What can I do to help my very long, fine hair stay curly after I use a curling iron? I love the look of loose curls in my hair, but the style only holds for a few minutes before slipping out entirely. It's very frustrating. Hairspraying after curling isn't enough. Do I need a mousse beforehand? Gel?

Suggestions?? Am I just doomed...

I don't know if I have the same kind of hair as mine is also thick. If I use gel or mousse, I have to use too much for it to hold and it makes my hair look greasy. I got a body perm and am very happy. I have to blow dry it straight so it won't have tighter curls, then use the curling iron. I use Frizz Ease (very lightly) so it won't look frizzy from the perm. But now I can finally have loose curls and they stay all day.

I also have long hair, but mine isn't thin, it's rather thick actually and still won't hold curls well at all.
I've tried curling irons before and they don't really work for more than an hour.
I recently got Vidal Sassoon Professional hot rollers as a gift and decided to try using those. I absolutely love them. I think you can get them relatively cheap and they work really well.
All you have to do is heat them up for maybe 3-5 minutes and roll them on.
The ones I have heat up even quicker but I leave them on a bit longer just to make sure that they're warm enough. The instructions say to leave them in your hair till the rollers are cool... which I've tried and although the results are great, they don't last very long since they cool pretty quickly.
What I do is wash my hair, dry it really well, put the rollers on and leave them in my hair for about 2 hours (or longer if I have time). The curls look awesome and last almost all day even without any hairspray or mousse or anything. I don't like applying too many products after I curl my hair.

I hope this helps. It definitely works for me.
Good Luck!

I have the same problem.. Curling irons are very time consuming (as I have a lot of hair) and don't last. I recommend using a type of rollers like the person above me said.

I find if I wet my hair at night and braid it, or put it in curlers, it will stay in the morning with a little bit of spray/gel.

I also have fine hair, a little past shoulder length. I've used this combo for years and has never failed me. Use Bed Head's Superstar gel before blow drying - leaves hair soft and full of body. After curling, use Rusk's W8less Plus hair spray to style, then lightly spray w/ Kenra 25 hair spray. My waves/curls last all day - without being sticky.