I don’t know if there’s a not-hair-kind, but I don’t need steamroller advice or, uh, printing press advice or anything, so I figured I’d better be specific.
I got some hot rollers a few months ago, thinking I’d Do Something With My Hair. It’s getting a little longer (more of a chin-length bob, I guess) and I’ve had it super short for years, so I really don’t know what on earth to do with it. I’m also growing my bangs out for added hate-my-hair. I tried them when I got them and quickly realized that hot rollers are one of those things that women used to learn as teenagers and I may have missed the educational window. I told my mom I bought some and she said “Why? Isn’t that like buying a butter churn? You could have my old ones but they’re probably a fire hazard.”
So here I sit, trying them again. I really need some pointers, guys. I read online but it isn’t very helpful at all. I’m sure I’m going to be disappointed when I take them out - it’s going to look like it could look really awesome, but not quite make it. For one thing, my hair is very fine (although there’s a lot of it) and pretty straight. I have a hard time just getting the rollers in to start with. They have some sort of velour wrapping on them, which is supposed to make it easier for my hair to “stick” to them, but no dice.
Also, they’re really freaking hot!
Another issue I have is that I can’t get a lot of volume at the roots. I guess I can’t get them to stay rolled all the way to the ends - is there a better way to do this? Honestly I’m really bad at doing any of this stuff to my hair - I don’t have the experience at working with it. You should see it when I get done rolling it up - it looks like I got in a fight with the rollers and it ended in a draw.
How do you guys use them? What kinds of looks should I expect to be able to get? What sort of product should I be using? Wet? Dry? (I don’t even know how to use products, really. This time I’m trying mousse since I read it online. Failure, I am sure, is imminent.) How long should I be leaving them in? Just until they cool? There is no way I’m sleeping in them. This time I think I screwed up and put them in not hot enough, also.
Anyway, I’m going to go pull them out and get mad at them. Help?
Wow. It’s… large. It may be in charge. I think I like it, I just wish I understood what to do with it now - is there a way I could have had more defined curls? How to style it without deflating it? I just sprayed some hair spray (again something I don’t even know how to use) and said what the hell and wore a zebra print skirt. I’ll take some pictures tonight (we’re going out for my birthday) and maybe you guys can tell me what I’m doing wrong here.
LOL I am queen of hot rollers, or at least I was when I was a rodeo queen. Big hair was part of the deal.
Here are a couple quick tips
Never start with clean hair. Work some mousse into the roots before you start and then lightly spray your whole head with a curl product. I like Bedhead’s Uptight.
Start at the top of your head and work front to back. This means if you have a part naturally you will be working against it.
Make sure to leave them in until they are COMPLETELY cooled down.
Before you take them out lightly spray your head with some hairspray.
Take them out and flip your head over, run your fingers through the curls to separate them. Flip your head back over and again lightly spray with hairspray.
Unless you are just looking for some body to your hair DO NOT BRUSH the curls. Your hair may look huge at first but should settle down nicely after about 30 mins.
Have fun!
Barrels
Just to expand a bit on Barrels excellent advice, I would advise you to start with clean hair that you’ve deliberately dirtied up a bit with a product of some sort. The product, whether it be mousse, hairspray or gel, helps the hair grip the roller with a double benefit of holding the curl longer as well.
My hair is stick straight, baby fine, and there’s a lot of it but unless I begin with clean hair initially before putting some product on it, the heat from the rollers turns my slightly dirty hair a bit greasy which, in my experience, won’t hold a curl as long and doesn’t look as pretty.
Also, this may not be obvious so I’ll mention it just in case, but smaller rollers result in a tighter curl, and the larger rollers result in looser curl or more of a body and movement look. And the size of the chunk of hair you roll affects the size of the curl also … smaller chunks = tighter curls, big old chunks = looser curls.
