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They may seem like a one-trick pony, but flat irons can do more than just straighten your hair. Not only are they helpful for locking in temporary hair color or ironing clothes in a pinch, but your straightener can also curl your hair. That's right, the same tool that's designed to iron out frizz and leave hair pin-straight can also produce corkscrews or waves.
That said, figuring out how to curl hair using a flat iron isn't intuitive, and it may take more practice than using a curling iron for the same goal. "I will say, it takes a bit of practice," says Justine Marjan, celebrity hairstylist and GHD ambassador, adding that the speed with which you rotate your wrist and how firmly you clamp your hair can make all the difference.
It'll help if you have a straightener with a design that's suited for the task. "The key thing that you want to keep in mind is that your iron has rounded edges so you're able to create that curl pattern," says Marjan. If the outer edges of your straightener are flat instead, it's not going to be ideal for curling your hair. A straightener with a width of two inches or fewer will work, and the wider the plates, the looser and more voluminous the results, says Marjan. The hairstylist likes the GHD Platinum+ Styler 1″ Flat Iron (Buy It, $249, sephora.com) for creating curls and waves, noting that it has "floating plates" which allow hair to slide through with ease when creating curls. Translation: When the iron's closed, there's enough space between the two plates that it lightly closes in on the hair, preventing the need to tug. (Related: This Amazon Straightener Isn't Pretty, But Over 20,000 People Think It's the Best)
Maybe you don't own a curling iron or you just like the thought of packing a single, multi-use hair tool on trips. Either way, mastering how to curl your hair with a flat iron can pay off. To take advantage, try out Marjan's favorite techniques, below.
Depending on how you position your straightener, you can create several styles of curls or waves. Pro tip: Marjan likes to combine multiple techniques at the same time (alternating with each new chunk of hair) to create a multi-dimensional, natural-looking result.
Marjan likens this method to curling a ribbon with a pair of scissors when wrapping a gift. As with curling a ribbon, it may take some finessing — you want to avoid grasping the straightener with a death grip. "You want to keep your grip pretty loose so that the iron can stay in motion and move in one continuous motion as it glides down the length of the hair," says Marjan. "If you're pulling too tight, the iron can kind of get stuck on the hair and that's what can create a crimped effect or dents in the hair."
While you always want to drag the straightener with one fluid motion, you can change the speed at which you're moving it to tailor your results. Dragging the straightener slowly will produce a tighter curl pattern, while a faster motion will create looser curls, says Marjan. Curling all the pieces away from your face will lead to "classic, glam" curls, she says, while alternative directions will add variation and texture.
If you're struggling with the traditional slide curl, you might have better luck with this take on how to curl your hair with a flat iron. The difference is that you're wrapping hair all the way around the iron before feeding between the plates. "[With the slide curl], sometimes people have a hard time keeping the hair on the plates of the iron," says Marjan. "Sometimes they feel like this gives it a little bit more tension so that the hair stays on the styler." You get the same kind of spiral curl, with a bit less of a curl at the root, she says.
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