Curler help needed!

[Vintage Rose]

So, C-dot in her middy thread has inspired me and laid my fears to rest. I'm going to cut my hair. However, I don't have time to sift through all of the thread to glean setting and curler info (I have two little one's circulating about at all times and they limit my free time). Does anyone have advice for the following. I liked the hair set on the pics right after C-dot's tutorial. I will have slightly below shoulder-length hair in (hopefully) her variation of the middy type cut. I am kerflumoxed by the curler sets at the store. They have several sizes in a pack and there doesn't seem to be enough in there to curl all my thick hair. Do I buy more than one pack? Are the different sizes for different parts of the head? What style of curler is the easiest to use, sleep on, etc.? I don't have time for pin curls right now and I will probably be setting my hair just before bed. Any online tutorials for this? What should I buy. What is setting lotion. HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!!!

Also, if I were to invest in hot rollers for when I am in a hurry, what is everybody's favorite and which ones are kindest to hair? THANKS SO MUCH!

 

[C-dot]

How much experience do you have with roller sets? As I'm sure the ladies will tell you, trial and error is the best way to learn.

If it helps, my hair in those after pictures was done with 1-1/4" plastic snap-on rollers. NOT comfortable to sleep on, but so easy to set: I rolled the entire thing horizontally in no particular order, and brushed it out the next morning. This can be done wet or dry (dry will come out looser, and require less brushing.)

Sponge rollers come in all sizes and are comfortable to sleep on. The smaller the roller, the tighter the curl. You could buy two packages of 1" (pink), they're incredibly versatile.

Setting lotion will help your hair hold a set. It can be difficult to work with, especially because of the texture and amount to use. Lottabody is a good one - I've found strong hold mousse works well also. Again, if it helps, I have pin straight hair and I don't use any lotions for everyday sets (because I like big, loose curls.)

I can't think of any online tutorials (others will, I'm sure) but I highly recommend Vintage Hairstyling by Lauren Rennells. She explains exactly how to roll hair for the right effect, and how to recreate certain styles.

Phew! lol

 

[Frenchy56]

From my own memory of browsing the forum when I was starting out, pillow rollers seem to be a favourite for sleeping on, I think they have a clasp which makes them secure, but they are soft. I haven't tried them as they don't seem to be available here, but I get the impression they are not too hard to find in the US, so you should be fine.

From personal experience, for sleeping purposes - which IMO is the only way you'll get a decent set, unless you've got a lot of daytime time free - rags are most comfortable, but quite fiddly for the uninitiated. I would probably recommend sponge rollers, they're the first ones I bought. I'd recommend you use them with end papers though, especially if your hair is layered.

If you won't need to sleep on your sets, I would recommend the snap-on plastic rollers. Easy to roll, secure, and from my experience they give the shiniest, smoothest, bounciest, well-defined curl. I have slept in them, but as C-dot says they are not comfy and might be discouraging to a beginner (I know I couldn't have coped with them when I was starting out!).

Just to add, I think I've been through just about every method of curling- rags, various rollers, perm rods, two kinds of pincurls - and trust me, a lot of it is trial and error, finding what works best for you, your lifestyle and hair type. Fortunately these aren't really expensive items so you should be able to experiment easily. Best of luck!

 

[Smumo]

I wear 3 sets. I wet set my hair before bed every night except Friday nights. I use 1 inch foam rollers for a set very similar to what C-dot posted in the middy thread. I cut my hair using her instructions on Wednesday night and the set still works. One of my other sets uses pillow rollers, I roll them spiral vertical and sleep on them. My last set (my Saturday one) I use my hot rollers. 1 1/4 inch size I roll everything "up" and if it flips right I wear it and if it doesn't I pin it all in a chingon and call it a day.

When I roll in sponge rollers I put tissue paper on my ends (you can either buy tissue paper or you can by "end papers" from the beauty supply. I know some people use toilet paper, but that's too linty for me!) I go up about an inch from the end and I wrap the end around the curler until it's secure then I roll up or under just like you would with a curling iron. It helps to roll the end around the roller a bit like this before rolling up because if you don't you could end up with a kink at the bottom and nobody wants that.

When I roll with pillow curlers I am doing a spiral so I start at the root of my hair and roll it around working towards the ends. It's more like wrapping than rolling. If you've ever played tether ball, it's a bit like that. You have to roll those vertical instead of horizontal though because otherwise they will just fall out in the night.

You can buy pillow curlers at most drug stores (Walgreens, CVS, etc.) or at places like Wal*mart. I bought my sponge rollers at the beauty supply because you can buy them by size rather than a multipack of a bunch of sizes I won't use.

I have a set of magnetic rollers (plastic ones with the little silver clamps that hold them in) and they by far produce the best curls, however they can't be slept in (or at least I can't!) and I don't have time to dry them and you have to do that.

I hope some of this was helpful, I feel like I'm rambling.

 

[Vintage Rose]

All of these were helpful! I hit Sally's beauty supply today (I could have WAY too much fun there!) and bought pink sponge rollers, end papers, and lottabody. I am at the moment waiting for my hair to dry a little bit and I'm going to give it a shot. I thought I'd try it once before I cut it to see kind of what it will do. I'm not sure whether I should roll under or up. Which did you use for the set, C-dot?

 

[Frenchy56]

All of these were helpful! I hit Sally's beauty supply today (I could have WAY too much fun there!) and bought pink sponge rollers, end papers, and lottabody. I am at the moment waiting for my hair to dry a little bit and I'm going to give it a shot. I thought I'd try it once before I cut it to see kind of what it will do. I'm not sure whether I should roll under or up. Which did you use for the set, C-dot?

That sounds good! Remember that you have to dilute the Lottabody according to your hair type. If you don't mind me answering, rolling under will make the curls turn under and towards your face, and rolling up will make them flip up and away from your face. I always roll under and I think a lot of people on here do as it seems to be most appropriate for vintage styles.

Just a word of advie with the sponge rollers, of course you need to keep the hair taut, but if you wind too tight you'll end up with very tight, frizzy curls that are difficult to unroll. The sponge rollers will compress anyway, more so if you sleep on them, but by keeping an eye on the tension you'll reduce the risk of looking like a poodle (this is from experience!).

Also, I don't know how experienced you are with setting, I'm guessing you're quite new- do you know about brushing techniques? I think there's a thread or a video tutorial round here somewhere that explains how to tame that inevitable 'clown hair' look you get when you first unroll (don't worry, it's easy).

 

[Vintage Rose]

I did dilute the lottabody (I think I did it right). Sleeping was not as bad as when I was watched as a child by an older lady and she set my hair in these horrible plastic ones with spiny brushes. YOUCH. I will hunt down the brushing instructions. Thanks! I did okay, although at first I was afraid it would be seventies era hair, I pulled the sides back with a little bit of a roll and it was quite pretty. It POURED as I was leaving the house, so the curls got a little limp. Does anyone know how to keep it kind of curly for more than one day, or is it just something you must do every night? Also, anyone know how to do that thing with a scarf from the forties that women did to keep all their hair up without ruining curls? You know, the scarf tie with the knot in the middle of the top of the forehead? My little girl talked about me putting my "curls" in, and she wanted me to put "curls" in her hair, too. I think I'll do rag curls for her birthday. I did those once a LONG time ago.

 

[C-dot]

All of these were helpful! I hit Sally's beauty supply today (I could have WAY too much fun there!) and bought pink sponge rollers, end papers, and lottabody. I am at the moment waiting for my hair to dry a little bit and I'm going to give it a shot. I thought I'd try it once before I cut it to see kind of what it will do. I'm not sure whether I should roll under or up. Which did you use for the set, C-dot?

I rolled the curler under my hair, like you should always do (Is that what you mean?). Rolling it up and over can work if you want a really dramatic flip (a la Cher in Mermaids), but that's only at the ends. You won't get much volume if you do that to the root.

If you're wearing your hair down and loose, you don't need to set it every night. Pin it all up on top of your head at night and take it down in the morning - this works for me, for about 3 or 4 days. Also, be sure to keep it out of moisture. When it rains, you can try tying a scarf around it:

Speaking of scarves, I'll try to explain the Rosie the Riveter scarf technique without a diagram: Fold a square scarf into a triangle by joining corners on opposing diagonals. Holding the two tails, place the scarf along your bottom hairline with the pointed edge toward the top of your head. Tie the two tails at your forehead, and tuck the pointed edge under the tie.

If you try it a few times, maybe it will make sense... I tried anyway lol

 

[Tatum]

VintageRose, check the first post on the Hair Tutorials thread. There are good brushing tutorials there!

 

[Vintage Rose]

C-dot, this may sound remarkably stupid, but how would you pin them to the top of your head so that they stay there while sleeping and keep the curl? I know you have been walking me through this, thanks!! I'm a rank beginner at the hair part of vintage stuff.

Tatum, thanks! I checked out some of the hair tutorials. Would my foam roller set be as sturdy as the pin curls? It seemed like I couldn't brush them out as much or they would have gone away. The video had LOTS of brushing. Is this due to my lack of middy-style cut, not enough lottabody, or are foam roller sets always more delicate?

 

[C-dot]

Not a problem, I love talking about hair styling techniques! I don't mean to come off as a know-it-all, but I've been through all the experimentation before (with my own hair, and other peoples) and have a pretty good idea of what works.

Don't worry about sounding stupid, no question is stupid! I got the idea from seeing Gene Tierney eating her breakfast in bed in Laura. What I do with my hair is grab it from the back bottom, twist it around once, and secure it with a duckbill clip directly on top of my head. The side hair sections will still be loose, so I brush them upward and clip them right on top aswell. It looks like a crude version of this:

Just make sure all your hair is brushed upward from the root. If it's folded over itself in any way, the curl will flatten.

Also, foam roller sets should stay up just as well as pin curls. I used to be afraid of brushing them out too, but they're pretty sturdy.

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

With the humidity we have been having in Minnesota summer you might lose more curl during the day. I like to just do some big loose pin curls with bobbie pins at night. My curls aren't as tight in the morning but I can keep em going for a few days this way too.

 

[Vintage Rose]

This has been an issue. I've been having to set it almost every night! Yesterday the curls just fell out. It was a double wammy, wind and humidity. My hair doesn't like to hold a curl in the first place. During middle school when spiral perms were all the rage, I tried three times to get a perm. It literally fell out the next day. Any tips to help fine, thick, hard to curl hair withstand humidity? Or just keep a set for longer than a day? However, C-dot's tips for sleeping in curls helped me skip one night of rollers. Thank you, thank you.

 

[Tatum]

Vintage Rose, sorry I didn't see your post until today. Everyone's hair acts differently, that is the best I can tell you. Sometimes I brush the curl out, other days I can't brush it enough. You will find the best method for you by experimenting.

For example, Gracie Lee was here for a weekend and we set our hair identically, using the same methods... Her curls fell to waves pretty quick with brushing, and I was brushing for a while and still had curls. Mine is naturally wavy and thick with a body wave for extra help, hers is fine and straight.

Didn't you say your hair was thick, but doesn't hold curl well? Is it at all damaged? It seems that a little damage helps. I get a wave once a year to help hold curl.

My best advice: try everything, every kind of set. Wet, dry, hot, cold... You will eventually find what works for you.

 

[Frenchy56]

This has been an issue. I've been having to set it almost every night! Yesterday the curls just fell out. It was a double wammy, wind and humidity. My hair doesn't like to hold a curl in the first place. During middle school when spiral perms were all the rage, I tried three times to get a perm. It literally fell out the next day. Any tips to help fine, thick, hard to curl hair withstand humidity? Or just keep a set for longer than a day? However, C-dot's tips for sleeping in curls helped me skip one night of rollers. Thank you, thank you.

