Hair styling with an iron: tips and tricks

Hair styling with an iron allows you to straighten, curl, and lift your curls at the roots. You can create a harmonious image of a well-groomed and beautiful woman who takes care of herself not only with the master in the salon but also on her own.

However, when using heat styling tools at home, it is important to remember safety measures and do everything carefully so as not to damage the hair. Our article will tell you how to achieve an impressive result and minimize the harmful effects of working with iron.

Rules for styling hair with iron at home

Iron has become an integral part of the arsenal of beauty products for many women who have appreciated it. This device helps you solve hair styling tasks: perfectly straighten your hair or create curly curls. The main thing is to use the device correctly.

So, it is important to start your transformation by washing your hair. You can wash your hair before styling and dry your hair well with a hairdryer. However, it is better to do this in advance to dry naturally without additional thermal exposure. The hair must be clean because it is important to preserve its structure and the iron. After all, the styling agent remaining on the hair will stick to the plates of the device and melt, burning the strands.

Styling on wet hair can also spoil the hair. 

If you want to kill two birds with one stone and dry and straighten your hair at the same time with only a flat iron, you will only achieve dehydration of the strands due to the longer exposure to high temperatures. You can get rid of the negative influence of hot plates (it will be in any case) with the help of a special thermal protective spray, which is sprayed over the entire length of the hair before creating the image.

So, the preliminary steps are completed, and we proceed to lay with an iron. Not every, even a special, tool is suitable for fixing. Foam, spray, or mousse should not leave stickiness after application, and this effect is often found in inexpensive cosmetics. Such products will slowly wear down the plate, especially if it is metal or ceramic. Tourmaline and Teflon coatings resist the negative effects of styling products, but the price of such an iron will be higher.

Before proceeding directly to straightening or creating curls, the hair must be divided into strands. They can be voluminous if the goal is to give smoothness, and for curling, you need to capture thinner ones.

For unruly hair, experts advise fixing the result with medium fixation hairspray. This will make the styling look natural because if you use an iron daily, the hair loses its natural shine due to systematic dehydration. The use of heat protectants cannot completely stop this process, so your curls will need occasional rest.

Hair styling options

1. Hair straightening. Smooth neat styling looks chic, attracting the eyes of others. Straight strands are ideal for owners of thick hair and chubby women. Accordingly, it is not recommended to do such a hairstyle for girls with thinning hair, as they will visually look sparse. An oblong face is also a contraindication to such a hairstyle – it will visually become even more elongated.

To style your hair with an iron, you must prepare it by following the above recommendations. The tongs need to set the appropriate heating of the plates. The temperature regime is selected based on the thickness of the hair, the zone of its growth, and susceptibility to styling. So, for thin hair, a minimum warm-up will be enough, and the temperature will have to be increased for thicker and curly curls that quickly restore their original appearance. The maximum heating mode must also be set to straighten the hair in the temple area, and the occipital curls are also amenable to low temperatures.

In any case, selecting the appropriate mode experimentally will be necessary. Remember that the curl should become straight after single ironing. Repeated exposure of the device to the same area will make the hair split.

You need to start manipulation from the back of the head. To free the necessary area from other hair, they must be fixed on the parietal part of the head and released as you go. After you have laid all the strands, they should be carefully combed and fixed with varnish if necessary. So that the hairstyle does not look sleek, stylists advise using the following method. Straighten only the ends and top strands while maintaining the natural basal volume. In this case, you do not have to do additional bouffant, and the styling will be smooth and voluminous.

2. Curling curls. Some girls still believe that it is necessary to use a curling iron or curlers for curling. But the rectifier does an excellent job of this task. Keep in mind that not all devices are suitable for creating curls. Therefore, if you want to make them with an iron, then when buying, pay attention to the plates. The edges should have a rounded shape, then the curls will be wavy, without creases.

Thanks to the iron, you can get your hair styled with curls of various shapes depending on your preferences:

• classic curls;
• elastic curls – a prototype of the groove;
• gentle waves with the letter S;
• elastic waves with the letter S.

It is very easy to make traditional curls; this does not require additional manipulations, except for the impact of the straightener itself. All hair is divided into eight parts depending on the zone, after which they are stabbed with clips.

It is necessary to distribute the strands as follows: two bunches on the crown on the sides of the parting, two more a little lower, closer to the temples; the hair remaining at the back of the head is divided into four equal parts. This way, you can create symmetrical strands towards or away from the face. To get a curl, select a strand from the bundle and clamp it with an iron, wrap the remaining tip from below around the device and slowly slide it down.

In addition, some straighteners are initially equipped with a nozzle for creating corrugated curls – small fluffy curls that often help owners of hair of insufficient density and thickness. A similar effect can be created using a conventional iron with straight plates. To do this, a small strand is wrapped around the hairpin in the “eight” way; then, it is clamped with a straightener for about 10 seconds.

