. Pull the flat iron slowly down the length of hair, keeping your wrist turned each time.

Little Tips: Here is what I've realized after curling my hair with the flat iron many times (and if you have your own findings, please tell us in the Comments below!)

• You could start with your wrist turned, grab the hair, then flip your wrist back to a normal position, and it may be easier to run the flat iron through.
• In the flat iron, your hair might slide and slip out the end of the flat iron. My flat iron , ever so slightly, does not close evenly, and although I thought this was a defect in my flat iron, I've since seen it with other brands. So. As you are pulling the flat iron down your hair, try guiding the tip of your flat iron with your other hand. Don't get burned, though! This is just an ever so slight guidance.
• I don't use product on my hair before I flat iron. I did once, and the smoke it produced scared me too much. I do spread some Aveda Smoothing Fluid on it when wet, and then apply the smoothing fluid again when dry.
  

If you need a flat iron, I got mine at Ricky's, but you can get one from Amazon.

Good luck! If you have pictures, add them to the FashionMista Page at Facebook!