A Busy Mom’s Favorite Hairstyle {And another Embracing Beauty Link Up!}

This is me the day after my birthday this year:

I was all excited about my new hair cut, so I went hog-wild with some smartphone selfies. I love the layers my hair dresser had given me, and all the body she’d worked into my hair when she styled it.

Problem. What she did to my hair took her 30 min. and lots of product and several different contraptions (like curling irons and blow dryers–things I’ve never been good with since growing up without electricity) and I just knew my hair would probably never look like this again. (That was another reason for all the selfies. Needed to document this!)

Even on a good day (in which I get up early and have time for major primping) I didn’t see myself coaxing the most out of my hair, at least not without a lot of angst. And damaging heat. And chemical-laden product.

Must have plan B. 

And now I introduce you to my plan B, which became my Plan A, completely dispensing the need for a plan B, C, or D.

• This is the hairstyle for those who don’t like to spend a ton of time with their hair, but still want to make the effort to embrace beauty on a more regular basis. 
• This is for those who have a fear of heated hair manipulation tools, and overly-perfumed, flammable coiffing products. 
• This is the hairstyle for moms of littles, busy teens trying to look cute even at summer camp, and missionaries or others living with limited electricity. 

It does not yet have a glamorous name, beyond Plan A. Or Headband Curls. Feel free to submit your suggestions in the comments.

 

The top left photo shows the curls being made. This happens while I sleep or run errands. The rest of the photos in the collage are pictures of the finished do. Which literally takes 1 minute and can be done while you’re rushing out the door to Church while simultaneously scarfing breakfast and putting a diaper on the two year old.

That’s the thing I love about this style–most of the effort is put in hours before I want the finished product, allowing me insta-style in my moment of need. Oh, mamma, this is good. Let me tell you how we do it:

The night before a morning event (like Church) or the morning of an evening event (like Date Night) I wet my hair and slide a head band, hippy-fashion, over my smoothly-combed hair. (Can you smell the patchouli?)

Next, I take a section of hair from the front (one of my shorter, bang-like layers in this case) and wrap it around and around the head band till I get to the end. The headband keeps the ends snuggly in place.

Then I take the next section of hair and wrap it over top the previous layer and toward the back. I work my way to the back of my head, one section at a time, each layer overlapping the last, effectively holding down the whispy ends.

When I get near the back of my neck, I start over on the other side, working my way to the back until all the hair is wound around and snug under the head band.

 

It can get a little messy in the back, but working with damp hair does help keep things tidier. If I’m headed out and about, I will secure the back with a few small clips. I also usually choose a head band that matches my outfit–on the day I took these pictures, though, I only had a piece of elastic. lol. It works.

I can usually put my hair up in the band in about 10 min. Then I just go about my day with my cute, vintage up-do while the curls set. Or, I climb into bed and fall asleep dreaming of lovely curls. Bonus: it’s very comfy to sleep in!

Five minutes before I want a beautiful do, I just pull the headband back off my forehead and gently detangle my curls from the band.

The initial results may shock you. It’s amazing the volume of curls this technique can create! Don’t worry, if you don’t like big hair, a bit of finger coming or even a little water can relax the curls to a gentler do. This very curly look was achieved starting with sopping-wet hair and curling very small sections of hair at at time. It relaxed a bit with some finger combing and looked like this for my evening out with my man…

 

These more relaxed, casual curls are what I get when I put up slightly-damp hair and sleep in it Saturday night…

I have found this to be the perfect hairstyle for my somewhat-wavy, currently-layered hair. I wear it like this several times a week, and adore how it fits into my Sunday Morning Rush.

I’ve been doing this for 2 months, and shared the style with several friends who have different length hair, so here are some tips we’ve gathered…

• This has worked well for shoulder length to medium long hair (the longer the hair, the longer the dry time)
• My naturally wavy hair retains curls nicely with a wet-to-dry set, but if your hair is stick straight, I imagine you could comb in some gel in the beginning to help the curls stay.
• If you start with sopping-wet-from-the-shower hair, it can take 24 hours to dry. But this will also give you the firmest curls.
• If you start with just damp hair, it usually dries in 8 hours or overnight. This makes the most natural looking curls. 
• Take larger sections of hair for each section if you want big, loose curls. Take smaller sections if you want tighter curls. 
• If you plan to sleep with the headband in, part your hair slightly to the side of your natural part. The hair can get a bit messy as you sleep, but parting off to the side can give you the chance to part it properly when you comb it out in the morning, giving you smooth, un-frizzed hair on top. 

I am having entirely too much fun with my new do, which is allowing me to embrace beauty despite the busy days of summer.

How have you been intentionally embracing beauty this month? Do you have a tip, and idea, or a victory to share? What’s inspiring you and making you smile? Share your post in the link up!

Here’s a refresher on the rules…

1. Link up to your specific blog post (not just your blog home page)
2. Link up to adornment-related posts, only. That recipe you created or home-decor project you made is awesome sauce, but this linky is for beauty in the area of personal style only–thanks!
3. Link back to me in your post, so your readers can find this community of women embracing beauty! {You can use the graphic below if you like}
4. Visit as least one other linkee (person who links up!) and leave a comment to help them celebrate!

Ready–set–GO! [inlinkz_linkup id=289404]