I Tried the ’90s Hair Rollers Trend For Voluminous Waves

Just when I finally started to feel like I had mastered the art of the perfect messy beach wave, smooth, bouncy blowouts decided to make a big comeback. I haven’t been able to scroll social media without seeing a hair tutorial promising ’90s supermodel hair, and I have to admit: the look is growing on me. The one tool it seems everyone has started using to help them achieve this iconic style? Rollers. Hair rollers of all types have officially made a resurgence, and hairstylists are leaning into the trend for 2022.

According to celebrity hairstylist Clayton Hawkins (the mastermind behind some of Olivia Rodrigo’s most iconic looks), the theme with rollers will will be: the bigger, the better. “Giant ’90s roller sets are going to be everywhere at the start of 2022,” he said. “[They are] a nod to the past — think Cindy Crawford and Fran Drescher — but with a modern edge. This style is classic, fun, and a huge departure from those zoom era messy buns.”

Honestly, any mention of Fran Drescher (my style icon) is enough to get me to try anything. I already had this set of Amazon Jumbo Hair Rollers ($15) at home, so I decided to give my hair the ’90s supermodel treatment ASAP.

I have fine hair that’s also on the thinner side, so I love blowouts as a way to give my hair extra volume. To test out this 90s style, I started out by washing my hair and letting it air dry for about 20 minutes. To prep my hair before blowdrying, I used my favorite leave-in conditioner from Unite, as well as a heat-protectant and hair oil. I then rough-dried my hair until it was about 85 percent dry.

First, I attached a nozzle onto my blowdryer and began by blowdrying the front pieces of my hair. I blow-dried my front layers forward, then backward, until my hair was completely dry. Allowing the hair to cool while in the roller is ultimately what gets the style to hold, so while my hair was still hot, I rolled the front pieces back into the individual hair roller and pinned the hair in place with a duck clip.

To blow-dry the rest of my hair, I separated it into three sections: bottom, middle, and top. I started out with the bottom, taking a one-inch section and using a round brush while blowdrying and twisting the brush inward toward my head so I ended up with a flip at the bottom. Afterward, I used a roller and rolled the hair “under” (in the same direction as I twisted the round brush) and pinned it in place using a duck clip. I repeated this until all of my hair was up in rollers.

I let the curlers sit for about 15 minutes until my hair had completely cooled and I felt that the style had set. Before taking the curlers out, I sprayed them with texturizing spray just to make sure they had that extra hold.

When I took the curlers out, I was left with a smooth, bouncy blowout, and straight-up ’90s hair. Was that Jennifer Anniston looking at me in the mirror? Nope, just me.

Next time, I think I’ll opt to leave the curlers in longer and use a texturizing spray before putting each curler in to give my hair a little more grip. I think I’ll also opt to use hairspray to help set the style while my hair is still in the rollers. While I won’t be giving up my curling iron for good, these velcro rollers have officially earned a front row spot in my beauty cabinet.