So tired of setting my hair every night...

Hello all,

It's been a while since I posted, but I have been reading!

My problem is that I get so tired of setting my hair every night, only to find that the next day the curl drops due to humid weather All that work for nothing.

I am wondering if getting a perm would help? I have colored hair, so I am afraid the perm would ruin my hair...

Any recommendations are welcome!

If you search the forum for "perm" you'll get a couple of helpful threads.

I recently had my hair permed for the second time. First time was with a perm solution for dyed hair since I use henna. (Pure henna doesn't interfere with perms, but in some henna based dyes there are additives that will. From what I gathered you can perm chemically coloured hair, too, if it's still reasonably healthy, but not bleached hair.)

The result of my first perm was only a bit of a body wave, but my sets already took better an lasted longer. About six week later my hairdresser made a second attempt with regular strength perm solution and somewhat smaller rollers and the result ist perfect. Well, perfect in a way that my hair feels much dryer now, it looks hideous when air dried (like an exploded cushion really), but my sets take and last like a miracle. My curls survive sweaty dancing and even a slight drizzle.

For the record, my hair is fine, thin, with a hint of movement naturally. Without the perm it already took pin curls well that lasted all day with setting lotion and under good circumstances (low humidity). Now the perm seems to have made my sets indestructable. I still re-curl dry at night because I like a tight curl, but I probably wouldn't have to. The perm cut down the need to wash from twice a week to once a week or less by the way.

So, I'd recommend a perm if you're committed to setting your hair all the time, but I wouldn't be caught dead now with my hair air dried unless I was wearing a scarf. Since I love 40s styles so much that's fine with me though.

Do you use a setting lotion? I have fine, thick, straight hair and I was amazed how much setting lotion helped my hair hold set. Also, having had both permed hair and colored hair (separately) I wonder if it's just the damage that helps the hair curl better with a set. Right now my hair is colored, not permed. I find the healthier hair that I don't get the color to as much when I dye it, this is the hair at my nape, doesn't curl as well as the rest of my hair. Also, when it's really humid, I often put my hair in an upsweep or a pony tail rather than deal with the humidity.

Realizing this post is from a year ago but maybe my advice will still help someone!

The humidity makes my set more pouffy or just revert to my natural curls, which are not vintage-looking. My solution is a low bun with finger waves. Or I just skip the vintage hair sometimes. Summer turns my hair into a beast that eats my head.

A good amount of a waxy pomade helps my thick, dry, wavy/curly hair resist humidity. I can see than thinner hair might get weighed down though.

I too tired of setting my hair in pin curls (and now that I am married the hubs would probably HATE to see me with all those bobby pins in my hair, lol) so I discovered I could get the look with a curling iron or a curling wand in about 1/4 of the time. I just prep my hair with a styling spray, section my hair into 4 quarters, and wind my hair around the curling iron closed or a wand (but not a tapered one) vertically, and I pull the wand upwards and allow the curl to fall into my cupped hand where I let it cool for a few seconds (this will allow the curl to last longer) and I repeat this for all sections of my hair. I then brush and shape the curls with my hand the way I did with pin curling and voila! I know this is not exactly a "vintage" method, but it does the job in a pinch.
Edited to add: If you are finding that your curls aren't holding, even with using a setting lotion/styling spray, a once over your entire head with a humidity resistant hairspray (my two favorites are L'Oreal Ellnet and Garnier Fructis Anti-Humidity Hairspray) should lock your style in place. My hairstylist used this method on my hair for my wedding on Maui in June...it was a SUPER humid day and my curls lasted all day and night. I swear by this product now!