Nov 28 2008
Is The Roller-Set Essential To Dominican Styling?
As the saying goes, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” but is there more than one way to go about Dominican hairstyling when it comes to natural hair?
Usually, having your hair done by a Dominican stylist means you’ll get a wash, roller-set, and blow-out. However, when it comes to natural hair, there are some Dominican stylists who forego the roller-set altogether and head straight for the blow dryer.
Speaking with a few Dominican stylists on the matter, they usually asses the hair and use their best judgment to decide how to achieve the famous bouncy, light, swinging hair. While most of the stylist said they skip the rollers on natural hair, a few will roll the hair no matter how curly or tightly coiled the hair is while wet.
I personally think getting natural hair to stay on a roller is an art (that I haven’t mastered) It’s frustrating to say the least, believe me I’ve tried many times since I’ve been natural and my strands just won’t stick. I usually end up with half of my hair sticking up off of the roller and overly fuzzy roots. I’d love to be able to use rollers once in a while but it just isn’t going to give me the same result as when my hair was relaxed. So to get the smooth mock-relaxed look I skip the rollers and go straight to the handheld dryer. This is what works for me, but there are some natural hair women who prefer to have their hair set with rollers.
I mean, you kind of lose the Dominican hair salon experience if you don’t get the rollers right? For some, sitting beneath a scorching hood dryer (with a towel tucked around the dryer or at least some ear guards of course) and a head full of brightly colored plastic rollers is a huge part of the “Dominican way”. For others, the use of Dominican hair products and the roundbrush make up the Dominican salon experience.
What are your thoughts? For those with thick, dense, or extremely curly hair that can’t get a smooth roller-set to save their lives, do you feel like you’re missing out on the Dominican Salon experience? Or is the finished product of gorgeous, healthy hair satisfying enough?
And to my relaxed ladies – pressed for time, have you ever skipped the rollers and just had your stylist “blow-out” your hair? Were the results the same as if you had sat under the dryer with rollers?
I have relaxed hair and when I do a roller set it turns out awful and frizzy. Even though my hair is relaxed it still curls when wet. So when I do my hair I prefer to blowdry it. When someone else washes it I have them roller set it.
Well I am a bushy haired natural and I do both. I wash and condition my own hair (I do hair) before I arrive at the salon pero depending if I’m pressed for time, I go straight to the dryer and if I have time…I do the roller set… Love the result of the set better but I do both. I do my daughter’s hair and it seems her hair comes out better with the roller set as well…….You use less heat when you roll the hair when you are actually doing the blow out because the hair is straighter from the rollers.
Hello ladies,
I perfer to use the rollers. When I go to the salon, I always get a roller set because it makes the hair so much more smooth and manageable. After getting a roller set, I will usually have the stylist blowdry only the roots. Ever now and then, I will get the full-on Dominican blowout.
When I wash and style my hair at home, I just use the blow dryer. It gets the job done, but its not as smooth when I do it.
Hello ladies, I love all your comments, I still think there is nothing like roller set, if you look back to when there were no blow dryers and straitening irons, our mothers hair looked much more healthier, they never had problems with hair breakage or dryness, they will wash thier hair every week and roller set, then style anyway they want. as for me, I have tried it the old and modern way, my hair did better with the old method. It use to shed a lot with blow drying and hot iron, but now with just 1 month of roller set my hair has improved a whole lot.
Hey ladies………….. I have very naturally curly long(mid-back) length hair and at home I usually just wash and go letting it air dry curly. If I want to wear it straight then I blow it dry. Unfortunately it is still bushy at the ends and not very smooth. When I go to my Dominican hair salon they wash and roller set my hair then blow it out if I want to wear it straight. I have never seen a relaxer get my hair as straight as a Dominican hair stylist. I do not go very often and have this done. I must admit though, most of the women who go there have very healthy long hair and they are not all hispanic some are african american.
Hi Ladies,
I love the roller set and wrap, it gets my hairs straight without the tugging and pulling from the blow dryer and it leaves my hair bouncy and flowing just right. My hair is so trained from going to the Dominican for the last 15 years that I do not need to get it blow dried after the roller set I just wrap and go, my hair will be straight the next day with a little bump in it at the ends. I dont know what kind of blow dryers the Dominicans use but it is more like a blow torch. If you roots are nappy they are sure to be straight after they get to them
Their products are fantastic and I get alot of compliments on my hair. I have told all my friends about this site and many have order products. Thank goodness for this site because I moved from NY where you can find the Dominican everywhere to Maryland and I had a fit trying to find the Dominicans. After coming to this site I was able to find them in DC and I am as happy as can be.
I like the blow dryer. Even as a permie I hated rollersetting. When your hair is long it take too much time. I am not a dryer person so it never worked for me. I know blowdrying and then flat ironing is a lot of heat but my hair swings like there is no tommorow. I am natural now, so I will straighten my hair soon, But I will not be roller setting.
I have only been to a Dominican Hair Salon once, and it was after I removed hair extensions from my own hair…lol at 4am in the morning because I was having a major hormonal hot flash moment…later that morning while waking up with a fresh cup of coffee I looked in the mirror and I saw the horrible hair cut I gave myself (screammmm)!! My Sister in law took me to the best Salon of my life and it was a Dominican Salon! They gave me the best cut and use the best products in my hair. I am African American/Indian woman, I do not perm my hair and have the finest baby curly wavy hair, during the summer months it is not a problem just put in a lite conditioner wet scrunch and go! But since I have decided to go all natural with out weaves, extensions etc., I was clueless for a while on what I would do in the Winter months! Usually the Winter months leaves my hair hanging so to speach and when I had a little length I would just pull my hair back put on a hat and go. Since chopping my hair I purchased some of the hair products on this site and my hair has grown and looks great the Products are truly wonderful and I am truly a happy camper! ps., I tried to roll my own hair like the salon and I can not even come close…..lol…but who knows maybe a little practice will make perfect, I remember my Mother roller setting her hair too every night and agree with the person that mentioned years before the blow dryer and curling irons, hair was healthier with out these products! Flat irons etc., are killing and frying the hair…so if it takes me a few tries I think in the long run it will be worth it to not use hot irons etc., I no longer want to look like the people from Hollywood no offence, I have learned to love what the good Lord has blessed me with and I am now for once in my life dealing with that! In the past hair was healthier by simply using great products and leaving the hair alone, so as for me it is back to the past I go! Because in my opinion a head full of healthy hair either kinky or straight at least it is your own and it is healthy and not fried to a crisp! I would recommend this site to everyone for the greatest product around!
Hi,
I have had my hair done twice at a dominican salon at this point. I have natural hair (curly/very wavy). What some people call “good” hair is a real freakin headache…It takes me normally four hours to wash, condition and blow dry my own hair only for me to put oil sheen and leave-in conditioner in it to wave it back up. Without the blow drying first, the wave pattern is usually to tight. EEK! 4 hours!
So I go to the Dominican salon and say wash, condition and blow dry and skip the rollers because I want to get out soon and she is done in 45 minutes! Natural hair, no roller set, bouncy long hair that feels weightless and I can get back to my busy life. Its the best.
Hey Chaka!!! How are u??! Thank u for posting this..I am sitting here AS WE SPEAK with rollers in my hair lol. I actually rolled my hair a few hrs ago..but I’ve been to lazy to get under the dryer..ANYWAY..I haven’t mastered the art of rolling natural hair on rollers either [i’ma natural]. I’m learning though, it now only takes me 45 mins to roll my hair. I’ve never tried just going straight for the blow dryer. I have a thing about direct heat…and those hand held dryers feel like they are scorching my strands. The only time I use the dryer is when I am at the salon and they are blowing out my hair. The salon where I go, everyone gets their hair on rollers..no matter how long or thick. My little sister has waist length natural hair which is thick and curly..and YUP..they roll her hair too lol. & blow it out at the end.
