How do I get lovely curls?

My hair is curlier than yours, but I find Sunsilk quite good, the serum type stuff in a green bottle. And VO5 curl booster spray.

John Frieda dream curl spray does the job for my hair, but I think it is a little curlier than yours. My hair is in so much more of a better condition since I stopped straightening it.

I find that good old fashioned heated rollers work with me, but I'm not sure if they are still sold in the shops (I have an ancient set I was give for my 16th birthday!). I also use Frizz Ease serum and styling mousse, although my hair is quite fine, but frizzy.

Try a serum - I normally use TIGI bedhead, but I've also used frizz ease and sunsilk in the past.

Put it in, towel dry your hair as far as it will go, then dry it with a diffuser with your heas upside down.

I can't do this because my hair is too big and too curly - even getting any heat near it makes me look one of those over topiared trees

It sounds like you have exactly the same hair as me. Mine is more frizz than curl, and is very thick. One way of getting nicer, natural curls I use is to rub through some Paul Mitchell super skinny relaxing balm when my hair is soaking wet, then brush it and tie it up in a tight, high ponytail. Let it dry (mine takes hours because there is so much of it!) and then take the bobble out and rub through some Paul Mitchell gloss drops. The top of your hair will be flatter but the bottom should have some curl left in it.

The other way I do mine is to wash and dry as normal, then fully straighten it with GHDs. Then I use Vidal Sassoon hot tools curling tongs (the ones that get really hot) to put some curls through the ends and front. This isn't great for the condition of your hair in the long-term though.

Katy I could have written this post - my hair is the same as yours and I too try to get those type of loose curls!! If I dry my hair with a disfuser and crunch it I look like I've had a bad 80's perm. Yet if I tie it in a pony tail and go walking all day, the pony tail turns into lovely loose waves but try as I might I can't recreate this when I go out.

The best result I have had is with my GHD's (they are the wide plates) I can curl my hair like you'd curl a ribbon using scissors. At the back of my head my hair is really long as there are no layers and this doesn't curl too well. No matter what I do they don't stay in though. I've tried putting hair spray before I curl and after I curl and they just drop out. I've tried putting serum in then curling my hair and it doesn't last either.

I have a big barrel curling iron (Revlon I think) and that's crap, it doesn't do anything to my hair. So I'm probably not much help am I - I can recommend GHD's but how to get the curls to stay in is a mystery to me. I will be following this thread with interest :-)

How does this not give you a 'ridge' in your hair where the bobble has been?

Thank you all - I may not have made it clear in my OP that I am thinking of which equipment ot buy rather thatn creams/mousses etc. BUT I will happily accept any recommendations and probably go out and buy everything you've all suggested! Seems it may not be as easy as I had hoped. ☹️

I've got thick curly hair and use VO5 volumising mousse and after trying every curl booster/defining spray known to man, the best one by far for my hair is Boots own make. And then dry with a big old fashioned diffuser.

Raspberryjam - the thought of not straightening brings me out in a cold sweat.

kjfc100 - I had thought of straightening and then curling but think by the time I would get this done, the night would be over! I realise it may be my only option!

I will try diffusing but due to the sheer volume of my hair, I fear I may not be able to fit through standard doorways...

Hugobrambles - maybe we need a support thread for coarse, wavy-haired hitchers!

I neglected to say that I still haven't achieved a really great 'loose curl' look that actually lasts all evening (i's assuming the one you mean is the Lauren Conrad/ J-Lo look) so I'm also really interested if anyone else knows how. Maybe a trip to the hairdresser is the only option, although this could get pretty expensive.

Hugo - The way I get it so there's as little 'ridge' is to use a horrendous 80s style bobble that is quite thick so it's over quite a large surface area.

Ahh...I have a scrunchie so I may try that!!

I have tried straightening and then curling and I wouldn't go there- it just refused to curl at all after I'd straightened it. I now just blow dry it then curl it.

My hair is long, thick and curly/very wavy/prone to frizziness and i wear it day to day with mousse and then diffused dry which gives me rather tight curls.

My hair stylist blow dries my hair into long loose curls that last all day (and even the next day if i don't wash it). It really is a miracle, and one i've so far been unable to create at home! She uses a spray mousse at the roots then a bit of TIGI serum and then blowdries using a big round barrel brush. She dries each section (from underneath, working up to the top) straight, curling under at the bottom a bit, and then once it's almost completely dry, she rolls the hair up the brush and holds it at my scalp (like a heated roller) and blasts it with the hairdryer for a few seconds, then 'unrolls' it in a spiral shape.

She does the whole head then smooths over with a little bit of serum. Even if i go out in the wind, tie my hair up to go into a steamy bath or fiddle with it all day, it stay in long loose smooth curls. If i could box my hair stylist up and keep in my vanity case at home i would!!

The problem is that my hair is long and so my arms just won't reach up high enough to pull the hair straight before rolling it in, especially at the back. I have tongs too which create the same look, for about an hour then it all falls out and goes frizzy. Aaah!

I don't rate GHD's for curls. I think they give a flattened curl that drops out too quickly. I use curling tongs. There are two ways to do this, you can either use wide barreled tongs which give a wave, good if you are going out at night and need the look quickly. Or use a narrower one that gives a tighter curl that will last all day.

You also need to get the hair smooth before you start, so I blow dry mine over a large, round brush until dry. Then I take sections (small for tight curl, large for looser) and curl them around the tongue and hold for around 15-20 seconds. You need to make sure they are really hot, it's the heat that creates the curl. This gives you what I call a "pollyanna" look. I then spray it and leave it like that for as long as I can, then before you go out, run your fingers through to separate the curls out.

The very best curling tongs are "Hot Tools" http://www.hotcurlingirons.com/marcurir.html , Tresemme also make good ones but nothing beats Hot Tools! Don't use the clamp part, just wind the hair around the whole barrel and hold in place.

This is what I have https://www.twenga.co.uk/offer/109735266.html and its rubbish.

Poochanna those sound great but they are american - not sure they'd work over here?

Don't GHD's make barrel curling irons??

Hmm - OK can try out some of those ideas. I'm pants at blow-drying my hair too. The only thing I can do properly is straighten it and that's because it takes absolutely no skill, just sheer determintation!

? for sharing