When it comes to good hair, few things make you feel more glam than a headful of shiny, bouncy curls.
The high-volume look is generally the result of sitting in a salon chair as an expert teases your tresses against the natural pull of gravity. Done right, a bouncy blow dry should last you the better part of a week. It looks fabulous, sure, but your finances won’t if you’re forking out for professional blow dries on the regular.
Yet there is a way to achieve a similar effect at home yourself. All you need is a set of Velcro rollers.
Velcro, so named because it’s a mix of velvet and crochet, has been around since the early 1940s and has many practical uses from fashion, shoes and even NASA’s space-bound shuttles. It’s also quite handy for holding hair around barrels and fixing the shape into place with the help of a hairdryer or, if you’ve got the time, allowed to dry naturally.
Rollers have been used since the Sixties, with pins used to fix them in place and come in heated and non-heated options. Velcro-covered rollers offer additional staying power and unravel quickly once your hair is set.
Some 60 years later, the vintage beauty technique of wrapping hair in rollers is being discovered by a whole new generation; one aware of the damage caused by heated hair tools and on the hunt for alternatives.
If you’re looking for a way to introduce high-octane glamour without coughing up for a hairdresser, we’ve rounded up the best Velcro roller sets below.
How effective they will be depends on your dexterity, experience using them and hair type - for instance, denser hair will require combing hair into smaller sections and using more rollers - but as relatively inexpensive hair tools, they’re worth a punt. Especially in the name of flowing Hollywood curls.
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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
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 £11.25, lookfantastic
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 £15.54, Amazon
Mermade Hair Velcro Roller Kit
Six same-sized rollers are packed into a rose-tinted PVC carry case, complete with matching grip clips, ready to turn your tresses into flowing locks of voluptuous curls. The rollers are finished with super soft nylon Velcro that won’t tug or pull at strands and are best used with a pump of mousse on towel-dry hair.
Buy now £12.00, lookfantastic
Color Wow This Is How We Roll Hair Rollers
Give hair bombshell oomph with help from Color Wow’s rollers. Counted as one of Chris Appleton’s go-to tools, the set of 12 rollers comes in different sizes and colours, each covered with a layer of Velcro to enhance their grip. They can be used at the crown to create dramatic volume or rolled up sectioned lengths from tip to root to create red-carpet waves.
Buy now £16.00, Color Wow
Hair Rollers Set
If you’re serious about raising your hair roller game, this bundle offers astonishing value. The set includes Velcro-wrapped rollers of all sizes, plus a sectioning comb and grips to help hold the rollers in place. Everything fits in a travel bag, meaning you can take your curling system with you on overnight trips and holidays.
Buy now £8.12, Amazon
FREDY’s 31 Pieces Hair Rollers Set
We’re not quite sure who Fredy is but we thank them for this colourful splash into our hair tool game, which is so often an unimaginative black. Get soft, high-volume curls with this candy-coloured set of Velcro rollers, with each size given a shade so you can’t get them mixed up. The set comes with fun hair grips plus a hair shape clip to aid your efforts in front of the dressing mirror.
Buy now £6.99, Amazon
Kitsch Ceramic Thermal Hair Rollers
Whether your hair is long, short or somewhere in-between, these jumbo rollers are your route to a speedy transformation. Best wrapped around 80 per cent dry hair, lift by the root and blast sections with a hairdryer to warm the ceramic rollers and leave to cool completely before gently unravelling. This set is a great alternative to heated rollers that you can take on trips where there is already a hair dryer present.
Buy now £10.99, Amazon
