Setting To Success 2017

[toaster]

Yay. Glad it was better. High heat overtime can also lead to hair loss. I know a little about that.

I'm such a wimp that I dry my whole head on high cool. If I could do low cool I would.

My hair is so much smoother in the bun today. I know that's what I get for being lazy.

Thank you for reminding me to take my time and do it right.

 

[faithVA]

My hair is so much smoother in the bun today. I know that's what I get for being lazy.

Thank you for reminding me to take my time and do it right.

Anything for you.

 

[LushLox]

It's a bit cooler now, so I'm attempting another set. Hopefully the curls will hold, have used a little bit more holding product this time so it should work in theory.

 

[AgeinATL]

I've been playing around with ways to shorten my wash day so that I can potentially rollerset full time, every week. I have everything pretty much down but my issue is my detangling brush. I LOVE my tangle teezer but with all the talk of it causing damage, I just wonder if it may be too much using it weekly.

Do you guys have suggestions? Naturals who rollerset, what are you using to smooth your hair before placing it on the roller? I HATE the denman and my hair is too textured for fine-tooth combs. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

I was talking mad junk about how ain't nobody got time for roller setting anymore and ended up doing a cheat set yesterday. LOL I had to slice up some humble pie and eat my words. After manipulating my hair to the point of gaining the highest ssk's I've ever seen while on my hair journey, I'm having to go back to the basics. It was making a choice between:

Short yet more frequent wash days and high manipulation to maintain styles.

Or back to:

Roller sets = Longer wash days but low to no manipulation to maintain styles. Also the best bonus is longer periods in between wash days. (10-14 days)

I choose the latter. I still can't commit to full roller sets, but cheat sets...I can get down with those. 4 ponytails made while in the shower, 4 rollers in each ponytail...dry under dryer for one hour. Let cool. My roots still have tons of texture but will loosen up as the days go by from sleeping in one low Bantu knot. The forum is not accepting pics from me but even in high humidity, my roller set ponytail was bouncing and behaving.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

I've been playing around with ways to shorten my wash day so that I can potentially rollerset full time, every week. I have everything pretty much down but my issue is my detangling brush. I LOVE my tangle teezer but with all the talk of it causing damage, I just wonder if it may be too much using it weekly.

Do you guys have suggestions? Naturals who rollerset, what are you using to smooth your hair before placing it on the roller? I HATE the denman and my hair is too textured for fine-tooth combs. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

I wish I could help Sis, but I can get my hair smooth enough with just finger combing and pulling the hair taught before adding it to the roller. If I absolutely need to, I'll use my TEK brush but I mostly only use it during the maintaining period after I have already set.

 

[AgeinATL]

I wish I could help Sis, but I can get my hair smooth enough with just finger combing and pulling the hair taught before adding it to the roller. If I absolutely need to, I'll use my TEK brush but I mostly only use it during the maintaining period after I have already set.

I have the TEK brush and love it but it doesn't get my hair as smooth. I WISH that I could get it smooth with just finger detangling. Maybe I will try my TEK brush and see how my hair comes out. Thank you for your input!!!

 

[AgeinATL]

I was talking mad junk about how ain't nobody got time for roller setting anymore and ended up doing a cheat set yesterday. LOL I had to slice up some humble pie and eat my words. After manipulating my hair to the point of gaining the highest ssk's I've ever seen while on my hair journey, I'm having to go back to the basics. It was making a choice between:

Short yet more frequent wash days and high manipulation to maintain styles.

Or back to:

Roller sets = Longer wash days but low to no manipulation to maintain styles. Also the best bonus is longer periods in between wash days. (10-14 days)

I choose the latter. I still can't commit to full roller sets, but cheat sets...I can get down with those. 4 ponytails made while in the shower, 4 rollers in each ponytail...dry under dryer for one hour. Let cool. My roots still have tons of texture but will loosen up as the days go by from sleeping in one low Bantu knot. The forum is not accepting pics from me but even in high humidity, my roller set ponytail was bouncing and behaving.

And that is why I feel that rollersetting weekly will be beneficial for my hair and be the key to getting past WL. I would have been HL by now but I keep cutting to get rid of SSKs. When I rollerset, my ends are perfectly smooth with no SSKs. I just don't want to see any adverse affects of doing them weekly, like an increase in breakage since it is a lot of manipulation for someone with kinkier hair.

 

[faithVA]

I've been playing around with ways to shorten my wash day so that I can potentially rollerset full time, every week. I have everything pretty much down but my issue is my detaingling brush. I LOVE my tangle teezer but with all the talk of it causing damage, I just wonder if it may be too much using it weekly.

Do you guys have suggestions? Naturals who rollerset, what are you using to smooth your hair before placing it on the roller? I HATE the denman and my hair is too textured for fine-tooth combs. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

I'm not too g to be of much help either. My hair is highly textured as well but I have no difficulty using a fine tooth comb as long as my precious steps are right. Maybe you can do a two part smooth. Make your sections small enough, use a larger comb to get out the majority of tables and then smooth with the fine tooth comb. The roller should do the rest.

