Hey Everyone! Happy 2018! I haven’t seen you guys since last year!!
So, my last hairstyle was my Cinderella French Braids, and, to keep with the theme, I decided to master Moana’s curly locks.
Before I start the instructions, I’d like to point out that this is kind of a two-in-one post, since both methods I use to get Moana’s curls can and are also used on their own. The reason I used two no heat curling methods is simply since I felt that one gives more body to the hair, while the other gives texture. 😉
If you’d like another no-heat curls idea, check out these curls.
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Time needed: 20 minutes (if you have long hair, like me.)
Items Needed: 1 rubber band, one cloth headband, several bobby pins
- With your fingers, separate a large portion of hair, by starting at your ears, moving towards the crown of your head. Section off with a band.
- Grab your headband, and put it around your head. It should rest on your hairline and right above your ears. Thinner cloth headbands are the most comfortable choice.
- Section off a 1″ section of hair. With your other hand, expand the headband, and loop the hair up and through it.
4. Then, add another 1″ section of hair to the first section. Loop the hair up and through the headband.
5. Keep adding 1″ sections of hair, and keep looping the hair through it. Gradually, the section will naturally become larger.
6. Once you’ve run out of hair to add, continue looping through the headband. If you have longer hair, the loop will continue up to your forehead.
7. Secure the twist with about three bobby pins, if necessary. These headband curls will add body to the hairstyle.
8. Let down the top-knot of hair, and part to your liking. I did a side part.
9. Section off a 1″ section of hair, and twist the entire strand. Make sure to twist away from your face.
10. Coil the twist into a small bun, and secure with a bobby pin. These twist curls will add texture to the hairstyle.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 for the remaining hair, twisting, coiling, and securing. I personally recommend switching the sections up from 1-3 inches thick, since this will make the curls look more natural, like Moana’s.
12. Once you have coiled all of your hair, your hair should look a little crazy, but that’s okay.
13. Sleep on the curls overnight. I slept in these, and since all of the little buns were on the top of my head, I wasn’t bothered at all. 😉
14. The next morning, undo all of the little buns, and uncoil your hair from the headband.
15. Separate the curls. Begin gently, and use your fingers, not a brush. *tip* I like to let the curls rest for a few minutes, before separating them.
…And there you have it! My take on Moana curls! I hope you enjoyed this hairstyle!
Extra Info:
Prepping info: This all differs for each person’s hair type (mine is thick, with a slight wave,) but for some people, no-heat curls work better either on dry, slightly damp, or damp hair. For my hair, I like it slightly damp. You can achieve this by prepping the hair with either a hair mousse, salt water spray, curling cream, or simply a mist of water. I’ve used all of these in the past, but for the pictures you see above, I went for a salt water spray.
It all depends on your hair and how well it can hold curl though.
If you know that your hair does not hold curl well, prepping it is a must. Also, after you have undone, separated, and arranged your curls the following morning, you can add a bit of hairspray, to ensure that your curls stay all day long. I find hairspray is especially necessary for those with naturally straight or fine hair.
Please remember that each of these curls can be used separately, so experiment with them, and see which give you the best results! This many coils worked for me since I have long, thick hair, with lots of layers.
For thin hair: If you have thin or fine hair, I recommend only doing two coils on the top of your head, with the headband at the bottom.
For short hair: You can still do this hairstyle, expect, when you do the headband curls, you might need to secure your hair with bobby pins, to keep it in place.
…if you have any more questions, feel free to ask below! Hope you enjoyed the look!
What other princess would you be interested in me recreating her hairstyle?
Catch ya later!
— Sophia
Seton Girls' Hairstyles 
dang Favs, this has got to be my favorite post ever! You have such GORGEOUS hair I can’t get over it ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks, Sab! You took amazing photos of the hairstyle 😉
Great post Sophia, the curls look amazing on you!! 🙂
Aw, thanks Clare! I had so much fun mixing the two techniques 😉
I love this!! It looks so pretty and full! I would love to see you do Belle’s ponytail style from Beauty and the Beast.
Thanks, Mary! I’m so glad you like it. Thanks so much for the suggestion. I will definitely look into that!! 🙂
Love the curls!
AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! THE POOL AND THE NICE WEATHER MAKE ME WISH IT WAS LIKE THAT RIGHT NOW IN MINNESOTA!
