Heat-Free Curls: A Millennial's Guide To Mastering Flexi Rods

There’s a conscious effort for Black women today to show up for themselves, whether at work, at home, or anywhere in between. They are intentionally returning to their roots and embracing their natural beauty. It’s about their style, confidence, and fierce resilience to be the best they can be.

For so long, Black women were pressured to fit inside a box and lacked the confidence to wear their natural hair due to the fear of not being accepted into some set of societal beauty standards.

You’ll find Black women displaying all types of hairstyles, which represent their creativity and individual uniqueness. Of all of these styles, their natural curly hair is one of the most uplifting and empowering styles to wear.

Love HelloBeautiful? Get more! Join the HelloBeautiful Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Subscribe

We care about your data. See our privacy policy.

To achieve this look, they’ve mastered the art of applying flexi rods to their hair to acquire a look that screams bold, beautiful, and unstoppable.

Unstoppable Curls And Flexi Rods

Accomplishing the perfect set of curls comes with intention and precision. It requires the right wash routine, identifying the style of curls you want, and most importantly, having your favorite set of flexi rods handy.

What Are Flexi Rods?

Flexi rods are a styling tool used to create dynamic and defined curls through a technique of curling your hair without using a flat iron. Flat irons are widely used to achieve curls (and still are), but many Black women prefer the flexi rod routine to avoid the heat damage that flat irons cause.

Flexi rods come in a wide range of different sizes and materials, which all serve their own purpose to accomplish a specific style of curls.

Sizes

• Small rods are thinner rods, approximately ⅜ inch in diameter, to achieve a tighter, more spiral curl pattern
• Medium rods are used for a natural curl styling that’s not too skinny and not too bouncy, but loose
• Large or jumbo rods, no smaller than one inch in diameter, help achieve curls that have more bounce and appear to be a lot looser

Length

• Short rods work best for women with shorter hair
• Large rods work best for women with medium to long hair

Material

• Foam base with satin coverings for a more comfortable, everyday use
• Foam base with velvet coverings used to reduce friction and frizziness

When choosing the type of curls you want, it’s important to ensure you’re using the appropriate type of flexi rods.

(Re)Mastering The Flexi Rods

Now that you’ve identified the curl styling you want or what makes you feel like the superwoman that you are, the fun part is about to begin. Nothing can stand in the way of a woman who feels dominant and looks fierce, as well.

There are many steps you need to take to ensure you achieve bouncy, defined, and healthy heat-free curls.

Wash

It’s important to start the process with clean hair. Flexi rods work best when your hair is clean and has a light dampness, to take advantage of the full functionality of the flexi rods.

Applying The Proper Products

There’s probably nothing as important as applying the foaming mousse that works best with your hair. 

Along with foaming mousse, you can also use a leave-in conditioner or curling cream. These products are used to set in your hair to ensure the curls hold when you put in the flexi rods.

Styling Outline

You want to section off your hair. At this point, you should already have a visual of the final look of the product. 

Sectioning off your hair now helps when you curl your hair in the flexi rods. How you section them off is dependent on how loose and bouncy you want your curls to be.

Wrapping Your Hair

After sectioning off your hair, you can now begin wrapping your hair around the flexi rods. The key is to comb through those sections of hair to detangle any hair and reduce frizziness. 

Once combed through, start by wrapping the ends first to ensure they don’t come loose. Then, spiral all the way up for a nice hold.

Repeat for all the remaining sections.

Letting Your Hair Dry

The most testing step of this whole process is allowing your hair to fully dry. A head that’s fully dry determines how well the curls will fall once you unravel the flexi rods. 

Stay patient in this step; you’ve come too far just to start over!

Unraveling The Flexi Rods

The key here is to carefully unravel the rods in the same direction you curled them in. You don’t want to risk the pattern of your curls not from falling as they should.

Finishing Touches

Once the flexi rods are removed and your curls have fallen, you can now style them how you see fit. 

Use your fingers to fluff out any areas that need more definition and separate any curls to increase maximum volume for more bounce. And that’s it! You’re ready to go.