Heatless robe belt curls are all the rage on YouTube. Have been for a while now.
And why not? They give the illusion of heat styling without the heat.
But is it me or does it seem it’s mostly for those with long flowing locks?
Can you get these loose curls on hair that’s collarbone grazing or shorter?
What problems do shorter strands present for this overnight no heat styling method?
Are those robe belt curls just as lush? Just as perfectly formed? Just as big?
So if you’re wondering how do you do heatless curls on shoulder length hair with a robe tie keep reading.
This quick step by step tutorial gives you a rare side by side glimpse of bathrobe tie curls done on long hair compared to what happens when done on much shorter locks.
Oh and don’t miss the five hacks further on down that can make sure you get the best heatless curls ever!
Creating Heatless Curls For Medium Hair Side by Side With Long Hair
If you’re looking for Disney princess hair, just shorter, this is the explainer video for you. It’s jam packed with all sorts of ideas you’ll find useful if you don’t have endless hair. Plus some mistakes to avoid.
Through the magic of Zoom this is your chance compare and contrast how robe belt curling works with shorter verse longer hair. Plus tune into some solutions for challenges shorter hair presents.
Here are some questions that are answered. Obviously you’ll want to watch the vid to get the full take.
QUESTION: Should you do your normal part or is a center part best?
ANSWER: Probably normal part is best. Because if you flip some of your hair over to repart after taking the belt out, those curls are going to go the opposite of the rest of the curls.
However I would hasten to point out if you do a side part that means you’re going to have more hair on one side. And if you don’t adjust and take smaller sections on that side you’ll end up with two different types of curls on each side.
QUESTION Without heat to help tame the frizz what should you do?
ANSWER: It’s usually best to break out some kind of smoothing product when doing heatless curls for just that reason. Also a product like this helps add a bit of hold which is also welcome. There’s a section down below with some product suggestions you might want to try.
Now that you mention it, if you aren’t a no heat purist you might want to read about ways to use heat on your “heatless” curls for medium hair to cheat and speed up the process to 100% dry.
QUESTION: Any special kind of prep?
ANSWER: Best to comb or brush out any tangles out of your slightly DAMP hair. Remember the curl is set as your hair goes from wet to dry. Without that setting the curls aren’t going to hold up.
QUESTION: Where’s the best spot for the belt on your head?
ANSWER: With shorter hair you have to kinda hit a happy medium. Not too far forward and not too far back. The idea is to have as much hair as you possibly can end up curled around the belt. Anything less means hair that isn’t going to be curled. So two inches or so back from the front seems to be about right.
QUESTION: Anything else to know about the belt?
ANSWER: With shorter hair you really want it to trend backwards some rather simply down the side of your head. That way the hair in the back can be given some curly love too.
QUESTION: Once wrapped what’s best way to secure the hair to the belt?
ANSWER: With long hair your tresses run quite a ways down the belt. Those with shorter strands not so much. So while longer haired girls can use an elastic those with limited length might need to assign bobby pins to that task.
Gimme Some Extra Hold
Who hasn’t had problems making their textured, no heat curls last?
If that’s you maybe you should give Ouai Wave Spray a spritz.
This stuff is not your ordinary salt spray. It has no salt. Instead it is infused with rice protein. That makes it one of the rare products that helps fine hair hold heatless curls for a long lasting look.
Also makes it easy to add texture, body or extra definition to freshly minted curls done on curl resistant straight strands.
Next Day Debut
The best part of this, other than the reveal, is to see what can be done for results that weren’t exactly what you expected. You know styling tricks that can rescue your hair?
HUGE TIP: Before taking your hair out make sure it’s 100% dry. Otherwise your curls will fall much faster than you’d expect. Or like.
As you can see the immediate results in the back weren’t anything to write home about.
Yes when heatless curls go bad they’re often really bad and usually offer no way to recover. Unless you’ve got a few styling tricks to break out to use to recover. Here are two simple ones.
Styling trick #1 to try. Pull back the hair on each side. Then bobby pin in place then stick a cute clip of some sort in it and it will look like you did it on purpose.
Styling trick #2 to try. Bring back the party pony. Yeah it’s a bit of retro look from a few years back. But that doesn’t mean it still isn’t beyond cute. Especially with that little scrunchie.
If you don’t know, a party pony is a cute little ponytail that sits smack dab on the top of your head.
It’s already a go-to for some for hiding a bad hair day. This may be the perfect time to rock one and rescue your medium length hair robe belt curls that didn’t quite turn out as you expected.
QUESTION: Any ideas for loosening curls that came out too tight?
ANSWER: To speed up the natural loosening of the curls that will occur over time you can always spritz with a light mist of water. Not so much that you kill the curls. But enough to loosen things up just a bit.
Another loosening hack would be flip your head upside down, shake the roots a little then return to the full upright position.
I feel it’s fair to say those lacking long enough hair may be denied the full potential of robe belt curls.
Especially if you don’t have the styling tricks in your bag like Kayley does. That may make it hard to make lemonade out of lemons here.
But that’s not to say the resulting texture isn’t a winner. Or that this isn’t a legit technique. It is.
QUESTION: Any other ideas for that hair in the back?
ANSWER: Obviously you can try to save the hair in the back by touching it up with a mini flat iron.
Or if you’re a no heat purist you can always try things like flexi-rods. We published a deep dive into curling hair with flexi rods. If you know how to use them you can curl up even that short straight hair there in back. So that it’s pretty much indistinguishable from the robe belt curls. Check it out.
Getting Divine Frizz Free Definition
For others volume isn’t the issue. Unruly hair or curls that lack for definition are. For them nothing like a little styling cream to help keep those newly minted curls defined.
One highly rated offering is Living Proof No Frizz Nourishing Styling cream. It smooths while stopping frizz in its tracks. Or as this YouTuber put it this no frizz product is no joke. Might be worth checking out to keep those fresh curls in line if you’re dealing with medium to thick hair.
But wait…there’s one more hack to try.
What Happens When You Double Up The Belt?
Glad you asked.
If you’ve got shorter hair you could always try folding the belt on itself. As you’ll see the result is a softer, more relaxed curl. So romantic!
Five Tips, Tricks and Hacks Every Robe Belt Curling Beginner Should Know
When curling with a belt there are many things you can test on your hair to see how it responds. Here are five to try that can help you master this technique faster.
Damp or Dry Hair?
As you know the curl is set as your hair goes from damp to dry. So starting dry, while some report it works for them, is going to make it harder to get long lasting curls. While starting wet will take forever to dry. So get the level of dampness right if you want curls that last.
The Products Reality
It’s a simple fact of life that most curling with a robe belt apply a product to tamp down the frizz, add some texture or to help the curls last. In essence products are taking the place of heat to give you pretty, curls that last.
Tight Curls or Loads of Volume?
The smaller section of hair you work with the tighter your curls will be. Conversely working with bigger sections will leave you with all sorts of volume with a looser curl. Make sense?
Do the Twist
You can either wrap your hair flat around the belt or twist it when you do. Either will give you a different result. Twisting tends to produce a more natural effortless effect. Going flat often ends up more toward the Shirley Temple ringlets end of the spectrum.
It’s Okay to Flip Out
Here’s an easy way to break up those big, bodacious curls. Simply flip your head upside down and shake them out. Finger fluff too some while you’re at it to get a little volume at the roots.
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