It’s a new year, and therefore it’s officially time for a rebrand. In 2026, I’m determined to master the art of hair styling. I’ve ticked off “dressing better” and “flawlessly applying winged eyeliner” (eat your heart out, Ariana Grande) throughout my glow-up era, but I’ve never been able to hack my ‘do. So when the chance came to try out Mermade’s new digital hot rollers, I took it as a sign from the universe and jumped.
My hair — or more accurately, my mop — has been the bane of my existence since I was a child. I was cursed as the only one in the family with a blob of mismatched curls, and not only do I have ethnically-confused hair thanks to my mixed-race background, but I have a hell of a lot of it. And call me impatient, but I’m not looking for an arm workout whenever I need to look presentable.
Enter: the Mermade Digital Hot Rollers ($159).
A re-vamped version of the popular 80’s hair tool, AKA the era of big hair? Yes please.
Before you ask me why I’m opting for curling my already naturally curly hair, let me retattle the retittle of your rebuttal.
- It’s not the same type of curl, though.
- Let me live my VS angel fantasy.
- This is a question for my therapist.
The First Attempt: Just Send It, What Could Go Wrong? (And Other Silly Things To Tell Yourself)
It was an interesting choice by me to try these for the first time hours before an event, but hey, diamonds are made under pressure, and that’s what I attempted to do — without reading the manual.
First impressions of the functionality were great. Much like all Mermade products I’ve tried, the machine is super intuitive, which I love. The temp dial was easy to adjust, and the machine light lets you know when the rollers are ready to go (which was really fast). The little hidden compartments for the clips were super cute and convenient — so I was off to a great start, until I realised there are only eight rollers and I have… more than eight hair.
Let’s just say this caused a bit of a panic, and I ended up with this.
However, I was as surprised as you when the curls settled and turned out like this.
Since my hair magically came good after letting it sit for a while, I decided that I should give the rollers one last chance (as if the results weren’t my fault at all).
Second Attempt: Learn, Adapt, And Please For The Love Of God, Please Don’t Improvise
As Lady Gaga famously once said, I looked for evidence. Once I finally read the manual, I was delighted to find out that my technique for using the rollers was way off. (If I have anything, it’s the audacity.) After brushing up on the correct procedure, I felt confident I could nail it this time.
The game plan for this was adhering to the suggested 1.5 inch sections of hair and tackling my ‘do in three phases, instead of shoving all of my hair into eight rollers like last time. Thank the lord I didn’t have an event on this day because this task was LENGTHY.
Word to the wise: if you have a helix, or any other upper ear piercing, it will conduct heat, so watch out for that when using the rollers. Don’t ask me how I figured that one out.
I did the bottom, mid and top of my hair in separate sections, effectively totalling 16 rollers and thus confirming my theory that eight was indeed not enough for the amount of hair I have. The process took just over an hour as it required meticulous sectioning, brushing out of each hair bundle, all while removing and reheating rollers. This truly was not for the faint of heart, but all could be forgiven when I saw the first curl.
From here, the euphoria of it actually working took over, and I actually started to enjoy myself between the slightly uncomfy sensation of the hot rollers hitting my head the wrong way. But all was worth it because I ended up with a pretty cute head of curls!
The Verdict
Are these hot rollers fool-proof? (It’s me, I’m the fool) I’m gonna say no.
There is definitely some type of skill behind using them, and it also requires a trial-and-error process. So if you’re new to the hairstyling world and have zero patience, this might not be the product for you.
However, I’ve never been able to achieve a curl quite like the ones these rollers gave me, so I’m keen to keep testing them out. I can actually see myself reaching for using these over a straightener or blowout brush to get a soft curl, as it’s a little more intuitive and requires less dexterity (perhaps my issue is hand-eye coordination).
I’m on the fence about this one, but positively curious about using it in the future. I’ll take this as another stepping stone towards my hair-styling dreams.
You can shop the Mermade Digital Hot Rollers here.
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