How to Get 1940’s Hair in 20 Minutes

If you are like me, you likely don’t want to spend more than ten minutes on your hair every day. So what if I tod you that you can put in ten minutes of effort a day to get hair like the glamorous women of the 1940’s? What if I told you even a pregnant mother of toddlers can get this hair done without chaos reigning while she sets and styles her hair? And what if I told you… it’s so easy you can just sleep on it?

Because I’m about to tell you all of that, and how. 

I used to look at this photo of my grandparents in 1949 and wonder how long it took my grandma to style her hair. This is their wedding photo, but in most old photos of her, her hair is styled this way. After years of wondering if she had spare hours to spend on her hair every day, which I know she did not; years of trying pin curls, foam curlers, hot rollers, curling iron methods, special setting sprays, strong-hold hairspray, and literally every kind of curl-and-brush-out method recommended in the beauty community to no avail… I finally discovered the secret.

Pillow Rollers.

Now, my grandma likely used rag curlers, or maybe she used very small curlers; I’m not sure. She had naturally wavy hair and, unlike my pin-straight and stubborn tresses, had volume even without trying. But if I wanted curls that lasted all day, it seemed absolutely hopeless. Here in the dampness of a Washington winter, even the most perfectly set foam roller hair fell out in a matter of hours. Until I watched a video by The Pinup Companion, and purchased my first ever package of pillow rollers and Motions Setting Wrap.

Somehow, this magical combination holds in my hair not just all day, but for a second day of looser waves too! And all I have to do is take ten minutes (usually while watching a show) to roll them into my hair at night, and ten minutes to brush them out in the morning. One layer of hairspray and a few pins, and I’ve got myself the easiest vintage hairstyle known to… well, me, anyway. This hair is even lower maintenance than a headscarf and a front roll; there’s no scarf that slips and slides all day, no ten minutes spent struggling to get that stupid roll to sit perfectly, no time spent teasing and smoothing and finding random spots of fuzziness I missed throughout the day.

It is literally sleep on it, brush it, and go.

So if, like me, you have stubborn very straight hair that generally refuses to curl for more than two hours at a time, definitely give pillow rollers a try. I know many people obtain great results with other types of curlers and methods, but I have yet to hear of any this quick, nor have I ever tried any that were this long-lasting and easy to maintain.

PS if you haven’t already, please hit subscribe on my YouTube channel! I may not always post content that crosses over between the blog and the channel so you might miss out on some really fun stuff! I am currently crossing my fingers and relying on the wonderfulnness of subscribers to reach the 4,000 watchtime hours over the past 12 months that I need to continue earning a little bit back from my videos; if I don’t hit that requirement by February 20th, my channel will be removed from YouTube partnership. Here’s a video where I sort of badly explain the numbers and all, if you’re more curious about YouTube’s new rules.

Thanks to so many AMAZING people, I hit and exceeded the 1k subscribers threshold. But, they still require 4,000 watchtime hours within the past twelve months for a channel to be monetized, and I’m currently at about 2,700. It may not be a goal I can hit in a little under a month’s time, but I can darn well try!

And I definitely owe all of my thanks to all of you for helping me hit goals. You are all always so amazing!