Beauty, Skincare, and a bit of Lifestyle
Today I am excited to partner with ghd to bring you this easy, step-by-step tutorial on how to get curls with this ghd flat iron. Because if you can’t drop the money on two different hairstyling tools (I totally get it, they’re pricey and an investment!) you don’t have to own two different tools to achieve both straightened AND curled hair. It can all be done with just one really good flat iron.
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RethinkYourColour #CollectiveBias
I finally tested one of those beauty hacks on Pinterest to see if it really works….and it does — I’m able to get voluminous, bouncy curls in just 5 minutes flat! That says a lot coming from this gal who is half Brazilian blessed with long, thick hair! Typically, it takes me 20-30 minutes to curl my hair. Plus one aching neck and two tired arms! 😉 So, if you’re curious what hack I’m talking about, just keep reading to see how to get these 5 minute curls!
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GoodyBrushEd #CollectiveBias
Every mom — whether you have one child or ten — knows that finding the time to do their hair and makeup can often be hard to get. I’m such a makeup addict that I’d prefer to spend all my free time doing my makeup, so I’m always finding new ways to elevate super-easy hairstyles so I can get ready and out the door in time. Today I’m sharing two easy hairstyles using my all-time favorite brushes — Goody! Ready to tame the frizz and crazy messy buns?
It’s been a while since I’ve shared a hairstyling tutorial with you all. Have you missed them? Well, today’s your day, because I’ve teamed up with Toni&Guy (through Birchbox) and Kiss (through Brandbackers) to bring you another easy hairstyle that incorporates both curls and braids (You know those are the hairstyles I LOVE!).
At the end I will also give you a short review on the products from both these companies. So let’s jump right in and have some fun!
Be forewarned, this post is very picture heavy. 🙂
Step 1: Brush Hair & Protect
It can be a nightmare if you try to curling your hair when you have knots. Always be sure to thoroughly brush through your hair before you begin. Also, since you’ll be using heat on your hair, make sure you use some type of hair protector so you don’t burn the ends of your hair. (That’s never fun!)
Step 2: Part Your Hair to the Side
Part your hair to the side. If you normally do a side part, I would recommend parting it a little deeper than usual. This will giving you a more edgy, faux side shave look once we’re done. 🙂
Step 3: Apply Some Hair Wax
This is mainly to keep all those fine, baby hairs that are around your hairline from sticking up and giving your braid a ‘fuzzy’ look. (They drive me crazy!) The Toni & Guy’s Stick It Up Gum works perfectly for this.
Not only did it keep my fine hairs smoothed over, but it also gave my hair wigs a glossy finish. 🙂
Step 4: Dutch Braid till Past your Ear
If you don’t know what dutch braiding is, it’s exactly like french braid — except that instead of braiding the strands over each other, you braid them under each other. If you still are not sure what dutch braiding is, head over to Youtube and check out Kayley Melissa’s tutorial on how to do a dutch braid.
Once you know, all you’re going to do is dutch braid until just past your ear. Once you reach it, do a regular braid once or twice and now you’re ready for the next step. 🙂
Step 5: Secure with Bobby Pins
Use however many bobby pins you need to secure the braid at the back of your head. Make sure that you are pinning the braid underneath your hair, so that it will cover the bobby pins and make your braid look like it just disappears into your hair.
Step 6: Spray Braid with Hairspray
At this point I sprayed my braid with Toni&Guy Medium Hold Hairspray to keep it secure.
I didn’t want to go in with too strong a spray, just in case I needed to change things up. Always save the strong hairspray until you’re completely done and satisfied with your look.
Step 7: Curl Remaining Hair
Now comes the fun part! I got out my new InstaWave from Kiss. I’ve seen a few reviews on YouTube for it, and they were all very favorable, so my hopes were high. I set my wand on the ‘high’ setting, as my hair is usually very difficult to curl. Of course, if you don’t own this curling iron, then use whichever one you have available. 🙂
It took a few tries to figure it out, (You should have seen my puzzled look!) but once I did, I had a beautiful curl! And I like the fact that the wand wraps the hair around for you, so there’s less for your hands to do. 🙂 It also gives you a very natural, relaxed wave that I really liked.
