Next time you decide to curl your hair for a big event, consider this: There are a few factors that determine whether you’ll wind up with with loose, sexy movement a la Miranda Kerr or tight prom-ish spirals best seen on Honey Boo Boo.
These factors include the natural texture of your hair, how hot your iron is, how long you hold the heat to your hair, the method of curling you employ and the products you use to seal the look. But the ultimate factor in how defined your curls are comes down to one thing: The size of your curling iron. The general rule of thumb is that the larger the barrel of your iron, you looser your curls will be. Not exactly a newsflash, but sometimes its difficult to choose one size because you have no way of really visualizing how it’ll work. So here’s a little breakout of curling irons by size, complete with an example of the sort of shape you can expect from each size.
Curler By Number: Your Guide to 7 Types of Hot Tools
