If there’s one thing women most often want to know when it comes to hair is how to achieve Blake Lively’s loose, effortless curls. I’ve never been much of a fan of her on Gossip Girl (I’m team Blair all the way!), but I have to say that I too am a fan of her hairstyle. When I was in Spain I picked up an issue of French Cosmo and read about Barbar 1900 Cordless Combo ($145) and was immediately intrigued (includes both a 1″ flat iron and ¾” curling iron on the same quick charging base). I’ve since been using it every time I add curls to my hair. Not only does it heat-up quickly (I only use the curler, I use a CHI to straighten — it heats up to 356°F in less than three minutes), but the fact that it’s cordless makes it amazing for summer when I’m traveling a lot more (no need to worry about voltage, plugs, etc…). As to how to achieve the look I’ve been following some fabulous tips that I got from Redken Session Stylists, Giovanni Giuntoli. See what Giuntoli suggests after the Jump!
- First, prep and protect hair from heat by applying Redken fabricate 03 heat-active texturizer ($14.00) on damp or dry hair and blow-dry in sections with a round brush to create volume.
- Then work a little Redken rough paste 12 working material ($17.00) between your palms and apply evenly to hair for that ragged texture, starting at the crown.
- Randomly curl sections of hair with a 1 inch curling iron, alternating direction of the curls.
- After curling entire head, rub a little more rough paste 12 through the curls to break up and loosen them up- “It’ll create that finger-smudged silhouette with edges that aren’t super clean and polished, for a beautiful bohemian understatement” says Giuntoli.