11 Beauty Hacks To Give You Big, Glamorous Curly Hair

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really bored of the stick-straight, perfectly flat-ironed hair look that’s been de rigueur since Gwyneth Paltrow became a thing. That look is great from time to time, but there is a whole world of volume and texture out there that has not been getting enough love from the fashion industry. Luckily, that all seems to be changing lately. Whether your curls occur naturally or are something that takes 18 cans of Elnett to achieve, it’s time to embrace them. Here’s how:

(Related: 6 Easy Updos For Short Curly Hair)

1. How to Get Perfect Bantu Knot Results Out of Dry Natural Hair by Alyssa Forever

Bantu knots are an excellent way to get big, glamorous curls without having to use any heat-styling tools. Just twist the hair into little knots or mini-buns all over your head, then go to sleep like that. When you wake up, just uncoil the knots and separate them with a wide-toothed comb for big, glamorous curls. These knots are particularly great because they usually work on straight hair as well as hair that is naturally curly. (If your hair is straight, start with hair that is very slightly damp and make sure it is completely dry before uncoiling.)

2. Conair Hot Sticks

There is nothing like a set of hot, thin, bendy curling sticks to make even the straightest hair very curly. I used to use a set like these in the 80s, and it would give me hair like a show poodle.

3. Zombie Cheerleader Pin Curls by Cute Girls Hairstyles

This tutorial is designed for a zombie cheerleader costume, but it’s also perfect if you just want big, glamorous, 1970s Biba hair. Just leave off the gore makeup and the cheerleading costume, and you’re set. This tutorial just uses U-shaped hairpins to create the look. Just wrap tiny sections of your hair in a figure-8 pattern around the hairpin, then wait. (Back in the day there was a line of U-shaped curlers called Perm for a Day that one used just like this. I had an Irish dancer friend who had stick-straight, waist-length hair, but Irish dance competitions require curls, so she used those, and the technique made her look like a sexy Little Orphan Annie.) Check out the whole tutorial here.

4. Curling Hair with a Flat Iron with Karina Lynn Kho

It seems counter-intuitive, but a flat iron is one of the best tools for getting really big, curly hair. (It is also great for beachy waves, but more on that later.) Let this nice lady show you how to get giant Barbie curls with a tool normally used to make hair flat.

5. Quick and Easy Curls with a Straightener

For some “bedhead” style waves, which are very popular thanks to this season’s “I literally haven’t brushed my hair in a year” trend, this is a quick and dirty method that will give you loose, natural-looking waves without any real effort on your part at all.

6. Curls for Short or Medium-Length Hair by Milabu

This flat iron curl tutorial is designed for short or medium-length hair, and it will basically make you look just like Demi Lovato.

7. Heatless Curls with a Headband by Vivian Vo-Farmer

This is a trick I have actually never seen before. If you have long hair, you can get some truly impressive waves by wrapping the hair around a headband and sleeping in it. When you wake up, you’ll basically look like early-career Taylor Swift.

8. Hey! It’s a Braid Out by Nessamarie1718

When I was small, my mother insisted that braiding my hair and sleeping on it was the best way to get perfect curls. It never really worked for me. I always wound up with tangled hair and ridges from the hair elastics. It turns out I was doing it wrong the whole time! This tutorial demystifies the technique.

9. Heatless Waves Overnight & French Braiding Tutorial

This is a perfect tutorial for overnight braids, and the French braids are pretty cute on their own, too. If you wanted to be really lazy, which I do, you could put in the French braids, wear them for a day, then go to sleep with them in and wake up with waves like a Pre-Raphaelite princess.

10. Curling Wand Tutorial by MissAlex

Not too long ago, I met up with some acquaintances who were backpacking through Europe for the summer. They’d been off the train for two hours when we met, but they all looked like Victoria’s Secret models. I asked if they’d stopped for blow-outs after the train, but they said they were sharing a curling wand and had just done this. I ordered one from my phone without leaving the bar.

11. Hot Rollers Review by ItsJudyTime

There are a lot of ways to curl hair, but I think my favorite is still hot rollers. They don’t give the fun, poofy curls like some of these other tutorials, but they’re just so easy, and I am very lazy about hair. For me, these hot rollers are the best because you just pop them in place, do your makeup, then pop them out and go. I like stuff I don’t have to think about too much.