What is your Curl Set Routine for Fine/Thin Hair

[Miss sofia]

Hey there Romanor4,

I totally recommend using the end papers, i have very lank, fine hair and using the end papers for either a pin curl or roller set has helped me immensely. You can use cigarette papers or even loo roll or kitchen roll folded into squares then wrapped round the ends of your hair. Believe me i have tried both those when i have run out of end papers and it worked just as well. It seems to help me to roll my curls up quicker too as well as just generally improving the finished set.

I am finding a sponge roller set better for me at the moment. i just wash my hair, leave my hair to dry until it is damp, spritz with setting lotion, put in the rollers, then give my head another spritz of lotion, then cover with a scarf and sleep on them.

[MissLaurieMarie]

Hey there Romanor4,

I totally recommend using the end papers, i have very lank, fine hair and using the end papers for either a pin curl or roller set has helped me immensely. You can use cigarette papers or even loo roll or kitchen roll folded into squares then wrapped round the ends of your hair. Believe me i have tried both those when i have run out of end papers and it worked just as well. It seems to help me to roll my curls up quicker too as well as just generally improving the finished set.

I never thought of using napkins! I've been using Wal-Mart flyers but we have an over-abundance of MacDonalds napkins lying around (my boyfriend is not a waster!) so I'm going to use those.

I have super thick and fine hair, which is generally a problem for holding styles, but I've found that my hair is staying put now that I've started setting it!
I use a Tresseme curl lotion (It's not actually setting lotion, just moisturizer) and mix it on my hands with some green Garnier pomade before doing a sponge roller set. I find my biggest problem is sometime I get too much hair in the roll and it's still damp after 8-ish hours of sleep.

[Gracie Lee]

That's the problem I have too! I have an average amount of very fine VERY straight hair, and I'm still working on figuring out what to do with it. The wet sets I've tried never dry, and my dry/lightly misted sets fall out in short order. The reason I think my hair doesn't dry isn't because it's thick, but rather it's long. I have hair nearly to my bra strap, which is anything but conducive to vintage styling, but since I also do Victorian stuff, I don't want to cut it. Plus, I just like having long hair. After much reading, I'm thinking that when I visit my mom later this summer, I'll go to her stylist and get a permanent wave. My bf is fighting me on it, but everyone's given it such rave reviews, I think it may be time to submit my virgin (after many years of growing out the damage of being blonde) locks to some chemical encouragement. In the mean time, I will continue to try to find a combination of rollers, curls, heat/moisture, and potions to get curls and keep them. I'll let you know if I have any luck!

[Frenchy56]

I'll go to her stylist and get a permanent wave. My bf is fighting me on it, but everyone's given it such rave reviews, I think it may be time to submit my virgin (after many years of growing out the damage of being blonde) locks to some chemical encouragement.

Just thought I'd tell you, I am now getting a permanent wave put in my hair after advice from this forum- you can see the thread I started, and all the helpful replies I recieved- it's called 'Should I get a perm'. That might help you weigh up pros and cons (but as you'll see I think the pros far outweigh the cons, in most cases )

[Romamor4]

Just thought I'd tell you, I am now getting a permanent wave put in my hair after advice from this forum- you can see the thread I started, and all the helpful replies I recieved- it's called 'Should I get a perm'. That might help you weigh up pros and cons (but as you'll see I think the pros far outweigh the cons, in most cases )

Thanks for the input, Frenchy!! I used to have a perm and I absolutely loved it! They used the purple rods on my because anything bigger would have not stayed in my hair. At the time I wasn't practicing vintage hair routines, but when my perm started to grow out a bit, I did used to spiral perm my hair with a curling iron every day just to get the spiral curls I loved so much. I wish I had known at the time that I could use perm rods or pin curls instead so I wouldn't damage my hair so much! I'm going to try and get this pin curl/sponge roller set thing down before I go get a perm again though. I'm sure I will get another one eventually. I really love what they do for my hair.

