I love BIG hair, maybe because I’m a product of the 80’s or maybe it’s just the fact that you change the visual appearance of the hair, and person, to such a great extent. Being a mobile Hairdresser traveling through the many varied suburbs os Sydney I get to see a vast array of big styles, some good, some…well, they’re just a bit scary. So here’s the “how to” on using hot rollers to get a professional look.
It should go without saying that you need freshly washed, clean hair. Remeber that low quality shampoos and conditioners could leave a residue on the hair making it hard to work with or weighing it down, so I recommend something like KMS addvolume shampoo & conditioner with eucalyptus and cinnamon to help create fullness.
Next thing is to dry the hair (after turning your rollers on to heat of course). Taking about 70% of the moisture out by roughly dryingfirst, then straightening the hair out to give maximum “stretch” to the hair. When the hair is stretched out, it will hold the curl better when the rollers are put in. Try to get as much root lift as you can during blow-drying and hold the section up as you let it cool as the cooling will help set the structure of the hair to give volume.
Because most hot rollers packs don’t contain that many rollers, take large sections (about twice as wide as the roller), and roll the hair down so that the roller sits in the middle of the section. When they are all in, lightly mist the hair with a light to medium hold hairspray, holding it out as far as you can. Hairspray is designed to be “misted” so the closer you hold it to your hair, the greater the chance of it beading or clumping in the hair which will give you whitish blobs when it dries and make it harder to work after the rollers come out. Now grab a glass of wine and wait for the rollers to cool down.
I assume that by now your relaxed and have applied your make-up while the rollers were cooling, so now to taking them out. The biggest mistake people make it pulling rollers out. Hot rollers should be unwound as this will keep the curl integrity, you can always stretch them out later. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Once they are all out, toss your hair forward and using your fingers near the scalp, just your hair a good shack to loosen up everything. then the big flick back (think “i’ve got a scene in a James Bond film).
Now it’s time to separate the curls a bit by starting at the scalp and gently sliding your two middle fingers down the hair and pulling apart when you reach the botom. The more separating you do, the bigger the hair will be as the curls will stack upon each other, but be gentle as rough treatment will give you frizz rather than curl. When this is done, start to arrange the curls into the desired shape until you’re happy then lightly mist with hairspray again. Remember that the curls will drop over time, so if it’s too curly to begin with, let it drop a bit before applying the spray.
A light to medium hold spray will help hold the curl but also give flexibility allowing your hair to move, so avoid heavy the duty ones. Enjoy your night out!