Frizzing Continued

In our lesson with Helen we spoke more about frizzing and how it can be made more elaborate by using grips to create a look that has more volume and depth.

Here are the steps I carried out to create this frizzing technique.

1. Firstly I sectioned the hair in half as I wanted to work on that section first so I needed the hair out of the way.
2. Next working from the bottom, I took a small section big enough to fit into my hair grip and wrapped the hair in a figure of eight shape around the grip until the whole length of the hair had been wrapped.
3. To keep the ends of the hair from coming loose from the hair grip I next inserted another hair grip onto the end of the hair grip holding the hair to keep it secure.
4. To ensure that the full effect is achieved I then pressed a straightener over the top of the hair around the grip to set the hair in shape.
5. I then carried on these steps all over the half of the head until all of the hair was wrapped up in hair grips.
6. Once the hair had cooled I then gently removed the grips and was left with a tight frizz that I again gently combed out to reveal a voluminous look.

I really loved this look as I feel it created mored volume than just crimping my itself. I'd love to try this on my own hair at some point and practice at home to see what else I can come up with.

Here's is an image I found that incorporates the frizzing technique from a September issue in Vogue Italia. 

And another..

This picture looks like an odd messy version of Elizabethan hair with the colours mimicking that of the Elizabethan era. This hairstyle was created by a designer and stylist called Dallasite Darian Bishop from Toni and Guy.

Curling and Crimping

In this lesson we learnt about curling and frizzing in preparation for our Elizabethan inspired looks that we will have to design and give to our partner to create on ourselves.
Here are a few tips I learnt when trying to get the perfect curl and perfect look for crimped hair.

Crimping

Firstly I sectioned the hair in half so I could try both looks on either side of my doll's head.
I then sectioned the hair starting at the bottom and pinning the rest out of the way.
Then starting from the bottom I took a piece of hair from my section (ensuring the piece wasn't too big as you want all the hair to be crimped all the way across) and placed my crimp in place and held for around 25 seconds.
After 25 seconds I then released the hair from the crimper and moved my way down the length of the hair until I reached the bottom. One thing that I learnt when doing this is that you mustnt pull on the hair or create tension when moving down the hair. This will loosen the crimp and you won't get the best result.
Carry on sectioning the hair and crimping moving up the heaad until your desired amount is crimped.
To finish I then gently brushed out the hair which gave it aloto more volume and helped fill in any gaps created by the heated crimper.

Curling

For the second half of the head I followed a similar pattern and section the hair starting from the bottom and working my way up.
When using the curling wand it is important that you position the wand, yourself and the hair correctly in order to achieve the right curl.
For the curl that I wanted to achieve I had to make sure that the sections I took were quite small and that went curled up the wand the wand was vertical to the head (if I had curled the wand under I wouldnt have got a very thick curl that was away from the head instead of being quite a tight curl).
Once I had pulled off the curl from the wand I then pinned it very tightly in place so that the curl could set and cool which makes the curls last longer and stay in their original shape.
When taking the next section I then changed the direction of my curl and this ensures that the hair looks quite natural and that the curls dont all face the same way. (could use a comb inbetween head and wand to protect the head if you feel umcomfortable putting heat that close to the head).
I carried on these steps until I had reached the top of my doll's head
At the top you want to wrap the hair quite tightly around the wand so that the curls sit on top of the head much like Elizabethan styled hair would.
Once the curls had all cooled I removed all pins and gently positioned the curls the way I wanted them.

Here are some pictures of what I did in Lottie's lesson:

Crimping

Curling

As I went along I learnt that positioning is extremely important as it determines the outcome of the curl and crimp and now I feel confident that I can do both quite well and with a bit more time I'll improve my skills even more.

Here are some modern images of curling that I found when researching:

I absolutely love this picture as the curls are very similar to Elizabeth's would have been!

Buns and Plaits with Adornments

Continuing on with buns and plaits from Lottie's lesson, with Helen we experimented by adding adornments to our Elizabethan hairstyles. I chose to create a look with two french plaits that were wrapped at the bottom into a circular shape and pinned. I found that making both sides symmertical on my french plait quite difficult so if I were to create this look again, I would section the hair very carefully to ensure both sides were equal.

I added ribbon to my hairstyle and stitched it through the plaits using a darning needle and found that I had a similar problem with the ribbon as I wanted it to weave in and out of the hair as the plaits did and the ribbon was twisting slightly as I was stitching it through. The left side turned out better as I had more control over the way the ribbon was turning!

For this look I would also add pearls and jewels to the plait at the base of the head which was traditional of Elizabethan hairstyles.

 

 

 

Overall I was really pleased at how well it turned out as at first I was simply playing around with ideas but will continue practising this look at home and see what else I can come up with!

 

This was the next look I created, again using two french plaits but only plaiting them half way and wrapping the hair on top of the head this time into a circular shape. I quite like this design aswell but would have to experiment with what I would do to the rest of the hair to encorporate the Elizabethan influence. I was thinking I might make the long pieces of hair at the bottom quite bushy and possibly crimp them as Elizabeth sometimes wore her hair down at times!

 

 

 

Introduction to Project - Red Heads and Royalty, Buns and Plaits

Introduction to Red Heads and Royalty Introduction

When first thinking of Elizabethan hairstyles I think of extremely neat, structured up-dos. The reality of Elizabethan hair is that a lot of plaiting was in fact used along with pin curls and a lot of pearls and jewelry.
The forehead was kept high and accentuated by the small curls pinned back off of the head with delicate pearls often used to symbolize purity and power. Light hair was seen as beautiful in the Elizabethan era as well as a pale complexion, many women would try and achieve this look by dying their hair with cumin seed, celandine, saffron and oil as this light hair was a sign of nobility.


In Class Practice 

In our lesson with Lottie we focused on the basics of buns and plaits. It might sound easy but believe me to get it spot on was a challenge!

I first started off with a simple plait at the base of the neck and found that I needed to have a lot more control over the hair for it to look symmetrical.

To create a plait here are some simple steps:

• Split your hair into three equal sections wherever on the head you want the plait
• Next take the outer section and take it to the middle bringing the middle section to where the outer section sat originally
• Repeat this step on the other side always bringing the outer sections into the middle
• And carry on with these steps until you come to the end of the length of your hair.

After experimenting with a plait I then went on to a french plait. This I would say I am most confident with as I sometimes french plait my own hair, however it is very different practising on a dolls head!
For a french plait you start off my parting your hair down the middle so that you have two equal sections on either side of the head and pin one section out of the way to make it easier for yourself. You then take three equal sections from the front of the head and plait as normal once, the second time around take a section of hair from one side and add it into your original outer piece before taking it to the middle as you usually would. This means that the plait will travel down the head by adding little equal sections as you go along. Repeat this step on the other side and you will find that the french plait will take shape. Here is my finished french plait!

As I was doing my french plait I noticed that I was seeing gaps in the dolls hair where I had been adding the extra hair so asked Lottie and she showed me a way of preventing this. By taking a small section first closer to the plait rather than taking a bigger section I was able to cover the gaps. I then took a larger section further away from the plait which then covered any gaps, problem solved!Here is an image of the french plait I did using this method:

A fishtail plait is what I next practised, I've done fishtails before but wasn't too confident in doing them on others so this was a real test of my knowledge!

To create a fishtail you first have to section the piece of hair that you would like to plait into two equal sections (not three!). You then take a small section from the outer of one of the sections and take it across to join the other section making sure that the small sections you take across are really quite small as fishtails look more affective using smaller pieces of hair.This will take longer on longer hair so make sure you give yourself enough time for this hairstyle if its being used on shoot or for an assessment! When you've taking your fishtail plait as far as you'd like it, tie with a hair band or whatever you'd like to use. It's then useful to pull sections from the fishtail loose as this gives it it's full effect! Here is my finished fishtail.

Finally I moved on to practise buns! I quite enjoyed creating this look as I was able to concentrate on making sure it looked symmetrical at each angle. I first sectioned the hair into a half up, half down ponytail and tied with a hair band. Next I sectioned the hair in the hair band into four equal parts. Keeping the other three parts out of the way, I then teased the front section carefully (not too forcefully) and smoothed down any stray hairs. This section then began to lift and I looped the hair around my finger to create a loop shape and pinned to give me the front of my bun. Next I repeated these steps on all of the other three sections and pinned, leaving gap in between each one. Once all the sections were pinned I then carefully used the end of my comb to manipulate the hair to cover the gaps and create my bun. Because my sections were even and symmetrical this made it easier to cover the gaps and for the bun to look even all the way around. When my bun was nearly finished I combed any stray hairs out of the way to create a sleek looking bun and if I had a finishing spray I would lightly spray the bun to finish! Here is the final look!

Overall I really enjoyed this lesson as it helped me to brush up on basic plaits and buns and I realised how tricky it is to get everything looking perfect and symmertical! I'm going to continue to practise these at home and hopefully will become an expert!