No heat, no problem. People have been creating texture without the use of hot tools for centuries; from ancient African cultures using sulfurous mud to shape and set the hair in curls like an early permanent wave to rag curling and its lockdown reinvention; TikTok’s obsession with dressing gown-cord curls. Heatless techniques are particularly popular in Black hairdressing, allowing the wearer to achieve new textures without compromise on condition. Bantu knots, finger coils, two-strand twists, braiding and setting hair on flexi rods, straws and any other handy, bendy material are just some of the ways to bring lasting texture to the hair, without turning to heat or chemicals. To straighten hair without heat, African threading can be used to stretch and shape hair. Indigenous to many parts of Africa, the technique sees hair tightly wrapped in thread or wool to gently form a new texture without the use of heat.