OK, are you one of those girls that has major curl envy? You know what I'm talking about - you stare longingly, lovingly and bewilderedly at girls who manage to look as if they have their own personal stylist on hand 24/7 with perfectly coiffed, cascading curls.

Well, apparently it's not a magic hair styling fairy but rather a deft hand with the old hair iron. Yeah right, I hear you snort. If like me, you have attempted this you probably ended up with frazzled hair that looks more yak than yum. So, as a dedicated beauty junkie I made it my mission to find out once and for all how I too can make some waves!

Ok, here's my approach to the old curling with a hair iron. I start out by pinning up my top layer, select a small section, wrap my hair around the iron, hold and then release, expecting a cascading curl but always ending up with a frazzled, limp dent that is neither glam, curly, wavy nor even boho. I guess you could call it limp-chic or perhaps electrocuted hair chic? My point is, I do believe I am following the instructions but simply cannot achieve that much sought after gorgeous curl. Sound familiar?

Ok, so here's what I've learned - :

1. Start with smooth, sleek hair. So, whilst you may think blow-waving before the iron is bad, think again. Creating a smooth canvas to work on is going to help create frizz-free sleek curls as opposed to tormented, frazzled dents.
2. Use product. It really, really helps to use a styling product applied to roots and ends of the hair and designed to give hair curl oomph, hold and bounce. Use either a booster spray or even hairspray and spray into the roots. A good product is White Sands Liquid Texture ($34.95) as it actually protects hair against the heat so it is super soft and shiny rather than looking over-worked and a little burnt-out with product/iron combo! Also great are the heat protectant products.
3. Section hair off into small sections. The thinner the section the better the result and the longer it will last. Probably opt for about a 1 inch section.
4. Start at the roots. Super, super important tip. You see, I would start at the ends and work my curl up and then release. The trick is to get as close to the root as possible and from the root slide the hair slowly in a downward motion. There is some trick to the hand movement so that you kind of twist and turn the iron whilst moving downwards through the hair section.
5. After the first curl, twist the iron in the opposite direction to the first curl. This will give you that nice, natural wave. Continue this alternating rotation for each curl.

6. Now the back of the head is pretty tricky and you kinda have to be a bit acrobatic to get right at the roots here so don't expect to have to be yogi master before attempting this maneuver. Just try to get to as close to the root as you can without doing your body some damage.
7. Don't rush. The slower you do each section the better the result. If you curl each section quickly, multiple times you will end up with that electrocution-chic look which, trust me, is not ever going to take off.
8. Don't feel deflated if you don't immediately master this and still end up with electro-chic hair look. Trust me, I am getting better but I am yet to get to curl nirvana. But, I am getting there.
9. 
   Oh, and the biggest tip of all, invest in a really good hair iron.
   We love, love, love TCI Hair Iron. First up it's Australian-made, secondly it uses tourmaline, ionic and ceramic technologies. Pretty impressive, hah? What the? Ok, this means it is the latest in whiz bang irons that help keep hair healthy and prevent drying out. Trust me, it is the bomb! ($229)

Happy curling!!!