VintageRose, Tatum's advice in the post below is very good. I just wanted to add, though, about the humidity issue: in my experience, and probably a lot of others, humidity or any kind of dampness will make set curls drop/fall out, and wind just makes it worse. Windy weather on its own is not so bad, but moisture it seems is the kiss of death (something to do with the bonds in the hair I think). Before I had my perm my hair was fine and stick straight, and my even freshly-set curls would come out or drop significantly if I went out in the rain or on a muggy day. Now that I've had my perm it's quite a bit better, though I wouldn't recommend going down that avenue just yet. (Btw, I'm not sure if a 'spiral perm' is the same as what ladies would have had in the 40s and 50s, maybe that's why it didn't work- perhaps it's just a temporary thing?)

My own tips for preserving sets would be: avoid products other than setting lotion - even my extra hold hairspray makes my curls drop!- as I find they weigh the hair down and pull out the curl. Pin up and cover hair at night. Try not to fiddle with them too much in the day. Don't unroll until absolutely dry. Also, I used to set it slightly tighter than what I actually wanted, and just put up with more curl on the first day, as this meant the curl stayed longer than if I'd rolled it to look looser. This is where sponge rollers are great as they often give a slightly smaller curl than the roller itself, because of the way the material compresses.

Headscarves tied turban/Rosie-style are a great way to cover your set in adverse weather too!

 

[Miss Elisabeth]

My own tips for preserving sets would be: avoid products other than setting lotion - even my extra hold hairspray makes my curls drop!- as I find they weigh the hair down and pull out the curl. Pin up and cover hair at night. Try not to fiddle with them too much in the day. Don't unroll until absolutely dry.

The last several sets I've done have had this exact problem - It took forever to dry, so I took them out, rerolled them into loose pin curls, and let them sit from there. The options were either that or taking it out damp and brushing it flat, and I didn't want to do that! Then, because the days were cold and humid (yay PNW!) and I was going to be outside the entire time, I used hairspray after I brushed it out. Immediate flatness. I've had such success with sets in the past, and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong now. My hair is about 6-7 inches below my shoulder - not really that long, in my mind, but longer that the 1940s intended for it. I've been using rag curls or sponge rollers, and the problem is the same either way I do it. A set takes an hour to put in, going fast, because I try to do smaller sections of hair for each curl - to speed drying. Then the problem becomes combining lots of smaller curls into one wave.

Ergh and le sigh.

 

[Frenchy56]

A set takes an hour to put in, going fast, because I try to do smaller sections of hair for each curl - to speed drying. Then the problem becomes combining lots of smaller curls into one wave.

Ergh and le sigh.

Miss Elisabeth, is the problem with the curls not being dry and properly set? If so, is using a hairdryer for a little bit beforehand not an option? I have to do this with my (permed) hair, or it never dries! As it seems you know, there is a hell of a lot of difference between a not-quite dry set and a properly dry one, and you might find if you roughly dry it before you put the rags or rollers in it makes all the difference.

 

[Miss Elisabeth]

Miss Elisabeth, is the problem with the curls not being dry and properly set? If so, is using a hairdryer for a little bit beforehand not an option? I have to do this with my (permed) hair, or it never dries! As it seems you know, there is a hell of a lot of difference between a not-quite dry set and a properly dry one, and you might find if you roughly dry it before you put the rags or rollers in it makes all the difference.[/quote

Yes, basically. I usually start with dry hair and comb in a setting lotion. From what you're saying it looks like I've just been doing it far to wet - I'll let it dry half way next time and see how that works!

 

[Frenchy56]

Yes, basically. I usually start with dry hair and comb in a setting lotion. From what you're saying it looks like I've just been doing it far to wet - I'll let it dry half way next time and see how that works!

That sounds like it should work. I'm almost certain that setting hair that is only slightly damp will be better than setting dripping wet hair. Even before I had my perm I would have to at least towel dry my hair before I put in my rollers. Good luck!

 

[C-dot]

That sounds like it should work. I'm almost certain that setting hair that is only slightly damp will be better than setting dripping wet hair.

That's the problem - Hair won't dry properly from dripping wet unless you leave it in the set for 12-14 hours, more if you have longer hair. Give it a vigorous rub with the towel before you set it, and that should do the trick. This will also solve the problem of your sets being either too tight or too loose.