 

[AgeinATL]

I'm not too g to be of much help either. My hair is highly textured as well but I have no difficulty using a fine tooth comb as long as my precious steps are right. Maybe you can do a two part smooth. Make your sections small enough, use a larger comb to get out the majority of tables and then smooth with the fine tooth comb. The roller should do the rest.

Thank you for the tip! I actually use a wide tooth comb followed by a less wider tooth comb. But when I try and use a fine tooth comb, breakage every time. My strands are super fat so I have just given up on fine tooth combs. I may just have to try my TEK brush and see how well that will work. Anything but a wide tooth comb just causes trouble for my strands. Sigh...thanks for responding!!

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

And that is why I feel that rollersetting weekly will be beneficial for my hair and be the key to getting past WL. I would have been HL by now but I keep cutting to get rid of SSKs. When I rollerset, my ends are perfectly smooth with no SSKs. I just don't want to see any adverse affects of doing them weekly, like an increase in breakage since it is a lot of manipulation for someone with kinkier hair.

Yeah there is no denying that roller setting will indeed reduce ssk's drastically. When I was roller setting regularly, I would get a few here and there but not many. Like when I say a few, I mean 2 or 3 every few months. I could never relate when others would talk about getting frequent knots.

I think setting will get you over that hump. It may be a bit more manipulation on the day you set but the following days should really be a breeze, so those days in between kinda make up for that one high manipulation day.

My hair is easily moldable (is that a word?) and the curls will pretty much just go away with a small amount of tension, so I don't find setting to be any higher manipulation than braiding, twisting etc. The only thing I HATE is sitting under the dryer. But I also equally HATE having wet hair for long periods of time and even worse having to sleep with wet hair. So I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. LOL

 

[AgeinATL]

I think setting will get you over that hump. It may be a bit more manipulation on the day you set but the following days should really be a breeze, so those days in between kinda make up for that one high manipulation day.

Good point . I didn't even think of that.

I hate sitting under the dryer too. Like, HATE. I have started to sit under the dryer on medium heat for an hour and I sleep in my rollers. You'd think that it would be really uncomfortable but I guess that I've gotten used to it.

 

[imaginary]

I've been playing around with ways to shorten my wash day so that I can potentially rollerset full time, every week. I have everything pretty much down but my issue is my detangling brush. I LOVE my tangle teezer but with all the talk of it causing damage, I just wonder if it may be too much using it weekly.

Do you guys have suggestions? Naturals who rollerset, what are you using to smooth your hair before placing it on the roller? I HATE the denman and my hair is too textured for fine-tooth combs. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

I notice my (fake) tangle teezer is rougher on my hair outside the shower, so I only use it under running water in the shower. When smoothing my hair to place it on the roller I just use a fine tooth comb. I would like to invest in a seamless fine tooth comb eventually though.


ETA: I always detangle before I start wash days btw. Getting rid of the big tangles and most of my shed hair with my large tooth comb, makes using the tangle teezer in the shower a breeze.

 

[AgeinATL]

I notice my (fake) tangle teezer is rougher on my hair outside the shower, so I only use it under running water in the shower. When smoothing my hair to place it on the roller I just use a fine tooth comb. I would like to invest in a seamless fine tooth comb eventually though.


ETA: I always detangle before I start wash days btw. Getting rid of the big tangles and most of my shed hair with my large tooth comb, makes using the tangle teezer in the shower a breeze.

The tangle teezer works very well for me! I love it but so many have claimed that it causes splits and breakage so I think they have me buggin. Whenever I use it, I don't have any issues (that I can tell). I currently don't use it often so I didn't think too much of it but since I want to set weekly, I wonder if it will cause issues.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Still can't upload pics directly to the site but I changed my avatar to my roller set ponytail.

Edited:
Uploading pics are working now.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Going into week 2 of my Roller set, so of course it's getting a bit shrunken and weighed down.

Yesterday, I moisturized and put it into 3 Bantu knots.




Wore it in a half up, half down style today.






Will probably wash & restyle this upcoming Thursday or Friday.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Washed & ponytail set. 1 ponytail at the very top of my head. Silk wrap around the perimeter to help the hair lay flat.





Once dry, wrapped the rollerset hair in a bun since it was already set that way. Perimeter still puffy but it's good enough for me.

 

[toaster]

Gorgeous @lulu97

I'm under the dryer with my weekly set. Last week my mohawk part was too wide and my set was awful and frustrating. This time it was much better. So many little things to consider when setting. Your parts, what rollers, what leave in, what comb, what dryer, etc. But when it all comes together you've got stretched and happy hair for a week or longer.

 

[PlainJane]

I'm so jealous of you ladies that are talking about your TEK brushes. I had one years ago from TJ Maxx but lost it. I haven't been able to find one since

My hair had been acting up lately and I couldn't figure out why until I watched a YouTube video. I'm not using enough product! When you're relaxed, you're warned about being heavy handed so you don't weigh your hair down, but my natural hair loves lots of product.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Took my time and did a real rollerset today. No cheating with ponytails. I wanted a nice, smooth set from root to tip so I could dust my ends. Went old school and used my magnetic rollers.



