Practial - Curling

During our second practical, I again worked on Mimi's hair using a cylinder barrel curling tongue to create two different types of curl. I enjoyed this session more than the previous lesson as it was something that I have wanted to try doing for a while now. I have never had a set of my own curling tongues, I have had numerous different curling wands and don't like using them. Not only are they the easiest thing to burn yourself on ever invented, but they also create really tight curls, which I don't particularly like the look of on myself. Furthermore, you are often left with straight ends unless you're utterly fearless and are willing to hold your fingers so close to the barrel. I have instead been creating curled styles on myself with straighteners for the past 6 years instead, so I feel very confident when doing this. I find it a lot easier to control the tightness of the curl when using straighteners and if I do create a curl too tight then I can just run the irons back over it and drop the curl. An added bonus is that I have, as of yet, had very few incidents where I have managed to burn myself on my actual straightening irons.

If I had to place the curling tongues on a scale of how many times I burnt myself, with straighteners being at one end and curling wands at the other, I think I would put them dead in the middle. I think with a little more practice though, they could easily start moving down the scale towards my straightening irons. I found I was mostly being burnt because I was holding the curl when it was fresh off of the iron and still steaming not because I was getting to handsy with the barrel.

The first curl that we created was a vertical curl. What I used to create this style was:

• A paddle brush
• Cylinder barrel curling tongues (medium)
• Kirby grips
• A pin tail comb
• Hair clips

Step 1:
Start by brushing the hair through with the paddle brush so that there are no knots or tangles as heat will make them a lot harder to get out later on. This should be the first rule when attempting to create any hair style.

Step 2:
Separate a small section from the back of the neck away from the rest of the hair. Pin the section that you won't be working on for the time being, on to the top of the head with a hair clip so its completely out of the way of the smaller section you just created.

Step 3:
Take a smaller square section from the loose hair you sectioned off. Take your curling tongue and open the clamp on the barrel and wrap the hair around the barrel while keeping the top of the iron pointing straight up at all times. Make sure not to twist the hair onto the barrel as the heat wont be distributed as evenly and your curl wont be sleek. When all of the hair is wrapped around the barrel, release the clamp so that you don't have to hold the hair anymore, still keeping the barrel pointing upwards.

Step 4:
Count  6-10 seconds while holding this, depending on the thickness of the hair and the size of the section you wrapped on the tongue. Then open up the clamp again and wiggle it side to side slightly while moving the iron downwards, to remove the hair from the tongues. If you're having trouble getting the hair off of the barrel, use your pin tail comb to push it off to avoid burning your fingers.

Step 5:
Take a Kirby grip and while the curl is still holding itself in the same cylinder shape that it was on the
barrel, pin it to the head and allow it to cool.

Step 6:
Having repeated this technique all over the head, starting at the bottom of the head where you created your first curl, remove all of the Kirby grips from your models hair, allowing the curls to fall loose.



The second type of curl we created was using nearly the exact same technique with only one small difference that creates a completely different look. This curl is called a horizontal curl and it creates more lift and volume. Follow the exact same steps that I just listed for the vertical curl but in step 3, instead of holding the barrel pointing upwards at all times, hold it horizontally, with the top of the barrel pointing to the side at all times.

Due to the fact that curling is quite time consuming, during this practical we all created half a head of horizontal curls and half a head of vertical curls. We then moved onto brick work. Brick work is a type of structure used when creating curled and crimped styles to make sure that there aren't many gaps in the style where the hair is curled away from itself. Its called brick work as it is the same pattern used by brick layers when building a wall.



To practice creating brick work, we sectioned off a triangular section at the back of the head and pinned the sides up with a hair clip. Using this technique you need to think of the section in rows and how many curls will go into each row so that it looks like brick lay as you can see to the right.

The curl that I like the look of and enjoyed creating the most was the vertical curl. It falls more naturally and looks more sleek than the horizontal curl. I feel that if I wasn't to create lift I could use other methods to create volume before curling the hair instead of trying to create both at the same time and having a confused looking curl as a result.

This is definitely a style that I will be incorporating into my work and from here and I intend to try working with smaller and larger barrels and sections to see the variation in looks I can create.

Practical - Buns and Plaits

For our first practical we worked on our 'Kate' dolls head. I have renamed mine Mimi due to the fact that Kate is me, therefore it seemed appropriate. I have only ever worked with a training head a few times before, I am a lot more accustomed to working on human beings and obviously there is quite a difference between the two. One can feel when you are being too rough or if you burn them and can tell you about it, where as the other cannot. Furthermore, Mimi's roots are quite separated and I found it harder to get clean sections. Also, her hair is not in the best condition and is rather short so some styles that I design in the future I may prefer to practice on actual people. Despite this, Mimi was a very quiet and polite client and I couldn't fault her for that.

When working on any model, even if you have worked on them before, you should always conduct a consultation with the client asking about their hair type and its condition, if they have any allergies or medication that may prevent you from working on the client in way that safe for both you and them.

For this practical, we didn't apply any products to the hair. We were told that we were allowed to apply products when using these techniques in the future in order to create our desired look if that involved needing a better hold, shine or matte finish etc. However, for this practical we were working on clean, untouched hair. Mimi's hair is naturally pretty straight, which I know from experience, is a lot easier to work with when creating plaits. I don't have a lot of experience in styling buns, in the past I have used what I call 'donuts', to create the bun shape by simply smoothing the hair over the top of the hair piece and pinning it around the bottom. However, during the practical, we were shown how to create the same style of bun that I had been creating but without the need for a 'donut'. This makes things a lot easier for the stylist, because if they don't have the correct sized hair piece for the client then they can't create the desired look, but this technique allows creation of any sized bun (dependent on the length of the models hair obviously) without any hair pieces at all.  

