Long Hair Hot Rolling Tips & Tricks

If you haven’t tried hot rollers yet, let me tell you why they are amazing.  If you struggle with getting volume or are on ~3rd day blah limp hair, hot rollers can save the day without having to go through the washing process. They give bouncy volume like that of a fresh blowout.  I tried a set of hot rollers the summer after my senior year of highschool (2009) that I was gifted, and I liked how they gave my hair volume. I didn’t know how to apply them though, and I looked like Shirley Temple.

The key with hot rollers (if you have long hair) is to get large ones. 1.5” and bigger are ideal. There are many sets that contain small and large rollers. I avoid those and go for a standardized set where they are all the same size. If you are aiming for a mix of messy, large, and beachy waves, I have some tips for how to put in the rollers. When I say “beachy’, I mean having the ends not curled to maintain length. Just like when I curl my hair with a hot tool, I leave out the ends from the roller.  For the top center of my head, I put them in like this shows for numbers 1,2,3:

For the rest of my hair, I hold a curler vertically rather than horizontally, wrapping the hair away from my face for the front sections. For the rest, I like to switch up the direction to get as much volume as possible. If you put them in all facing the same way, they can tend to form one big curl and be a “hollywood classic” wave.

BEFORE

My bathroom has awful lighting, sorry about that!  For the photos I included, it was my first time trying them and I squeezed all my hair into the rollers. I wouldn’t recommend doing that because the curls fall out much faster and you run the risk of  breaking the clips trying to finagle them around huge chunks of hair.  Not bad for my first attempt!

Through trial and error with more styling attempts, I have found the best way to apply them if you have a lot of long thick hair is to just use them for half your hair. The bottom half can easily be wrapped around a curling iron and the volume hot rollers give down there isn’t as much of a benefit.  Ideally you would have enough to fit in all your hair though! I’m just saying don’t force it with huge chunks of hair in each roller if you only have a certain amount of curlers. You’ll end up with crappy curls that way.

AFTER

If you are styling your hair for a special occasion or getting done up, it’s a good idea to have your curling iron ready anyway to go to add a few pieces once you take out the curlers, so it isn’t really a big hassle.

Something about big bouncy waves just screams healthy hair to me. I’m very into waves over straight hair at the moment, and this style also does a great job at hiding unhealthy ends when I’m due for a trim! I just got my hair thinned out for summer so I am ultra excited to keep doing this style and having it be even easier with less hair. 🙂

TIPS

Leave them in for as long as possible- when they are completely cooled or longer!

Large hot rollers give a blowout look more than tight curls. The less hair you wrap around it, the tighter they will be.

Place the rollers in horizontally for volume on the crown and center top of your head.

Place the rollers in vertically for the rest of you hair. Only curl the center of the strand for the majority of your hair- there should be some hair left out at the bottom.

Links:

The 1.5” set I use and recommend.

The overpriced T3 set Youtubers are talking about.

The 2″ set on my wishlist.

My favorite heat protectant spray

Thanks for reading! Please let me know if you try this or have wanted to try hot rollers.

-Kim