An amazing amount of time, effort and money are spent each year by women who want to add curl to
straight hair (or add more curl to the wave they already have). Most women find a method of doing so that they are comfortable with and
stick with it, even when the results are less satisfying than they had hoped.
Women who try various methods to curl their hair for styling purposes soon learn that some methods
work better and produce longer-lasting curl than others. Usually, the length of time the curl will last increases with the amount of
time it takes to create the curl. This makes some methods unsuitable for some women, particularly those who need to style their hair
quickly as part of their daily routine.
So, we’re going to take a look at the various methods of curling the hair, the results that you can
expect, and the pros and cons for each method. It should be noted, however that these methods can be made more and less effective by the
type of styling product used or the lack thereof, respectively. A wet set on rollers that is heat dried will produce longer-lasting and
firmer curls when you add in a gel styling product for maximum hold than when you simply wrap the roller set with water.
As you’ve heard explained before, the wave pattern of the hair is held in place by the side bonds in
the hair. The three types of side bonds are divided into two categories: physical side bonds and chemical side bonds. The physical side
bonds are salt bonds and hydrogen bonds and are easily broken by the application of heat and moisture (water) to the hair. These are the
bonds that are affected by the curling methods we will be discussing. The chemical side bonds are disulfide bonds and are only broken
through chemical processes like perms and straighteners. None of the methods we discuss here will have any effect on the chemical side
bonds of the hair.
Roller Sets:
We start our list of curling methods with the heat-dried roller set. This process uses both heat and
moisture and therefore breaks more of both types of physical side bond in the styling process. Heat and moisture can each break both of
the types of physical side bond. Using one or the other usually breaks sufficient side bonds to allow you to alter the hair’s wave
pattern. Using both heat and moisture means that more of the physical side bonds are broken (and subsequently reformed) which accounts
for the extra-strong curl created.
When you wrap wet (or freshly shampooed) hair around a roller the water has already broken a large
portion of the side bonds. Wrapping the hair around the tool positions it into the shape of curl you want to have, and you have a wide
range of sizes from which to choose. You can even mix and match roller sizes to create more natural looking wave patterns. When you place
the wrapped hair under the dryer, you add heat to the process which breaks additional bonds which may not have broken previously. As the
hair dries, most of the bonds that were broken begin to reform in the new shape. Once the hair is dry, you allow the rollers to cool
completely which completes the reformation of the side bonds and gives you very strong curls that will last until your hair gets wet
again.
The cooling step is just as important as any other step in this process. It is also very important
that the hair be fully dry before taking down the rollers. This means that, for some women especially, a heat dried roller set can take
a considerable length of time. A well-practiced woman with shoulder length hair can probably wrap her hair on rollers in 30-40 minutes,
depending on the number of rollers she uses. This can take longer if her hair is particularly dense, because she will need to use more
rollers.
