15 Stylish Haircuts for Short Curly Hair
There's a fine line between flirty spirals and looking like Little Orphan Annie. Here's how to do it right.
There's a fine line between flirty spirals and looking like Little Orphan Annie. Here's how to style short, curly hair right.
Curly blondes like Kate Hudson look amazing with a cut that hits right below their chin. And when your hair takes half the time to style, like with these beachy waves, you can play up your makeup more (case in point: Kate's dark lip).
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"To achieve Lupita's beautiful shiny strands — with a flawless braid incorporated into her look — use a product like Dark and Lovely Au Naturale Length Retention Super Softening Hair Butter ($10; softsheen-carson.com)," says Dark and Lovely lead Style Squad member Stephanie McLemore. "This healthy mixture not only brings the proper hydration to curls and coils, but it also helps to lengthen your locks, thanks to guarana root and honey, which are key ingredients that will reconstruct and moisturize without the greasy build up. It's a great formula for healthy hair growth!"
"This messy tussled high ponytail can bring a whole new funk to a more formal or classic look and outfit," says Sergio Delgado, Senior Stylist for Devachan LA. "It's very effortless, but still intentional and polished. You can refine curls at the ends using a pomade like DevaCurl's Beautiful Mess ($20; sephora.com)."
"Tori's old-fashioned curly 'do is winning on every level," says Kahh Spence, celebrity stylist and Carol's Daughter Style Squad member. "The best part is, recreating it is pretty simple."
Here's how: First, use a curling iron to curl your hair all over. Using banana clips, pin the curls up for a few seconds to cool, then take down once they're ready. Comb the hair to the side and secure it with pins, then brush or comb any flyaways and secure that area with a little holding spray. Then create a few finger waves using Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Nourishing & Conditioning Styling Foam ($12; carolsdaughter.com), securing them in place with banana clips. Blow hair dry at a cool temperature for a few minutes to set the waves. Then remove the clips and use hairspray to hold everything together.
Black-ish star Yara Shahidi's curls are defined, elongated, and well nourished. To achieve her gorgeous spirals, McLemore recommends using the Au Naturale Anti-Shrinkage Curl Defining Cream Glaze ($10; softsheen-carson.com). "This anti-shrinkage line contains mango oil, which will give your hair all-day hydration and shine and bamboo milk to help give it stretch, so you're able to gain height in the crown," she says.
When it comes to red-carpet appearances, Taylor Swift has been keeping her shoulder-length shag pretty straight, but when she's running errands around NYC she's all about wash-and-wear style. Her curls here are really soft and the best part is you can air-dry them to look like just this — just apply a bit of curl-defining lotion on damp hair and go.
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"To achieve this look, you have the choice of using irons if you don't have this exact wave pattern, or you can use styling products to recreate it," says Spence.
First, spray your hair with water to get the natural curl pattern refreshed. Then you'll want to apply Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Refresher Spray ($11; carolsdaughter.com) as well, for curl rejuvenation. Taking a few pieces at a time, use some of Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Nourishing and Conditioning Styling Pudding ($12; carolsdaughter.com) on the hair to help bring the curls to life. Comb through the hair to ensure the product has been evenly distributed, then, using your blow dryer with a diffuser attached, dry the hair until it is 98 percent dry. For the other 2 percent, bend over to dry hair upside down, which will add more volume to the hair. Still bent over, take your hands and fluff the hair out until it's at its desired fullness. Flip your hair and head back over to adjust the curls exactly to how you want them. Then you'll need to take a small brush with the Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Edge Control Smoother ($8; carolsdaughter.com) and tame the small baby hairs.
"Keke Palmer's look at this year's Teen Choice Awards was all about the shape," says Delgado. "A light fringe with a lot of movement and volume. To achieve this beautiful big 'do, use DevaCurl Frizz-Free Volumizing Foam ($26; ulta.com) and a light glaze of Ultra Defining Gel ($44; ulta.com) for extra shine."
This Pretty Little Liar is known for her long blonde hair, but we love it when she embraces her natural texture and goes shorter. Her slightly asymmetrical lob bends in all the rights places and has just the right amount of shine — try Alterna Haircare Bamboo Luminous Shine Mist ($24; sephora.com) to get that same effect.
"Miss Tracee Ellis Ross is always rockin' her big beautiful hair! If you can't fight the volume, embrace it," says Delgado. "To achieve this look, use a strong-hold, but light-weight, product like Devacurl Light Defining Gel and diffuse your ringlets until they're 50 percent dry. Follow that with hairspray, shake, and separate curls, then let them do their thing!"
To get singer-songwriter Cam's modernized curly updo, Delgado recommends pinning up the back curls, creating a short-haired look that can be incorporated with twists or braids for more polish. Leaving the bangs and face-framing tendrils out also softens the style, showing off the natural texture of your curls.
Messy curls make a rounded bob extra sexy. Add texture with a spritz of Sally Hershberger Mineral Spray ($24; sallyhershberger.com).
#CurlyHairGoals right here. To rock defined (read: non-crunchy) coils like Miguel's girlfriend, actress Nazanin Mandi, apply a curl-enhancing product throughout —Kérastase Curl Fever Defining Gel ($37; kerastase-usa.com) will give hair bouncy movement, hydration, and shine.
If your strands are on the fine side like Charlize's, apply a plumping cream liberally throughout the middle of the hair to the ends, to give curls frizz-free volume. Try Toni & Guy Glamour Volume Plumping Whip ($15; target.com).
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