Q&A: How to Use Hot Rollers

Scared of hot rollers?

Afraid the bouncy curl they produce won’t last or will be more limp than bodacious?

Don’t worry you’re not alone.

But if you stay stuck in your fear you’ll never rock the life changing looks only possible from using these hot little hair secret weapons right.

Fortunately here’s …

Okay this burning question involves how to use hot rollers.

It’s no surprise these are something a lot of people want to know how to use.

So let me ask you. What comes to mind when you think of rollers for your hair? Maybe it’s sitting around with a head full of “curlers” looking like a ’50s housewife primping for the big Elks Lodge Surf and Turf dinner? If so you wouldn’t alone.

But you also might want to rethink that. Because today’s hot rollers aren’t anything like what your grandmother used.

In fact anymore these are styling tools that give you an easier way to achieve a lush, natural-looking fullness or lively, bodacious curls you can’t get other way. Created way faster than you ever might with a curling iron.

Interested?

Great! Let’s see if we can’t help you create a hot roller heat wave.

Cue the Voluminous Special Effects

But wait! Bigger and better than the curls you can produce with your trusty curling iron?

Most definitely!

In fact you’ll find that hot rollers are surprisingly versatile. You can use them to do more than just add some curl to your hair. Since this might be a big deal for you let me quickly suggest four ideas.

• For one, large rollers make it easy to add volume or healthy lift at the root level without damaging your hair by exposing it to the extreme heat of a curling iron.
• Straight hair can be instantly transformed almost effortlessly. Giving you those soft, gorgeous, girly curls that have to be seen to be believed.
• Even naturally curly hair can be tamed and brought in line with hot rollers. Simply dry and set the rollers in place. Taking care to match the size of the curler used to the size of your normal curls. Lightly tousle once the rollers have been removed and voila! Instantly behavin’ curls. Better than you ever thought possible.
• No time for a great blowout? No problem. Just fake it. The trick to looking like you’ve rocked a bouncy blowout is to use very large sections of hair on jumbo sized rollers. Sticking maybe four or at most five of them in your hair. You’d want to roll the hair above each ear and then stick two or three towards the back of your head. After removing once they’ve cooled down brush lightly. The result will make admirers think you’re a dryer maven.

See why hot rollers are considered to be a well kept beauty secret weapon by some?

So when someone asks if hot rollers are better than a curling iron you can set them straight. More versatility, less heat damage, much longer lasting curls and with the different sized rollers there’s the potential for different sized curls all over your head.

Plus if your hair is curl resistant or doesn’t hold a curl well, a spritz of hair spray and leaving them in your hair beyond 10 minutes gets you maximum staying power.

Let’s Take This a Step At a Time

This is easier than you might have thought. And can cut morning mirror time dramatically.

Fire It Up
Turn on the appliance as nothing happens until the rollers are hot. And you want them hot for maximum effect.

By the way, these are perfect if you are rushed in the morning because you can turn the rollers on and go about your beauty routine, put on your make up, or shower, or whatever and they’ll be ready when you are ready for them. Exactly when you turn them on naturally depends on how long your unit takes to heat up.

Don’t Forget the Heat Protectant
Work heat protectant through your hair. You can’t forget this. Even though these beauty wonders are less likely to damage your hair than a curling iron you still want to protect those precious strands of yours.

Dry Hair Only
Blow dry your hair. When using hot rollers you want your hair to be dry. They tend to work better and produce more defined curls when working with completely dry hair.

Section
Depending on how anal you are, you can take great care or not so much when sectioning. But typically you’ll use a rat tail comb to section your hair into evenly sized sections that are an inch or two wide. In no case do you want any that are wider than the roller you’re going to be putting in. Simply smooth each by brushing gently before wrapping and then wind away.

Depending on the look you are trying to achieve you might want to go with thinner sections toward the front and thicker ones towards the back. Use pins or clips to secure these in place.

Need Extra Holding Power?
If you find you have problems holding the curl you can apply light hold setting lotion or spritz some light hair spray. Mousse or gel can help hold the curl too. Still what you’ll want to do really depends on your hair.

Roll It Up
All you do is grab a section or hair, roll tightly, and clip it. Usually you want to start in the middle of the section, wrap from the middle to the ends on the roller, then roll it up to your scalp.

Yet did you know how you wrap your hair also affects the outcome? Typically rolling from the roots down gives more volume while rolling from the ends up gives you more of a wave.

Or you might want to start with the roller in the middle and wrap the lower portion around first. Then wind the rest of the hair around the roller up to the scalp. This is supposed to give more lift at the roots.

Also how you put in the roller determines the type of curls you end up with. Rolling horizontally results in a more classic curl. While if you want more of a spiral wave you’ll want to set them vertically.

Or for longer hair, you might just wrap the bottom half around the roller. This will create the appearance of long, yet voluminous, curly hair.

Then just like a larger barreled curling iron produces a more relaxed curl, larger rollers will give your hair more body and volume for a more bouncier look. While smaller rollers produce tighter curls. Which makes sense when you think about it. Because when wrapping a smaller section of hair, more hair gets heated setting a tighter curl.

See? There’s more technique involved than you might have thought. Every twist and turn gives you something different. How you do it is a personal preference. But hopefully you are getting the idea that you’ll want to experiment with your hair to see how where you start the roller changes the curls that result.

Leave Them In
How long you leave them in is determined by how much curl you want. For maximum effect leave the rollers in place until they are cool. How thick your hair is also affects how long it takes for them to work their magic.

Unfurl and Style
Carefully unclip them and remove the rollers from your hair. How much definition you want in the curls determines how much you work your fingers through your hair tousling it gently to separate the strands.