Sunshyne
I have gone to the Dominican Hair Salon a few times. now I live in knoxville,tn and of course there are none. I can’t stand it my hair never looks good compared to when I lived in NY and had my hair done on a reg. people here just don’t understand. they keep asking me what do they do that we don’t do and they will never know until they experince it. I do prefer the roller over the irons. I find that my hair does grow w/that process better. I am black with a perm. I will try to roller set it myself at home but I have a strange feeling it won’t be the same.
Hello All,
I have been curious about dominican salons for a while.
I have been natural for the past 12 years or so. Mostly I have gone to ouidad salons and I am considering trying the Deva method.
To make a long story short back in 07 my stylist convinced me to relax my hair to show my length more. I had long hair, but my hair was natural so I got a lot of shrinkage. Well it didn’t turn out well.
Now I am in the process of growing the relaxed parts out again. I went to a different stylist within the same chain and she and I didn’t work out. She refused to cut the relaxed parts and then refused to color it.
I had a color in my hair, actually it was some bleached highlights when he put the relaxer in. So I got breakage and the parts of my hair where the new growth meets used to get tangled a lot.
She did however cut my hair curly where it would fall into a pattern when it is worn natural versus straight.
At any rate, I am thinking of trying chisam salon in jacksonville. I used to fly to ft lauderdale /miami to get my hair done when in the SE and I would go to phoenix/LA when out west. It seems like chisam’s prices are much cheaper than what i was paying for cuts and colors these past few years.
I am a 4a, I do not use alcohol products on my hair as they dry it out a lot. I have tried salerm products and they didn’t work well for me. Conversely too much conditioning makes my hair soggy. That is the best way I can describe it.
I would like to know if any of the following is achievable?
1. For them not to use any alcohol or paraben based products on my hair.
2. For my hair not to be cut or trimmed in any way when styled.
3. For a wavy/larger curled style to be achieved.
I have noticed that in the pics I have seen straight hair with lots of body can be achieved. I am not interested in super straight hair - I am not averse to some straightening, but I would prefer a loose curl/wave type of style.
In the very distant past I have been able to achieve that kind of set with stylists using paul mitchell foaming pomade and a fine tooth comb with large rollers. The roots would not be straight, but the hair would be smooth enough to look nice and it gave me larger curls.
If that is not doable then I would be interested in the thread extensions. Or maybe even a combination of a set with the thread extensions. Is there any detail as to how that works and is different from the other extensions?
And I am curious about the color washes. I would be interested in a clear one if it would give my hair a nice shine.
I am just looking for something simple that looks nice and is protective as my hair grows back out.
These are examples of the looks I am trying to achieve. Is it possible or am I asking for too much?
Hello Girls,
I hpe that you are fine. Miss you Chaka and Jen.
I love rollers, i have natural hair and i can say thta my hair looks much better when i used rollers.
Here in Domincan Republic in the country the girls do the rollers and go outside in the sun to dry the hair….Thats so funny, you can see all the girls walking in the street with rollers…
girls keed doing rollers is much better for the hair and is you use relaxer it will look more natural…
love u RBH!!!
Elinelsy!!!
I rollerset my hair at home. I use wire mesh rollers, end papers and roller pins. I cannot do a tight rollerset with magnetic rollers. By using the wire mesh rollers I eliminate the need for blowing out the roots, or flatironing them. I just moisturize, seal with oil and wrap my hair and I’m done.
oh, I forgot to mention that I can roll my hair in fifteen minutes flat even with end papers.
