Perfect bridal hairstyle with curls: The big curl guide

Curls, curls, curls – they are the secret to practically every successful bridal hairstyle! Because even if it’s supposed to be an updo, you can’t do without curls. Curls provide volume and better hold. If you want to wear your hair loose, you can conjure up a real glamor bridal look with large, flowing curls or a romantic, playful bridal look with small curls. There are very different styling options, with something for everyone from beginners to professionals. We present these to you in detail in our large curls guide and give you tips for the perfect bridal hairstyle with curls.

Making your own curls is not difficult at all. And above all, if you want to style your bridal hairstyle yourself, then most of the work is already done with curls. With a few flowers or pearls in your hair you have a beautiful bridal styling in no time. In this article, we explain what you need to look out for. And handling papillotes or staple or Velcro winders is also child’s play with the DIY instructions below. It doesn’t matter whether you want to work with a curling iron, hot air brush or papillotes – there are always a few principles to keep in mind.

Perfect bridal hairstyle with curls: principles and tips

For example, be sure to use a mousse. This provides more volume, more hold for the curls and makes your hair more manageable, which is particularly helpful for updos. If you have stiff, straight hair, the curls will hold up particularly well if you roll the hair while it is still damp, for example on a roller and only dry it while it is still twisted. Especially when using a curling iron, straightening iron or curling iron, you should apply some heat protection spray to your hair beforehand to protect it. Comb your hair well before styling and separate the sections of hair neatly and cleanly. This is very important to get a nice result. With all variants in which you curl your hair with heat when it is dry, you should let the curl cool down before you literally let it hang. It keeps its elasticity and shape longer. For your perfect bridal hairstyle with curls, you always use a bit of hairspray at the end.

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^{Left photo: Christine Baumgart Lovestories, right photo: Jonathan Borba via Pexels}

How to get dreamy curls:

• papillotes
• foam roller
• Staple or Velcro winder
• hot air brush
• curling iron (with or without clamp)
• flat iron
• Automatic curling iron (“curler”)
• Specials: wave iron, crepe iron

With papillotes, foam rollers, staple or Velcro rollers and the hot air brush, the hair is styled when it is wet or damp. With curling irons and straightening irons, however, your hair must be completely dry, otherwise you will damage it due to the hot iron. So let’s start with the styling methods that are particularly gentle on your hair.

The great guide to curls: papillotes for easy DIY styling

Winders made of a foam material are referred to as papillotes. The thicker the foam, the larger the curls will be, and the thinner the papillotes, the smaller they will be. The magic behind it is hidden inside the papillotes. There is a flexible wire that ensures that the papillotes remain fixed and do not simply tumble out of the hair. You wind your hair up onto the papillotes, starting at the ends of the hair and ending at the hairline. When you get there, twist the ends together. For a perfect bridal hairstyle with curls, make sure that you wind up the strands of hair neatly and evenly, otherwise the end result will not be beautiful. By the way: The papillotes are so soft that you can even sleep with them. Otherwise you wait two to three hours or you sit under a hair dryer hood. Compared to styling with a curling iron and straightening iron, papillotes are the gentler variant, because the foam styling aids do not require heat.

Tip: When you remove the first papillotes, make sure that the hair is really dry. This is the only way to prevent a quick unhooking.

The perfect bridal hairstyle with curls: basting or Velcro rollers

Staple or Velcro rollers can do what papillotes cannot do: conjure up volume! If you have very fine hair, it is advisable to give the hair some volume, for example before styling the bridal hairstyle. The Velcro or staple rollers are hair rollers that have a kind of Velcro on their surface. This is how the rollers hold and do not slip out of the hair. And if you do, you simply fix it at the base with a hairpin. Large or small rollers can be used depending on the desired hairstyle. Especially with bridal hairstyles, it is advantageous to use large and small rollers alternately. This gives the bride a beautiful and natural head of curls.

