Pin Curls

Suffice it to say that the summer heat and humidity has had me less than thrilled to do anything with my hair besides throw it into a messy bun.  While that works for days I spend canning at home or hanging out with friends who love me anyway, the truth is I really should do something a bit more exciting for work.  I'm sure my husband would get a kick out of some pizazz when we go out too.

I tend to be a "have your cake and eat it too" kinda girl. (I mean really, who doesn't eat their cake?  I worry.)  I want something low-maintenance, pretty, and something that won't damage my hair as I continue to grow it out.  

I tried out pin curls last night, and was surprised that they were very easy to sleep on using this tutorial. About 10 minutes after my shower I started to put them in, and really it took less than 15 minutes to do the whole thing.  That is actually less time than it takes for me to do it with my curling iron.  Bonus is that with this technique there is no heat involved to damage my hair, or to burn curious 6 year olds who can't remember that I told them the curling iron was crazy hot less than 5 minutes ago.

The only downside is that the pin-curls-in look really isn't as charming as one would hope.  I think I scared my husband just a wee bit.  The good news is that it is totally worth it (if not for the funny expression on hubby's face, then for the hair).

 

 This picture shows what my hair looked like after I had done nothing but take the pins out and let it rest for about an hour.  I didn't use gel this time just to get a baseline of how my hair would hold the curl without it, but I may use a little bit next time to tame the frizz monster (thank you monsoon season).  Please ignore the mutant curl by the left side of my face.  Bobby pins saved me with that one, and I will just ignore my growing-out bangs from now on when I put the pin curls in.  Note to self: shorter hair curls waaaaay up.  For the normal portion of my hair, I love how soft and bouncy the curls were, and that they loosened just enough around my crown area to look more natural.  My hair is normally a bit past the middle of my back, so you can see how the curls will definitely shorten the length a bit, but I'm cool with that.

Since this is a style I am planning on doing on a regular basis, I wanted to try out a variation that I can wear to work or on a date with hubby, and look a bit more put together.  I did sort of a French-roll starting on the right side of my head, and kept it going around the back, and then put it all in a low pony on the left side, letting the curls cascade down.  I pinned back my growing-out bangs to keep them out of the way too (and to hide the mutant curl by my forehead).  The whole thing took me less than a minute to put up, and I would feel comfortable going into meetings, or out to a nice dinner with this style. 

Let me know if you give it a try!