I have said it before and I will say it again… I am rubbish at doing hair.

Well, kind of.

Give me a French plait. No problem. Dutch plait? Sorted. Fishtail, Twist, Doubles, all manageable.

A Dutch Plait

I can even pull off a semi decent Victory Roll.

Victory Rolls and Snood

What I cannot seem to get a grip on is a vintage set and brush out, or even getting a curl pattern going. I have watched the Youtube videos, read original articles and bought all the kit.

All to no avail.

This was helped a little in recent months when I re-discovered my Babylis Curl Secret machine which gave a lovely curl which could be coaxed into a vintage(ish) style and I actually really loved how my hair was looking.

Babylis Curl Secret Style

However, this only made me want to try and master the whole wet set and brush out. I had another look at the marvellous interweb and a few weeks ago set out to try and learn how to do this.

So one Saturday evening I washed my hair, put bendy rollers in my hair and liberally splashed some setting lotion all over. I added a silk hair cap and went off to bed.

Bendy Rollers

Getting up the next day I left it a couple of hours before removing the rollers to see what effect I had achieved.

Well, I had certainly got a curl going!

Hair Explosion!

In fact, there was so much curl I didn’t know where to start. All I could really do with it, was a very curly poodle.

Fuzzy Poodle

Where did I go wrong? I just didn’t know BUT I quite liked it once it had dropped!

Beauty School Dropout

So, I tried again but this time I had purchased some old fashion sponge rollers and I gave them a go instead.

Going Old Skool

Still it didn’t really work for me.

I can’t even….

But I gave it a good old go and after I took the plunge and tried to brush it out. I wasn’t too happy with the curl but I just didn’t know how to solve it.

Quite a nice wave

After a couple of days, I quite liked the wave pattern that I had in my hair, so something was kind of working. Maybe?

I thought that I hadn’t put enough rollers in. So on my next attempt I doubled up the amount of rollers.

MORE rollers…

It came out so curly that I genuinely was gobsmacked.

Oh Lord…

I just didn’t know what to do with it. Clearly I had gone wrong somewhere and I didn’t know how to salvage it.

Brushing it out didn’t help. I had a disco ‘fro!

Don’t like the hair much but love the makeup

I posted a photograph on Instagram and the lovely boys at ‘The House of Drewvid’ posted a comment on it.

Now, having been to their wonderful salon before, I decided to ask whether they would consider an appointment where they showed me how to put rollers in my hair correctly and how to do the ‘brush out’

Feel like a School Mistress

Of course, in the middle of a pandemic, I knew I may have to wait a little while until this could happen.

The House of Drewvid were more than happy to agree to my request, but in the meantime gave me a couple of hints and tips which I knew I would have to give a go.

These included the use of perming papers and vitapointe.

Oh and to brush, brush and brush some more!

A bit severe

This was always something I was frightened of doing. I know that in all the guides and videos I have seen, it tells you to keep brushing however I was worried that it would all go wrong.

Brushing Out…

I mean, after spending hours putting rollers in, waiting for it to dry, taking it all out AND then brushing it into a curly, frizzy mess would be absolutely heartbreaking.

Quite pleased with my first proper attempt

However I knew I needed to bite the bullet and do it.

The second time I used the rollers, lotion and perming papers I decided I would definitely brush out the result and hope it worked.

Trying fewer rollers…

I was absolutely gobsmacked when it actually worked. I had waves going down the length of my locks and a bouncy bottom section that went in the same direction as I wanted it to!

The set lasted four days before I washed it out and gave it a rest for a couple of days.

Since then I have used the rollers again and got exactly the same results, which goes to show that the Drewvid Chaps were right on the money.

Will it work?

I will keep trying and hopefully perfecting the technique to give me a true vintage look. Certainly it does make life a little easier when you can keep a set in for three of four days as it is perfect for work and I don’t have to get up an hour earlier in order to make myself presentable.

The end result….My Best Curl and Brush Out

When this Pandemic eases (a lot) I still intend going down to Essex to see the The House of Drewvid and get some more tips on how to make an even better job of it.

Watch this space for what happens.

Till next time,

SPSG xxx