THE BEST WET-SET STYLING TOOLS FOR VINTAGE HAIRSTYLES
There are two ways to do a wet-set.
There are two basic wet-set techniques for retro and vintage hairstyling. Pin curling, and sponge rollers. These are not the only ways to wet-set hair but these are the two main ones and thats what we are going to talk about in this post.
Sponge roller wet-set products
These are the tools and products I find to work the best for overnight sponge roller sets. Keep in mind these are specific to my type, texture and length of hair and may not work for everyone. There are some hacks for this set also to make it a little more comfortable to sleep in. Click through to read the sponge roller hack post or how to do a basic sponge roller wet-set.
- SPONGE ROLLERS~ First of all you are going to need these little bad boys! You can buy these in just about any drugstore, grocery store or online but my personal fave is the Dollar Tree.
- JANE CARTER WRAP & ROLL~ FAVORITE! This product is my all time favorite for sponge roller sets. I can’t recommend this enough. Be prepared for soft, bouncy, smooth curls that last for DAYS! You can find this at Sally’s or on Amazon.
- SMALL TOOTH RATTAIL COMB~ Any type, size, and brand will do for this as long as you can section hair easily and comb through the damp hair.
- BANDANA, SNOOD OR SCARF~ You will want to tie this around your set so you don’t loosen or remove the rollers while you sleep. I prefer breathable materials or crocheted snoods so the air flows freely and will dry the set properly.
Pincurl wet-set products
I’ll be honest with you all, I don’t pincurl my own hair very often. My hair is usually fairly long which makes pin curling take forever. I do recommend this if you have short to medium-short hair though.
- HAIRPINS OR BOBPINS~ I prefer hair pins for this but I know they aren’t always user friendly. Bobbypins work great too, just take care not to leave dents in the curl.
- WATER BOTTLE SPRAYER~ This one will need to be regular size to dilute the lotta body properly.
- LOTTABODY~ You should be able to find this at Sally’s or Amazon. There are alternatives to this that I really like and have had great results from. TIP: dilute Lottabody with water in a 10:1 or 10:2 ratio so it’s mostly water. * I have also used only water with really great results.
- SMALL TOOTH RATTAIL COMB~ Any type, size, and brand will do for this as long as you can section hair easily and comb through the damp hair.
- BANDANA, SNOOD OR SCARF~ You will want to tie this around your set so you don’t loosen or remove the rollers while you sleep. I prefer breathable materials or crocheted snoods so the air flows freely and will dry the set properly.
Yes, I copied and pasted #4 and #5 from the earlier paragraph because I’m tired and I already wrote it perfectly the first time. So, there ya go. Ha.
Perfect Wet-sets?
Well maybe, but I hope this post at least helps to get you the right tools and products to get you on your way. Honestly it took me sooooo long to achieve the outcome I wanted from wet-sets but it’s my favorite way to do everyday vintage styling. Pincurls are a lot harder to master than sponge rollers too so I definitely recommend sponge rollers for beginners. I’d like to know if you found different products that work better or for a specific type of hair so leave a comment below for me!
Happy Hair Days XOXOXOX
Enjoying your info on vintage hairstyling, diy scrubs, etc.
Being a bit vintage myself, I wanted to add another type roller to your discussion. I grew up with pin curls as a child. My mother pin curled her own hair when I was little. I became a pre-teen in the mid-60’s when we started trying out hairstyles, rollers, etc. The sponge rollers were a good start at that time but had their drawbacks. If you rolled too tight, then the 1 1/2” roller became 3/4” and the curl was too tight. They were more comfortable to sleep in, but the frame to close the roller would often put dents in the curl, especially on the top layer of hair. As 60’s styles continued, the smoother sleek look was popular so we rolled on “magnetic” rollers. Basically plastic tubes of varying diameters, with air holes, held in place with long bobby pins. Large diameter on top (I used 3” on top at one time!) graduating to smaller diameter to side and neck hair. Sleeping in these was an experience only those of a certain generation understand 😬. Then there were also metal brush rollers which worked great but could be prickly to sleep in, and a lot of women actually suffered hair loss from too-tight of rolling with these little porcupine rollers. There were also a plastic toothed version which produced a good curl but were also hard to sleep in. Depending on the length of hair, once the rollers were removed, the hair was quite poofy, which had to be tamed down. So I would brush all my hair forward and do a ponytail in top of my head or slightly forward toward my forehead. I’d let this sit while putting on my eye makeup. Or when my hair was a shorter style, I’d brush it down to my head, slightly back, and put on a cap while putting make up on. This let the “poof” near the scalp soften, but preserved the curl in the rest of the hair. Generally smooth flips, or pageboys were popular, until the extreme straight long hair became popular in the early 70’s.