CARUSO 30 Piece Molecular Steam Hairsetter/Hot Rollers | 5 Size Rollers, Conditions as it Curls

I received my Caruso steam setter and was excited to try it. I have very fine hair and bone straight. For years I have been using Velcro rollers with damp and blowing my hair dry. It has always helped add some volume but within a very short time my hair flattens and that just drives me crazy! Yes, yes I can hear all you with curly hair muttering... "Oh.. I'd LOVE straight hair." .. uh.. no.. no you wouldn't.About a zillion years ago I had a great set of steam rollers that had jumbo size rollers and I will say they were great, but somewhere over the years it has gotten lost, and I have tried several different products, but none really worked for my hair. The last attempt was with a set that I was never even able to figure out how to use the handy dandy pins that came with it. Add to that, the fact the rollers were too small and were very heavy and after a couple frustrating tries it ended up in the far reaches of my closet somewhere.All that being said I had pretty low expectations for the Caruso unit, especially with the rollers being squishy foam. I checked some of the videos and they all showed hair being rolled from the middle of the strand and that gave a pretty corkscrew looking curl.. not what I was looking for at all.So.. yesterday was my first attempt and I was pretty impressed. I, however had not totally dried a few strands before rolling, and I also left the rollers too long on the steamer so when I took them down there was no curl to speak of . Lesson learned. Even with those newbie mistakes.. my hair looked pretty good. And best of all, it actually maintained some body all day long.So today, I thoroughly dried my hair and left the rollers on the steamer for perhaps 2 - 3 seconds. I also briefly steamed the covers and I gotta say.. my hair looks fantastic. I have tons of body and for the first time ever I have a great messy "bedhead" look as opposed to my usual sleek bob. Wow.. and more wow!I had also purchased an additional pack of Jumbo rollers and some open style clips (Conair Hot Roller Clips) since I wasn't sure whether the Caruso clips would leave a dent. But they don't and I have no idea why not! I would think that perhaps using the open clips would give a somewhat different curl, and I’ll give that a try sometime in the future. I had not intended to write a novel about this product but I am pretty sure I could go on and on, but I'll spare you that horror.

When these rollers came out in the early 80s, women generally understood more about using water to set hair than they do now. Women used to wet-set hair periodically and rely on the durability of the water-set hair to get them through several days of hairstyles. Today women are much more familiar with heat-setting hair (with irons, blowdryers), and using products to keep the style for a DAY. The "steam" concept suggests heat is involved, so women expect using the product to be as easy as--say--a curling iron, but this products is actually an ingenious way of wet-setting with a small amount of heat involved. As a result, you get long-lasting water-set curls (as if you slept in wet rollers the night) in a FRACTION of the time. Water-set curls/waves last a lot longer than heat-set styles. But, for women used to heat-set hair ONLY, there's a learning curve. If you're removing a roller and a particular curl didn't set, you can consider why rather than believe the product doesn't work--and your hair will set better next time...AND you'll understand more about hair in general and your hair, in particular. The picture reviews show many women with great results and a few women who think the product doesn't work, but EVERYONE'S hair--regardless of texture or thickness, is reliably set with water. As you roll your hair, make a note of how you're doing it, and if--afterwards--your hair comes off a roller with a weak or unstsable curl, consider:- How long was the roller steamed beforehand and/or did you steam the cover? (more steam creates more curling power but also takes longer to dry)- Did the roller flop around while drying? ("stillness" while drying is very important for results, the sides of the rollers have slits which you can use to secure with a bobby pin or clip)- How tightly did you roll? (tightness affects stability and size of curl)- How much hair did you wrap (generally, the more hair your grab with the roller, the looser the resulting curl).- How long did you leave rollers in the hair? (more steam requires more drying time)- Etc.All of these factor into the tightness and stability of the curl AND the guide included with the product explains a lot of this. If you want a long-lasting curl and are willing to do a small amount of learning, you can use these rollers! As for the reviewer who said this popped and burned shortly after plugging it in -- did you follow directions and fill the tank with water first??