S-shaped gentle curls can also be done with tongs. To do this, you need to wind a thin strand with a ring on two fingers, then wrap it with foil and clamp it with an iron. After 7–10 seconds, the ring straightens out. To make the waves steeper, all the same, actions are repeated; only the circle needs to be made smaller (you can use a thick pencil or cosmetic brush for this), and do not remove it from the foil, but hold it in it for several minutes until it cools. 

Hair styling of different lengths

When styling your hair with tongs, choosing the best method for your particular length is important. So, the owners of long curls can give them a slight waviness, and girls with a short haircut can create a voluminous hairstyle.

1. Long. Styling long hair with iron at home will take a lot of time and effort, especially if they are thick. Therefore, some girls choose a simple ponytail or bun instead of the burdensome creation of attractive curls. But there are many ways to make interesting styling of long hair in a small amount of time. You can give them a slight waviness like this: wash your hair and dry it with a hairdryer, giving volume at the roots (for this, we direct hot air from bottom to top). Then the strands must be curled with tongs, starting from the middle of the hair length or even lower. You can get delicate curls by grabbing large strands, thus reducing the amount of effort spent.

If the hair is heavy and requires additional volume, the upper strands can be curled starting from the roots. So that they do not stand out from the bulk of the hair, you need to comb them carefully. If necessary, you can fix the result with varnish or a spray of weak fixation after combing the strands back and straightening them with your hands.

Lucky women with thick hair can make curls on the face. The curl is made from the middle of the length of the hair in one direction, while the strands are taken large. Upon completion, the curls are lowered over the shoulders from both sides.

2. Medium. Most women of different ages prefer medium-length hair. They are universal: suitable for creating a solemn image and a light everyday hairstyle. It is easier to do on medium hair and styling with an iron. Owners of this length can choose different options for curls; they have a wide scope for experimentation. Retro curls will look unusual, which are easy to make by holding a flat ring with a styler.

However, girls often prefer to create careless “beach” curls. To do this, the average-sized strand is twisted into a flagellum and heated with an iron. You can act this way from the roots or the middle of the hair. As a result, you will get a natural and romantic look.

It will not be difficult to create styling without curling. It will be interesting to look at strands randomly tucked at the ends. To do this, they are pre-straightened and divided into segments. Near-facial curls are twisted inward, and the subsequent ones alternate: either towards the face or away from it. This variety will add volume and visually make the hair more magnificent.

3. Short. Increasingly, you can meet girls with short hair, although not so long ago, such a haircut was considered the prerogative of exclusive women of age. Modern makeup and hairdressing techniques can give fair sex femininity even without long hair. However, such hairstyles require daily care because they will lose their charm without volume. Styling short hair with iron helps to solve this problem perfectly. You can send small strands in different directions and fix them with varnish.

In addition, volume can be achieved with the help of a corrugated nozzle if you pinch the hair at the roots with it. Most often, this effect lasts for several days.

In the presence of elongated strands, you can create small curls, lay them in the direction of the face, and secure them with strong hold varnish. This method will not take much time, but you will look charming and feminine.

Tips for good hair styling

Any heat treatment of hair requires compliance with some additional rules. The advice of professional stylists will help you preserve your hair’s natural beauty and minimize its possible damage, which is manifested by dryness, dullness, brittleness of curls, and split ends.

1. Before using the iron, you must carefully comb your hair, making it as straight as possible.
2. Movements along the strands should be measured without stopping to avoid transverse creases. Stylists say that hair looks more natural, slightly twisted to the face.
3. Each strand must be passed once. Do not hold the styler in one place for a long time to avoid injuring the hair.
4. You can not set the iron to the maximum temperature; it must be selected depending on the susceptibility of the hair. Thick and strong curls are laid at two hundred degrees; in all other cases, the temperature must be reduced.
5. Do not, under any circumstances, use the curling iron on wet hair. It is better to dry them thoroughly with a hair dryer before styling.
6. Take care not only about beauty but also about the health of your hair. Do not neglect thermal protection and let the curls rest. Regularly nourish the strands with special masks so that they have time to recover.
7. Experts recommend enriching regular shampoo with vitamins A and E. They nourish the scalp and make hair manageable and soft.

Safety precautions when working with an iron

Hair styling with an iron requires certain rules to be followed to avoid injury and damage:

• Handle the device with dry hands only;
• near a heated iron, do not use substances containing alcohol, for example, spray or hairspray;
• After you have completed styling with an iron, immediately unplug it from the outlet;
• do not leave a hot appliance in an area accessible to children;
• Carefully do the styling, making sure that the hot plates do not touch the skin of the hands, head, ears, or cheeks;
• When connecting the device, insert the plug into the socket until it stops;
• After completing work, it is necessary to wait for the device to cool completely before putting it back into place. It is advisable to leave the device on a special stand at this time.

Hair is one of the main attributes of female attractiveness. Hair styling with a flat iron allows you to achieve excellent and varied results at home, saving the family budget and time to visit a stylist or hairdresser. The main thing is to follow the described technologies and safety rules.