How to Frizz Your Hair

Last Updated: February 9, 2023 References

Frizzing your hair can be a great part of your costume for Halloween or any costuming occasion. This hairstyle is very inexpensive, but it is a little labour and time intensive. For this style, you will need to get a friend to do the back of your hair, and this will help you to get through your overall style faster. When it is done you will be ready to show off and have a blast.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Getting Your Frizzing Supplies

1
Purchase or find u-pins. You will need these pins for this style to work, so make sure you get u-pins before you begin. You cannot use bobby pins for this style; you will need u-pins specifically. They are about the same length as a bobby pin, but they are wider and the sides do not touch.
- Purchase a pack of these at Target, Walgreens or online at Amazon.
- You will want to have at least 25 of these pins.
- They do not need to be wavy u-pins. But, if you only have the wavy pins, they will work just fine.
2
Get out a straightening iron with heat settings. You will want to use a medium heat setting instead of a hot heat setting for this hairstyle. You need to use the medium heat setting to keep from unnecessarily damaging your hair.
- There are three general heat settings: low is for dry or damaged hair and is about 250-300 degrees, 300-350 degrees is for medium or average hair, and 350-400 will be for coarse or thick hair. ^{[1]
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- If your hair is fine or damaged, you will want to use the low heat setting on your straightener.
- You can buy a straightener with heat settings from brands like Hot Tools or Remington at a Target or Walgreens for as little as 20-30 dollars.
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3
Find or buy a fine tooth comb. This can also be called a tall comb. These combs will help you volumize at the root of your hair to create more texture if you want to add extra oomph to your style. ^{[2]
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4
Get out your thermal heat spray, hair spray, or both. Because you want to protect your hair from heat damage, make sure you have a thermal heat spray. Additionally, you will want to give your hair some hold and texture with hairspray. You can find these two products combined into one, and if you want to buy that product, that would be ideal. However, you can use the two separately as well.
- You can purchase your thermal hair spray from a Walgreens, Target or Amazon. ^{[3]
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5
Get out your hairbrush. You will want to add fluff to your style after it is done by brushing through your hair with a good brush. Get out your vented brush to add volume if you have one, but any brush will do. ^{[4]
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6
Get out your hair clips. While you are working with sections of your hair, you will need to keep your rest of your hair out of the way. You can use hair clips specifically designed for hair styling, or you can use any clips that you would use to keep your hair back. If you don’t have any, a hair tie can work to keep your stray hair out of the way.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Preparing to Frizz Your Hair

1
Wash and condition your hair. Wash your hair to remove excess oil, dirt and buildup. Your clean hair will take better to a new style. Condition it to keep it soft and healthy.
- Pantene and Tresemme have a heat shield shampoo/conditioner that you can use to protect against any heat damage that may result from styling your hair with a straightener.
- Shampoo at the roots of your hair and condition starting at the midsection of your hair down to the tips of your hair.
2
Blow dry your hair so that it is uniformly dry. Use your thermal protection spray, and blow dry your hair so that it is mostly straight and completely dry. You do not need to worry about styling your hair at this point. You are simply drying it before you style it.
- If you do not blow dry your hair, you can towel dry your hair, and let it air dry. Give yourself more time for the whole hair styling process if you air dry your hair. Also, do not sleep on your hair before you style it.
3
Apply a light hold mousse to your hair. Apply the mousse after you have blow or air dried your hair in preparation for styling. This will help your hair hold the style without making it stiff.
- Use a tennis ball sized amount of mousse if you have short hair and a softball-sized amount if you have long or thick hair.
- Light hold mousse can be used on all hair types.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Styling Your Hair

1
Take a section of your hair and clip it up. Get the upper section of your hair out of the way. Clip it on top of your head so that you can start working with the bottom section of your hair. You can divide up your hair into four quadrants, and style one quadrant at a time.
- You can use a hair tie if you do not have hair clips. The important part is to make sure your hair is out of the way.
2
Make a one inch square section of your hair. Use your comb and gently rake the pointed end of the comb across your scalp making a square about an inch wide by an inch tall. Grab the piece of hair from this section of your hair.
- You will methodically work through the four quadrants of your whole head making sections like these in each quadrant before moving onto another quadrant.
3
Place the section of hair inside the u-pin. Place the pin close to the base of your head so that it is almost touching. If you leave too much room between the u-pin and your head, you will risk your hair losing volume.
4
Weave the strand in and out of the pin. Start at the base of u-pin that is near your head. Have the pin face out horizontally. Then weave the hair in and out of the pin from side to side creating a figure eight pattern until you get to the end of the pin.
- If parts of your hair stick out of the pin, that is okay. You will be spraying it with hairspray, and the overall effect will still be achieved.
- Your hair will make a zigzag pattern on the pin.
5
Spray your hair with a thermal hairspray. Make sure both sides get covered with one good spritz for each side. You will want to use this product to protect against heat damage. You also want to give your hair texture and help it hold the style with the hairspray.
- If you do not have the two-in-one product spray, first use the thermal hairspray and then use the hairspray. You want the thermal spray to make more contact with the shaft of your hair to protect it from damage.
6
Iron your hair in the pin. Your flat iron should be on medium heat. Your medium setting should be approximately 290 degrees. Clamp your straightener on the hair at the bottom part of the pin furthest from your head. Then move your straightener up toward your head.
- Do not straighten your hair for much longer than 5 seconds.
- If you have dry or damaged hair, you can set your flat iron to a low setting (around 250-275 degrees).
7
Make another one inch square section of hair and repeat steps. Do this around your whole head. You should work methodically in sections, or quadrants, making these one inch sections on your whole head. This whole process can take one to two hours depending on how much hair you have.
- Get your friend to work on the back of your hair.
8
Take all of the pins out of your hair. Do this after you have finished clipping and straightening all of your hair. Pull the u-pin out by it’s u base. It should easily slide right now.
- Do not try to unravel your hair off of the clips.
9
Brush your hair out to give it volume. Take your hairbrush, and brush through all of your hair to make it voluminous. Turn your head over, hang your hair upside down, and brush your hair so that it gets even more voluminous.
- You can use your regular hair brush or vented hair brush to create volume. Do not use a round brush.
- If you want to use your fine tooth comb, you can tease the roots of your hair to make your hair more voluminous. You can take an inch section that needs more volume, and from the midsection of your hair to your root, comb downward to create texture and volume. Be aware; however, that teasing damages your hair. ^{[5]
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10
Spray your whole head with hairspray. Hang your head upside down again, and spray evenly around your whole head to keep to keep your big, frizzy hairstyle in place. If your friend is around, have her spray your whole head while your hair is upside down.
11
Finished.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I just plait my hair overnight to save some time?

Community Answer

Yes, your hair should be slightly damp as well in order to get the desired outcome from it.
Question

How do I make my hair permanently curly?

Community Answer

Getting a perm at a salon is probably the closet you can get to permanent. If you have coarser hair that takes curl well, you get sometimes get a year or more out of one perm.
Question

Will this method work if my hair is wavy or curly?

Community Answer

If you have curly hair (which you generally shouldn't brush, by the way), brush it out when it's dry.