Not everyone has the time to spend hours painstakingly curling their hair with a curling wand.
When you want salon-worthy waves with relatively little effort, good old-fashioned rollers are a curl’s best friend.
It’s not just us who think so; you need only consult mums and grandmothers to find the classic hair tools have bounced from generation to generation, proving their efficiency. While there are many options that use heat to set your curls into place and give them extra staying power, there are also heatless versions which offer damage-free body and shape.
How to use hair rollers
For best results, divide damp - never wet - hair into manageable sections and work from the nape of the neck up towards the crown. Wet hair is far more fragile and prone to damage which makes it a no-go for heated hair tools of any kind.
Roll strands from the tip to the root, securing it with a hair grip to keep it in place once you’re at the top. For extra volume, apply a pump of mousse to just above the roots and mid-lengths first - Color Wow’s Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer 195ml (£24) is transformative with a glorious lift that lasts for days. Find more volumising mousse here.
Heated rollers will get the curl in place quickest while non-heated alternatives take a little longer to work their magic but will save tresses from potential frazzling. Some can even be kept on overnight, so you’ll wake up with a glorious ‘do after getting your eight hours - what a start to the day.
Allow heated rollers to cool completely before unravelling from your hair. If you’ve gone down the low-tech route, make sure your hair feels dry before easing non-heated rollers or hair curlers out.
Rollers: heated or non-heated?
This entirely depends on your hair type and how often you want curly locks.
For those with dyed or very dry hair, a heatless tool will spare frayed ends from direct heat but take some mastering, not to mention far more drying time than heated. If you’re seeking red-carpet glam every so often without racking up a huge blow-drying bill at the salon, heated rollers offer a much more cost-effective route to bouncy curls.
We’ve rounded up the best options for both heated and non-heated to help you find your set.
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Revolution Haircare Mega Hair Roller Gift Set
Offering a medley of barrel sizes, this roller set is ideal for creating texture and different curl volumes. It comes with a thermal styling round brush and clips to help you divide sections, while the rollers are covered in a velcro finish to help them better grip strands. Use them on their own or by gently blowing a hairdryer over them once they are in place. Everything comes in a handy carry case for storage and travel.
Buy now £15.00, lookfantastic
Kitsch Volumizing Roller Clips
Save yourself the faff of clips with this roller set which incorporates it with the barrel itself. Designed for use on dry hair, the set of two roller clips is made to lift hair right at the root for volume you’ll never want to turn down. Wrap sections around the snap-shut tools and set with a long-lasting hairspray for optimal results.
Buy now £6.50, ASOS
CONAIR - Self-Grip Rollers Assorted
Prepare for a head full of bouncing, glossy curls with this supersized set of 31 rollers. The self-grip barrels are ordered by colour with bright pink for the two-inch size and purple for the half-inch diameter. The lightweight no-heat rollers are better suited to those with fine hair types as heavier hair is more likely to slip out.
Buy now £16.03, Amazon
Drybar High Tops Self-Grip Rollers
This set of six rollers comes from professional stylist Alli Webb who knows a thing or two about haircare. Designed to finesse every hair type and concern, the self-gripping rollers promise to add volume without kinks.
Simply section hair, and roll each piece from the ends up finishing with the roller towards the back of the head to help it stay in place. The brand recommends gently drying hair with a hairdryer on a low heat setting to get it almost dry before using the rollers, minimising damage while allowing you to get beautiful, bouncy curls faster.
Buy now £10.00, Amazon
Kitsch Satin Heatless Pillow Rollers 6pc- Soft Marble
If you’re after beachy waves or a more laid-back curl, this set of six rollers may be the heatless hero your hair has been crying out for. Once you’ve added product through damp hair, section off parts and wrap around each curler, snapping the ends together once all the hair has been gathered to keep it all secure. Wait until hair has completely dried before removing the satin rollers, which should slide off your locks with ease thanks to the silky nature of the fabric.
Buy now £10.50, Boots
SILKE Heatless Curler
If you’re anything like us, right now on your wrist is anywhere between 1 - 3 hair ties, ready for those moments when you need your hair out of your face. SILKE offers some of the best around, and now has brought its kind-to-strand signature to other tools. A claw grip and a heatless curler are all you need here to help achieve Hollywood-esque curls minus the heat.
Made from the same silky fabric as the hair ties, the tool is essentially one long, skinny foam sausage that you position on the centre front of your head (hair centre parted) and secure with the claw grip. Then working from the top-most sections, wrap a three-inch-wide section around the tool, pulling away from your face so that the roots are pulled up - this is what will give you the volume you’re looking for. Work in sections along one side from the top of your head to your temples, around the ears and finally the back of the neck, securing it all at the end with the hair tie, then repeat on the other side.
SILKE recommends using the tool with damp hair and sleeping in it, which, as side-sleepers, we found challenging. Luckily the tool will give you the desired effect if you wear it for three to four hours (or as long as it takes for your hair to completely air dry). This makes it an option if you want to try heatless for an afternoon or evening event.
The benefits are obvious: zero heat damage and bouncy curls to die for. Add a styling creme, mousse or a few drops of hair oil to your damp locks before wrapping them around the hair tool for a more polished result.
Available in black or pink.
Buy now £42.00, Sephora
T3 Volumising Hot Rollers
Granted T3’s set of rollers are much smaller than the others featured on our list, but if you’re looking for a travel set, they tick all the right boxes. Eight rollers - 1.5-inch and four 1.75-inch - sit on a super lightweight base and are warmed up through the base pins. Simply plug in, hit start and you’ll soon be ready to go.
Although the device heats up to the maximum from the first use, you can adjust the heat settings to two levels, depending on the longevity of the curl you want to achieve. Simply wait until the velvet-flocked rollers are warm enough and hold from the edges, wrapping two-inch sections of hair from tip to root. Add a grip to keep it in place and allow it to cool before releasing it and letting the roller tumble out.
We found finger combing helped keep the curl’s shape rather than brushing. The compact size means it can easily be stored away in a drawer or shelving unit until it’s needed once more.
Buy now £103.00, Current Body
TRESemme 3039U Volume Roller Set
If you’re looking for your first set of heated rollers that won’t break the bank, TRESemme’s model is an ideal set that doesn’t skimp on performance. It’s perfect for those with long and thick hair, with 10 large rollers that heat up simultaneously and are good for creating bouncy, big waves - real beach Barbie stuff.
There is an accompanying set of pins to help hair stay in place on top of and around the head and each set comes with a storage case so you can keep them safe when not in use. No need to sacrifice glam when you’re off on holiday either, these rollers come with worldwide voltage so you can use them at home or abroad. Win.
Buy now £31.99, Superdrug
BaByliss 3663U Curl Pods Hair Heated Rollers
It takes just three minutes for the 18 rollers in this set to warm up; perfect if you want big volume in a hurry. The rollers are in a pod design, eliminating the need for faffing around with pins (and it also means you can keep using the rollers even if you misplace the pins).
Simply wind sections of hair from the tip to the root around the pods, ending at the scalp before securing in place. Once cooled, remove carefully and give your hair a shake to release your head of curls. Easy.
Buy now £58.99, Amazon
