The Big Girl Bow

Listening to Pusher Love Girl, JT. Don't worry, though. I still love That Girl. I'm just trying to break the streak.
In the mood for some iced tea.
    So lately I've been kind of obsessed with wearing bows. Thank Beth and her little DIY tutorial here. I made one (only I hand-sewed mine) and then fell in love and made two more. I have one big polka dot one, a medium sized red one, and a tiny black and white if I wanna just clip back my bangs (which I'm growing out, so they're driving me mental). I really want a big blue one so I can wear my hair like this. Don't judge me.
    One of my favorite ways to wear it is half up and half down, with the bow in the middle of the back of my head so it's loose. Wearing these bows, I feel that there's a fine line between looking chic and cute, and looking like a four-year-old with a giant bow on top of your head. I have enough trouble looking like I'm younger than I am; I don't need to exacerbate the problem with an ill-placed bow. So here's a tutorial for wearing The Big Girl Bow, and rocking it. (N.B. I part my hair on the left. So if you part your hair on the right, do the opposite of what I tell you for the curling process.)



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1) Brush your hair. Duh. But really, since we're using a flat iron, you do not want to flat iron tangles into your hair. They're a nightmare to deal with after that.
2) Part your hair into two sections, from the top of your ears...
3) ... to the center of the back of your head...
4) ... and twist the top section so it'll be easier to secure.
5) Take a big alligator clip (my mom used to call them that, am I the only one?)...
6) ... and clip that top section out of the way.
7) Now separate the bottom into left and right sections and our prep work is done!



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1) On the left side, take a 1-2" section (the bigger the section, the looser the curl), and curl it under with the flat iron.
2) Move slowly down the section with the flat iron on medium heat, with your wrist flipped under, like my wrist here.
3) This curls the hair towards the face.
4)Finish curling the left section then spray. I like Aussie's Mega Finish Hairspray. It's still flexible and touchable and it smells like Pez.
5) For the right side, take the same sized section, but this time flip it up and wrap the hair over. Because you're using the same hand on the opposite side, if you flipped it under, it would curl away from your face, not towards it. Bizarre, but there you go.
6) It's slightly difficult to see in this photo because my hair is dark underneath, but it's curled towards my face.
7) Finish the right side, and spray again.



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1) Now take down the top section and separate it on your part. For me it's on the left.
2) I like to curl the underneath towards my face, and the top away, so on the left, we're going to flip it up this time.
3) ... And away from the face.
4) Since I have a ton of hair, and there's way more on the right side, I separate it into two sections - a front and back - and clip the front up with the alligator (mine's missing a few teeth. ha. haha.)
5) for the right side, flip it under, and it will curl away from the face (the opposite of what you did underneath on this side).
6) See? All flipped away.
7) I take one or two sections at the crown at the back and flip them under as well, and give 'em some hair spray.



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1) Last section! I'm starting to get a little loopy here. Curl the front section, flipping it under as well, then spray.
2) If you have bangs, like me, hold them up like so...
3) ... and part them at a diagonal to get the most natural layering of hair (rather than in vertical or horizontal sections, or all in one section - do not do that unless you want super flat bangs).
4) Flip them under just like the rest of the right side.
5) See how nicely it flips back away from the face?
6) After you've curled each section of your bangs (my sister Maggs would kill me if she saw this - she goes to Toni&Guy, and evidently, they're called fringe), which is about three sections for me, spritz them and run your fingers through them to break it up.


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1) Now, the fun part! Run your hands through the curls to make them looser.
2) Flip your head over and give it a few good shakes.
3) Look at this adorable bow!
4) Separate two sections at your temples...
5) ... pull them to the middle of the back of your head and secure with the bow!
6) Now grab your brush...
7) ... And brush both sides...
8) ... to make it even looser.
    And voilà! Rocking that bow like the awesome big-girl you are. ha ha.

What do you think? Will you be wearing a big girl bow soon?

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Products Used

• Aussie Mega Finish Hairspray
• Revlon 1" Titanium Stay Smooth Hair Straightener