Step 8: After Curling a Section, use a Texturizing Spray
This is a step that I like to include, because my hair can be very stubborn. After I’ve curled a section of hair, I give it a light misting of Toni&Guy’s Sea Salt Texturizing Spray and scrunch it up just a bit.
I’ve been doing this step for the past year or so, and have noticed a BIG difference in how much longer my curls last because of it. If you have easy-to-curl hair, than feel free to omit this step. 🙂
Step 9: Finish your Hairstyle with Hairspray
Once I finished curling all the sections of hair, I grabbed the Toni&Guy’s Strong Hold Hairspray and gave the curls — and my braid — a good misting to set the hairstyle.
And that’s all there is to your hairstyle! You’re all set — and looking fabulous! 😉
Toni&Guy sent me several products from four of their lines: Classic, Casual, Creative, and Glamour. I was really thrilled that I found a hairstyle that would incorporate a product from each of the lines. That way I would get a really good feel for the brand as a whole. I loved how they color-coordinated the products with their different lines. 🙂
I love how all of the products smell! If you’re like me, how my hair products smell is an important factor when I’m shopping for hair supplies. All the products have a slightly sweet fragrance. Not too strong, though, which is also nice. (I don’t want to knock people out when I walk by!)
Toni&Guy is a high-end brand in the hair product world, so I was pleased to find that all the products feel luxurious and work better than the drugstore brands that I’ve tried in the past. This is a really important fact for me — I’m not just going to pay more money for the name, I want the product to be worth the price. And these are!
I think out of all the products, I loved the hairsprays the most. I hate buying drugstore firm hold hairsprays, because I just feel like it’s spitting glue into my hair. My hair feels gross and looks like it would snap off if I tried to bend the strands. But with Toni&Guy’s hairspray, it gave me a firm hold on my hairstyle, without the “cement” feel.
The texturizing spray, also, was exceptional. The nozzle just gives you a light misting and it isn’t as sticky as some of the sprays I’ve used in the pass. It does give your curls that slightly crunchy feel, but not overly crunch. Just enough to really grab onto the curls and help them hold throughout the day. This product would work well if you wanted to spruce up your curls partway through the day.
All in all, while you are going to pay a few more dollars than the regular drugstore hair products, they’re definitely worth it! The products won’t leave your hair feeling gross the next day (big plus!). Toni&Guy feels and smells luxurious and the results I get with their products outshine the other hairstyling products I currently have underneath my bathroom sink. Definitely worth the splurge!
After curling my whole head with this wand, I’ve been able to form a pretty definite opinion on this curling wand. Before I forget, it retails for $59.99 — which isn’t a bad or outrageous price for a hair tool, in my opinion.
I will admit it took my several tries before I finally figured out how to work it without getting my hair all tangled on the prongs. (Now, this might just be because I can be a bit clumsy at times!) After reading the directions carefully and doing several trial runs with the wand turned off, I finally figured it out. Once I got the hang of it, curling my hair went really quickly.
The Kiss InstaWave does make curling your hair easier, in my opinion. Not having to use both my hands to hold it in place really makes a difference. And while this tool isn’t super-light, I didn’t notice my arms getting tired at all. I also like to think that, since the hair is sitting lightly wrapped around the wand, it isn’t as damaging. 🙂
Because this curling iron has the prongs that help to keep the hair around the wand, it does also cause the hair around it to get caught up if you’re not careful. If you’re going to use this wand, you will definitely need to make sure you section off your hair and keep the hair separate from your curls. And even then, if I tried to rest the wand too close to my hair while twirling it, the curls I’d already done would start to get caught up around the wand! So, depending on the individual, this might be a con. For me, personally, I don’t mind it. I just have to keep it in mind when clicking the button to twirl it.