It is best if the hair is lightly dried with a hair dryer beforehand. The divided strands are pulled taut and wound up from the tips to the hairline. Now the hair is blow-dried or air-dried with the curlers. Depending on the length of your hair, it may be worth sitting under a hooded dryer to speed up the drying time. For shoulder-length hair, the rollers can be carefully removed after 20 to 30 minutes.

Papillotes or adhesive rollers: how to best use them

Incidentally, it is a fallacy that papillotes and curlers are only good for styling long hair. Papillotes and adhesive rollers are also suitable for shorter hair. However, larger specimens are recommended here, since small curls can quickly become too much for shorter hair. Large curls, on the other hand, create volume in the hair. By wearing the papillotes overnight, the curls hold particularly well and your bridal hairstyle will still look beautiful in the evening after a long day.

Tip: bridal hairstyles with curls get more hold if the individual strands of hair are gently sprayed with hairspray before they are rolled up. But beware! It doesn’t say “a lot helps a lot” here, otherwise the hair will become too stiff to wind up.

The big curl guide: The hot air brush for glamor waves

Hot air brushes also come in different sizes and you use them on wet hair. As with a hair dryer, the hair is blow-dried with hot air, but at the same time shaped by the round brush. You can also conjure up beautiful curls with it. However, they are softer flowing and not as intense curls, which also do not last as long. But with a hot air brush you create more volume in your bridal hairstyle with curls than with a curling iron and the styling is gentler on your hair due to the lower heat.

Perfect bridal hairstyle with curls: quick and easy with the curling iron

You can get curling irons in different strengths, depending on how big you want your curls to be. The curling iron is particularly quick. And you are also faster than with a curling iron, for example, because you can style much wider strands of hair with a curling iron. The high heat gives you intense curls that last a long time. There are cylindrical curling irons and some with a conical, i.e. cone-shaped course. This allows you to style curls that are smaller at the tips than at the roots.

There are curling irons with clamps. This is a clip that you can use to pinch the ends of your hair. This will make it easier to wrap the hair around the curling iron. Or you can attach the entire curled strand of hair to the curling iron under the clip. If you look closely, you will see a slight kink in some places in the strand of hair, because the clip forms an edge over which the hair lies.

With curling irons without a clamp, you have to hold the ends of your hair firmly and unfortunately also as close as possible to the curling iron, otherwise they will not be shaped. Wear protective gloves to avoid burns.

Important: If you work with a curling iron, your hair should definitely be completely dry beforehand. Otherwise you will damage your hair a lot.

Ideas for your bridal hairstyle

The big curls guide: curls with straighteners for the professionals

Yes, you can also conjure up curls with a straightening iron. However, you literally have to get the hang of it in order to create even curls with it. That means you have to pull the strand of hair slowly and evenly through the flat iron. It is easier to style curls with a flat iron on shorter hair than on long hair. In addition, rather large and medium-sized curls can be achieved with it.

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^{Left photo: Ufuk Hambardüzü via Pexels, right photo: Jonathan Borba via Pexels}

Perfect bridal hairstyle with curls: automatic curling iron (“curler”)

With a curling curler, place the dry strand in the device as close as possible to the hairline. This then automatically winds up the strand and forms a curl with the help of heat. Depending on how long you leave the strand in the device, the more intense the curl will be. Due to the heat, the curls last a long time. However, styling with a curler takes longer because you can only style really thin strands one after the other.

Important: Style each strand nicely and place them neatly in the appliance. Otherwise, the hair may get caught painfully during automatic winding.

For the perfect bridal hairstyle with curls, a trial styling should be scheduled at least once. This is a great way to try out which curls are best suited for the desired styling. If you want to style your hair yourself on the wedding day, then you should try out a few times which equipment you can use and style the curls you want. It is also best to try out which hair ornaments and which accessories look good in your curly hair and go well with your wedding dress.

Cover photo: Jonathan Borba via Pexels

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