Update: I’ve always had a good experience since I started getting my hair done at the local Dominican salon, but my last visit was borderline nightmare. The shop assistant washed and rinsed my hair until I thought it was stripped of everything. You shouldn’t wash your hair until its squeaky clean. Mind you, I’m in need of a relaxer, so overwashing my hair really didn’t help the situation. I paid extra to get the deep conditioning treatment, so I thought the potential problem of tangles was solved. Well, it was in a sense. I needed a trim, so I was passed on to a real stylist. She’s awesome, and she did a great job. She took care to start detangling my hair from the ends and worked her way to the scalp…perfect. After she finished giving me a trim, she passed me back to the shop assistant, who then proceeded to roller set my hair. OMG! She put so much leave-in conditioner in my hair, then she decided that this still didn’t provide enough slip, so she pilled on the setting lotion…WHAT! I’ve never had setting lotion put on my hair for just a roller set. It took her forever to roller set my hair. In the process of doing the roller set, she kept yanking and pulling on my hair starting with the roots and yanking all the way down to the ends. Not to mention, she was saying stuff in Spanish the entire time, and I know it wasn’t nice. I was getting upset, but I was doing a good job of holding it in. The stylist, who had trimmed my hair, saw what was going on, and took over. She finished the roller set in no time flat without yanking and breaking my hair. While I was under the dryer, I saw her pull the assistant to the side and talk to her. I hope that she got her straight! I’m a good customer. I never complain, I’m always polite, and I ALWAYS leave a BIG tip (except that day). After it was all said and done, my hair still looked good, but I wish I didn’t have to go through all of that drama in order to achieve the end results. I walked up to the counter to pay for my services, said thank you and left. Will I go back there again? I don’t know. I may need to try their competitor down the street.
Hi ladies! Just today, I got my usual semi-annual touch up from no other than a dominican salon. After almost 20yrs of going to them compared to my own black salons; nothing comes close to how your hair looks after a roller set. Different dominican stylists have always told me concerning relaxed hair, that you should never blowout your hair without having the roller set first. Then it is up to you whether or not you have it blown out or wrapped after the rollers. Being a black woman, you know most of us are serious when it comes to our haircare. In my opinion, a roller set and blow out gives your tresses the bounce and shine that one just cannot achieve without it. I also believe it strengthens your hair from the roots: therefore allowing it to grow and remain healthy. I am a firm believer in the dominican roller set and their salons!
I have relaxed hair that im groing out..yikes! setting your hair in “rolos” makes your hair healthier and bouncy…blow drying it directly fries it and make it look crappy and ugly, sorry gals..i used to do it all the time too! you can blow it out later after its dry but its not the same if its wet… its hard to do it but rolos will save your hair for sure.Dominican or not its better for our type of hair!
well i “ve been trying to do the rollers myself and i have a hard time so i just do my treatments and wrap my hair up in a doobie and sit under the dryer and flat iron after!! i love going to a dominican hairdresser in fact that is the only ones that could touch my hair because they have the magic touch to beatiful healthy hair!!!
I typically get a roller set or set it myself because I have fine hair and it gives me more body. I only blow dry and/or flatiron at home on “special occasions” or if I’m in a rush. I sit under a warm dryer with my Roller sets because it’s easier on my scalp even if I have to sit under a little longer.
I do think that roller sets are part of the complete Dominican experience but I can see why natural hair clients would just get a blow dry from wet.
I go to a Dominican Salon in Raleigh. The first time I walked through the door with my natural hair, they looked liked at my like I have 5 heads. After many $60 visits they still do. It took 3 different people to roller set my hair and it took forever. I asked that they not do that ever again. Why is everyone so afraid of natural hair? Why can’t anyone work with natural hair? Why does everyone charge $20 maybe even $30 more to do natural hair? I have yet to find a salon that welcomes natural hair. The salons around here will do your natural hair but they prefer not to.
Can someone please tell me if that dominican product called Kinta Ondas curl remover is worth using on tight kinky hair? Maybe this would make rollersetting easier on natural hair
Hello islandgirl. I tried a natural conditioner that softens new growth or natural hair. Its called Carmel treatment. It consists of bananas, wheat germ oil, olive oil, honey, molasses and water and cornstarch.
I used bananaa baby food and hand mixed it instead of real bananas and using a mixer. I put equal amounts of oils, honey and molasses. I didn’t need water and cornstarch. I think you are supposed to heat mixuture over the stove and add cornstarch and water to thicken the product. I didn’t do it bcs it was late on a weeknight and I wanted to finish my hair plus I used the whole jar of baby food so it was just the right consistency. Next time I will use more honey and molasses. I applied it to my dirty hair like a relaxer parting in sections applying to new growth but then put it all over the entire hair shaft.
