How to Curl Hair with a Flat Iron (No Twisting)

Brush your hair out so there are no tangles. Tangles get baked into the curl shape and look messy. Then mist a heat protectant spray from roots to ends. Kayley uses Schwarzkopf Crystal Shine and Hold because it adds a little hold and a little shine on top of the heat protection - never going to say no to that.

Watch the prep moment at 0:32.

Plug in your flat iron and let it heat all the way up before you start. The temperature you want depends on your hair: 300 to 350F for fine or color-treated hair, 350 to 400F for medium hair, and 400 to 425F for thick or coarse hair. Going hotter than you need does not give you better curls - it just damages the cuticle.

Kayley uses the T3 SinglePass Luxe because its plates are beveled and flexible, so they glide instead of dragging. Any flat iron with ceramic or tourmaline plates will work for this method. See the iron at 0:21.

Clip the top half of your hair up so you can curl the bottom layer first. Working in layers gives you cleaner curls because the iron is not fighting with hair above it. Take a one-to-two-inch section of hair from the bottom layer to start with.

Smaller sections give tighter, more defined curls. Bigger sections give looser, beachier waves. Pick a section width and stay consistent through the whole head so the finished look reads as a style instead of an accident. See the sectioning at 2:04.

This is the whole method. Place the flat iron at the root of the section with the plates loose - not clamping. Wrap the section around the front of the iron like it is a curling wand. Pull the tail through the plates so the hair is now passing between them. Lightly clip the plates together. Slide the iron down the length of the hair to the ends.

The direction you wrap is the direction the curl goes. Wrap away from your face for an outward bend that opens up the face, or toward your face for a more vintage inward curl. Watch the four-step demo at 1:04.

The variation between beachy waves and polished curls comes from one small choice at the very end. For tighter, more defined curls, give the iron a quick quarter-twist as you slide it off the ends. For loose, beachy waves, just slide straight off without any twist.

The big rule for either version: keep the plates loose throughout the slide. Clamping the plates makes the iron grab onto the hair and stall instead of glide. The heat is still touching the hair either way - clamping does not help the curl, it just makes the move harder. See the finish at 1:29.

Once the bottom layer is done, unclip the top half and work through the rest of the head the same way. Alternate the curl direction so the whole head does not collapse into one shape - wrap away from your face on most sections, and toward your face on a few near the front. The mix is what gives the finished look that natural, lived-in shape.

Let each curl cool in place for a few seconds before you touch it. That cooling moment is what makes the curl actually hold its shape. Hot hair is soft and willing to drop straight - cooled hair locks in the bend. See the alternating demo at 3:04.

Once everything is curled and cool, run your fingers through to break the tight curls into softer, looser waves. If you want even more separation, give your hair a quick shake from the roots. Mist a texturizing spray at the roots for volume, then a flexible-hold hairspray over the lengths. Scrunch the ends as you spray to set the wave shape.

Finish with a single drop of hair oil rubbed between your palms and smoothed over the ends. This kills any frizz that the heat may have raised and gives the curls a polished, healthy shine. See the finish at 4:40.