Holiday Hair & Me Acting Like A Lion

Happy Tuesday!
After I posted this photo on Saturday night en route to my friend’s Christmas party, a couple of you asked how I did my hair.

Because I am also in the midst of trying out some new hair products from NYM Brand, I thought this might be the perfect time to do a little tutorial. The original plan was for a video, but the combination of outtakes and video editing was not working to my advantage. You’ll just have to deal with my writing for now. Perhaps with a little prompting, I’ll be Kate over at The Small Things Blog in no time 😉
**NOTE: I am by no means a professional hair-doer (obviously), this is just works for me!
First things first–the products.

 Spornette teasing brush | NYM Girl Powder | NYM Miss Freeze | Hot Tools 1.5″ curling iron

I am a Polyvore noob, so I have no idea how to put fancy writing on there, but you get the idea and this is a whole lot better than simply just listing out what I used. Baby steps, people.

1. First things first, wash, condition and blow dry your CLEAN hair. I think it’s a big misconception that you have to have “dirty” hair in order to achieve curls.  While for some it may work better, I have found that if you have the right products, you can really get your hair to do whatever you want. Also, air drying is not an option for me because my hair is naturally ringlet-curly and just….no. However if air drying IS an option for you, go for it.

2. Once you’ve blown your hair dry (or let it air dry), turn your curling iron on to heat up. I’ve found that my iron works much better if it’s really hot as soon as I go to use it, as opposed to the lukewarm, just-getting-started stage. Not that my impatient self has any experience with that.

3. Now, give yourself a deep part on the left side. Sprinkle NYM Girl Powder SPARINGLY. Repeat on the right side. Next, take your hair as if you were going to do a “half up, half down” ‘do and sprinkle a bit more Girl Powder. Then, flip your hair upside down and massage into your scalp.

WARNING: When you flip your head back up, you WILL look like a lion and it WILL look funny. Your hair may also feel like it’s sticky or gummy–that’s what the Girl Powder does!

4. Take your Spornette teasing brush and gently back comb your hair until it is teased to your liking. My liking is that the closer to Jesus, the better. YOU CAN ALWAYS COMB TEASING DOWN. I repeat, YOU CAN ALWAYS COMB TEASING DOWN. Part where you desire.

See? Lion.

 5. Comb teasing down and spray liberally if you’re a hair spray junkie like myself. This is for two reasons: 1. I like for my teased locks to stay in place and 2. I don’t like “crunchy curls”, so instead of spraying each hair strand as it curls, I spray all the hair collectively prior to getting the iron out.

Are you still reading?

6. It’s time to curl! I part my hair down the back, creating a left side and a right side, and generally start with my right side for no other reason than that’s just what I normally do. I curl away from my face so that I don’t look like Shirley Temple and curl 1-inch sections at a time. I do not curl my hair in layers, just in sides. In the end, I have about 6 “curls” on each side.

7. Run your fingers through your curls, flip your hair over, spray liberally AGAIN, and boom! Bombshell hair.

 8. I included bobby pins above, because, while I didn’t use them in my holiday hair look, I usually do use them. I don’t like hair in my face and bobby pins are the perfect way to sweep your hair off your forehead. See:

Shameless plug of my hot fiance.

What is your go-to holiday hair look?