By Alison McGill
I have natural curls, and I love my hair big and bold. My hair is voluminous by nature, and sometimes I want to switch up my ringlet curl pattern into something a little more refined but still have lots of bounce. I am not great with a curling wand, a round brush or an air wrap tool, but there is one retro hair tool I am a master of: hot rollers.
I am so happy to see hot rollers are not only back and trending (see Gigi Hadid’s roller set bob at this year’s Met Gala), but that modern technology has made them better than ever. To the uninitiated, trust when I say using hot rollers is *so* easy. Heat, wrap, set, style, and jueje…that’s pretty much all it takes to create perfect, hot roller hair.
Hot rollers most definitely had a massive moment during the ‘80s and ‘90s in the era of glossy Supermodel hair (Cindy Crawford was the undisputed queen of hot roller sets!), but electrical rollers have been around for almost 100 years, invented by American inventor Solomon Harper in 1937. “Hot rollers have evolved through the decades to achieve iconic hair trends,” says Jackie Cronin, who is Drybar’s senior sales manager of education and events, prestige beauty. “Today, hot rollers have regained popularity as a tool to achieve full-bodied curls in less styling time. Delivering this type of curl with volume is very hard to do with a traditional curling iron or air wrap.”
Cronin says tools like Drybar’s The Roller Club Curling Hot Rollers ($175, sephora.com) work for hair of all lengths; the secret lies in the size of the 10 rollers which are mix of smaller and larger barrels which work with short and long layers. Another bonus with these rollers: they are longer than traditional ones which means express styling because you can wrap larger sections of hair.
If you are new to hot rollers, Danielle De Guzman who is Drybar’s North American sales manager, prestige beauty, offers some savvy user advice to achieve pro-level results. “Ensure each section of hair is the same width of the roller so that you can achieve the fullest curl,” she shares. “I recommend working in no more than two sections.”
Before you get rolling, don’t forget to treat hair before you heat with a product specifically formulated for dry styling like Drybar’s Hot Toddy Heat Protectant Mist ($39, shoppersdrugmart.ca). Spray on after brushing and detangling hair, then section into three parts: Left, right and crown. Contrary to what you see in all those hot roller TikTok videos, De Guzman recommends starting with the bottom pieces of your hair and leave the crown and bang sections for last.
“Position the roller vertically, start from the ends and wrap the section of hair around the roller, then roll it away from the face from ends to roots and secure with a clip,” De Guzman explains. “For extra volume at the crown, position the roller horizontally and over direct the section of hair slightly forward in an upward motion and roll from ends to roots. When removing rollers, always let the hair naturally fall into place. A secret pro tip is to twist sections of hair slightly around your finger while the hair is still warm for more defined curls.”
The length of time you need to set hair varies according to texture. For fine hair, leave rollers in hair for up to 20 minutes; for medium to thick hair, up to 15 minutes. Once you remove rollers, play with hair and tousle into place with your fingers, then finish with a shot of flexible, long-lasting hair spray. How long does a hot roller set last? Cronin says hair can look fresh and fabulous for up to three days.
On a personal note, I have been using Drybar’s hot rollers for the last month and have to say I’m not sure how I lived without this styling set in rotation. They have been a hair savior on hot, humid days and truly deliver the most perfectly polished curls. Hot (roller) girl summer is a vibe that I’m so here for.