In my experience (which is admittedly decades old, I haven’t touched hot curlers in eons - too damned lazy), the longer you leave the rollers in after they’ve cooled, the longer the curls last, unless you live in the deep south like I do and then as soon as you hit the humidity outside they begin wilting. About 15 minutes was my minimum, with 25-30 minutes just about right. The idea is to heat your hair to the shape of the roller and allow it to cool to the shape of the roller, which sort of “sets” the curl.
Don’t pull on the rollers to take them out, unwind them carefully. If you want more body all the way to the roots, pull each strand of hair upwards and against the direction in which it grows before rolling it.
Listen to all the above advice - but don’t worry about it! I’ve gotten the best complements on my hair when I just washed, sprayed a little product on it, snatched it up in a clip and slept on it!
LOL! Yes I was a rhinestone blinging, fringe swinging, wrangler wearing, rodeo queen. For several years in fact
And you are correct on the part thing. Each curler should have hair from each side of your part on it, so that means a roll of curlers right down the center of your head. But that’s only for the top of your head. On the sides you would have the curlers go the other way or anyway that works to get them in.
How did your hair turn out? Did it calm itself down after 30 mins or so? When I was queening I had to use 2 sets of hot rollers to do my hair. I have long thick thick hair and it took 2 sets worth of curlers, some piggybacked on other rollers to get all my hair curled. You don’t want to know how much hairspray I went through!!!
You can also do them backwards … that is, hold up the section of hair and stick the roller up as close to your scalp as you can get, and then wind the hair around the roller so that the hair closest to your head is the first to go 'round the roller. This gives my hair a little more volume at the top (where I need it most).
I’m packing up my house and when purging the bathroom I came across all my failed roller attempts. Poker straight, fine hair.
Damned if what I needed was a rodeo queen. The only time I was ever able to have somewhat slightly big hair was when I had a former pageant friend work me over with her technique. I’m takin’ your advice Barrels!
btw, cite on the 'do? I’d love to see a pic of you all dolled up.
I just bought some hot rollers for the first time since the '70s, and I couldn’t get the hang of it again. I’m taking them back and sticking with my Really Fat Curling Iron. I have thin, fine hair and those hot little suckers are more trouble than they’re worth.
I use hot rollers almost everyday, and my set is falling apart. It’s time to buy a new set…I think I won these at an Officers’ Wives Club luncheon back in 1985. I don’t have the patience to stand around with a curling iron…with the rollers I can put them in, go about all my dressing and makeup and take them out when I’m done. Too much to do in the morning to stand there doing one section of hair at a time…that’s why I’ve never gotten the hang of styling while blow-drying, either. Not coordinated enough.
I’ve recently begun hot rolling my hair again to straighten out the natural wave and give my hair a little more body at the scalp. I bought a new velvet set, which I then ditched in favor of my old set with teeth. My hair kept slipping off the velvet ones.
If the metal clips aren’t gripping enough to hold your hair, you can buy a set of plastic grips that work well. I’ve found that the plastic grips work better holding finer hair as well as roller that are set lower on the scalp (e.g. near your neck).
Other tips:
*Lift up a section of hair, put the roller BEHIND the hair and roll away from your face. Roll as tightly as you can comfortably. Ignore parts in your hair.
*Use clips to hold the non-working sections of your hair into place out of the way.
*Don’t put too much hair in one roller. It shouldn’t spill over the side. If you have a lot of hair, you might want to invest in two hot roller sets.
*The heat from these things can really damage your hair so use them sparingly.
Make sure you start rolling at the end of your hair. It’s really easy to put the curler down your hair a little and then roll, but that makes a little section at the end with a kink in it that will make it stick out. So make sure you start rolling at the very ends of your hair. If you do end up with a couple ends sticking out weird just take a curling iron to them until they submit.
I can’t get the ends to roll, though. They just don’t. I end up having to put the roller halfway down and haul the ends around, which end up sticking out. Is there a secret to this or something? (Remember, I have really fine hair.)
I’ll take some pictures tonight (we’re going out for my birthday) and maybe you guys can tell me what I’m doing wrong here.
