HAIR WEEK: NO FAIL CURLS

You asked for it people. 

On Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram...in emails and comments. My curl tutorial:

If I had to name this something other than no-fail curls, I'd call it "Choose your own adventure curls"...because you really can decide how they turn out. 

Curl & leave? Tighter waves.

Brush out with your fingers? Loose waves.

Brush with a brush? Soft, barely there waves.

The steps are easy, I promise! You don't need any fancy equipment, no special products.

All I use is THIS hairspray and THIS curling iron (which cost $13 and I've had for about 7 years). If you have longer hair, go for a 1 -1/4 inch barrel. Shorter haired ladies, go for 3/4-1 inch barrel.

Let's begin, shall we? This is more pictures than I'd usually do in a post, but I guess if I'm going to do this, I might as well do it right!

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Prep:

Brush your hair out. Spray LIGHTLY with hairspray. Too much and you'll have a crispy mess.

If you have really thick hair, clip up the top half of your hair & do in two sections.

(I just roughly split mine in half in the back and do the left side first, then the right)

Step 1:

Starting from the back and working your way forward, grab about a 1 inch section of hair and pull away from your head 45-90 degrees. Begin wrapping around the curling iron about 4 inches down from your scalp. 

 Step 2:

There is no eloquent way to describe how to wrap, so bear with me. Rather than keeping the hair flat and wrapping it around the barrel, allow it to bunch/twist naturally and you wrap it around. Forcing it to stay wide and flat will lead to more fake looking, Shirley Temple curls. See below? 1 wider, 1 thinner because it's less spread out? Go for the thinner, less spread out!

 Step 3:

Continue wrapping until you get to the end. Leave the last 1-2 inches out from being curled- just hold them away from the barrel. DO NOT clamp down. No. No. No. Clamping=kinks, or ripping at your hair. Don't do either. Hold for about 20 seconds, or until warm to the touch.

 Step 4:

Unwrap from the barrel! Enjoy your magical curls! Look at them! There they are!

 Step 5:

Brush out with your fingers. Don't be worried that they'll fall out. You're just making them more relaxed & natural! If you really do have straight hair that doesn't hold curl well, go ahead and skip this step. 

 Step 6:

Spray lightly with your hairspray, and gaze lovingly at your pretty, perfect curls. 

What else makes these curls the bomb?

You can sleep on them, wake up, and still have killer curls. 

So here's the deal. 

Try out the curls, take a picture on instagram- and tag me (@lpodlich) so I can see how awesome they turned out! 

Happy #hairweek, everyone!

xo, lp 

*all images by louisa marion photography

Pin to your curly hearts content, dollfaces:

HAIR WEEK: PRODUCTS TO LOVE!

Hair week wouldn't be complete without a roundup of my favorite hair products. 

Some of these products I've used for years, and some are new additions- a couple of which I found out about from other bloggers! Of course not everyone has the same hair - but these are ones I highly recommend! 

1.  This stuff is the bomb. Normal shampoo causes buildup on your hair, whether you realize it or not. Slowly but surely it dulls your hair. Boo to that. This Neutrogena stuff is magic-I use a little bit once a week- and it makes my hair crazy soft, and crazy shiny. Plus, it's cheap. Which I'm a fan of. If you take one thing away from this post to buy GET THIS!

2. This Ego Boost smells so good. I use it if I want to leave my hair wavy, but don't want flyaway frizziness, I use this stuff. It keeps my hair from looking crazy without weighing it down!

3. No, bobby pins aren't revolutionary, but I use them more than any other hair product. Just ask Michael- he finds them allllll over the place.

4. Please tell me you're hip to dry shampoo. I don't need to explain it, right? I've tried a handful of brands, but shockingly- this Suave stuff for under $4 is the ticket. And it smells soooo good!

5. This Herbal Essences shampoo & conditioner reminds me of being a kid at camp. Does it cause eventual dullness like mentioned above in #1? Yes, over time. But it smells so good I use it anyway. LOVE that they brought back these old school scents & bottles.

6. Frizz Ease hair serum is magic 2.0. I mainly use it on my ends when I straighten my hair- it keeps them looking super smooth, even if I'm in between haircuts.

7. I have tried about 32403298 kinds of hairspray in my day. This one smells the best, is pretty cheap, and holds my hair in curls without being crunchy. Get it.

8. I like these hair ties only because they are pretty. They still kind of leave a kink in your hair...but when you have them around your wrist they look purty.


What's a must-have hair product for you?
If you haven't tried the Neutrogena Shampoo- you must!

xo, lp

HAIR WEEK: STRAIGHTEN IT OUT

Let's talk about straight hair.

Growing up, curly hair wasn't cool. Straight hair was cool. So, what did I do? I murdered my hair by straightening it for most of middle school & high school. Sorry, hair!

After letting it rehab for the past...eh...7 years - it fully doesn't hate me anymore. Now I straighten it much less- and having a straightener that doesn't burn my hair to a crisp sure helps! Here's my before and after:

I mean, major improvement, right? What's great is that when I straighten my hair now it is SHINY. Not dull and crunchy from having all the life sucked out of it! So what straightener am I using? 