I left mixture on for an hour prior to shampoo and condition. I must say it did soften and straighten my new growth. I do use wire mesh rollers though so the tension of the rollers helped. I am trying to wait 12 weeks between touch ups. I am at 8 weeks now. I can honestly say that I can wait another four weeks. The softening effects are supposed to last 4 weeks. I bet if I left it on two hours or overnight the softening effects would be even greater.
Oh I will also use 12 en 1 conditioner next time. The 12 en 1 seemed to make my hair very soft and silky but that was at 6 weeks post touch up and I did use my heating cap. .I used Nacidit olive oil cond and it didn’t detangle my hair as well. I should have went under the dryer with the conditioner I didn’t. It was getting late and I was tired.
chaka I would love for you to try this conditioner and tell me what you think.
Hi Everyone,
I have natural hair that is very curly, but not not tightly curled. I prefer roller set and blow out due to not having too much heat on my hair. I’ve tried the wash and blowout and the heat was literally frying my scalp and the tugging and pulling was really a tedious and harsh process. I really think that was healthy for my hair and probably damaged it. So, I prefer to roller set and blow out which is best for my scalp and hair and it doesn’t smell like it’s burning. My hair is very bouncy and healthy this way. My hair is also much softer now.
I have gone to Dominican Salons on and off for the past 7-8 years. Initially my hair was relaxed, and I would get the roller set and blow out. I then went natural. For the past 4 years I had been with out any chemicals in my hair (I have tightly curled hair) and went to a traitional African American Salon, and got a blow dry and curl, with the marcel irons (the ones that are heated on a beauticians stove). Recently I returned to a Dominican Salon and Yadira (Kebello Kolors-Phila) is the truth, I’ve done both, roller set and blow out and just blow dry and flat ironed. My time determines which service. I prefer the roller set and blow out and flat iron.
My only problem was that my roots would sometime get bushy. Well, Yadirah suggested a texturizer, which she only applied to the roots, LINANGE Shea Butter Cream Texturizer. so far so good. I didn’t mention the fact that I have permanent color with copper highlights. My hair is covered for a good portion of the day as I am Muslim, and I’ve not experienced any breakage. I use a Paul Mitchell product to keep it moisturized.
Well, the truth of Dominincan salons was revealed to me (as if I really needed to be convinced) when I took my 11 year old neice to the salon the other day. Did I mention that her hair is a knotty as a lambs behind and damaged at that. Well, girls they washed, deep conditoned, trimmed it blew it dry and flat ironed it. Her hair looks wonderful. Accomplishing that is a miracle. When she returns to Maryland, she’ll be going to a Dominican Salon in Essex.
I only got a blow out once from a Dominican Salon in the D.C. area. I wasn’t able to get the rollers because I was natural at the time. I was wondering why my friend got rollers and I didn’t. The stylist kept speaking spanish the whole time so I don’t think she was fluent in English. My hair got really straight so it didn’t bothere me at all. Next time I do want to get a roller set. A blow out is the best thing next to a relaxer.
Well, i have lived in the Dominican Republic for the past five years, and i can’t agree with any of you. I’m from Jamaican, black with some spattering of Indian heritage….my hair is fine, but there’s alot of it….or there was before i came to the DR…My hair is so fine that by the time you’ve combed the relaxer through it once, its already relaxed & ready to be washed out.
In Jamaica my routine was wash, roller set with setting lotion or lottabody & a leave in conditioner, and brush out w/ a little hair oil on the scalp, and oil sheen after styling…when i relaxed my hair it would be relax, roller set as above, brush out & the stove type curling irons to curl the ends of my hair under.
My hair was straight, shiny & sleek…..enter the Dominican Republic, and all my american (caucasian, indian, hispanic) friends go crazy over how straight & soft there hair is. Not so with mine…
There is a distinct difference between when i get my hair done @ home, and when i get my hair done in the DR…straight yes….i’ve realized that’s an obsession, and burn your scalp they will to get it bone straight…but it is no as sleek & shiny as it is when my hair dresser does it in Jamaica.
