For quite some time now, I’ve been trying to figure out how I can get more curls into my hair without having to actually use a curling iron. I’m not great at using a straightener (even with all my years of practice) and I’m even worse at using a curling iron (since I’ve had even less practice) so I really need a way that I can do my hair while sleeping. I’m not trying to make this a whole thing — I just want to have nice hair with minimal effort. And I think I’ve found it!
The Main Change From Prior Test Runs
This time around, I was specially looking for YouTube videos on rope curls for short layered hair. A lot of the tutorials I see online are for long hair but that’s not me — my hair reaches my shoulder and isn’t all one length, so I need a way that will give me curls without being kinky. That lead me to this HEATLESS ROBE CURLS ON SHORT HAIR video and what I believe is the final method I’m going to use when I do my hair this way moving forward.
My main problem, as it turns out, was trying to braid my hair with the rope. So this time I tried wrapping my hair around the rope itself; I still added hair to each section like a braid, but wrapped it around in a spiral. I still secured each side with hair ties and slept in a silk cap to protect them overnight.
Test 1 Results & My Test 2 Plan
I did correct one problem during this trial, but I ran into another one. The curls didn’t come out as kinky; they were very subtle and a little better than my prior attempts., but totally not perfect and ultimately not exactly what I wanted. Then I realized the right side looked better because it has more hair than the left side (for context, I part my hair to the side). Ah-ha! The next time I washed my hair and then parted it in the center instead of parting it like normal to see if that made a difference.
The Final Overnight Heatless Curl Results
I did it! I used the same video from Fit Mission Makeup Jocelyn McClellan, did the same wrapping method instead of braiding, and had my hair parted to the side; this was to make sure the sides were even with each other and had the same amount of hair. I tried to get the part as close to the middle as I could, but it ended up being slightly off-centered to the right. It was a little difficult to wrap around with my layers but I secured it all with pins and ties and went to bed.
And I LOVED IT! When I woke up, I took off my silk cap and carefully unwrapped my hair and saw a far more substantial curl. No kinkiness at all and I could easily run my fingers through the curls to loose them up. It was exactly what I was looking for and I can’t wait to try it again!
That means the final Overnight Heatless Curl Method I’m going to use will be:
- Wash your hair and while damp, part it in the middle
- Place the robe rope (or other rope mechanism) on top of the head so there is an equal amounts hanging on either side
- Secure the rope on the middle of the head with two Bobby pins
- Starting from one slide, carefully wrap the hair around the rope, adding more hair as you go down like you would a braid. I wrapped it with the hair going away from the face.
- Secure the bottom with a hair tie and do the same wrapping on the other side.
- Braid and leftover hair in the very back like normal
- Cover with a silk cap for protection and sleep in it overnight
- Carefully undo this setup in the morning and style curls as desired
