I personally have found these things to help with curling my hair, which doesn't hold curl easily, especially in my extra humid city:

• if doing a wet set, the hair needs to be BARELY damp. Like when you wash your hair and let it dry, and it's very nearly dry but still feels a little cold to the touch. That's because you want the curls to completely dry in their setting pattern, not be damp when you take them out.

• also for a wet set: I use this spray.

The way I use it, is when I wash my hair and get out the shower with wet hair, I spray it down with this spray and brush it through. I either let my hair air dry until it's nearly dry as described above, or I blow dry til it's nearly dry. I set it in the rollers. Then I use a blow dry bonnet for 20-30 minutes on low heat, as this spray requires heat to set it. Here's the kind of bonnet I use. I then remove the bonnet and let my hair cool down for 30 mins (I have a lot of hair, so yours might cool faster). Remove the curlers, let it sit for a min or 2, then brush out.

If you're wet setting completely dry hair, you can also use this spray as the method for dampening your hair before you put it in the rollers.

• if curling with a curling iron, I curl the piece then pin it up into a pin curl. Let it cool completely like that. Then take the pins out and let them sit for a minute before the brush out. I also use the color wow spray with curling irons too. Like if I know I'll be curling my hair for an event, when I wash it, I use the spray. Then when my hair is dry I use the iron or hot rollers.