How to Do the Beach Wave With Hot Rollers

By: S.R. Becker

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Beach waves are popping up everywhere these days, from the girl on the red carpet to the girl next door. You can create these loose, tousled waves with a number of tools, from curling irons to rag rollers. One way to create beach waves -- while you tend to other things -- is to roll your hair with hot rollers. Even if you haven't touched yours since the '80s, hot rollers are still a useful tool -- you just have to use them in a new way.

Step 1

Spritz your dry hair with a sea-salt styling spray. Buy these sprays in drugstores and salons, or make your own by mixing 1 teaspoon of sea salt with 1 cup of water and pouring it into a spray bottle.

Step 2

Clip the top section of your hair on top of your head with a large salon clip. Comb the bottom section with a wide-toothed comb, then use the comb to section off a 2-inch piece of hair.

Step 3

Hold the roller horizontally and drape the middle of the sectioned hair over it. For example, if your hair is 12 inches long, place the roller approximately 6 inches from your scalp. Wrap the lower half of the sectioned hair around the roller in a spiral, overlapping the hair as little as possible.

Step 4

Roll the top half of the sectioned hair around the roller from the bottom up, as you normally would when using rollers. You do not have to make a spiral here.

Step 5

Stop rolling the hair around the roller when you are 2 to 3 inches from your scalp. Clip the roller in place with a hair clip applied from underneath the roller. The teeth of the clip should be horizontal and pointing toward your head, while the hinge of the clip points toward your shoulder.

Step 6

Continue rolling the bottom section of your hair in this manner, using different sizes of rollers and sectioning off different widths of hair. For example, if your first section was 2 inches wide, make the next section 1 inch, the next 3 inches and so on. When you're finished with the bottom section of your hair, let down the top section and roll it in the same way.

Step 7

Allow the rollers to cool completely and remove them from your hair. Run your fingers through your hair to tousle the waves. Finish by spraying your tresses with a light mist of hairspray.