Lipstick, Lettuce & Lycra

Curling the UnCurlable – Your Complete Guide to Vintage Curls

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by

Retro Chick
in ,

These days I sport curly hair a lot.

But I was once the owner of the worlds most resolutely straight hair.

I would spend hours curling hair with tongs, mousse, heated rollers and any number of other promised miracle products, and always within 2 hours I had straight hair again. There’s nothing wrong with straight hair of course, but curls are undeniably glamorous. They feel nice for a special occasion and they make creating up dos far easier, and I wanted curls, dammit.

In this post you will find all the tips and tricks I acquired over the years for curling hair and creating long lasting styles that don’t drop. As well as some quick fixes for any disasters!

Dita

My very first experiments with curling hair with an old fashioned wet set were back in 2010. Since then I’ve almost perfected the art, though there’s still days where they drop quicker than I’d like. So this is my attempt to create the complete guide to curling hair vintage style.

These are some things that might help if you have hair like mine and are struggling to get your hair to hold a curl. For some more tips you can take a look at my Week in the Life of Hair post, which includes photos of how I arrange my curlers!

Some helpful products to start with. More on these throughout the post.

Healthy (straight) Hair Often Doesn’t Curl Easily

If your hair is resolutely straight, smooth, healthy and shiny then you’re probably going to have to do it a bit of damage to get it to stay curled. I’ve successfully beaten mine into submission with years of setting lotion and now bleach. If I let it get too long and curl it a lot then the ends can be terribly dry and frizzy as setting lotion is alcohol based and dries out the hair. You’ll see lots of places with products promising to hold without damage, I’ve yet to find one that works, if you haven’t either I suggest you save your money from now on.

The good news is that if you only want curls occasionally the damage from setting lotion isn’t too bad and regular deep conditioning helps. If you do want to set it more regularly then you’re going to have to be aware that you might get frizzy ends and have to get a trim.

How to get Vintage Curls by wet setting your hair

Which Setting Lotion Should You Use?

I used to use Amami till they discontinued it, I now swear by Stay Set, which is normally with the perming lotions in large Chemists and costs about £2. Superdrug also have an own brand. Some people dilute it with water, I use the strong hold version neat, decant it into a small spray bottle and spritz each strand before rolling. When you unroll your hair will be crispy, but brushing soon fixes the crispiness I find, and maybe a touch of curl creme on the ends.

Suggested Products:

Stay Set Setting Lotion, Extra Firm £2.19

Superdrug Extra Firm Setting Lotion £1.49

Boots Essentials Curl Creme £1.99

 

What Curlers Should You Use?

Well, that depends on how tight you want your curls, whether you’re sleeping in them, and how tolerant you are of sleeping in them! I find I get a tighter curl using sponge rollers at the front, and large and medium perm rods at the back where my hair is shorter. I need about 10 rollers and 10 perm rods to do all my hair. Some people find these insanely uncomfortable to sleep in, I don’t find it a problem.

If you want a looser curl then I find that pin curls give a slightly looser finish and less frizz. You can pin them flat to the head or standing up for more volume. Take small strands of hair, about an inch square, and fold the end in then roll towards the head. Either pin the curl flat to the head with crossed pins, or make a stand up barrel curl and slide a grip across the bottom of the curl. If you’re sleeping in them I recommend kirby grips for comfort, if not then the double pronged grips are good

I will use rollers if I’m curling my hair regularly as I find they last longer, and look at their best by day 2 or 3, if I want my hair to look good for an event tomorrow morning, or even this evening, then I will use pin curls.

Velcro Rollers-mn

Velcro rollers I find give a looser curl again, and are entirely impossible to sleep in (I’ve not tried the sponge ones though) I would recommend velcro rollers for giving a smoother bounce and volume to hair rather than a tight curl as you don’t get a lot of tension on the hair with them.  Maybe for a more 60s inspired look.

You can also buy sleep rollers, which are velcro rollers with a sponge middle, though I haven’t tried them myself!

A tail comb is useful for sectioning and combing through, but I have managed with a normal comb, or even a brush in a pinch.

Suggested products:

Sponge Rollers £1.79

Sleep Rollers £5.19

Perm Rods £2.39

Kirby Grips £1.49

Curl Clips £4.99

Tail Comb £1.19

Which Way Should I Roll?

This seems to be the thing that causes most confusion. The simple answer is – “Whatever way you want your curls to fall”

Roll UNDER at the back of your head and the curls will naturally curl under, rather than flicking out. For those Dita style barrel curls at the front you will want to roll the hair forward, if you roll it backward, away from your face, you will have Farrah flicks.

How Should I Brush it Out?

Once you take curlers out you will look like little orphan Annie. If you want beautiful smooth 1940s waves, or even frizzy 1920s curls you’re going to have to brush it till it looks how you want. A natural bristle brush with some synthetic bristles to dig into the hair is ideal. The larger bristles detangle and the natural bristles smooth. Use your hands to position the hair where you want it and make sure it bends the right way and doesn’t flick out.

I use a small brush from Kent, as I find it easier to manage.

If you need a little help calming frizz at the ends then hair oil, curl creme or serum are all handy depending on the weight of your hair.

Suggested products:

Kent small natural bristle and nylon paddle brush £6.99

Hair Oil £6.99

Curl Creme £1.99

Hair Serum £4.99

How Do I Make it Last?

How long a set will last will depend on your hair type and how much damage you’ve already done it, but there are a few things that will make it last longer, and even look better after a few days.

