Tips for curling hair at roots

No, only about a 1/2 inch of my hair is not dyed, but I am dying it again soon as I was not too pleased with the brassy color I got when I tried to go light brown, so I am going back to medium brown (my natural color). I was only wondering because I see people with waves/curls that are close, practically to the roots and lifted appearing with my length hair, which is not even to the middle of my back. It is not too long, but actually with the curls/waves it appears medium length and goes to my shoulders, so not too long. I love the curls I get with the Marcel, but it looks too poofy on the bottom and too straight on top. It looks better with my face shape if my hair is all the same from roots to tip which is why I usually use a straightener (I have natural waves I do not much care for because of the same reason). I am just trying to go for a change, but I want it to look good.

You know, people raved about the Marcel irons as they got salon-style hair in very little time, so I gave it a whirl. It did get great curl, but I am finding it difficult to get it close to the roots. I got the 1-inch barrel which is smaller than what I thought, but works good and I am pleased with the curl. I have used root lifter hoping that it would give it some lift along with making it easier for that part to curl and I tried Freeze It hair spray there before curling, and nada! It was just hard, lol

I am thinking of going to my salon stylist and asking her about it and to have her see if she can get curl near my roots and to show me the technique/products she uses to achieve that look. That is about the only thing that I can think of. I have exhausted all other possibilities. Although, I have thought of one other possibility.. What do you think if I put curlers in my hair overnight, with root lifter, pulling away from my scalp with the curlers from the root about 5 to 6 inches down (so only about 3/4 the way down) and then curling with the Marcel to get the curl I like, but not going up the whole way and stopping about 3 inches before my roots. What do you think about that. That is my last possibility that I can think of that could give me lift and curls, but not sure what the outcome will be. It sounds good on paper, but who knows if it would be another failed attempt.

Let me know what you think or if any suggestions come to mind that could help.

I will try it this weekend and let you know if it failed, lol, but please give any suggestions that you could think of that could help as well, if you can think of any. I think I have thought of most of them unless there is another product that would help.

Thanks