No heat, sexy-curly hair is yours for the twisting.
Those weird bendy rollers you’ve never used are actually a Hot Tip for adding texture to damaged hair.
When you’ve done as much bleaching ‘n’ toning as I have, there comes a point when your hair will quite simply be done. It “can’t even,” or whatever teenagers (millennials?) say nowadays. Treating it with anything less than the utmost respect instantly results in stretching, snapping, and a multitude of other verbs you never want to associate with hair.
The problem with hair like mine is that sometimes it wants to rebel — all strands stand as far apart from each other as possible — in a classic “triangle head” situation. Short of washing it, applying ten masks, five serums, two oils, and allowing the painstaking process of drying (spoiler alert: porous hair is super absorbent of water), there’s little that can be done, short of whacking it up in a bun and trying your hardest to ignore it. Until now.
I bought a pack of what I believe are scientifically called "bendy foam rollers" from my local weird shop. You know the shop: it sells, like, American cereal and off-brand cans of lager and plant pots. Lurking amongst these other treasures was a pack of pink, squishy tubes. Intrigued, and not being too concerned about wasting a whole pound, I picked them up. If you don’t have a local weird shop, I’ve found some on Amazon for only a little bit more.
Mine came in a pack of twelve, which is perfect for my newly shoulder-ish length look. But if you have more of the old follicles, get a couple of packets. Apparently, it can look really cool to get ones of different dimensons (math!) to get more random, surf-y looking waves.
I usually spray my hair with some leave-in conditioner so it’s not exactly damp, but also not exactly dry.
This helps add softness and sleekness to terrible hair like mine. If you’re luckier, I’d just do this on dry or second-day hair.
Try to twist in random directions so you don’t get all your curls going the same way like a show dog.
Then leave for as long as you can — not overnight, unless you’re a braver woman than me. If you’re heading on a night out, get these in ASAP and take them out just as you’re ready to leave.
Once you take them down, you’ll have really pretty, defined, ringlet-y curls. Break them up with your fingers and mist with hairspray for full sexy-curly effect.
Alternatively, for a fluffier, bouncier, disco-queen look, brush your curls through with a bristly brush.
I like the Denman one, which is perfect for those who are unwilling to spend $100 on the Mason Pearson. It simultaneously breaks up the ringlets into bouncy waves, all the while smoothing top level frizz. Pretty, right?
And there you have it! Two looks from one lowly packet of weird things you’ve always thought were dumb. May this be a life lesson for you: judge not based on preconceptions and appearances, or whatever. Or just a hair lesson, which is basically just as valuable, right?