Tip: Backcombing a little around the crown of your head can add a bit of lift and volume. Or you can use volumizing hair spray to do much the same thing.

For All Day Hold
Finally lock the bounce and body in place with control hair spray lightly sprayed all over. The right one will give you the hold you need without making your hair stiff and lifeless.

And there you go.

As you can see there are a lot of little tricks you can try to see how they work for you.

Also you’re unlikely to get perfect results the first time. So don’t be surprised or disappointed, if like most things with hair care, that practice is required to get fast and good at using these. Or not. But it’s likely you will need to practice and experiment with them some until you know how to reproduce the look you want consistently. But you can most definitely create a variety of looks with hot rollers.

Of course it’s one thing to tell you how to do something. Another thing entirely to show you. So I think you’ll find this video does a great job of explaining the process.

Hot Roller Video Tutorial

Terrific’s Take:

Okay so we’re reminded that the size of the rollers determines the kind of curls you end up with. Smaller rollers equal a tighter curl. While to get a more relaxed look, you’ll want to use larger rollers.

What you need:

• The hot rollers (some will heat up in less than 2 minutes)
• Wire Clips
• Teasing comb
• Hairbrush
• Volumizing mousse
• Light weight hair spray

Plumping mousse is applied when her hair is still damp. It’s spread on her hands and worked through her tresses. Focusing this on the crown and roots will add volume and help hold the curls.

The jumbo rollers are applied across the top section of hair to give your hair serious body. Some may call that top section a “Mohawk” for obvious reasons. It shouldn’t be any wider than the actual curler itself however. You’ll want to section that part horizontally and overdirect the hair forward when putting in the curler. This gives you even more volume plus results in a more natural look.

It’s also a good idea to use a bit less hair for the front most section. This gives a bit more definition to the hair. The roller is set a bit lower than the half way down the strands. Wrapping the hair to the ends and the rolling to the scalp.

Each section is loosely defined and then wrapped around the roller.

Once done with the top each side is set in rollers. Dividing each side into four sections.

Tip: To avoid burning your ear you might slip a folded tissue over it to protect it from the heat of the roller.

A light layer of hair spray is applied while the rollers are in place.

To remove the rollers it’s easier to start at the bottom, take out the clip and get them all out. Then gently shake the curls loose.

For extra lift, the hair near at the crown is given another shot of hair spray and then backcombed just a bit.

Finally to preserve the soft curls a light hair spray is applied throughout the strands.

9 Roller Tricks You’ve Got To Try to Help You Lock ‘n’ Roll

• Many find that second day hair holds the curl best. So if you plan on hot rollering just don’t wash your hair. This works because hair that is dirty is a bit coarser and more receptive to what you want it to do.
• You may not want to curl your bangs as this leaves you with pieces of hair to frame your face.
• When your hair is in the curlers, you can see what using a blow drier to blow over each curler with hot air followed by a final cool blast does. The idea here is the cool air will help set the curl.
• Heated rollers should always be used on dry hair only. If your hair isn’t dry you risk ending up with a rather limp and lifeless curl. In other words a less than pleasing final effect.
• Assuming your set comes with different sized rollers, put the bigger rollers where ever you want more volume and smaller ones where more curl is desired.
• The most defined curls come from leaving the rollers in until they have cooled down totally. This may be 15-20 minutes for some. And if you want looser hair with some curl, wrap larger sections of hair.
• You want to unroll the rollers gently. Sometimes once you take out the clip they’ll more or less fall out. To style you can bush a little knowing the more you brush the more curl you take out, use a blow dryer or run your fingers through the curls to break them up for a more natural look.
• Spritzing a light shot of hair spray all over your head can help hold the look.
• It’s worth the time to blow dry the curls on the cool heat setting before unrolling. Then lightly finger comb the curls out. Or you can brush them to get more of a glamour look. The more you do to your hair however, the looser the curls will become.

In summary, hot rollers are gentler on your mane.

They’re faster than a curling iron and there’s no risk of burning yourself.

Plus it beats sleeping in rollers all night to get big sexy curls.

Buyers Guide: Hot Rollers 101

Depending on whether you are looking to channel Beyonce or the tots on Toddlers & Tiaras when shopping for rollers there are a few things to keep in mind. Let’s look at several important ones real quick.

How fast do they heat up? Obviously some of these sets heat up in seconds, others in minutes, and others still will be ready by the turn of the next century.

Ceramic or velvet? You can get heatsetters with ceramic or so called velvet rollers. Admirers of both offer differing views of their benefits.

• Ceramic being hollow are lighter. They often have some type of ribbing or “teeth” to help them get a better grip on your hair.
• While those preferring the velvet flocking will tell you it can help minimize heat damage and may even add to the shine quotient of your mane. Plus they leave behind no telltale lines or creases.

Is there an on/off switch? Having one conveniently located will let you leave the unit plugged in and ready to go.

What type and how many clips are included in the kit? Some like butterfly clips because they can get a good grip on the roller and hold it snugly in place for superior styling. The downside? You may be left with crimp marks on your hair. That’s what those favoring alligator clips will tell you. Others like the clips you slide in as you saw demonstrated in the video.

Dry or steamed? There are heat setters that use moist steam to help set the curl.

Naturally this may not be all you need to know when out and about shopping. But it’s a start.

Clearly hot rollers can give your mane a healthy lift. You should now not only have a better idea how to use them, but you’ve got some little known tricks to try, and possibly better understand what to look for when buying them. This way you too can be thrilled by the beautiful results produced every inch of the way.

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