The Wrap

A classic styling technique used by women with coarse and wavy hair types to create a smoother, flatter style is The Wrap. In this style, the hair is styled into a spiral around the scalp and dried smooth to the scalp so that when it sets (dries), the hair is combed to soften the styling product and styled into a flat, smooth, sleeker hairstyle.

The style is especially popular among African-American women because of the fact that it works especially well for this hair type. You get especially sleek results from relaxed hair, and the smooth styling tends to be long lasting.

The style works well on short and medium-length hairstyles since longer styles can become too heavily layered to dry well and evenly. Generally, the shorter the hair is when wrapped, the quicker it will dry and the better the result. If you are a woman with short to medium-length hair that is coarse and wavy, give this style a try if you want to reduce the amount of volume in your hair.

What you need:

• Styling product (gel or setting lotion)

• Combs and brushes in a range of sizes

• Tissue paper strips (can be obtained from beauty supply shops)

• Hair clips

• Curling iron or flat iron for finishing

• Rollers (optional)

• Hair dryer (hooded or blow-dryer, optional)

Styling:

After shampooing, conditioning, and towel-drying the hair, apply a generous amount of your favorite styling product. Choose the product based on the level of hold you desire.

As an option you can start in the crown section of the head and use rollers of the desired size to add height to the style in the crown area. If you want the entire style to follow the scalp closely, then skip this step.

Comb the hair outward in a radial pattern from the crown of the head, keeping the hair smoothed flat to the skull. Once you've smoothed the hair completely around the scalp, continue around the head, shifting the angle of the direction a bit with each pass. As you make subsequent passes around the skull, increase the curve of the hair. The goal is to comb the hair smooth all around the head with no bumps or ridges.

Once the hair is in place and smoothed, take a tissue paper strip and wrap it around the ends of the hair at the perimeter of the hairline. This is done to keep the ends of the hair flat against the head. Secure the paper strip in place using hair clips.

Allow the hair to dry, either by using a hair dryer or naturally. Once dry, use your wide tooth comb to reverse the process of spiraling the hair. Use finer and finer grades of combs as the hair loosens. If needed, you can dip the tips of your fingers into warm water and touch the hairs at the scalp to allow you to redirect them without losing the smoothing effect. Just try not to get them too wet.

Finishing moves:

Once you have completed the comb-out process, you can style the hair as desired. If you included rollers at the crown, you should have a nice lift in that area. The hairstyle can be finished by using a flat iron to smooth the ends to perfect straightness or a gentle curve, or by using a curling iron to add accent curls or to help direct the hair into an inward or outward flip. The possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination and the length of the hair you are working with.

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