Contemporary Hair Practice

The pictures below are of my first attempt at creating my partner Emma's hairstyle on her. It was a really easy style to do as Emma has naturally very curly and voluminous hair. 

I just took each curl from the hair and backcombed it using either my fingers or a backcombing brush. Once all the hair was done i went through with a wide tooth comb to tidy it up and hide any gaps in the hair. 

Hair Design Practice

I decided to try this style out as it's my favorite of the three, i love the volume and texture of the hair and think it looks high fashion but you can also see Elizabethan qualities.

I found the effect was better when doing smaller curls so next time i will take smaller sections when curling the hair. I also think that the plait doesn't really flow with the flat section of the hair so I would try a french plait rather than a standard one. The pin curls also came out bigger than i wanted so again i would take smaller sections to make them the size i want. Overall I'm really pleased with the texture and volume i achieved. 

Contemporary Hair Designs

Following on from my previous blog my next task was to draw up my designs and do step by steps on how to create them...

•  Start off with dry hair and a center parting, use a curling wand to curl small sections of hair but start halfway down each section so the top of the hair stays straight and flat to the head
• Take 3 small sections from the front of the head on either side of the parting, these will be pin curled to the head later
• Take another 2 sections behind the pieces you just pulled out and pin a piece of ribbon underneath to disguise the top, start making small plaits making sure you are joining the ribbon in, do this on both sides
• Brush out the curls you did at the start and backcomb small bits to give it a frizzy and voluminous look, hairspray to set
• To make the top of the hair look smooth and flat to the head use gel and brush it through, pin it at the sides to keep secure if need be
• You can now pin curl the front sections you pulled out earlier, used gel to help stick it to the forehead in a curl 
• Take a silver hairspray to add clusters of sparkle into the frizzy section of the hair, this is to resemble jewels
• Give the hair a final hairspray to ensure it will stay in place

• Start by creating a wave on the top layer of hair using hair straighteners,  tilt them sideways and pull up then go the other direction. Alternate until you have done that section of hair
• Next take the hair to the side of the head and twist it into a knot, secure it with pins
• Get some crepe hair and attach it over the bun, this will disguise it and create texture and volume
• Spray with hairspray to ensure it will stay in place
• Get a beaded necklace to use as a hair accessory, use pins to attach the to the front of the hairline
• For a final touch use some vintage hair clips to the side of the head

• Use 4 hair doughnuts and some fake hair, wrap the hair around the doughnuts so it blends in once attached to the head
• Pick small bits of hair out of the doughnut and backcomb a little to make them more textured
• Attach a pearl type bead inside each hole of the bun for an added accessory
• Use gel to slick the hair into a low ponytail slightly at the side, twist it into a knot and use this as your anchor for the first bun
• Attach the buns to the hair using pins and finish with hairspray to secure it 

 

Contemporary Hair With Elizabethan Twists

To help towards creating a contemporary Elizabethan look I selected 3 modern images and added Elizabethan twists to it. I tried to select 3 very different images to give me more of an option of my final choice. 


This is my first design, I love how much volume and texture there is in the hair which relates to an Elizabethan. I took inspiration from the ribbon work we did which shows in one of my previous blogs and drew plaits at the front of the hair and also decided to create pin curls coming onto the face. The dots in the hair represent jewels which would be made by using a silver hairspray in small sections so they would shine in light.

My next one is slightly similar as i have also created a textured, frizzy look at the side of the head. When researching contemporary Elizabethan looks i found i was draw to this style most and decided that was the look i wanted to go for. This one has a little more added embellished accessories to it which gives the impression of a high class woman. 

My final image is my least favorite and most difficult to do but as i said before i wanted all 3 images to be different. Again i stuck with the frizzy texture as i found i was slightly limited to what i could do with all the buns. I would pick bits of hair from the bun and backcomb it to give it a messier look and get pearl style beads to put inside the bun holes for a bit more embellishment. 

 

Traditional Elizabethan Hairstyle

In the studio we were taught how to make padding for hair to create Elizabethan styles, we used tights stuffed with wadding or couch roll to do this. Use black for darker hair and opaque for lighter hair so it blends into the hair easier.

To create this style you will need a curling wand, comb, padding and grips.

• Start by curling the hair as seen in my previous blog
• You then need to section off some hair from the front, this is to cover up the padding later on
• Make small plaits behind these sections to use as an anchor for the padding, french plaits work best as they are more secure
• Start attaching your padding to the plaits using grips, the grips will go through the tights easily to secure it
• Once the padding is secure start taking the hair from the front in covering the padding with it, make sure you have enough hair so you can't see the colour of the padding coming through so it looks like it's all hair
• Keep adjusting the hair until you get that famous heart shape the Elizabethans had

Curling Hair

Curling gives the hair more texture and volume to prepare the hair for putting up into an Elizabethan hairstyle. 

All you need is a paddle brush, curling wand and a pintail comb.

Separate the hair into sections and starting at the bottom curl small sections of hair to create a full curl. Repeat until each section is complete and you have a full head of curls, this will make the hair easier to set into place when styling. 

Pin curls were popular in the Elizabethan era so I practiced these as shown in the picture above on the right. All you need to do is take a small piece of hair and wrap it around your fingers until its curled up into a round shape. Secure it to the head using grips but make sure to disguise them underneath the hair.

Curling the hair was easy to do but i struggled a little more to disguise the grips when doing the pin curls, this is something i definitely need to work on and practice a bit more!

How to: Plaits & Buns

French Plait
  
You will first need to decide where the plait is going, this how to is based on a full head but is generally the same technique wherever you want to do it. 

 

• Take a small section at the front of the head and split it into three sections like you would do with a normal plait, plait it about 3 times then you can start taking sections of hair from the sides
• Take your first section from the front and join it to one of the side sections of your plait and cross it over in the middle, repeat on the other side
• When you take your next sections take them from the middle of the head right near where your plait is, this will prevent the hair being patchy once you have finished
• Ensure that the hair is tight throughout so it doesn't fall out or look lose and messy

Alternate these techniques until you get to the bottom of the head, at this point you will just continue to plait the hair as normal. 

 

 
 Fishtail Plait 

• Split the hair into two sections
• Take a small section from one side and bring it over to the other, repeat this on the other side
• It may seem like its taking a while, especially if the client has long hair but the smaller the sections the better
• Don't plait it as tight as a french plait as it won't look as good
• Repeat the steps until you have plaited the whole head and secure at the end

Bun

 

•  Brush all the hair into a neat ponytail and secure it
• The hair will be divided into 4 sections altogether to create the bun so if the client has thin or short hair backcomb it to give it a little volume
• Take the first section and finger curl it around from the end until you get to the scalp, secure with a kirby grip
• Repeat this on the other 3 sections which will leave you with small gaps inbetween each section
• Use a hair slide to lightly move the hair around to cover the gaps
• Once complete you can set with a little hairspray to ensure it stays in place