Holiday Hair for Shorties: Easy Retro Curls

I first styled my hair like this for my birthday dinner, out at a nice restaurant, with my family. I liked it so much that I've worn my hair this way several times since then. I was really wanting to style it into some finger waves, but not only is that a tricky technique to master but it is terribly time consuming. But I love retro waves and curls, so I decided to go for something a little simpler (and much less time consuming) while still trying to embody that retro feel into the look. I know for a fact that these curls aren't an authentic vintage look, and I'm not quite sure what the technique I used could even be called.  But this hair style does make me feel very classy, sophisticated, and pretty. I'll call that a win.

These retro inspired curls are the third tutorial in my Holiday Hair for Shorties miniseries. See instructions for how I created the look below.



Easy Retro Curls for Short Hair Tutorial:

1. Begin by combing through your hair thoroughly to remove any tangles.
2. You'll want to to work in fairly small sections at a time. Take a one inch section of hair from the tap layer of hair and run some styling putting through it.
3. Curl this strand away from your face using a curling iron, holding for 10 seconds or so to set the curl.
4. While the curl is still warm, use your fingers to curl it up into itself. Twist it all the way up to the base and pin it in place onto your scalp. Duck clips probably work best, but I used bobby pins just fine.
5. Take the next strand of hair over and repeat steps 2-4. 
6. When done with the top layer of hair, move onto the next layer and curl and pin those sections in the same manner until all hair on one side of your hair is pinned and curled. The hair at the back of my head is too short to curl this way, so I leave it alone for now.
7. Continue the entire process on the other side of your head, curling each section and pinning the curl while it is still warm. 
8. Once you have completed both sides, give everything a good spray of hairspray. Making that face I did is optional. Let the hair sit for a bit.
9. While you let the curls sit and set, curl the back of your head. I like to just curl these hair down, the ones that are long enough to curl, anyway. The face I made here is optional too. My hair takes to curls very quickly so I only let it sit like this for about 10 minutes. You shouldn't have to let it sit for too long.
10. After letting it sit, pull the pins out.
11. Your hair will likely look a little stiff and silly once all the pins are taken out, but don't worry, we'll fix it. 
12. Use a brush to comb out and through the curls and shape them as desired. Give everything a final spray when you like how it looks. 

Pair with some simple drop down earrings for a really elegant look.

xx Emorie