Thanks! hehe, yes, here in California it isn’t too cold. 😉 The pool is too cold to go in, though! XD
I do the headband heat-less curls on a regular basis and can attest that it definitely works. My hair is very fine and thin and is just past my shoulder. Do you recommend using some styling mouse or hairspray to help this hairstyle stay and should my hair be wet, damp, or dry? When I do heat-less curls I put a small amount of curling mouse through slightly wet hair, just to help it stay when I undo it in the morning.
Yes I just loved how well the headband curls worked! 🙂 Well, I just realized that I forgot to put in the instructions that I used a salt water spray I own prior to doing the curls. (I’ll fix that though ASAP.) I think that a little bit of mousse or maybe just very slightly damp hair help the curls last longer. It’s my personal preference that if I use hairspray, to do it after I take the coils out the next day. That way you can still separate and style the curls without them being stiff. 😉
This all really depends on hair type, but I think it is a safe rule to add just a tad bit of moisture into the hair prior (be it a little bit of water, mousse, or salt spray,) and then hairspray after you take the curls out, if your hair tends to not hold curl as well. My hair does not dry fast, so I put very little spray or mousse in my hair, but then again, that is just my hair. XD
Wow Sophia, really cool post!
Aw, thank you Maria! 🙂
Congrats on making SGH’s most popular tutorial Sophia! 😉
I really like moana’s curls!!
Hi Maddy! Thanks for commenting! 🙂 I know right? Moana’s curls are so gorgeous!
I’ve tried this twice. The first time I used very small sections for the little buns on top, which was a big mistake! My hair is naturally very thick and the curls simply added volume, making my hair about two inches thick on each side of my head. I looked awful. (I had to put my hair in a bun, and I must say the curls did add a nice amount of volume for a big bun 😉)
The second time I used bigger sections, to have a total of about 5 sections. Still, it gave my hair way too much volume and the curls looked very stiff and unnatural.
Is my hair simply too thick for this? Or am I doing something wrong?
The curls from the headband are lovely though, very natural and not too voluminous! Maybe I’ll just separate my hair half-up half-down and just use two hand bands to create headband curls for my whole head.
Hello Daisy! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
I’m sorry that you haven’t gotten the results you were looking for. No heat curls can be tricky that way.
These coiled curls do add a lot of volume to the look, and can look very very curly. I have thick hair as well, with some crazy short layers, so they may work/look a tad different on my hair. I personally really like those super curly segments, but I understand that it doesn’t look the same on everyone. 😉
I don’t think you are doing anything wrong! 🙂 I like the idea of the double headband curls, but I think that you might find it a tad challenging to keep both headbands secured and also not give you a headache!
Have you tried putting all of your hair into the headband for the headband curls? I always think those curls look lovely. I think that would be the easiest option.
If you want some extra texture nearer to the crown of your head, there is always the option of doing the headband curls, and the next day only curling a couple of strands with a wand curler, if you really want a specific type of curl. It would still be faster than heat-curling all of your hair, especially since yours is thick.
Also, you can try sectioning your hair the same way, except instead of doing the coil curls on top, do a variation of this no heat curl https://setongirlshairstyles.com/2017/09/05/diy-overnight-curlswaves/ on the top. These curls shouldn’t make the hair so coiled and curly, but will still add some movement and spring to the hair. I wouldn’t do it too tight, that way it doesn’t look frizzy, though.
I plan on posting some other no-heat curl variations, so keep a look out for those to see how they work with your hair! I hope that some of these ideas help! Thank you for trying out the hairstyle. 😀
Thank you for replying!! I’ll definitely play around with the headband curls, because they’re just what I’m looking for (beautiful waves). I’ll try putting my hair into a single headband, and I’ll try to put the headband slightly higher on the back of my head because I only have just-past-the-shoulder length hair. I’ll also try two headbands, maybe an army of bobby pins will help me out 😂
I’ll definitely try out the link you posted though! I did have a little trouble understanding the instructions though for how you do the rope-braid.
I’ll definitely keep a look out for the new tutorials! Thanks for all you guys do on this site!!
This hairstyle (and your hair) are so pretty! Also, those are great photos. ❤
awww…thank you so much! My sister takes amazing photos for me. 😉