Charlotte-Sofia Artistry: Hair lesson 1- wet roller setting

07.10.14 Hair lesson 1, Tutor, Emma Croombs

Wet set

Aim:
To introduce a brick set & dress out into a simple style

Equipment Needed:

Metal mesh rollers
Dolly head
Clamp
Water spray
Setting Lotion
Hairspray
Paddle brush
Postiche brush
Pintail comb
Hair dryer
Portable hair-dryer hood
Pins

Definition of a Brick set:
A brick set is used to stop the hair separating. It prevents gaps and achieves a more natural, flowing curl.

Step-by-step guide:

Set up
Brush through hair using paddle brush working from bottom to top.
Use pintail comb to get a section of hair from the middle of the front of dolly head. Make sure your section is slightly smaller than your roller size.
Spray section lightly with water, then with setting lotion, don’t wet it too much, you don’t want it to be dripping wet.
Take largest roller size and hold hair at a 90 degree angle so your hair doesn't sag around the roller, the tighter it is, the better the curl you achieve.
Use your pintail comb to tuck the ends in as you don’t want a ‘hook end’.
Make sure roller is sitting on its base so you don’t get a dip in the hair.
Use pin to secure roller
If you want to achieve smaller curls as you go down reduce roller size as you work your way down the head.
Take your next section next to the roller you just put it, spray with water and setting lotion, as this section is on the side of the head hold hair at a 40 degree angle to achieve a tight roll.
Repeat for the front row of the hair.
For the next row place rollers in between the previous rollers, to create the brick formation.
Repeat steps until a full head is complete.
Place portable hood over your dolly head and trunk end over hair-dryer nozzle.
Turn on your hair dryer to a warm setting, leave on for 15 mins.
If you were doing this on a real person, you must make sure you check temperature is ok with them, especially using metal mesh rollers as metal contains heat.
Turn off hair dryer and remove hood. Let the rollers cool completely otherwise the curls will drop.
Take all rollers out.
Use a Postiche brush to back-comb if there are any gaps in hair.
Once your happy with the style spray with hair spray to set.

Lesson Overview & evaluation:

This was my second time at ever doing a brick set, with the first time being the day before! The advantage in this lesson being that we weren't using hot rollers, so I felt I had more control as I wasn't getting my fingers burnt, or trying to put the rollers super fast so they don’t cool.

I felt happy with my brick set, but some of the mesh rollers I used, the mesh had ripped or was more in the middle or to the side so I had to put some of the hair into smaller sections before rolling, so it would fit in the space I had to work with on the roller. Also due to there only being so many rollers for the class I ended up using all different sizes, and then for the last few rolls I had to use plastic rollers as all the metal mesh ones had run out.

This ended up turning into a bit of a catastrophe, as the plastic ones were directly in front of the opening in the hood where the hot air comes through, after 5 minutes, I smelt burning so quickly removed the hood and discovered that the plastic rollers had started to melt! Nightmare!
I removed the melted rollers as quickly as I could! Luckily they didn't melt into the hair and I got them out quickly, I'm just thankful that I didn’t leave the hood on for the full 15 minutes and that I didn’t have the hair-dryer on the hottest setting... and that it was a dolly head and not a real person, otherwise it may have been a tad worse!!

So apart from that hiccup and all my different roller sizes I thought it went quite well! I didn’t have any hook ends which I was pleased about.

I would like to buy some mesh rollers and try a wet set on my dolly head or a friend at home, obviously because the practice will be good, but also I think the finished look would look really good if the rollers were in good condition and they were gradually reduced in size, not all different sizes in an erratic way as they were during the lesson.

I think this look would look really good for a night out, as you can prep the hair before then remove the rollers and dress out the hair when you want, also the hold would be great, especially for fine, soft hair like my own which always drops, it would be great for adding texture and volume and long lasting hold.