One thing that I considered a negative aspect of this wand is that it is very hard to get a close curl when doing the sections at the back of my head. Because you can’t see it (or maybe because I’m not very flexible) I found it impossible to get the wand close to my head and curl the strand without the prongs getting all caught up in my hair. So for me, I just brought the hair around my shoulder and curled it as far up the strand as I could go.
All in all, while this curling wand does have a few cons, I found that I really loved the curls that I was able to get with the Kiss InstaWave. They held up beautifully all day and still had a lot of curl left the next day. As I mentioned, I loved that the curl it gave was very loose and effortless. I don’t like ringlets when I curl my hair, but neither do I like fallen waves. This curling iron gave me the perfect curls. I think it will really come down to your own personal preference as to whether or not you will like this curling iron. If you love trying new and different hair tools, then you’re going to love this!
Y’all made it to the end! Bravo! I hope this post wasn’t too long winded. There was so much information to share with you all. 🙂
Question for My Readers: What do you think of the InstaWave? Do you like trying new curling wands? Or do you just like your tried-and-true curling iron? 🙂
I received one or more of the products mentioned above from either Brandbacker or Birchbox. I only share information that I
think will be useful for my readers and I only recommend products I have personally used. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Yes! It’s finally here! I am so sorry that this post took over a month after my marriage, but…I won’t bore you with excuses. I promise you, though, I’ve been keeping super busy moving into our new home and settling on the other side of the United States with my new hubby. 😀
There’s going to be a lot of information in this post, so let’s just get right in with the final ‘Hairstyling with NuMe’ post!
First off, before we get into the fun information, let’s talk about my wedding hair. As those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while know, I styled my own hair for my wedding using the NuMe Titan3 curling wand set. And it turned out FABULOUS! So here’s how I did it. 🙂
Step 1: Curl!
As always, I like to start with curling my hair so that I have a lot of body in my style when I pin my hair up. 🙂 I used the smallest barrel out of the Titan3 set and it worked wonders at giving my awesome, long-lasting curls!
Step 2: Braid the Right Side & Pin
Okay, so what I wanted to do was combine both braids and twists into this curly hairstyle. So I decided to do a french braid starting near the front, right hairline and adding hair all the way back until I got just past my ear. From there, I just continued with a regular braid until I was almost at the end.
Then I laid my braid back against my hair and pinned it in place. I made sure to taper of the braid just before I got to the left side. Don’t worry about securing the braid with a pin — just leave it loose. We will cover the braid over with a curl in the next steps so it all looks very seamless. 🙂
Step 3: Twist Back the Left Side & Pin
Okay, so for the left side, I took the chunk of hair from my front hairline back to my ear and twisted it really tightly and distinctly against my head. Nothing special, at all, just try to make the twist really obvious and stand out. Pin it in place as you go.
Continue twisting your hair back until you overlap the braid that you pinned in the back. I twisted it till I reached about the middle of my head, then continue to place pins wherever I felt it needed more support.
Step 4: Tie on Your Pearls
Okay, so first off, let me explain how I made these. They are nothing pretty, and you could probably find them online already made for you, but since I had an old pearl headband that was falling apart…I decided to save the pennies and make them. All I did was use black string to tie the pearls onto a small elastic black band (like the kinda you can get at Sally’s Beauty Supply). Prest-o — you’re very own pearl ties. 🙂
Now is when you can let your creativity show! Just start tying those pearls sporadically throughout the hairstyle. My mother’s wedding dress had pearls on the front, and I really wanted my hairstyle to look like it had sprinkles of pearls throughout — almost like pearls were just magically floating. 😀
Step 5: Add Random Braids
I wanted more braids in the hairstyle, so what I did was randomly go around my head and add really small, thin braids. I secure these (of course) with the pearl elastic rubber bands and twisted them around the curling wand for a few seconds so that the braids blend easily into the curls.
