I love that authentic vintage curl, it's so glamorous. In my last blog I mentioned that my hair doesn't respond to heat! If I use a curling iron by the end of the day I end up with flipped under ends, no matter how bouncy it was when I left the house! So I took heat out of the equation and did some investigating, now I only do wet sets, and with that I actually use foam rollers!
To start things off you are going to want to dampen your hair. I tend to use a spray bottle, if you have washed your hair make sure it's to the point where it's almost dry. If you try to curl on hair that is too wet, you will wake up in the morning, take your curlers out, the curls will fall and you will be upset - trust me.
When you wet you hair, the molecules in your hair sort of fall apart, so when you roll it up and allow it dry this way, those molecules will form in that curled shape. This is also why wet sets last longer for those of us whose hair doesn't maintain a curl.
If you use foam rollers, they take some experimentation, I had to get a good hair cut to remove dead ends because I found that they increased the amount of frizz on my ends. Along with that, you're going to want to decide how you curl them. I do alternating curls, over-under-over-under, just changing the direction of your curl. This causes that nice "S" shape with the deep waves. This does take practice, I've been doing this some time and I still have a few bugs to work out as I continue using them. |
I use the half inch rollers on my bottom layers to help hold this curl, I think because my hair is so straight when I use all one size they don't blend they way I'd like and sometimes even go kind of straight. - You can get these rollers just about anywhere including Walmart, a full package with all sizes is about ten dollars but for individual sizes it's closer to four. I really recommend the inch and half inch to get a not too tight but not too loose curl.
Now once you have all your rollers in, you're going to want to wrap it with something. I used to use a bandanna but didn't get enough air flow. I have A LOT of hair so even when my hair isn't very damp I need a lot of air. I wear a chiffon scarf to hold those rollers in! My suggestion to you, is going to be get a minimum of eight hours of sleep, this ensures dry shiny curls in the morning.
When you begin to take your curlers out, make sure you are unrolling them not pulling them. If you pull them out it will create static and frizz that wasn't there before and it will be harder to get a nice neat set.
The next product I can't say anything bad about is going to be the Vintage Glam Spray from Sally's, it's about $3, it smells amazing and even though it says freeze, don't be afraid - it doesn't leave your hair rock hard. It holds it to serious perfection, if you do a lot of vintage styling I really recommend it. |
Since I first started the life of a pinup I've religiously watched Pinup Doll Ashley Marie's youtube channel, she recently attended a class by His Vintage Touch and she's been spreading the good word - to really make that curl last, spray the ends with a generous amount of your preferred hair spray and the blow dry the ends. |
So here you have it, my everyday forties brush out, I'm really happy with this set, and I can say - it comes from using good quality products and a lot of practice, it takes a lot of practice. Your first couple brush our's may take twenty - thirty minutes, but once your get the hang out it you can have your hair set in about ten. Let me know what you guys think of this blog - and tell me what you would like to see in the future!