This week gave me a superiority complex.
I, sincerely, do not believe you can be in a bad mood if you have amazing hair or wonderful clothes. That might be the materialistic side of me, but it’s surely a side of me.
I also shouldn’t have binge-watched the entire series of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel before writing an article about hair rollers because now I feel like a 50’s housewife about to make her debut, and I’m not mad about it.
If you’ve been online lately, you might have noticed that many hairstyles now feature big, fat curls. Blowouts are in — the bigger, the better — and just like with everything else in this world, the past is present in the beauty universe.
The big curl trend was so fun for me to see, but something I never thought I’d be able to achieve. My friend is a hairstylist and has been begging me to let her do big curls on me for months now. I always avoid anything that might add time to my morning routine. I was never the girl who spent hours on my makeup and, honestly, I don’t think I know enough to justify spending any extra time on that routine anyway.
Plus, I already have curly hair.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve slept in braids. I have naturally curly hair, but braids make my hair ‘perfectly’ curly and tight. Any naturally curly-haired person will tell you that curls can be the most inconsistent things in the world. Some days, you wake up looking like a million bucks and feeling like a model. Other days, you wake up looking like you’ve just come out of a fight and haven’t taken a shower in a year.
So, I always took the easy way out with my braids, but not anymore.
My Experience
Every Markey Tries It article I write makes me realize just how right my mom and grandmother were.
I grew up with hair rollers all around the house. My grandmother’s style hasn’t changed in the past 60 years (not an exaggeration, I did the math). She always has perfectly cropped curled hair. That woman has slept in rollers for the entirety of her life. And she rocks it.
One of the most vivid childhood memories I have is of my mom coating her hair in hairspray as it sets in her many rollers. I remember trying to be like my mother and rolling my own hair up on the bristled edges of the curlers. I failed.
My mother would always look at me with my naturally curly hair and tell me how lucky I was that I’d never have to do this.
Well, now I’m lucky enough to try it.
While no one can knock the power of a good curling wand, hair rollers provide a natural bounce that many other hot tools cannot. Hair rollers give your hair a more natural bounce than a curling wand or a straightening iron would. The direct heat from the tools often weighs your hair down, while the rollers keep some life in it. You can also avoid the strange and unnatural creases you sometimes get with heated tools when you use rollers.
Hair rollers are also much easier to use if you’re on the go. This week, I’ve done my makeup, made breakfast, and even watched a TV show while my hair has set to perfection.
Starting the rollers was the hardest part of the week. I don’t love technology or anything new. It scares me. No matter how much my life might be improved by this technology, I have to sit on it for a bit.
The first time I tried the rollers, I failed. They fell out, it took too long, I didn’t love it, and the bounce was too in my face for me to see anything. But I learned, and the second time I used them, I fell in love and will never go back to braids.
Hair Roller Tips
Using hair rollers isn’t as complicated as it seems. I used the BaBylissPRO 20 Roller Hairsetter and was intimidated as heck by it, until I watched a few videos.
If you want the big, bouncy curls that are trending right now, use the bigger rollers. If you want to frame your face with smaller, tighter curls, use the smaller rollers. Your curls will fall, so if you’re concerned about looking like Curly Sue, don’t be.
If you’re using non-heated curlers, Tippi Shorter, a celebrity hairstylist, Mizani Global Artistic Director, and curl pro suggests those with curly hair should have about 60% of the moisture from washing still left in their hair if they want it to retain the curls. She recommends people use a leave-in conditioner to keep the hair hydrated, and to use hair oil once the rollers are finished working their magic.
That tip is for normal curlers, not heated ones. Don’t use heated curlers on wet hair – it’s not going to work out well and you might end up setting your head on fire. Not a great idea.
You also want to roll the curlers as close to your scalp as possible. No natural curl starts halfway down your head and neither should your roller curls. This might take some finagaling and adjustments, but you’ll get it.
I also found that the longer you keep your rollers in, the bigger your curls will be, even if the heat is gone.
My Week
I decided to dive head-first into the curlers and try them the first morning I got them. I’m sure I looked like a fool.
My roller set came with 20 rollers, pins, and clips. I heated them up while I was getting ready and they heated up quicker than I expected. The velvety flocked rollers were soft and the material made it easy to touch them and wrap your hair around them without getting burned. Yes, they were warm and I wouldn’t suggest holding them for too long, but I was never as worried as I am with my curling wand.
My rollers kept dropping when I first tried to put them in, then I realized that the huge pins that were included in the kit were not just a suggestion. They were meant to be stuck at an angle into the roller and your head, keeping the rollers from falling. It’s shocking how much you learn when you read instructions.
I also didn’t end up using as many rollers as I thought I would. I have shoulder-length hair, but it’s thick as heck. It always takes me hours to curl or straighten my hair, but it took me only five minutes to put the rollers in. I left the bathroom to make breakfast and, 15 minutes later, came back to take out my rollers. The directions said 10, but I’m an overachiever.
I was so impressed with my curls. I loved how bouncy and voluminous they were. Often, when you put heat on your hair, it will crimp and flatten. Because these rollers lost their heat, they kept the body of my hair gorgeously bouncy.
I would suggest you wait a bit for the curls to fall naturally, especially if you’re like me and keep your rollers in longer than the instructions suggest.
The rollers also aren’t too hot when they’re heated, so I didn’t need to be concerned about heat damage to my hair. I would suggest getting a setting spray or heat protectant spray if your hair doesn’t normally hold a curl, but I only used a bit of hairspray and didn’t think about it for the rest of the day.
After my first day failure, I was ready for success on the second day.
I put the rollers in (again, they take all of 5 minutes to put in), then puttered to the kitchen to make breakfast. My 10-minute timer went off the second I sat down to eat, so I ignored it. Then, I got to work. Three hours later, I realized the rollers were still in my hair and I was truly becoming my grandmother.
I took the rollers out and stood in awe. I have had my hair professionally curled many times. It’s usually after a $400 bill at the hair salon and it has about 40 products in it that I’ll never use again. This was better.
The curls were fat and bouncy, the definition was stunning, and my confidence was inflated to the max.
My Review
If you’ve seen the big curl trend and have been itching to try it, please do. I don’t think I will ever be content with my hair any other way after trying these rollers. They’re wonderful and easy to use.
I loved BaBylissPRO 20 Roller Hairsetter because of how simple it was to use, but also how many variations of curls I could try. There are so many smaller rollers, so if you wanted to roll your hair every day, you could still get a different look each time.
All in all, these rollers absolutely did change my life and my hair is truly spoiled now.
Do you use hair rollers? Are you going to try? Let us know in the comments below!
For More Markey Tries It Articles, Read These Next:
