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

Ribbon Work

Using ribbons in plaits is one way of making a basic style look more contemporary. It's easy to do and all you need to create it is a long piece of ribbon. 

• You want to decide what type of plait you are doing and where on the head you want it to be.
• You can then tie the end of the ribbon to a small section of hair underneath so you can't see it on top of the head
• Start plaiting making sure you are grabbing the ribbon with the bits of hair you would normally use to plait until you are finished

You can be really creative with plaits and come up with lots of different contemporary hair designs, using the ribbon didn't make doing the plait any different I just found it difficult to ensure the ribbon was running straight through my plait. As you can see from the picture there's a small gap in the plait with no ribbon which is something I can improve on. 

Lily Cole - Elizabethan Inspiration

When researching i found quite a few images of Lily Cole, made up as a contemporary Elizabethan. The majority are very big and textured but there are also a couple with hair accessories and beading, hair accessories and jewels were popular within high class Elizabethan women. 

I love Lily's look in general and looks wise she has many similarities to Elizabeth I. She has very pale skin and textured, red hair. 

I particularly like the first 2 images, there both very different to each other. One is really frizzy and voluminous and the other is very sleek and classy. 

Intruct, Design, Review...

Our task for this week was to take our Elizabethan quote we blogged about previously and create a design inspired by it. We would then get into pairs and using one of our designs create it by sticking on different materials to paper. 

The person with the chosen design would explain how to create the look and what to use, I was the one taking the instruction. We then reviewed our looks with our partner and Seema and gave each other feedback on what was good and what improvements could be made.

I really enjoyed this task, at first I struggled to think of a design but with a bit of help and inspiration I came up with one. I liked taking instruction and creating another persons look. It's helped me get a bit more creative and taught me about taking instructions and how it's important to really get as much information as you can and ask questions. 

Blow Drying The Hair

To dry the hair straight all you need is a hairdryer and a round brush, the size of the brush will depend on the length of the clients hair. The longer the hair, the bigger the brush. 

Hair in its natural state is known as Alpha-Keratin and hair once it has been set is called Beta-Keratin.  

• You want the hair to be wet enough to change the state but not so wet that it takes a long time to dry so begin by rough drying the hair slightly

•  Then take a small section of hair starting underneath and clip the rest out of the way

•  Place the brush underneath a section of the hair and begin to dry it, pull the brush through the hair while angling the hairdryer in the direction you want to set the hair 

• Repeat this technique until you have done each section of the hair and finish off by using any products necessary.

Contemporary Plaits & Buns

There are lots of different ways to make traditional and simple hairstyles such as plaits and buns into something really creative and different. These images are a few of my favorites I have found through research. 

Plaits

Buns