Heatless curls: Bendy rollers. Experimenting for fem!Sherlock cosplay hair

My first heatless waves/curls tutorial-experiment in this blog! I have very straight hair, but I also love the wavy/curly look, so I'm really interested in different ways to make my hair wavy/curly. Or at least, as wavy/curly as possible, because that's one con of my hair, it's incredibly hard to curl. It's so fine-textured and so stubbornly straight waves and curls don't come out as defined as I would be expecting and/or don't stay in my hair for as long as I'd like them to stay. Ah well. Some techniques do yield better results than others, though, and I'm still experimenting.

I'd also like to say, I'm not a heat tools fan. Heat styling - hairdryers to style the length, straighteners, curling irons, and the like - can really damage the hair, especially if they're used too often. And no matter what all the commercial tutorials say, no amount of synthetic-ridden heat protectors are going to protect one's hair from that amount of breakage-causing sizzling heat. And all those synthetic-ridden 'nourishing masks' aren't going to magically restore one's hair to its former glory (so you can sizzle it again with more heat), either *facepalms*

 Anyway, I personally prefer heatless methods when it comes to try out waves and curls. No damage except for potential tangling in some cases (because my hair is so fine, it tangles too easily). Also, in the case of stubbornly straight hair such as mine I guess heat curls wouldn't last longer on my hair than heatless ones. So at least the heatless ones don't damage my hair. 

 And speaking of stubbornly straight hair, I'm still testing different hair fixators so that the waves/curls stay longer. The problem is, most hairsprays and curl-enhancing mousses are very drying and not at all healthy for your hair (and many of them don't seem to work all that much on my fine straight hair either), so I normally don't use them. More hair-friendly fixators would include salty-water and aloe vera gel, which work moderately on my hair. They are not especially strong-hold, though. Quite light-hold, in fact.

Anyway, first heatless technique of this blog, bendy rollers curls. These pics are from my first try, back in December when I was trying to curl my hair a bit for my fem!Sherlock cosplay. 

• How-to:

Post-shower or relatively damp hair is usually vital when it comes to a heatless curling method. I either go for 90% dry post-shower hair (my best option) or misting my hair with a spraying bottle just before. For more hold, the spraying water can be salty water, or clear aloe vera gel can be used as a mousse. These are hair-friendly hair-fixators, albeit not really strong. You could also use a curl-enhancer mousse or some hairspray, but these are not as hair-friendly.

You'll need: Bendy rollers, small claw clips to secure each section. Gloves and magnifying glass are just part of my Sherlock cosplay :D

                           

   This is, in my opinion, a really easy and relatively fast curling technique. You need a package of bendy rollers (which you can usually find on drug-stores and general supermarkets), and some claw clips to secure the sections.

  1) Section your hair (smaller sections give tighter curls, larger sections result in larger looser curls/waves).

  2) Wrap each section in a bendy roller, starting at the top of the head (it can also be done from the ends to the top, but I find this more difficult for my own hair). Each section should be wrapped as securely as possible (without being overly tight and uncomfortable), so that it doesn't unwind with time. Once the hair is completely wrapped around the roller, bend its two ends in a tight (but comfy) U shape over the middle, creating a small bun secured by the roller. If wrapped tightly enough, and with the roller bent adequately, the hair should stay put without unravelling until it's going to be unwrapped. 

   3) I use some claw clips to secure some of the resulting buns to my scalp, so that they don't bounce around and become uncomfortable. I think this is one of the most comfy heattless curls techniques I've tried, the bendy rollers are pretty weightless and although I do look pretty ridiculous (not as ridiculous as with rag-curls or henna, though :D), my head doesn't feel heavy and the buns sit snugly without hurting my scalp, which is a huge plus.

More visual instructions here: 

http://www.alovesvintage.co.uk/2013/04/heatless-hair-tutorial-curling-hair.html (hair is wrapped from the ends to the top, instead of from top to ends).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh4PGm9CMtU (each roller is further secured with a small claw clip, which I don't usually need. I also begin the wrap the hair around the roller closer to my scalp so that it doesn't hang a lot, which I find uncomfortable).

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/dc/20/3b/dc203b69704e1dbc7ba542f0e2a0c2e6.jpg (another method, starting with a high ponytail. Looks practical).

The longer you keep the rollers on, the more defined the curl will be. In this case, I think I didn't keep them for a long time, three-four hours maybe. On my last attempt, I kept them for a bit longer, and the resulting curls were way more defined.

The final result, just four sections (not very tight curls), and 3-4 hours in. 

   -Pros: Easy, comfy technique, hair doesn't tangle when unravelling the rollers, yields nice, reasonably defined curls (depending on the number of sections and the time you keep the rollers on).

   -Cons (for my hair): The sections make my originally non-voluminous hair clump together, giving the impression of even less volume. I find this is a nice technique to get defined curls for an updo or ponytail, not so good for loose hair, especially if I want it to be relatively voluminous - bandanna waves or braidwaves work way better for that, in my experience.

  Also, as usual, my long, straight hair makes the curls fall down too quickly. These were taken just an hour after I unwrapped the hair from the rollers. The fact that I didn't keep the rollers for a long time counts as well. 

And rehearsing my fem!Sherlock cosplay hair (just with a black elastic), which is actually a crossover between Molly and Sherlock, it seems :). As usual, don't mind the house-clothes :D!

When I finally cosplayed fem!Sherlock for my graduation I didn't have a lot of time to keep the rollers in, and the resulting curls fell way too quickly, even if I dared to use some hairspray (which just dried out my hair until I washed it again, yay for my sacrifice). Also, the bangs came out very weird. But overall, I enjoyed cosplaying Sherlock for my graduation, so yay :)

-Update: I now use salt water sprays (like Lush's Sea Spray) as a fixator in order to get the curls to stay (I spray my hair when it's it's coiled in the rollers and wait overnight). It generally works pretty well for m  

Next bendy roller pics will feature more defined, tighter curls, courtesy of a longer settling time and more sections.

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

If you copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without any permission, credit or link, you're stealing my content. In that case, please stop. Please ask before using my work, or at least share it properly, giving credit to me and my blog.