Add as many or as few as you want — I think I did about 5 or 6. Whatever you’re feeling and however obvious you want it to be. Just make it our own!
AND YOUR DONE!
And you’re done! This is how it looks!!!!
Also, something I added right before the wedding, was to buy some pins that had pearls on the end and I slide them into my hairstyle along the twist and braid. So it kind of gave me a pearly crown on my wedding day, as you can see from this picture below 🙂
I hope y’all enjoyed this tutorial. And when I do my post on my wedding, I’ll be sure to add more pictures of my hair. NuMe’s Titan3 did an OUTSTANDING job at keeping my curls fresh. I did my hair at 10 o’clock Saturday morning, and at 8 PM — when we finally headed to the honeymoon — they all still looked awesome. The picture you see of me above was at least 6 hours from when I originally curled them — and they look awesome! I didn’t need to re-curl any strands at all throughout the day. Loved it!
I know it’s been FOREVER since the giveaway ended, but I am FINALLY announcing the winner! As usual, I always use Rafflecopter to select a random winner — and I went through and made sure all the entries were legit. 😉 Aaannnnnnnddddddddd…..
Congratulations! This lady tweeted a BUNCH over the course of the giveaway — wowza! As always, I’ve already emailed the winner and am waiting to hear back. So, if you’re Lori and reading this…check your email!! 😀
Sad you didn’t win?? Well, guess what — I have ANOTHER NuMe giveaway for you all! Yes, that’s right — another chance to win!!! Many, many thanks to NuMe Products for their continued generosity.
What’s the Mega Star? Well, it’s NuMe’s best and most popular flat iron! I personally own it and LOVE it! Trust me — whoever win’s this is going to LOVE it, too! It leaves your hair feeling sooooo good!
The Rules: This giveaway is only open to GFC follower of Legacy of a Writer, so be sure you are a follower! (And with the giveaway being this big a prize, make sure your picture is in my little GFC box — because I do check! 🙂 This giveaway will run for one month, ending on Sunday July 6th, at midnight.
This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY — except for the countries NuMe does not currently ship to, which are: Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Colombia, New Zealand, Portugal, Morocco, Romania, Spain.
By the way, if you have been wanting to purchase a NuMe curling wand and were bummed that you didn’t win the Curl Jam, NuMe has a fantastic sale that you should totally take advantage of! If you use the code “71CLASSIC” when you check out, you can get any one of their classic curling wands for 71% off! That is an AWESOME deal, let me tell you!
If you do buy one of the NuMe tools, please let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from my readers!! 😀
Just as an update, I don’t know if I will be able to get the last post up on Wednesday, but we’ll see. 🙂 If you don’t see it then, keep an eye on my blog — it’ll come eventually! Promise!! 😉
Here’s a peak at what we are creating in today’s tutorial. Let’s dive right in. 🙂
Step 1: Curl Your Hair
This hairstyle can be started either with your natural wave or curled hair. Because my sister has such thick, straight hair, I wanted to start with some texture in the hair, so I curled everything with the medium-sized barrel from the Titan3 set, knowing and expecting to redo the curls with a smaller barrel once I finished. But if you have natural curly hair or hair that has a good wave to it, than feel free to just start with that. 🙂
Step 2: Section the Hair Off
Once you have the top section of your hair separated and pinned up, take a 1 inch section of hair near the front hairline. This is where your french braid is going to begin. 🙂
Step 3: Begin French Braiding
Now that you’ve sectioned off the top section from the bottom, you’re going to french braid all the way around the back of the head, with the bottom section.
Step 4: Secure the Braid
Once you reach the other side of the head with your braid, secure it with an elastic tie and pins, if needed.
Step 5: Section off Bangs
Now that the braid is secure, take down the top section and clip away the front hair line (or if you have bangs, clip those away).
