Hair Makeover "selfies" & Curling Tips & Tricks

After having a baby, dealing with body changes and trying to lose baby weight, I was ready for a little change. I wanted my very dark brown hair to be more medium brown- like when I was younger, with some fun blonde summer highlights. I decided to take the plunge! It took me a couple weeks to get used to it, but I do like it (for now!). 

I have also been growing out my hair forever and have been wanting those great curls you see all over pinterest. I have tried every tutorial imaginable. My BFF was so awesome to take the time to do it for me after I had tried everything and I learned a few things. These curls stayed for several days! Before they would only stay a couple hours on the bottom. Keep reading to see what I found out!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Hot Curling Iron Tips & Tricks:

• I needed a hotter iron. Mine goes to 350'. We used one that goes to 400'-450'. We did it around 400' and I noticed a difference right away.
• My hair is in too GOOD of condition! She mentioned it might work better if my hair was dryer and more damaged! While I don't/won't let this happen, I realized on days I want to curl I should use NO conditioner. Along those same lines, it is important to make sure the hair is really clean, especially underneath where we don't scrub as well. Any extra product or dirt weighs it down and the curl won't stay.
• Use mouse and heat protectant about 5 minutes before you curl.
• Curl from the roots to the tip instead of the other way around, and kind of "pump" it through the strand. You can see tutorials for this, I had been doing this but then went back to the other way because it seemed to be faster and my curls weren't staying anyway. This was a good reminder.
• Hold the curl with a flat hand underneath as it sets and cools for a few seconds before moving on to the next one.
• Spray when you're done, not before you curl each strand. 
• Run fingers through and you can turn head over to mess it up a little for that more natural, loose look.