I gotta stop cutting corners with the cheat sets. My hair turned out light and bouncy with hardly any bumps in the roots doing a real rollerset. Also.... I didn't pre-poo or deep condition. Just washed and conditioned in the shower and rolled with a spray bottle of water that had a squirt of conditioner mixed in. I was dry in less than 45 mins. I believe my hair was taking longer to dry due to having extra product on it. I'll save all the extra pre-poo'ing and heavy treatments for those few times a month I wear my hair in its natural curly state.

 

[faithVA]

Took my time and did a real rollerset today. No cheating with ponytails. I wanted a nice, smooth set from root to tip so I could dust my ends. Went old school and used my magnetic rollers.

View attachment 408509

I gotta stop cutting corners with the cheat sets. My hair turned out light and bouncy with hardly any bumps in the roots doing a real rollerset. Also.... I didn't pre-poo or deep condition. Just washed and conditioned in the shower and rolled with a spray bottle of water that had a squirt of conditioner mixed in. I was dry in less than 45 mins. I believe my hair was taking longer to dry due to having extra product on it. I'll save all the extra pre-poo'ing and heavy treatments for those few times a month I wear my hair in its natural curly state.

View attachment 408511

Really pretty. That extra time was worth it right?

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Really pretty. That extra time was worth it right?

Thank you Sis and yes you are so right! My hair feels so different (better) this way without cutting corners. Plus I don't have a little Afro underneath my smooth length/ends like before. Totally worth the extra time spent setting.

 

[faithVA]

I was short 2 rollers Next time I am at the bss I will try to find a pack of 1 1/2. I just bought 1 1/4 but I think I might be able to do 1 1/2 in the front. I have some 1 3/4 but that's way too big.

I was able to set in less than an hour which is good for me. Now I'm under the dryer for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. I would love to flat iron tonight but that may be a bit aggressive. I will probably just put it in big flat twist and then flat twist in the morning. Unless I get excited and do it tonight

But I'm getting sleepy under the dryer so

 

[faithVA]

OK I'm still up I was just setting so I could flat iron and then trim. So my set didn't turn out great but it was OK. I used the serum on my ends and it helped a lot. I used a foam wrap but I should have just stuck with diluted leave-in. I also didn't keep my hair wet the whole time. I was being lazy. I will do better next time.

 

[toaster]

OK I'm still up I was just setting so I could flat iron and then trim. So my set didn't turn out great but it was OK. I used the serum on my ends and it helped a lot. I used a foam wrap but I should have just stuck with diluted leave-in. I also didn't keep my hair wet the whole time. I was being lazy. I will do better next time.


View attachment 408815

Your hair is so long now!!!! I love it.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

OK I'm still up I was just setting so I could flat iron and then trim. So my set didn't turn out great but it was OK. I used the serum on my ends and it helped a lot. I used a foam wrap but I should have just stuck with diluted leave-in. I also didn't keep my hair wet the whole time. I was being lazy. I will do better next time.


View attachment 408815

It turned out so Nice!

 

[PlainJane]

I'm back to setting and I love it. I'm just worried that my dryer gets TOO hot to do it weekly. Does anyone else feel that way? My hair is usually dry in an hour but it just makes me think of having my hair under the blowdryer for an hour.

 

[faithVA]

Your hair is so long now!!!! I love it.

It turned out so Nice!

You ladies are so gracious. Thank you!

 

[faithVA]

I'm back to setting and I love it. I'm just worried that my dryer gets TOO hot to do it weekly. Does anyone else feel that way? My hair is usually dry in an hour but it just makes me think of having my hair under the blowdryer for an hour.

I think a blow dryer can get hotter than a dryer. Directing a blow dryer directly on my hand can be painful but putting my hand inside a dryer is just warm.

Try lowering your temperature slightly and extending your time by 15 minutes. I don't think you will experience damaging results either way especially if your ends are moisturized.

 

[JosieLynn]

So I may be about to attempt the impossible tomorrow. Literally just got back to the states after 21 hours of traveling. I need to buy the rollers and what I'm going to use on my hair and then finish washing and setting my hair...I already have a pre-poo/dc in my hair and that will stay overnight because it was so gross and dry while I was running around. I think I decided I would try to rollerset my hair with just a leave-in and a light oil. I'm afraid any gel would make my hair crunchy...but we shall see, that's if I even wake up with enough energy for any of it.


Alright! So update, first roller set was FAR from a success....took me a gazillion years to vaguely get the hang of getting my hair around the roller, used way too much product because my hair kept drying up and when I took them down it was so textured. I ended up having to brush it out and ever so lightly flat iron my hair, and I've been rocking flat twist outs/buns that way.
Tweaks to make in the future, actually having a spray bottle with just water on hand, maybe investing in end papers since my ends would not uncurl for anything and using smaller rollers first. Also figuring out a better rolling pattern, the mohawk is good but when I got to the sides all hell broke loose.