Hair Plopping

So when I spoke to my best friend about doing a hair plop tutorial, and showed her the pictures, she couldnt believe I was going to post such goofy pictures of myself. I on the other hand with my excellent self esteem can handle the goofiness. It is who I am so lets get on with it....

Hair Plopping. What is it? Its a technique used to help wavy/curly hair hold its curl. It is also super easy to do.

First, Here are some pictures of my hair on a "normal" day. No plopping here....just my normal flat hair with a curling ironed ends if I felt like it. And yes I'm Goofy and I know it.


               



Here is my hair normally after a shower. Mainly straight, a little wave.

This was before my comb through. This is straight after removing the towel from my head. So I combed my hair through and put some mousse in it. This was pretty normal if I were to try and leave it wet to air dry, but I don't do that anymore since I learned to plop. Put a good amount of product on your hair. I also give it a few sprays of my favoriate Aussie Instant Freeze Hair Spray and I am ready to plop.

So what do you need in order to Plop your hair? Your husbands or a Large/XL tee shirt. A T-shirt? Why a T-shirt? Well the cotton fibers of the shirt allow it to breathe better than a towel. Take your shirt and lay in on the bed with the sleeves facing you.

Now, flip your head over and I mean all the way over. Gather hair gently as to not pull or stretch any of it, but let it pile up on itself in the middle of the shirt. Press your head against this pile of hair so that your head is holding the hair on the shirt. This is not an "attractive" pose, therefore no picture was posted. Ha. :)

Once you are all set with your head pressed to the shirt take the bottom of the shirt, (which is above your head) and bring it up to your neck, tucking around your head to hold in place. Then bring the top of the shirt (which is below your chin) and bring it up to your forehead and around. Tuck it in around your head. Next grab the sleeves on each side and at the same time....start twisting. Keep twisting until they are fairly tight. If you dont twist them tight enough, your top and bottom shirt pieces will not stay. Once you get them twisted, pull both pieces to the back. At this point you have 2 options. Put a hair tie (rubber band) over the pieces to connect them, or tie them in a knot. It will look like you are princess of the mushroom tribe.  

So how long do I have to leave this mushroom goddess look on? Well that is up to you. The longer your hair, the longer you want to keep it so it can dry out some. The point of plopping is so that when the hair dries...it doesnt have gravity pulling on the curls. I usually only plop my hair overnight because it is so long, but for exercise purposes and needing to leave the house soon I kept in up for 20-30 minutes. If you hair is slightly shorter, You can do this while getting dressed, putting on moisturizer, makeup or what have you. Then when your time is up...(or in my case when I wake up in the morning)

 Wa-lah!  Now just touch it up with some additional mousse (whatever product you use) and some spray. Do not comb it out. Style as you desire. Wish these pictures were better quality. Now, because my plop was only for 20-30 minutes, I didnt have as much curl as I normally do. It still was good enough for the evening.

I was pleased. If I do an overnight plop soon, I will be sure to post pictures as my hair gets much curlier. Hope I have inspired you to plop. It just might change your world forever!

Until then....

Stay calm....and lets go to the Plop!