DIY Heatless Straw Curls: How to Curl Hair Overnight With Straws

Laineymariebeauty
by Laineymariebeauty
4 Materials
$10
12 Hours
Easy

For today’s tutorial, we’re going to be doing straw curls.


Yes, we’re going to be using straws to curl hair, but the straws I’m using are these plastic-less straws that are made from modified cornstarch and polylactic acid. They look like a straw and bend like a straw, they’re just not plastic making for an awesome alternative.


Whether you’re looking for heatless curls, overnight curls, or whatever - you can achieve the look by curling hair with straws and I’m going to show you how. Let’s get into it.

Tools and materials:

Spritzing hair with water

1. Wet your hair

Use a spray bottle to spritz a little bit of water on your hair. You don’t want it to be too wet, because then your hair won’t dry right and it’ll get just crimpy.


Instead, you want to aim for your hair to be about ten percent wet and ninety percent dry.

Wrapping hair around the straw

2. Wrap your hair around the straw

Leave a little bit of room at the top of the straw and then wrap your hair around the straw.


While you’re wrapping, use your other hand to hold on to the strands and this will help keep it really secure so your hair won’t fall or pop off the straw.

Bending the straw to secure the curl

3. Bend the straw to secure

Once your hair is wrapped around the straw, fold both the ends towards each other and then tie it off with a hair tie.


Do this method all the way around your head. The curls won’t budge and they should be nice and tight against your head. 

Cutting off the ends of the straws

4. Cut off the long ends

Take some scissors and cut off the long ends of the straws that are poking out. Make sure to look in a mirror as you do this so you don’t cut any of your hair. 

How to curl hair with straws

5. Take them out

These are overnight curls, so you’ll want to sleep with them overnight so the curl maintains its shape, and take them out in the morning.


Honestly, they weren’t the most comfortable to sleep in but the curls turn out gorgeous. I knew they would look good, but I didn’t know they’d look this good! 

Curling hair with straws

6. Pull apart the curls

The curls come out incredibly curly, maybe even too curly, so we’re going to take each curl and pull it apart. This step makes a huge difference and will give you a fluffier, fuller look.


Avoid using a brush. These are not the kind of curls you want to brush, even with your fingers. You want to keep them nice and intact.

Touching up the curls with a curling wand

7. Touch up with a curling wand (optional)

If you have any spots or ends you want to touch up, use a half-inch curling wand to do so.

Applying serum to the heatless straw curls

8. Apply serum

For the final step, apply a hair serum of your choice to the palm of your hands and just apply it to your curls!

Heatless straw curls

Heatless straw curls tutorial

Here’s the finished look! As much of a pain it was to put them in, as much sleep as I didn’t get, these straw curls are so worth it. They turned out so beautiful and I just love how they look.


Let me know if you guys have ever tried straw curls or any other heatless curl methods and what you think down below!

Suggested materials:
  • Plasticless straws
  • Spray bottle
  • Hair ties
See all materials

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Comments
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  • Christie Decker Christie Decker on Jul 24, 2022

    When I was a child in the early1960's, my mom used plastic rollers. They had no foam on them, just plastic hair curlers and we slept in them nightly. Then, we had foam rollers and added them into the mix. My grandmother would make 'pin curls' using bobby pins in an X shape to hold the hair in small curls. When there were too many of us girls, mom would take rags and roll our hair in them, tying them to hold them in place. When i was a teen, I went away to a Christian academy instead of high school for one year. One of the girls rolled her hair up nightly in cans that had had tomato paste or soup in them, both ends opened, she used large bobby pins to hold them in her hair....we do go through a lot of torture to look beautiful, don't we?

  • Jin22345168 Jin22345168 on Sep 18, 2022

    Now in my senior years, but when I was a child my mom used rags to get that Shirley temple curl. Same technique. Brilliant idea!

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