Now that we're all spending most of our time at home, everyone and their mother has downloaded TikTok, the video app responsible for gifting us with dance challenges, hilarious pranks, and why-didn't-I-think-of-that beauty hacks. And now that the salon is off-limits due to, well, you know, we can all use a little help with our quarantine looks.
The latest game-changing beauty hack that is going seriously viral (dubbed "bathrobe curls") involves using the sash of a bathrobe to make perfect heat-free curls—and you truly have to see it to believe it.
bathrobe-curls on Unsplash
TikTok user Bri Harmon (aka, @bacardibri123) shared the trick on her page, which she saw via another user on the streaming site (the video below was shared on Instagram by another user). Harmon's video has now been viewed over 1.2 million times, and has garnered over 233,400 likes. In the video, she explains that you start by placing a belt from a robe on the top of your head, letting it fall to each side. You then divide your hair into two sections and wrap it around the robe belt.
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"So I think you kind of do it like a French braid, and you just go around in circles, gathering more hair as you go and repeat the process until you get to the end and then you tie it in a ponytail," she said in the video. Once she finished wrapping her hair, Harmon slept on the curls-to-be. The next morning, she unraveled her hair and was shocked at the perfect curls.
Other TikTok users were curious if she used any products prior to wrapping her hair. “It was actually my hair after not watching it for two days,” she wrote in the comments. “There was no product in my hair, it was just my natural hair – it was just a little bit damp. I would recommend damping your hair but make sure it’s not wet because it would be very hard to dry." She also added that her curls “lasted nearly all day and I definitely didn’t put hairspray in it.”
Garren, Celebrity Stylist and Co-Founder of R+Co, explains to Health that this technique sweeping social media is actually a larger version of rag curls. “We used to call it that when parents would put their kids to bed, with their hair coiled around a rag. They went to sleep with hair half dry, and when it dries, it creates a wave,” he explains.
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As far as any expert tips, he suggests avoiding using a terry cloth bathroom, as it is quite thick—a slightly thinner material will work better. “Separate the hair into two to four sections, coil hair around it backwards, and let it hang like a long braid," says Garren. "It will create a big wave pattern when you take it out rather than small waves.” Garren adds you can also use torn sheets or cloth napkins if you don't have a bathrobe handy—but pay attention thickness. "It's the width of the fabric that makes the wave pattern larger," he says.
And while Harmon didn't necessarily use products, Garron says adding some to your hair before twisting it could help give it some extra staying power. "While your hair is damp, apply [the product] and blow-dry your hair, flipped upside down, about halfway so it's not still soaking wet, and start coiling," he says. One of his fave products is R+Co.'s SAIL Soft Wave Spray. Also important: “Just don’t do this on dirty hair, you have to do it on clean hair that’s freshly shampooed and conditioned," he says. "This will save your hair from the heat, it’s an old way of setting the hair.”
Honestly, even if you're skeptical, it's worth a try, right? It's not like you have anything else to do—and just because you're stuck at home doesn't mean your hair can't look good.
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