[Gracie Lee]

Just thought I'd tell you, I am now getting a permanent wave put in my hair after advice from this forum- you can see the thread I started, and all the helpful replies I recieved- it's called 'Should I get a perm'. That might help you weigh up pros and cons (but as you'll see I think the pros far outweigh the cons, in most cases )

Actually, your thread is what pushed me over the edge I'd been debating it for a while, then I saw how much everyone here loved theirs, and that clinched it. Really, the big debate at the moment is whether I should have my girl do it, or go to my mom's stylist. I'm leaning toward waiting to go to Mom's b/c she and I have very similar hair (go figure ) which doesn't perm well AT ALL. I got a perm years ago, and when they took all the rods out, my hair was still straight! I had to have it done twice - you can imagine what that did to my poor tresses! Might as well take advantage of all the trial and error my mom's put in!

[Penny Dreadful]

I may be an oddity here, but I find my hair curls best when it's DRY. For some reason if my hair is the slightest bit damp, it seems to come out of the rollers wet, and doesn't curl much at all. But when I put my hair up dry just to maintain my curls overnight I woke up with a very fresh and successful set. I've been doing it this way for a while now and so far it hasn't failed. Maybe something to try?

[Romamor4]

I may be an oddity here, but I find my hair curls best when it's DRY. For some reason if my hair is the slightest bit damp, it seems to come out of the rollers wet, and doesn't curl much at all. But when I put my hair up dry just to maintain my curls overnight I woke up with a very fresh and successful set. I've been doing it this way for a while now and so far it hasn't failed. Maybe something to try?

I've tried doing a dry set and my hair ended up frizzing on the ends! Last night I tried a wet set with perming rods, just a tiny bit of setting lotion all over. They came out perfect! The funny thing though is that it ended up being half dry half wet because my hair ended up drying halfway through my setting it. And I wasn't taking too long to set it. So I just took a water bottle and spritzed the pieces with water in order to set them.

Actually, your thread is what pushed me over the edge I'd been debating it for a while, then I saw how much everyone here loved theirs, and that clinched it. Really, the big debate at the moment is whether I should have my girl do it, or go to my mom's stylist. I'm leaning toward waiting to go to Mom's b/c she and I have very similar hair (go figure ) which doesn't perm well AT ALL. I got a perm years ago, and when they took all the rods out, my hair was still straight! I had to have it done twice - you can imagine what that did to my poor tresses! Might as well take advantage of all the trial and error my mom's put in!

Gracie Lee, I would go to your mom's hairdresser! I'm also surprised at the fact that your hair came out straight. When I got my hair permed, just by looking at the texture of my hair, the hairdresser knew that I would need to sit with the rods in my hair for longer than most people. She knew that the curls wouldn't set if I did the usual twenty minutes. So I usually ended up sitting in the rods for at least 40 minutes just to get the curl to set. Maybe that was your problem? Maybe you just needed to sit a lot longer with the rods in?

[Gracie Lee]

Gracie Lee, I would go to your mom's hairdresser! I'm also surprised at the fact that your hair came out straight. When I got my hair permed, just by looking at the texture of my hair, the hairdresser knew that I would need to sit with the rods in my hair for longer than most people. She knew that the curls wouldn't set if I did the usual twenty minutes. So I usually ended up sitting in the rods for at least 40 minutes just to get the curl to set. Maybe that was your problem? Maybe you just needed to sit a lot longer with the rods in?

Since I've never done it again since and am not super familiar with all the solutions and stuff, it was either something like that, or the wrong solution. Who knows? Mom said her stylist has found one that holds well, doesn't frizz (!!), and doesn't do too much damage. Sounds like a chimera to me, but I'm willing to give it a shot... I know Jean-Marie, too - used to ride with her, she's great and super knowledgable.

[Frenchy56]

Thanks for the input, Frenchy!! I used to have a perm and I absolutely loved it! I really love what they do for my hair.

No worries! Best of luck with getting a routine. I am so excited about getting my perm, I am literally counting the days