To create the bun we used:

• A small elastic hair band
• Kirby grips
• Hair pins
• A Pintail comb
• Paddle Brush

Step 1 - 
To begin with I brushed the hair through with the paddle brush to make sure that it wasn't tangled or knotted, as this would make manipulation of the hair rather difficult.

Step 2
Due to the length of Mimi's hair, I had to section off the top and bottom layers from the back of her head, top of the left ear to the top of the right, and work with the top section only. We created these sections because we wanted the bun to sit on the top middle of her head, around where her crown would be (if she had one), and the bottom sections of her hair are not long enough to reach up and into a bun that high on her head. We kept these sections separated by brushing the hair from the top section into the small elastic hair band creating a small pony tail on the top of Mimi's head where we want our bun to sit.

Step 3
I then started to create sections in the pony tail its self. I needed 4 all together so I made sure to take quarter sized pieces of the ponytail to work with. Each piece I took individually, however if you wanted to make sure that each section was the correct size, you could create all four section and use a hair pin or Kirby grip to separate them from one another before moving onto Step 4.

                                          Step 4
Each of the four sections you will hold up and backcomb with your pintail comb in order to the made the hair look fuller and create a better hold. You're aiming to create a hidden backcomb, so you're working with the side of the section that is facing outwards when held vertically up. Using your pin tail comb you take it through from the middle of the hair pulling down towards the roots. You're essentially brushing the hair the wrong way.

Step 5
With your Kirby grips on hand, you then curl the section out and under, to create a loop in the hair. Using a Kirby grip, you secure the section to the head by taking the pin in the opposite direction you want it to go first and then turning it under on itself with the ridged side against the scalp.

 Step 6
Continue to do the same with each of the four sections, making sure each section is pinned evenly and are able to match up to create a circle. When you have finished doing this you will have what I think looks like a four leaf clover shape where you want your bun to be.

Step 7
Taking your pin tail comb, you then start to move and manipulate the hair on either side of all four sections in order blend them with each section beside them. You can use your fingers for this part, however you may find that you are in fact creating more little sections in the bun by doing this than using the comb. Once all the hair is in place, secure it with a hair pin or two. This will hold the hair in place but it won't hold much weight, that's why we use both Kirby grip and pins for this style.  You'll know when you've finished creating the style because you will have a perfectly round, full looking bun with no gaps.

As well as this we practiced another style of bun, this one is a lot quicker and simpler in both technique and aesthetic.

What I used for this bun was:

• A pintail comb
• Kirby grips

Step 1
Using your pintail comb, brush all of the hair to the nape of the neck. Depending on how much hair the model has, you can secure this with and elastic hair band or you can have it loose. Usually if the

model has a lot of hair then its easier to manipulate the hair once its secured. You can create this style anywhere on the head, just like the bun above, I personally prefer it low down on the neck and slightly to the side.

Step 2
Holding all of the hair in a pony tail, begin twisting the section, turning your hand upwards each time until you have created a tight twist.

Step 3
Then take the twist and coil it around the base of the hair where the elastic band is/would sit and secure the end with a Kirby grip taking the pin in the opposite direction you want it to go first and then turning it under on itself with the ridged side against the scalp.

Step 4
Use hair pins to hide and loose ends.


Another style very similar to this that we learned how to create was a plaited bun. The only difference between this plaited bun and the twisted bun above is that instead of twisting the pony tail in Step 1, you plait it and it creates a completely different look. What I like about the plaited bun is that although its very simple technically, it looks quite intricate, especially on long hair.




We then moved on the plaits, we started with a French braid. For this I used:

A paddle brush
A small elastic hair band

1. You start by  brushing the hair through and removing all knots and tangles as it will be very hard to weave the hair when it doesn't separate. This is why I prefer to braid straight hair.

2. Firstly take a small section from the top front of the head. Separate this section into 3 strands and cross the right section over middle and then left over middle as well, as if you were creating a normal plait.

3. Take all three strands into your left hand, keeping them separated. With your right hand gather a small even section from the right side of the head and add it to the strand closest to the right hand side.

4. Bring the strand you have just added to, over to the middle and bring the middle strand to the right.

5. This time take gather some hair from the left side of the head and add it the strand closest to the left hand side and cross this into the middle. Remember to keep your hands close to the head and your elbows in to make sure that the plait is tight.

6. Continue to do this until you reach the nape of the neck and you have no more sections to gather and add to your plait. Then from the bottom of the head, plait downwards as normal and secure at the bottom of your plait with a small elastic hair band.

The final style that we created during this practical was a fish tail plait. This style is very contemporary and modern and to create it I used:

• A paddle brush
• A small elastic hair band

1. Using the paddle brush, brush the hair back into a ponytail at the nape of the neck.

2. Divide the ponytail into equal halves.

3. Separate a small section of hair from the outside/ back of the left ponytail and pull this piece over the top of the left ponytail and add it to the right ponytail making sure you don’t twist the strand.

4. Do the same thing on the other side and continue crossing stands over from one side to another, alternating from the right ponytail to the left.

5. When you have no hair left to work with, use small elastic hair band to secure the bottom of you braid.