When curling hair, does the size of the section determine the curl pattern or is it the size of the iron barrel? “Actually, it’s both…but if you find yourself with only one size barrel, you still have many styling options if you vary the size of the section,” says Sam Villa, co-founder of Sam Villa and Global Artistic Ambassador.
Watch Villa demonstrate how to get multiple curl patterns from a 1” iron.
The size of the section makes a big difference when curling hair. The smaller the section, the tighter the curl, and the larger the section, the looser the curl. Villa uses the wand only from the Sam Villa Artist Series 2-in-1 Marcel Curling Iron and Wand 1” to create different sized curls and preps hair with Redken Iron Shape 11 to protect it from heat damage and to add a little extra hold.
Curl 1 (Larger)
Vertical section 1” wide by 2” long – comb through hair and flat wrap on the wand, pull hair up to keep flat and do not overlap hair to ensure an even distribution of heat.
Wrap base first, the ends are older and more fragile so they will curl quicker than the base, which needs more time.
Count to 10 and release, hold curl until it cools.
Curl 2 (Smaller)
Vertical section .5” wide and 2” long - comb through hair and flat wrap on the wand, pull hair up to keep flat and do not overlap hair to ensure an even distribution of heat.
Wrap base first, the ends are older and more fragile so they will curl quicker than the base, which needs more time.
Count to 10 and release, hold curl until it cools.
Results
The same size 1” barrel was used with the same flat wrap, the smaller section yielded a tighter bouncier curl while the larger section yielded a looser curl with more space between coils and less bounce.
“So if you’re traveling and don’t want to pack as many tools or you find yourself in a situation where you need to create multiple textures with minimal irons, know that you have so many options and styles based on the size of the section you take for each curl,” adds Villa.
Credits: Hair/Sam Villa ArTeam; Photo/Shalem Kitter; Wardrobe/P&J Concepts; Make-up/ML&J (Marie-Laure Larrieu & Joelle Boucher)