If TikTok has taught me anything this year (and it’s taught me a helluva lot already), it’s how to use rollers to achieve fluffy, voluminous hair. The type of hair that looks like it could fly me to Paris, should it catch a strong breeze. 

Previously uninitiated to #RollerTok, the area of TikTok saturated with roller reviews and how-tos, I have since been converted, snapping up a pair of £8 jumbo velcro rollers that give the quintessential 90s blow-dry effect.

Ever keen to expand my roller knowledge (and a big fan of the pre-bed doomscroll), I recently found myself deep in the heated roller area of TikTok. 

Primarily a space for users to extol the benefits of heated rollers, I couldn’t believe the volume they achieved in their hair in relatively short periods of time. Their hair was left bouncy, buoyant and seemingly immune to gravity’s downwards pull. 

An alternative to using curlers or needing a PhD in the perfect salon blow dry, heated rollers are easy to use. Similar in shape to velcro rollers, heated rollers are able to mould the hair more efficiently. However, they are a heated tool, which means excess use (or not using a heat protectant) could cause undue damage to the hair. 

One of the most popular heated rollers on TikTok, the BaByliss Thermo-Ceramic heated roller set is made up of 20 heated rollers, ranging from large to medium and small, as well as 10 clips and 20 pins to secure each one. There’s a dial to customise the heat setting – if you have fine, short or damaged hair, it’s recommended to keep the heater lower. People with thicker, longer hair can use a higher heat. 

Five minutes after plugging the rollers in and I was ready to go, each one heated to medium-high heat. Starting with the crown and front sections, I applied three large size rollers, attempting to affect the quintessential Cindy Crawford and Brooke Shields root volume. Then, I alternated between the medium and large sizes, eschewing the smaller ones that would create tighter, Emily in Paris-type ringlets. 

Although it took me a couple of tries to effectively section the hair at the crown (too much hair causes it to spill out over the sides of the roller, making it largely ineffectual), once I had them securely pinned in, I was flying. 

I let them cool completely before removing them, waiting until my hair was cool to the touch, too. This is known as “setting” the hair and guarantees your style will hold for longer. Skipping this step (removing the curlers while your hair is still warm) can lead to volume, waves and curls dropping much more quickly. 

As a person with 3c hair that sits permanently flat at the root, the lift from the heated rollers was undeniable, a fluffy swoosh of volume at the front, crown and middle. After a gentle brush and a few sprays of Living Proof’s Dry Volume and Texture Spray, it was perfect. 

Main image: Morgan Fargo