Hair Technique - Curling

 Curling of the hair is a fairly simple technique to master. Curling tongs come in a variety of sizes, depending on the size of curl you wish to achieve. In order to curl the hair, you should prep it to suit its conditions. Always use heat defense so that you don't damage the hair. Section the hair to suit the size of the curler.

 

If you want the curl to face towards you, place the lever of the tong away from you. If you want the curl to face away from you, place the lever of the tong towards you. To put the hair into the tong, pull the section of hair away from the head and place the last third of the hair onto the tong. Wrap this around the tong using your hand and then hold in place with the lever. Wrap the tong towards the head and hold for 15 seconds. Once this time is up, hold the top of the tong and let the top third of the hair free from the tong. Unravel the rest in a circular motion so that the curl has time to set. Repeat this until you have your desired look!

 

Hair Technique - Padding

Ever wonder how some people can create high volume hair styles without the hassle of back combing?  Simple answer...padding! 

Padding is so easy to use and creates the perfect base for any up do. To use padding, first see where you want the volume to be. Once you have determined this, create two plaits either side. When the length of the hair has been braided, fold back onto itself and pin to the head. Repeat this process until you have no hair left to fold back. This braid is created to pin the padding to the hair.

 

 Place a pin through the padding and attach to the braid. Do this until the padding is completely secure on the head. Now you can place the hair over the padding in the desired style. Make sure the whole of the padding is covered with hair.

 Above is a beehive look, created using padding.

Cara, the new Elizabethan?

Cara Delevingne for i-D Magazine, November 2013

The image of Cara stuck out to me as a new Elizabethan straight away because of the whole styling of the image! The big, frizzy curly hair, with the white face just screams Elizabethan. The hair would be a wig piece, styled in curls and then back combed to create this frizzy look. The look has contemporary aspects to it. For example, the gold jewels have been applied to the nipples instead, the crown is made from fabric and the wrap is more Cruella De ville then Virgin Queen. But the one part that really grabs attention is the makeup, taken down the moody root instead of the blushed look. The lips black, not red, painted with a high cupids bow which creates this pinched look.The high gloss gives the matte look some depth and a different range of texture. The eyebrows are unique, being brought down the sides of the nose, to match the pinch on the cupids bow. The eye lashes look feathered, maybe to break up the matte effect of the skin base. I love this image! It completely turns the ideal of Elizabethan styling on its head and creates a quirky result.

Hair Technique - Pin Curls

Pin Curls

Pin curls are one of the main aspects of Elizabethan hair, and are easy to create. Normally the pin curls would be created with damp hair left for 24 hrs. As a stylist it is unlikely that you would have this amount of time to create a look. Therefore, you can achieve pin curls using heated tongs. Make sure the hair is prepped, washed and has the correct product in it for the condition that the hair is in. 

Take the tongs and create curls -  twist the hair around the tong and leave for a few seconds. 

Take the hair out of the tong and pin straight up - from the base of the curl, push up so that it coils and pin using a grip or clip, that matches the hair colour of the client. Make sure to alternate the direction of the curl so that you don't create one massive curl.

Start from the front and work your way backwards to avoid getting the hair tangled.

 Once the curls have cooled you can take the pins out and set with hairspray or style to the desired effect. 

 Above is the process of pinning the heated curls up to cool down. Below is the finished result once the pins have been let loose. I need to practice my pin curls, because they are quite messy. Also, the pins needed to be the correct colour to my hair.

Contemporary Elizabethan

Contemporary Elizabethan

For the practice of Contemorary Elizabethan I have been studying the appearance and techniques used in the Elizabethan era. With these skills, i am now designing hair styles that covey a new Elizabethan.

Using the hair charts here, i have decided that i would like to use the following techniques:

* Twists

* Volume

* Crimping

* Ribbon

 The design had to be suitable for our own hair type. Once i started to recreate the design i found that it wouldn't really work on my own hair. My hair is short and thin, therefore i would need to add the crimping to make it thicker with more volume. I found it difficult to recreate the design on my own hair, therefore more practice is definitely needed!  I didn't add the ribbon because i wasn't happy with the result of the test. I think that i would need to add more hair to my own hair to create more volume meaning I would have more to work with to make the design work. The ribbon could then be added to complete the look. 

Twists Practise!

Fronte angle of twists

Side angle of twists

Above are my attempts at recreating twists. I really like twists because they look good, especially with coloured hair, and they are an alternative to braids. I placed some fabric through this twist, however because the models hair was red as well as the fabric; it is hard to see! To further my practise on twists, I need to try it with longer hair.