In addition to that my hair has been breaking since i came here…I’m not sure i agree w/ the Dominican way of doing hair…they look at you crazy if you suggest using setting lotion or heavens forbid hair oil/oil sheen…..the roller set i agree with…the smoke filled salons w/ burning hair i do not.
I have been wearing my hair natural (mostly braid styles) for almost 7 years now. With these styles your hair tends to dry out. I recently decided that I wanted to wear my hair out but didn’t know where to turn. My cousin has been going to Dominican to get her hair styled for years and suggested that I go. Of course I wasskeptical about going there and everyone seeing my hair in its most natural state (very kinky). I was welcomed with opened arms. They first washed, deep conditioned, trimmed and then blow dryed it straight. Then the stylist suggested I get a little curl for style. Well let me tell you when I left that shop my hair was as light as a feather. It looked like I had just got a relaxer.
I would recommend anyone who is transitioning from relaxed to natural hair to please check out the Dominicans. I will be going every two weeks so that they can train my hair the way it should be but a Dominican Salon is the next best thing since sliced bread.
I’m in btwn, trying to let my hair growout from a short hair cut, I haven’t relaxed my hair since, Sept, and then I had micros and now, I don’t know if I want to go back to relaxed, however, my hair right now is very hard to manage, I went to this new dominican salon here in the atlanta metro, she suggested a texturizer, not too familar with that, however she said it would be better than a relaxer…. Help, cause Idk what to do…
I currently have a texturizer, it was applied to approx 3 inches of my hair @ the roots. A texturizer is simply a very very mild relaxer. My problem was that when I perspired my hair was getting kinda knotty at the roots. That was plucking my nerves, so my sylist suggested a texturizer. She used Linange Shea Butter Texturizer. What I like is that my hair is not bone straight, to tell the truth, the only difference I notice is that my rots are not getting bushy.
Does anyone do the Dominican way of doing hair (with rollers) in Portland, Orgeon?
does anyone know the name of the leave-in conditioner the dominicians salons use to blow dry hair?
I Always Wondered What all the ” fuss ” was about - it seems that the Dominican Technique utilizes Traditional Techniques for Caucasian Hair:
Blow Drys, Wet Sets, etc - many Dominican Woman who are more mixed have long hair naturally with a fine texture, hence the techinque.
Sounds like nothing new to me - just what is appropriate & will work for certain hair types.
I would like to look at the results with coarse hair,
I never really enjoyed my hair until I started going to a Dominican Hair salon when I was fifteen. They taught me how to wear my relaxed hair loose and what types of products to use on it. When I was in high school I wasn’t allowed to work, and the prices they offered at their salons allowed my hardworking mom to give me money to get my hair done on a bi-weekly, if not weekly basis AND they were walk-in. I would get a roller set and wrap only, and my relaxed hair came out so gorgeous and bouncy that people in school would ask me where I got my hair done. This was in the early/mid nineties in a New Jersey suburb close to the GW bridge when the shop first opened on the main road. Soon, half the girls in my school went to the salon and would get rollers and a wrap. At a certain point, the black girls in our town were instantly recognized because our healthy shoulder length or longer hair. (No joke).
Right now, for me, and my relaxed hair…Dominican is the way to go. Every time I pass an African American salon here in the five boroughs (NYC), it is ALL about the weave or twists and natural. I am neither of the two so I go where I get results. Many, if not all of the woman sitting next to me in the dom shops in Queens and Brooklyn are black womem with thick/coarse relaxed hair who appreciate the technique of roller setting and blow drying their hair with the round brush along with the great treatments. Not every shop is great, just like not every restaurant is going to be great, but you find what you like and you stick with it. As a grown woman I am not going to let anyone burn my scalp with a relaxer, or FRY my hair with a superhot dryer or flatiron leaving me bald. The stylist is not your ma-ma who is going to slap you with the comb for complaining. You tell them what you like, and you reward them for doing good by tips and returning. If they don’t keep any customers, they will get the hint.
Idk about natural hair, but all of us relaxed girls here in NYC (we are the majority), FLOVE dominican hair salons English speaking or not. They figure out what you want and get the job done for a bargain price.