Day 1: Curly-Q

This is pretty much my go-to hair style when I decide to not wear my hair up.  It's super easy, super cute, and you'll see plenty of variations of it during the next 30 days.  Start by taking medium-sized horizontal sections of your hair, while clipping the rest up, like so:

 (and ignore my re-growth, okay?  I don't want to talk about it.)  I usually do about 3-4 sections for my whole head, if that gives you an idea of how big of sections to take.

Next, take vertical partings in your hair (they should be pretty large... in my first section, I usually have 3 vertical partings).  Hold the curling iron up at the base of your hair like this:

Now, wrap your hair around the curling iron.  DO NOT open the clamp on the curling iron, and do not curl from the bottom up.  That will give you old-fashioned ringlets.  Not what we're going for:

Hold your hair around the iron for 5-10 seconds, depending on the heat of your iron.  You'll probably burn your fingers.  Maybe even a lot.  You'll get used to it though, I promise.  Each curl comes out like this (on the far left):

Do this for your whole head!  Alternate directions that you curl your hair.  For example, curl the first one to the left, the next one to the right, etc.  Your hair will be pretty curly, but don't worry, it will relax.  I use this product, and it's basically my best friend.  You just might see it come up in a giveaway :)  After my hair is all curled, I use about a dime-sized amount of this and run it through my hair.

And here's the result:  

This hairstyle works on just about anyone... from hair above your shoulders to down to your bum.  The curling iron I used is a 3/4 inch Hot Tools one from Sally's.  The other good thing about this is that it usually stays in for a few days, even after sleeping on it.  Just run your fingers through it the next morning and you're good to go!  Try out the style and let me know what you'd think!

p.s. I'm pleasantly surprised at the number of new followers I have after one day!  Thanks guys!  We're more than half way to our giveaway!


UPDATE:  My sister-in-law requested that I include the amount of time each hairstyle takes.  Great idea, Keesh!  This style takes me about 10-15 minutes.  I have fine hair, but there's quite a lot of it.  If you have really thick hair, plan on this taking 20-30 minutes depending on the length.