Solo Wonder Brushrollers

I was lucky enough to get three packages of Solo Wonder Brushrollers.  The package has a 1970 copyright, so they much have appeared around that period.

From the package:

"No metal coil, no prickly brush, no horsehair to unravel. Wonder is the name of this incredible, patented brush roller. It looks like ... performs like the finest brush rollers. Yet it's much lighter, much softer. SOLO's new weightless wonder has no metal coil to stain, no prickly brush to scratch, no horsehair to unravel. Moulded in one piece, Wonder is truly flexible for total comfort day an night."

The difference between this and other brush rollers is is a thick plastic spiral on the outside of the roller. The roller rests on the spiral, not the brushes (which only  protrude slightly beyond the spiral) making these brush rollers that are not prickly to wear. Great if you have a sensitive scalp or are trying to get used to wearing or sleeping in curlers.

Just like the packages promises, they do "perform like the finest brush rollers". Even if you stretch your hair and wind it tightly on rollers in true 1960s or 70s fashion, they are hardly prickly at all and yet stay well secured under the dryer or overnight. And like traditional brush rollers, leave your hair bouncy or fluffy with plenty of volume, way more so than with modern velcro or even magnetic rollers.


One thing  I did not like was that  these rollers are somewhat longer than others, particularly the smaller ones which makes them a little harder to wind and place. The package does say "flexible, fits contour of head" and that seems to be the trick with these long rollers: wind then carefully and they will bend a little to conform to the contours of your head which makes up for the length issue.


In many ways these are close to ideal rollers, very comfortable yet with all the advantages of brush rollers. Unfortunately, their flexibility comes at price: I suspect they will not last nearly as long as other brush rollers. That in itself would not be too be big a problem except they also seem to be very rare. I haven't seem them for sale except once, so the chances of purchasing them these days seem slim. If you do see them anywhere, grab them, you'll be pleased you did!

1968 Cover Hairdo

Finally I have gotten around to doing a small blog post about this very sculptured hairdo on the cover of 1968 Hair Setting Patterns. I'm generally not a fan of too rigid hairdos, but I do think this lady looks fabulous!

This certainly would not be an easy style to do or maintain with everything being so exacting. Hear are the instructions:

Memories of Vintage Beauty Salons

The small, privately owned beauty salon could almost be described as being part of the culture during the mid 20th century and was so common, it hard to believe that over that last 25 years they have all but disappeared.  Gwen Tuinman  wrote a wonderful article "Hairs the Story of a Small Town Salon" , which inspired me to do this blog post.  I'll quote from her article to give you preview of it:

"My job was straight forward: wash hair; sweep floors; pass curlers and pins, perm rods and papers. There was a large pedestal tray on wheels that was stocked with curlers of differing sizes, arranged by colour. The curler pins were stored, heads at one end of the tray compartment and points at the other.

When Marie was doing a set, I’d pass the correct curler followed by a pin. I imagined that it was like being a surgical nurse. I anticipated what she’d need without her uttering so much as a word, by watching the pattern of curlers and other clues that bloomed as she worked. While the tail of her comb traced out another tidy rectangle in her patron’s hair,  I’d hold the next curler or hairpin in midair, ready to place the item in Marie’s palm."

You can read the whole article here.

I thought I'd post a few photos of those salons from various places on Internet. Unfortunately, its often hard to find the original source, so I will try and attribute them with links where possible. (If you are the original owner and want the link changed, or would like you photo removed, please let me know).


This first photo of a typical small salon looks like its from the 1970s and even in this small salon there is an element of luxury. Look at the lady under the dryer: she has her legs up on leg-rest to make her time under the dryer more comfortable.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/185562447118998794/

Here is a photo from the early 60s(?). I love how the hairdresser in the photo, perhaps the owner, is standing proudly behind the counter of her shop.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/382172718348614609/

And a similar one. Look at the vintage furniture and how well dressed they are. Perhaps this was a somewhat up-scale salon.

 http://www.pinterest.com/pin/382172718350610631/

 And a really small two dryer salon from the 50s.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/559361216191191699/

Here is a great photo showing the activity in a small salon. Love the iconic late 60s hairdo the blond hairdresser is wearing.

 http://www.pinterest.com/pin/477522366711649555/

And what salon would have been complete without some shampoo girls. Undoubtedly one of the perks of the job would have been to have their own hair done.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/482800022526617961/

And here is the outside of a salon. Looks like sign is neon sign which you hardly see any more.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/205969382930552174/

Pick a Hairdo!

The February 1972 edition of Womans Day had one of the most comprehensive articles showing how to do many common hairstyles of the time with a classic wetset or sometimes a blow dry. Unlike many other articles, it included how to adjust your set for different hair textures. If there ever was reference article on late 1960s or early 1970s hair this is it! (As always for a bigger view, right click with your mouse on the image and select View Image, then left click).

 

Here is the table with details of how to do the sets for different hair textures. The setting patters are at the end. This is also a great example of how only a few different setting patterns can do many different hairdos.

How to use Setting Patterns from 1974

There are plenty of setting patterns online for 1960s and 70s hair. Here is a nice tutorial from Set 'n Style (1974) and how to use those setting a patterns, and about how to do hair 1970s style in general. (As always for a bigger view, right click with your mouse on the image and select View Image, then left click).

 

 

Some Hairdressing Hints from 1961

Here are some hair setting tips from HairDo April-May 1961. If you trying to create hairdo from the 60s, where could you find better instructions than in an article written in 1961? (As always for a bigger view, right click with your mouse on the image and select View Image, then left click).

What's New in Hair Dryers (in 1965 that is!)

I came across this article showing the different home hair dryer types available 1965 in the May Hairdo issue. It interesting to look at and might be a useful reference if you are looking planning to purchase a vintage dryer. (As always for a bigger view, right click with your mouse on the image and select View Image, then left click).

I have the Oster rigid hood dryer on this the first page. Its a great as an interesting piece of vintage, but not quite so good as a dryer.

 The GE dryer below is worth mentioning. They seemed to have moved to the heating element to the end of the hose just where it attaches to the bonnet to keep the hose cool. I'm not sure I would want a heating element that quite that close to my hair. Seems a bit dangerous!  What must have been the previous model of that dryer had the heating element in the main dryer body like all the others. I have one and its a great dryer, being remarkably quite. It also also a "reach in" bonnet so you can check or re-adjust your curlers without removing the hood, great for fixing that one roller that's just too tight. I'm not sure if the "improved" model below has the same feature.