Short Hair Victory Rolls

Who is ready for a long blog post full of images? 

Great! Let's get started. 

These images will load best on a mobile device, the desktop layout doesn't fit the same way.

First of all, ignore my silly faces. This is what I use to do my hair:

Not Your Mothers Texturing Dry Shampoo, 3-row Tooth Comb, Bobby Pins, and a 1" Flat Iron

I'm just going to throw a disclaimer out there that there is no right or wrong way to do hair, especially when it comes to vintage hairstyles, victory rolls specifically. I have seen them done many different ways and I do not feel that your way or my way is the "right" way. Whatever way works for you is going to be the right way. If you're struggling to get your rolls just right, I hope that you will find these images helpful. It took me several months to get the technique down, but I cut about 5" of my hair off every year, so as you can see my hair is fairly short. Going from my collar bone length hair to hair that isn't even to my chin is quite an adjustment but I still manage to roll it up nicely.

Again, I'm going to throw this out there that no way is the right way, this is just how I do my hair, this is what I found works for me. I will try to explain these photos as best as I can as there is a lot of them. I too though, even after rolling my hair for about 2 years now, still have troubles lining my rolls up just right (front back), or making them both the same size (diameter), and I often will get one side perfect then pull the other side out 5 times until I am satisfied. So if you don't get it the first time or the 6th time, just keep trying, you will get there.

Okay, so the first image is my hair, clean. I have done nothing to it, though I have found that dirty hair works better than clean hair because it has texture, but texturing dry shampoo also helps a lot. Second image you can see I have parted my hair from the top of my ear at an angle to just before crown of my head. In the third image I am lightly adding dry shampoo to the MIDDLE of the sectioned hair. It is very important that you do not apply dry shampoo to your scalp as it has been known to cause irritation and in some cases hair loss. Image four is when things start to get crazy; I grab a small portion of the sectioned hair and use my fancy 3-row tooth comb and gently pull downwards. Repeat this step until all of the hair in the parted section has been 'back combed.'

 As you can see here in the first two images I am still working on back combing my hair a bit. If you find that it is uneven or you do not have enough volume, brush it in closer to your scalp. In the third image you can see how much volume it has added to my hair. Image four we're busting out our trusty bobby pins. Don't mind the fact that I'm actually holding it upside down. The bumpy part goes AGAINST the scalp.

 I usually keep my bobby pin in my hand, or I stick the end of it in my mouth as I smooth out the front of the roll. If you need to you can lightly comb through the front half just to make sure all the hairs are smoothed down. If you push too hard you will comb out your back comb. Then I take my hand and curl the ends of my hair inward with my hand as you can see in the last two images.

Viola! Bobby pin #1 has been put in. I typically use about three bobby pins just to make sure everything stays where it should. I put the first one in the back side of the roll, one in the front portion of the roll, and then I stick one through the center of the roll down towards my ear to hold the inside of the roll in place. You may use as many or as few of bobby pins as you feel you need. If your roll starts to slump it could mean one of two things: It's either not rolled tight enough, or you need more bobby pins. In the second image here I have put in all of the bobby pins I feel I will need to hold it in place and I'm getting ready to start the next side. Again I have sectioned the hair from the front of my ear to just before the crown of my head and I am adding dry shampoo to the MIDDLE of my hair.

Back combing in action here in the first image, look at me go! Then I'm smoothing everything out and you can see the motion with my hands a bit better here in this third image as I use one hand to roll and the other hand to pull everything into place. In the last image here I have lined them up where they need to be and getting ready to get my bobby pins.

Here we go. This is the correct way to insert a bobby pin, and here in the second image you can see that I am actually pushing it into the center of the roll down the side of my head as I mentioned previously. Now in the third image I am checking to make sure that the rolls are of similar size and that they are lined up well enough for my liking. Smoothing out all the baby hairs in the fourth image and getting ready for my hairspray.

This is the hairspray I use. I like it because it doesn't make my hair sticky and it allows me to smooth the baby hairs down without making a huge mess of things (from being sticky). I usually purchase this at Walmart, but again, you can use whatever hairspray you like. I have found that this stuff gives me the best overall hold. If I don't use this I use the Herbal Essences Spray Gel which is a level 3 hold instead of a level 2. It makes my hair firm without making it crunchy and I have been known to sleep in my rolls and wake up looking just as I did when I went to bed because it gives me such a good hold. I highly recommend this stuff and it smells amazing so you can't go wrong there.  Moving on to the final steps here, which I forgot to add earlier if you can't seem to get your hair to roll just right you can use your curling iron or flat iron and curl the section of hair you intend to roll, BEFORE you put any products in it. Since my hair is so short it is not necessary. But I do need to curl under my bangs. After a couple of quick passes through my bangs my hair is done! It honestly takes me about 5 minutes or so from start to finish to roll my hair, obviously when my hair was longer it took a little longer to do, but you get the idea. 

I'm sorry this post was so ridiculously long. I do hope it helps some of you, I know a lot of people have been asking me to post a tutorial on how I roll my hair, so now you know!

If it works out for you, I would love to see it, tag me on Instagram or drop a comment below!

Until next time!

XOXO

Did I miss something? Have a question? Drop a comment below!