How to Curl a Pixie Cut

By: Mimi Abney

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Stuck in a short hair rut? Adding a few curls to your pixie cut is the quickest and easiest way to freshen up your hairdo. To unleash your inner Mia Farrow, Halle Berry or Rihanna, slide a curling wand into your freshly dried strands to add a rocker chick vibe or to channel old Hollywood glamour. Whether you are having a bad hair day or want to revive last week’s salon visit, a small curling iron and a few styling products will perk up your pixie in 30 minutes or less.

Step 1

Begin with freshly washed and conditioned hair. If you have fine hair, rake a quarter-size amount of volumizing mousse through your thin strands.

Step 2

For curly or coarse hair, combine a pea-size amount of antifrizz cream and a pea-size amount of extra-hold gel into your fingers. Finger-comb these products through your hair.

Step 3

Blow dry hair on a medium setting. Focus the dryer at the roots to create volume and lift. Use your fingers to separate short pieces of hair as you dry them.

Step 4

After the roots are dry, aim the dryer down the hair shaft until the hair is completely dry.

Step 5

Mist hair with a heat-protectant spray before curling hair.

Step 6

Use a 3/8- to 1/2-inch curling iron to add curls in the crown. Roll 2-inch sections of hair around the curling iron’s wand. Hold the iron in for three to seven seconds and then release. Repeat until the longer pieces of the pixie cut -- near the forehead and around the crown-- are curled.

Step 7

Rake your fingers through the curls to create a voluminous look.

Step 8

To create height, lift up the top layer of hair and mist a medium-hold hairspray at the roots.

Step 9

To slick down flyaways, fringe and short hair at the nape, rub a pea-size amount of pomade through hair to define and shape layers or to create spiky strands.