Blah... need some encouragement and advice

[BeExceptional26]

So last night i tried doing my first roller set with mesh rollers and pins.... well that took forever i could not figure out how to get the pins in to make the rollers stay my hair was everywhere and i just ended up doing what i could and securing the rollers with bobby pins... so i know i probably just need more practice or should switch to the rollers that clip but my gosh was it frustrating!! SO finally i finished and sat under my soft bonnet dryer while doing my homeworks (yay! i know haha) and after about and hour and a half i decided hopefully they will be dry because dang im tired... well i took them out of course most of them were not dry enough so i attempted a silk wrap which turned out even worse when i took it off in the morning and had this enormous poof on my head. Now ive been natural for a couple of years now but since im in college i just spent most of my time with my hair in a bun not even thinking a thing of it. Im just SOOOO frustrated now that i want to actually do stuff with my hair and none of it is working out. I even keep considering relaxing so my hair is easier to manage but keep wondering if i would regret that... and not to mention during this whole process i lost a heck of a lot of hair....

PHEW sorry ladies for all that but i could really use some help erplexed

 

[ellehair]

Ah, i'm sorry you feel this way.. Rollersetting take a lot of practice.. I used to roller set and it took me forever to get it right and when i did it took SOO long to do. My arms where killing me, hair was everywhere but they came out okay. And my hair was no where near the length of some of these ladies that roller set so professionally.. Just keep practicing, you'll eventually get the hang of it..

 

[Barbie83]

This is totally off topic but I just wanted to let you know that your middle siggy pic just inspired me to go in the ladies room and pin up my twistout! Its soooo adorable, and now that my hair is outta my face i can focus

Thanks for the inspiration! ur hair is lovely

 

[Barbie83]

double post

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

Well, I've never tried to roller set natural hair, but I learned how to rollerset my relaxed hair with this link (Rollersetting Natural Hair). The method that she suggests isn't traditional, but it helped to get me started. Once I mastered her method, which was easier for me to catch on to, I graduated to the more hard methods like the Mohawk.

I think its all about having a lot of patience, so take it slowly and don't worry about the unrolled sections drying out because you can always rewet them. HTH.

 

[Soliel185]

I can't rollerset to save my life so for the moment I'm just leavin that aloooooone.

Instead of dwelling on the styles I can't quite accomplish, I moved on to other styles and ideas until a found a few go tos that I like. I re-attempt rollersetting maybe once every 6 months...Your hair is very pretty and would look great a number of other ways. Instead of getting discouraged, mark it as a learning experience and try some other things instead.

If I want straight hair now, I'll go the stretched airdry/flat iron route and then do some pincurls if I want a rollerset look.

 

[Dominican09]

BostonMaria have a tutorial on curlynikki.com, check it out for some tips!! You are not going to be an expert over night, it takes practice!!

 

[Ronnieaj]

You absolutely must practice rollersetting. I rollerset my relaxed hair every week for 10 years, but when I went natural it was quite literally like starting over. One thing I know for myself: my hair MUST be absolutely dry. When I was relaxed that took up to 3 hours, so that time has to be factored into the process. If any part is wet, I'm asking for it to be a frizzy little puffball. That's just my reality.

 

[BeExceptional26]

Thanks ladies =) you girls are sooo encouraging and ill check out the websites... and study study study ;-)

 

[LushLox]

You absolutely must practice rollersetting. I rollerset my relaxed hair every week for 10 years, but when I went natural it was quite literally like starting over. One thing I know for myself: my hair MUST be absolutely dry. When I was relaxed that took up to 3 hours, so that time has to be factored into the process. If any part is wet, I'm asking for it to be a frizzy little puffball. That's just my reality.

You're so right. I used to cut corners and try and dry my hair in record time, then I came to the slow realisation that my curls were drooping because they weren't dry sufficiently (doh). From that point on my rollersets really improved.

 

[sheava]

I couldn't roller set my relaxed hair, so I know it would be a total failure on my natural hair. Sorry I'm not any help, but I just wanted to tell you that your hair is beautiful. Really thick and healthy.

 

[BooBooChicken]

Your hair is beautiful! Love the color! One bit of advice: forget the roller pins. I could never get them to hold the mesh rollers in place. Use the silver clips that you use for magnetic rollers. They'll work just fine. And the best part of the mesh rollers is that they dry much faster than the magnetic ones.

 

[-PYT]

you and your hair are gorgeous! I just poked my head in to say pleeease don't relax based solely off frustration. you have made great progress and if you woke up to all straight hair i'm sure we might be seeing you making a BC thread post-haste

 

[Reecie]

Don't be frustrated!! The technique you described shows that your hair was still wet when the rollers were taken out. That is the most CRUCIAL part to get that sleek look. Don't even worry about it. When you have enough time... to do it the right way.... try it again. I can guarantee that it will look and feel much better than it did this time! Hang in there!

 

[kblc06]

Aww, I'm sorry to here that your first rollerset didn't go so well . I've never used mesh rollers, but I have used magnetic ones ( here's a tutorial in my fotki http://public.fotki.com/kblc06/new-hair-year-2-jan/wet-rollerset-tutor/). I don't think a relaxer will solve your problems . You can do so much with natural hair...it just takes a little trial and error

So last night i tried doing my first roller set with mesh rollers and pins.... well that took forever i could not figure out how to get the pins in to make the rollers stay my hair was everywhere and i just ended up doing what i could and securing the rollers with bobby pins... so i know i probably just need more practice or should switch to the rollers that clip but my gosh was it frustrating!! SO finally i finished and sat under my soft bonnet dryer while doing my homeworks (yay! i know haha) and after about and hour and a half i decided hopefully they will be dry because dang im tired... well i took them out of course most of them were not dry enough so i attempted a silk wrap which turned out even worse when i took it off in the morning and had this enormous poof on my head. Now ive been natural for a couple of years now but since im in college i just spent most of my time with my hair in a bun not even thinking a thing of it. Im just SOOOO frustrated now that i want to actually do stuff with my hair and none of it is working out. I even keep considering relaxing so my hair is easier to manage but keep wondering if i would regret that... and not to mention during this whole process i lost a heck of a lot of hair....

PHEW sorry ladies for all that but i could really use some help erplexed