Begin with dry hair in its natural state. I don’t apply any product before putting in my rollers, but you could apply a curl-enhancing mousse if you like.
Before wrapping each section into a curler, run your curling iron through and do a quick curl just to heat up the section of hair. I also like to separate and pin each section that I am going to putting a curler in just so I don’t get confused when I am trying to curl and roll sections.