First early 40s Sponge Curling Attempt

Yes, blog-buddies! This is truly the first time that I’ve attempted my first sponge curl set, and really the first time I’ve ever tried to curl my own hair since high school (*cough cough* over 10 years ago *cough*).

I decided to grow out my pixie cut once I got engaged, but I’ve had pretty short hair since high school, but I rather like myself with longer hair and have maintained a decent length since I got married 2 years ago. I’m still quite the novice about how to actually *do* things with it. I rely heavily on tutorials that I’ve found online, which is what inspired me to try my own hand at a sponge-curling.

I’ve had my hair curled in a salon before with a hot curling iron, and even with heavy hairspray (ick!) it never held for long. I knew that my hair would hold decently with sponge rollers since I’m no stranger to them. My mom used to sponge-curl mine and my sister’s hair every Sunday for church while growing up. So I vaguely recall that the curls always seemed to hold well, when no heat is involved. I actually used sponge curlers in my wedding-day hair style, too. I’ve just never done it myself.

Fully prepared with all my supplies, I decided to attempt my very first hair-curling experience using the trusty sponge curler aaaaand Tasha’s awesome tutorial!!! to guide my way through the process.

Following closely with Tasha’s steps, I bought all my needed supplies. Yes, ladies…. I just bought a comb and a hair-pick because I don’t own such items. I’ve always just made-do with my trusty hairbrush, but thought this would be the perfect time to purchase these basics.

I’m going to spare you the details and images of me in my curlers. Suffice it to say that I believe I spent about 1.5 hours in front of my hallway mirror curling and re-curling my hair. I actually started curling somewhere around 8 or 8:30 pm, shamefully later than Ms. Tasha recommends (no later than 7pm) and I don’t think I ate dinner until 10pm.

I was a bit frustrated at first, but I just kept telling myself 1.) This is my first time, its bound to be difficult 2.) No worries, I’ll just curl it again and 3.) If it looks bad in the morning I can always just re-wet my hair and style as usual. I’m happy to say I didn’t throw anything down in anger and no tears were shed. :) It wasn’t actually as bad as I thought it was going to be and will definitely be trying it again.

Sleeping in the curlers is always challenging since I like a firmer pillow to sleep on. But I think I could get used to the curlers if I do this type of set more frequently. I woke up at least 3 times during the night to readjust positions and to check to see that no curlers had fallen out (which none did thankfully).

Sadly, I don’t think I styled my hair all that well in the morning. I found it much more difficult to style my hair than it was to curl it. I’m thinking this really has to do with the length of my hair vs. dear Tasha’s and also due to the fact that I didn’t want to brush too much and ruin the curls.

Felix graciously shot these pics just before heading off to work:

As you can see I ended up pulling both of the sides back.

Left side view:

Right side view:

I like how I pulled the sides up on this side vs. the other…

I barely brushed through my hair so I wouldn’t ruin the curls. But some of my ends didn’t get tucked in the curlers the way they should have been and caused a bit of frizz at the very bottom. Next time I’ll make sure to be more careful.

I realize that this post is all about my first curling attempt, but I have to point out the leaf-scarf I just finished. I’ve had it completely knit since January, but I finally hand-stitched the embroidery on it (the stem and vines in the leaves). So now I’m wearing it out and about for the first time.

Full shot of my leaf-scarf and curly hair:

I look very autumnal today…

Lastly, I do have to say, I think I picked the very worst day to curl my hair. I didn’t check the weather before hand, and I woke up to rain and tons of wind. While my hair was pretty curled in the morning, but the time I got to work my hair was so windblown, the curls had dropped significantly, down to my shoulders. It remained curly all day and looked quite nice, it just wasn’t the original 30’s/40’s affect I was going for. But I don’t think I can achieve that anyhow, due to the length of my hair.

So it was a non-sewing and non-knitting evening for me last night since I was so slow to curl my hair. But I can see curling my hair once a week or so, and I imagine I’ll get much faster if I do so.

While I absolutely love Tasha’s tutorial which is extremely comprehensive for a newbie like me, I don’t think I can get the same look as hers without cutting my hair. So I’m kinda curious does anyone else have any good vintage curling resources? I’d like to try my hand at a set that is more geared towards longer hair, but I have to use sponge rollers since my hair is quite resistant towards heat-sets.

Edit: I thought I’d take a quick shot for you all of the second day, in the morning, after I slept on the curls overnight.