This guy:

 The cute kids at Misikko sent this Hana Professional straightener my way- and to be honest, it was one of the VERY few offers to test things I've accepted. Normally I think doing lots of reviews just sounds so fake. I mean, HOW do those bloggers just loooooooooove everything that is sent to them? I call bull crap. So when they sent me this, they said I could be as honest as I wanted. Rather than do a post right away, I actually used it- for about 4 months. I actually saw if I liked the thing before putting it on the blog. And honestly: I love it. 

It heats up in like 30 seconds.

It doesn't cool down until you're done- so no waiting halfway through to get up to full heat again.

It glides over hair rather than ripping it as it goes.

It leaves hair shiny and super soft. 

So friends, here I am today telling you honestly that while this straightener was gifted to me by Misikko- it is ABSOLUTELY one I would invest in if I had known how great it was. This isn't an ad to tell you to buy- but if you're looking for a reliable straightener that won't wreck your hair, check them out. They're on super sale right now, which doesn't hurt :)

Do you have a hair styling brand that you love?

I'd love to hear what you have up your sleeve!

xo, lp

This product was given to be by Misikko, but I received no payment for doing this post. All opinions are my own, ya dig?

images by louisa marion photography

HAIR WEEK : HEIDI HAIR HOW TO (aka princess leia braids)

Hair Week: Day 1. Let's do this!

I'm starting out with the Heidi Braids because they are so. dang. easy. Perfect for a "crap I woke up late Tuesday and need to do my hair in 5 minutes flat" moment. Of which I have had many. Damn you, snooze button. 

This hairstyle is called the Heidi, or the Princess Leia, or heck- throw some flowers in there and you can call it the Frida Kahlo. 

If you don't know who at least 2 or those 3 women are, get your Wikipedia on. Stat.

This hairstyle takes 4 steps.

The best part is it doesn't look like it only takes 4 steps- hence why no one will assume it's your "get up and go" hair. Hurray!

Let's start, shall we?

PREP:

 Before you start, brush out your hair well, and part down the middle in the back. I prefer having it parted to the side in the front because middle parts ain't mah jam. But if you want a middle part in the front too, go for it. ALSO: Have a lot of bobby pins handy. You might not use them all, but they'll be good to have just in case you need 'em.

MAKE IT HAPPEN:

Step 1: With your hair properly parted, braid your first side, tugging your hair away from your head slightly. This will keep you from having a big bump when you move to step 2.

Step 2: Fold/wrap the braid around the back of your head. Your next braid will go in front of it, so don't worry if it looks a little funky being back so far. Pulling it tightly, secure with 2-3 bobby pins. You'll have a lovely little side-rat tail-embrace it. 

Step 3: Braid the second half of your hair and then repeat step 2, just folding it in front of your first braid. Secure it well!

Step 4: This is clean up time. Make sure the side-rat tail is tucked/pinned in, and pin down any rogue bumps or flyaways that may have come up. Once you feel you're secure, you're good to go!!!

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This really is a pretty fool-proof hairstyle. Plus, the more you do it the easier it gets. 

TIPS:

* if you have thin/slippery hair: spray some hairspray in your hair first to help the bobby pins grab your hair

* if you have really curly hair: you may want to straighten the front few inches of your hair for a smooth look!

* if you have really short hair and are mad at me that you can't do this: sorry, grow it out girl!

* if you're lookin' for a fancy look: pin some tiny wild flowers along one side. 

So that's it!

Have you tried the 'Heidi'? 

Any tips or tricks you'd like to share?

xo, lp

*tune in every day this week for more #hairweek fun!

** if you try this out - share it on Instagram and tag me- @lpodlich, i'd love to see it!

For you pinnin' fools:

images by louisa marion photography

HAIR WEEK.

People, it's Hair Week. Whaddup.

This week was due to popular demand, as evidently people are more interested in how I curl my hair than any other aspect of my life, which I'm totally cool with. I feel like it's a pretty low level of creepy, and I can get down with that.

I'll have 4 hair-related posts for ya this week, so I hope you all enjoy! If you are having lazy week and know you won't be trying any of these- pin them on a board for later.

Here's what to expect for the week (not in any particular order):

You asked for it. Again. And again. And again. Mainly on Instagram. This is it team, the no-fail curls how-to!

I've had the same straightener for years, thinking it was the best. I was wrong, the one I'll be sharing this week is!

Everyone has different things that work for their hair, but this week I'll have a list of my ABSOLUTE favorite different hair products- many of which I found from recommendations from other bloggers, so maybe you'll find something new, too!

 And finally, the Heidi Braids. If you think you can't pull these off, you're wrong. You can. PLUS they are crazy easy, but LOOK like you put a ton of effort in. Win-win.

Big thanks in advance to Louisa Marion Photography for snapping these pictures of me. You da bomb.


Alright, I'm being annoying here- but which post are YOU most excited to see this week?
Let me know!

xo, lp