An apparatus and method for curling hair which includes a hair roller featuring an elongated resilient open mesh strip of inherently spring coil design with gripping combs attached to its extreme end portions. The hair roller is provided with resilient means, e. g. three spring wires, for urging the roller into its coiled positon (FIG. 3). A setting lotion packet (FIGS. 3 & 4) including a container surrounded by a foam diffusing strip can be coiled with a strand of hair in the hair roller and the container ruptured to dispense its contents to the curled hair strand. Numerical scales are included along the edges of the roller as a guide in its positioning on the hair strand. Methods of application of the hair roller are sequentially illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.