Rule 1 is don’t get it wet. Don’t go anywhere humid, stay out of the rain, wear a hat if it’s so much as drizzly and make sure you wear a shower cap in the shower.

Overnight, Re-rolling dry hair into pin curls before bed using a touch of Boots Curl Creme gives me smooth bouncy, springy curls the next day. It also works if I’ve got caught in the rain briefly and want to revitalise the curls. I don’t smear it on my hair, literally I touch my fingers to the creme, rub them together and then just curl.

Failing that, and extreme laziness is a disease I suffer from, then wearing a slumber net or head scarf to bed will help the curls last a little longer. They’ll be slightly looser next day than if you re-roll them, but will last longer than if you did nothing.

Lastly, just setting lotion is unlikely to get your hair through a day in the British weather. I absolutely swear by Tresemme Freeze Hold hair spray, even you’re wearing your hair down. A quick spritz will give your hair a little more help to get through the day, and then just give it a brush before bed to smooth it out again.

Suggested products:

Boots Curl Creme £1.49

Slumber net £1.09

Freeze Hold Hair Spray £4.69

What If It Doesn’t Work?

If you get caught in the rain, your hair falls flat in the middle of the afternoon or your pin curls just entirely fail to curl then cheat.

A handbag stuffed with kirby grips and elastic bands means you can create an emergency up do, even it’s just a bun and a fringe roll. In colder weather a beret is your hair emergency hiding friend.

Do you have any tips for un-curlable hair?

Comments

51 responses to “Curling the UnCurlable – Your Complete Guide to Vintage Curls”

  1. Helen Mae avatar
    Helen Mae

    I also have the kind of hair that just won’t curl most of the time and I’ve tried loads of different curling methods without much success. I’m currently favouring sponge rollers as they seem to produce the best results of anything I’ve tried, but I might have a look at getting some of the products you’ve mentioned to see if they work any better than my current ones.

  2. Melody avatar
    Melody

    I’m giving up on pin curls! I have long hair that’s not too thick and not too fine, with layers cut in, somewhat damaged from bleaching and dyeing, but the ends are in good[ish] condition, but whenever I pin curl a] FRIZZ CENTRAL 2] they just never curl how I want. This might be down to the fact I have to dry set, even if my hair is 99% dry, I’ll end up with weird kinks and no curl.

    I’m getting a curling tong to try out a rockabilly-esque sort of curl at the ends of my hair [does that make sense], but failing that I’ll have to do some intense reading into pin curling again..

  3. Miss Fairchild avatar
    Miss Fairchild

    Great post…I have naturally wavy hair so my set lasts me a whole week (I recently made it to 9 days….). But I have some friends who I will be sending this too. They have so much trouble curling their hair.

    Thanks lovely!

  4. Porcelina avatar
    Porcelina

    This is the ultimate how-to guide, I love it! For me, the main lesson was learning that when my hair is different lengths and different styles, the type of curl that will last/suit will be different. When my hair is long the sheer weight of it will pull out a tight curl, but that I can do a good Veronica Lake type wave. When I have my hair shorter, I can do something a bit more ‘bouncy’. I have never found a cold set effective, I always need heat to tame my tresses.

    I think I’m just trying to say that I agree with you that people need to experiment as everyone’s hair is different, and what works on one person will look different on someone else!

    P x

  5. Brittany_Va-VoomVintage avatar
    Brittany_Va-VoomVintage

    Oh my goodness, sounds like we have the exact same hair!! I went to a professional to get a perm and my hair wouldn’t accept the perm, it came out straight as can be! I live in St Louis, which is beyond humid so the only way for me to keep lasting curls, even in this awful weather is to pin curl. I use Lottabody setting lotion sometimes but most often, a simple water set will work fine. I have found that if I spray my hair with setting lotion, blow dry completely, then hot roll, the heat sets last a lot longer too. I wish I would have known about pin curls and hot rollers a lot earlier in life. I always wanted curls as a teenager. I’d spend hours trying to curl but by the time I curled one side, the other side would be flat! An excellent post!!

    1. Gemma avatar
      Gemma

      Hot rollers ahve never really lasted long in my hair, I do wish I knew about setting lotion years ago though!

  6. Miss Meadows avatar
    Miss Meadows

    I have the same straight-hair problem. Another problem is that my hair is waist-long and so not really the perfect length to do vintage curls with. But – to cut, or not to cut, that is the question… 😉 xx

  7. Louise avatar
    Louise

    I have hair which doesn’t curl too. Fine but lots of it. When it was longer I always found setting lotion to be my friend and when I grow it out, I will be using it again. Great tips. X

  8. miss rosette brune avatar
    miss rosette brune

    Thank you so much,
    great tips, I will definitely buy that kent brush,
    just one thing I would like to add, my hair is healthy and straight but it holds the
    curls well,
    thanks again

  9. Lori Smith (@lipsticklori) avatar
    Lori Smith (@lipsticklori)

    I had no idea that the reason my hair goes frizzy at the ends when I wet set it these days is because of the length, so thanks for that. I also swear by Tresemme freeze hold hair spray. Couldn’t maintain my fringe without it.

  10. emily marlow avatar
    emily marlow

    good tips!
    I’ve always had trouble getting a good curl to stay
    I’m going to try this tonight 🙂

    emily
    http://whatemilywears.blogspot.co.uk/

  11. Sarndra avatar
    Sarndra

    Thankyou!! I hope I can find similar products here in Australia or ship them over