Que Bonita!! It worked!!

I finally did a Dominican rollerset and blow out at home!
I had long assumed I had hard water because no matter what my at home washes were TERRIBLE! They lacked shine, dry, crunchy ends and upon brushing the curls I'd hear snap crackle and pop. Subsequently for the past 4+ years I went to DS every weekend. Well, I've finally replicated the results at home. I don't mean nice results, I mean exactly like my stylist gets it, soft and so shiny! I don't know if this is some kind of fluke, I'm praying that a month from now the water won't change or something and my results will revert. In the meantime I wanted to share what I learned.
What motivated the change is that while watching Macherieamour's video tutorial I realized that perhaps the problems with my hair would be solved if I were more precise. I realized the devil really is in the details.

Here's what I learned:

1. I was putting too much hair on each roller. The less hair you put on each roller the faster, smooth and straighter it dries. If you put too much it's easy for the hair to loose it's tautness.
2. Prepoo - I've started pretreating my hair with a cheapie conditioner mixed with a little oil. I mist my hair with distilled water first so the conditioner is absorbed then I do chores for 30min with a shower cap on.
3. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency. - I bounced around with too many products. It takes time for the results of a product to show their effects. I used my Kenra shampoo/conditioner set for the last 4 washes and my hair is smoother, shinier and softer than ever before. I would usually alternate products, mix and match and then wonder why my hair didn't turn out well even when I used Kenra.
4. Read the instructions! - We've all had great results getting creative with our products and breaking the rules, but some products are mean't to be used exactly as stated. Try them as instructed first to judge your results then tweak your routine to your liking. I normally do a deep conditioner with heat and my Kenra conditioner, but I left it in my hair while shaving/washing up and didn't use heat or even step out of the shower. I used it as indicated on the back. My hair was softer and more tangle free then when I would deep condition with it for 30min. Some conditioners just aren't mean't to be deep conditioners.
5. Tangle free hair starts in the shower - I normally have crazy tangles and would detangle out of the shower. This time I leaned my head back and as the water rinsed out the conditioner I would comb my hair starting from the right side to the left. Keep your hair straight and hanging down, don't manipulate or bunch up your hair. When it's time to detangle it will be much easier.
6. Keep it taut! - Your hair should be rolled tight against the roller, if not it won't have the smoothness and straightness of salon results. The hair will dry in a crinky or textured pattern because it wasn't held straight while drying.
7. Moisturize your situation - Keeping the hair wet while rollerseting will result in a silkier set and will allow your strands to lay smoother and tighter against the roller. I keep my hair wet as I jump out the shower and use a spray bottle of distilled water to rewet any sections that get even slightly dry (as per Macherieamour's instructions).
8. Less really is more - Watching Ms. cherieamour's video made me think of just how little product my Dominican stylist would apply to my hair and the bouncy, breezy results so applied my leave in exactly my stylist did. A nickel size amount rubbed in my palm applied to my ends first, the edges of my hair and the tiny remainer rubbed in the center of my hair.
9. Break a sweat - You MUST let it dry completely. Again I realized that my results have been off because I wasn't as precise as I had thought. It's better to stay under the dryer an extra 20min then to come out early and get frizzy results.
10. Frizzy hair is dry hair pulling moisture from the air. - If your hair doesn't have a proper balance between moisture and protein then everything else will fail. I realized that my hair didn't have enough moisture. I was relying too much on protein treatments. Now I use a heavy protein treatment once a month rather than moderate protein treatments multiple times a month. Moisturized hair is soft hair.
11. Curb your dryer ADD - I had a hard time keeping still under my dryer. I usually cotched it on uneven surfaces which would cause me to rearrange myself and the dryer often. This time I put it on my desk, sat straight up and watched family guy on my computer for 1.5hrs.
12. Swinging hair starts at the roots. - If your roots are kinky then your hair will have less swing and a wrap will be difficult to do without the infamous snap, crackle and pop. I always request that my roots are blown out, but I was never able to get them straight at home. I have resistant 4a/b hair and Macherieamour's tip to mist the roots with water first and then blow dry them worked like a charm. I use a small round brush with metal prongs instead of natural boar bristles. I hold the hair straight up and blast with heat as I run the brush through the first 2-3" of my hair. I do this small section by section, parting my hair and clipping as I go.
13. Saran wraps really do work - I copied Macherieamour/Dominican salon technique. I took out my rollers, blew out the roots, then wrapped my hair, covered it in saran wrap and sat under the dryer for 10 minutes. The result: Shiny, bouncy hair.

The only issue I have left is that I noticed some of my hair strands dry with a zig zag or wrap around each other which causes my comb to snag and my hair sheds more than I'd like. I haven't figured out what causes it, but hopefully that'll be next.

In conclusion my biggest mistake was not paying attention to the details. I realize that failure with my hair can be simply in following the spirit of the directions, but not the specifics. I was doing rollersets, but I was rolling too much hair, I was using the right products, but I was alternating too often. I'm now able to get better results from the tips mentioned on this board and of course a shout out goes to Macherieamour's video tutorial!
I love you guys!!!

Thanks for the details - I plan to give myself my 1st rollerset later this week.

Very insightful!!!! Makes a lotta sense, I will try and be more precise in my next wash.

Wow...can't wait to try it out myself!! Thanks for the work in detailing it.

Thanks for the details!!!

Wow! Before you know it, we will put the dominicans out of business!

thank you sooooo much for the details. i will definitely follow this routine exactly and hope to get similar results.

hehe- Thanks for the shout out! Im telling you, save that salon money and go treat yourself to a pair of new shoes, massage, whatever!! As soon as I learn how to self-relax and trim, Im GONE

Great info. I will use it whenever I do a rollerset.

Thanks for detailed steps. It's fanastic you got excellent results.

nice detailed steps ...will book mark this when I finally try rollersetting on this hair of mines

thank you SleekandBouncy. This is going to be so helpful to me and a lot of ladies.

tatje said:

Great information. Thanks. If I could just get over my arm pain from doing my hair to long from a rollerset. I would be there.

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Which direction are you rolling? When I roll up I find it's a little less stress on my arms because I can hold the hair lower (on an angle). If I roll them going down then I have to hold my hair straight up and that kills my scrawny arm muscles.

SleekandBouncy said:

I finally did a Dominican rollerset and blow out at home!
I had long assumed I had hard water because no matter what my at home washes were TERRIBLE! They lacked shine, dry, crunchy ends and upon brushing the curls I'd hear snap crackle and pop. Subsequently for the past 4+ years I went to DS every weekend.

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Congratulations!

Thanks a bunch for the breakdown. I can't wait try it