I am pretty sure I didn’t invent this method of heatless curls but for those that don’t know, imma tell you how I do my hair when I can’t be bothered because it is soooo simple and effortless and who doesn’t want that? So a bit of hair background, I have really thick coloured hair that is naturally curly and resistant to styling. Although I do sometimes wear my hair naturally curly I much prefer to straighten it and then re-curl it again to get a smoother and more controlled curl. This is a pretty laborious task as you can imagine and in case you think I’m exaggerating:  I normally wash my hair, slap a smoothing treatment on it, blow dry it as straight as I can, straighten it and then curl it with my GHDs, pin the curls in place until they cool, spritz with hair spray and release the curls and break them up so they get bigger. Laborious non? Ain’t nobody got time for that! As my hair has gotten longer and not as responsive to poker straight styles not to mention less likely to make me look like Ronald McDonald when heatlessly curled and slept on I thought I’d give a sleep in style a go. I’ve seen people sleeping in those spongey hair donuts in a bantu knots style often donned by those with Afro hair to keep their curls looking springy and nice, I thought I’d do the less complex budget version by snipping the toe area off of a (CLEAN!) sock and bunch it up to create a donut type apparatus. Equally you could probably use a particularly chunky scrunchy or any elasticated chunky item with a hole in it (that’s what she said).

This works best with hair that isn’t just washed as it can be too slippy to hold properly, particularly if you have straight or fine hair. If the thought of having two day old hair grosses you out you can always dry your tresses out with a little (a lot) dry shampoo/thickening powder. I would usually straighten my hair to give myself a blank canvas to work with but if you prefer a messier, wavy, beachy look then you can feel free to do this on your natural hair. I spritz some leave in conditioning oil onto my ends and lengths so that they are semi-damp –again, those with straight and fine hair may want to avoid this step but as my own hair is so thick and dry I find that I need the extra TLC, you can use water if you don’t want to weigh your hair down. I brush my hair into a super high ponytail and brush it out to make sure there are no hidden lumps or bumps, then I take my rolled up sock with a hole in it and place the tips of my hair through the hole and wrap it around the sock. Try to get as much of your hair spread around the parameter of the sock as possible so that it doesn’t show through, then roll the sock down your ponytail while stuffing the ends into the centre from underneath. This all sounds like a really bad innuendo, only realising this as I’m typing but I don’t really know how else to explain it!

What you should end up with is a fairly neat high bun that shouldn’t come undone too much. If you have fine or straight hair you might find that your locks are too slippy to just leave it as it is, in which case you will want to stick some hair grips around the circumference of the bun. Spray that mutha with a firm hold hairspray and get yourself to bed – it shouldn’t be uncomfortable as your bun should be piled high leaving the back of your head ready for some pillow action. As you snooze the dry shampoo, hair spray and whatever else you’ve put in your hair should be working its way into your hair and making the curls more likely to stay in place. I like to keep my bun in during my commute to work as I suffer from sweaty forehead syndrome which has a tendency to wreck my hair styles, once I get to my desk I unleash the va va voom . It might look a bit extreme at first but after a good old hair ruffle and tousle you can part it, what you should be left with is voluminous Hollywood waves with curly ends – spray with more hairspray to ensure it doesn’t go anywhere! Considering this hairstyle takes me under 10 minutes to achieve I’m pretty darn impressed with how good it looks! Heatless styles obviously ensure that my hair is in better condition than ever and anything that grants me an extra 15 minutes in bed in the morning is a winner.

I really want to know how you guys find this do and if it works on different hair lengths, so let me know what you think!