• Choose an iron with a ceramic or tourmaline – NOT metal – barrel. Metal barrels can seriously dry out, burn and damage your hair, whereas ceramic curling irons seal in moisture and leave your hair healthier than before.
• Turn the heat up high. How high? That depends on the texture and thickness of your hair, so use your own judgment, but remember than African American hair tends to be coarse, so you’ll probably need to crank the heat a little to add the curl you want.
• Use a thermal protectant beforehand. This will prevent the extra high heat from frying your locks!
• Dry your hair completely first. You can’t use heat styling tools on wet hair, because the heat can actually cook your hair! Not pretty.

After curling, try pulling your hair into a half-up, half-down style a la Alicia. Your romantic style is sure to rake in the compliments!