Step 6: Smooth and Twist Top Section
Smooth out any bumps across the crown of your head and begin twisting it slightly right above where you tied the braid. Situate it so that you are hiding the elastic band. Secure with as many pins as you want or need. (I recommend these pins from Sally’s Beauty Supply. They’re really strong and work well. 🙂
Step 7: Twist Bangs Back and Pin
Now take whatever hair that was clipped out of the way (your bangs, or if you don’t have bangs, drape the hair back so that it gives you the look of bangs) and pin it back. I twisted the hair slightly as I drew it back and pinned, but however you’d like to do this, that’s up to you. Make this hairstyle your own!
Step 8: Decorate!
I always use my Lilla Rose hair accessories when I do a hairstyle, and for this one I used the hair pins. But decorate and accessorize any way you wish. 🙂
FINISHED!
And this is how the hairstyle looks!!! 😀 Hope y’all give it a try!!
Remember — don’t forget to enter the NuMe giveaway for the Curling Jam set that’s over on the original Hairstyling with NuMe post. This set is $280, so don’t miss your chance to win this all for FREE!! 😀
Question to my Readers: If you try this hairstyle out — or plan to sometime soon — let me know! I was really excited to discover this quick and easy bun and I thought you all would be, too. 🙂
Today’s hairstyling tutorial is a quick braided bun that would be perfect for an elegant night out or your prom. 🙂
Doesn’t it look beautiful? And it’s easy to do, too! Let’s jump in!
Start with Your Natural Hair Texture
Step 1: Tie Your Hair into a Pony Tail
My sister has really thick hair, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. But this hairstyle should work well, no matter your hair density. Start by combing your hair back into a sleek ponytail directly at the center of the back of your head. If you have bangs, feel free to leave this out.
Step 2: Start Braiding, Leaving Out Sections of Hair As You Go
This part can seem a bit confusing and tricky, but it’s really not. Start braiding, and each time you cross a strand over, take a small section of hair out and let it hang free. I hope the picture above and below that I’ve created will help you understand how to do this. 🙂
Step 3: Repeat Step 2 Till You Reach the End
Continue braiding, leaving out strands of hair as you go. Once you reach the last two or three inches, don’t leave out strands — just braid as normal and tie it off with a small hair tie the same color as your hair (if possible).
Step 4: Create a Bun
Now that you have a braid, begin wrapping it around your original pony tail, as shown above. Take as many pins as you need and secure the bun as you continue to wrap it around. Tuck the tail end of your braid under the bun, so you can’t see the hair tie at the end.
Step 5: Curl the Strands of Hair that’s Left Out
Now that you have your bun, take your NuMe curling wand — whatever size you prefer, but I chose the smallest one — and curl all the strands of hair that’s hanging out of the bun. Don’t worry if it looks lopsided (like my model’s hair does :-), that will be corrected in the next step.
Step 6: Pin Up Curls Around the Braided Bun
Now’s the time to let your creativity go to work! 🙂 Begin taking the curls and pin them up around the bun, however looks best to you. For me, because one side had more hair than the other, I took the longer curls and pinned them toward the other side, to even out the hairstyle. You really can’t do this part wrong — just start pinning up one curl at a time, filling in any holes, and it’ll all come together. 🙂
I added two Lilla Rose You-Pins to the hairstyle, just to give it a little sparkle, and I was done. 🙂 This hairstyle was really easy to do — took me less than 30 minutes to do this hairstyle (and only that long because her hair is SO thick and she has so much of it! :-). It’s really quick and easy, but looks really complex. I love it!
Final Results!
Remember — don’t forget to enter the NuMe giveaway for the Curling Jam set that’s over on the original Hairstyling with NuMe post. This set is $280, so don’t miss your chance to win this all for FREE!! 😀
Question to my Readers: If you try this hairstyle out — or plan to sometime soon — let me know! I was really excited to discover this quick and easy bun and I thought you all would be, too. 🙂