A wonderful friend, Fran Gauner, who is a hairdresser in New York and an absolutely great person was kind enough to let me in on her method of conditioning hair while doing a wetset.
Here is her technique:
Fran's Original Conditioning Method1) Shampoo and then apply Infusium 23 leave in conditioner to you hair.
2) Set it on small rollers and cover it with a showercap.
3) Sit under a hot dryer for at least an hour or more, then the remove the showercap and dry.
Then let your hair cool and you will have have the softest tightest curls and well conditioned hair (her words!).
If your home all day and have the time, for an even better result, do the above in the morning, and then (with the showercap off) let your hair dry until the next morning. The curls will last for days and stay soft. (unless it gets damp as with any wetset). While Franni's uses small rollers, of course use the most appropriate rollers and setting pattern for your hair and desired style. She recommends doing this about once a month.
A Modified version of Franni's Conditioning MethodI have used Franni's method so often, and it really is great. But one thing I find is that I can't leave the showercap on too long or perspiration gets caught inside and is, well, icky. And of course, that limits the benefit of conditioning. So here is what works so well for me. Take a showercap and use a hole punch to make lots of holes in it about 2cm or ¾ inch apart. Look at the photo below:
The holes let moisture escape, but only slowly, so at least for an hour or two under the dryer hair will still be damp with conditioner allowing the conditioner to do its magic although still drying gradually. If you play around with the number of holes in your showercap, you can find the right amount so that it takes perhaps 2 hours or more to almost fully dry, where the first hour and a half is really conditioning. Once you have the shower cap's holes adjusted properly, a conditioning set becomes easy: condition, put on showercap and then no worries for two hours under the dryer and your done. Or just be more sparing with the holes and take the showercap off after the conditioning phase and then dry as you otherwise would.
As always. be sure your hair is completely dry before removing the rollers or your set will fall out.
I have tried the second one and it its really great to snuggle up with although the foam in it isn’t as bouncy as it originally must have been. Haven’t tried the first one yet, and I'm somewhat hesitant to open the plastic it having survived so long unopened. Perhaps I'll update this when I try it sometime!
