Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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!

Monday, December 1, 2014

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: