I generally do my hair in paper bag curls about once each week (and sometimes more frequently!). It’s so much fun, and without fail nearly every week I receive questions about my paper bag curls. So here you have it: everything you wanted to know about paper bag curls!

<3 curls.

1) How do paper bag curls work?

I recommend watching this awesome video by Michelle Phan for the best step-by-step instructions!

The basic idea is that you take lunchbag-size paper bags, snip the bottoms off, and then cut each bag into strips. Wash you hair and let it air-dry for a short while (maybe 15–30 minutes, depending on the length of your hair), before taking small sections and wrapping a strip of paper bag around the curl of each section and rolling it up. It’s also a good idea to clip half of you hair up so it’s out of the way while you’re dealing with all the sections.

The paper bag strips keeps your little sections of hair all curled up around your head, just like rollers, and then after sleeping with them in, you can take them out in the morning. You hair will have dried in curls by the morning. And that’s how paper bag curls work!

These curls!

2) How long does it take to do your hair in paper bag curls?

It usually takes me about 30 minutes to put my hair up into the curls, and then about 15 minutes the next day to remove the paper bag strips from my hair. My hair has gotten super long, so when it’s not curly, it’s falls almost to my waist. It might take you a lot less time to do paper bag curls!

Paper bag curls are a beautiful option for no-heat curls #hairstyle

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3) Why don’t you just use a curling iron or rollers?

Honestly, I’ve never been very good at using things like blow-dryers, curling irons, and straightening irons. That’s the fundamental reason for why I don’t use those things.

Of course, there’s the underlying piece that heat styling can be damaging to your hair if you do it every day and all the time! I’m sure rollers would work just fine too, but I’ve had little foam rollers in the past and they never worked. Paper bag strips are the only thing that I can seem to maneuver with my hands and get a look that I like.

I like the curls best like this – not too tight and not too loose!

4) Do you use any product with paper bag curls?

I would advise not using too much product when you’re doing paper bag curls, because it can be a huge pain to try to comb or brush out if you’ve left the curls in for a couple days! Everything gets much more tangle with product.

However, if you are going to use product, I recommend Bumble and Bumble Brilliantine. It smooths out frizzies and flyaways and makes you hair look fantastic in general.

Looser curls.

5) If I want to put my hair in paper bag curls, what are some tips you have for me?

One of the most important things to consider is how curly you want your hair. If you want super tight curls, you can roll the paper into your hair when it’s almost dry. If you want looser curls, roll the paper into your hair when it’s still quite wet.

I usually do something in between; I’ll let my hair air-dry for about 30 minutes (keeping in mind I have very long hair and it takes a while to dry) before starting the curls. The curls generally lose their intensity as the day goes on, so you might way to aim for tighter curls.

Got any other paper bag curls questions I haven’t answered here? Share in the comments section below!

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