Hairball Alley

Everything’s Coming Up Roses

The past month has been awash with colour. From multicoloured Wee Dottles, to orange eyeshadows, to yellow hair, all mixed up with pink blossoms and green pines.

I’m coming to an exciting point in my life where I’m about to go full time in technicolour. I finish up my administration job at the end of May, and then do a month solidly of creative work, followed by a year of travelling around the world!!

Let’s put that excitement to the side as I work backwords in a film noir fashion, nobody gets killed, though my lover is currently in New York city covered in blood, but that’s his story, but in my tale the ladies all look fabulous.

Last week I was ill, officially dying of the flu I was, according to my mother, so it was a complete write off. At the end of the illness I did my first Wee Dottles photoshoot with the beautiful models Laura and Gemma, of course I had to do hair and makeup, and photography (possessive? Me?!), and it was wonderful, exactly what I hoped. I’ve got a few ideas for another photoshoot in the pipeline for a new set of Dottles too.

Wee Dottles now have their very own Facebook, Online Shop and even a Tumblr- bless ‘em!

I have some fun stuff on this month, taking part in Late Night at The Museum hosted by the National Museums of Scotland with Miss Dixiebelle, along with another World Wars event that they are running, I’ll be at Judy’s Vintage Fair again, a 1930s hat photoshoot with an Edinburgh Milliner and the usual mass of weddings and hen parties that this season brings.

Last week, in my sick bed, I spent a couple of hours watching the fabulous Natalie Wood as Gypsy Rose Lee. Although I’m not particularly interested in burlesque, Gypsy is an inspiration, and as I’m about to hit the road myself I’m seeing her as a kindred spirit in ways, except I intend to keep my clothes on, well mostly.

One problem with the film and poor Natalie RIP, is the adoption of 1960s hairstyles.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it’s not Gypsy!

Gypsy went big upfront only, hair wise I mean, I already said I’m not a burlesque brain.

So let’s be clear, it’s all about being upfront, this is my approach to getting opportunities while I’m on the road, be ballsy and hopefully get the success.

So I’ll start as I intend to go on.

You’re going to want to roller your front, the smaller the roller the tighter the curl, I went for medium.

If you want a little something something on the side, roller that too, if not, just take it straight back pin it at the back, don’t waste your time.

See I didn’t even roller the back, just twisted it up, and put one roller at the top back to make fancy at the end.

Back comb, back comb, left and right.

Smooth the surface, hairspray and roll it in round your finger.

Pin it, top and bottom, and don’t forget the other side of your head.

Remember the bit at the back, I combed it and pulled it to the opposite side that I curled from.

Waved it down my head, using the wave from the combing out of the curl. I pinned in a few place and did a pincurl for a tidy end.

Brush out the front, altogether.

Time to be brazen, grab the end and pull it up, really, just pull it up and tuck the ends in as you pull it up, trust the wave that you have formed, it will make a beautiful shape if you let it, don’t try to hard, you’ll take away the soft natural shape.

Pin that bit with a few pins, and that’s you ready to take on the world.

Finally, don’t forget to add a Dottle, I told you I was going to be upfront.

We Need to Talk About Audrey

It’s no secret that I’m more than slightly obsessed with the character Audrey Horne, from Twin Peaks. I’ve mentioned her on my blog many times, and half my wardrobe is based on her 1950s style. It’s not just the character to be fair, Sherilyn Fenn, the actress formally known as Audrey and hardly seen since, had the classic 50s sex kitten look down.

There’s no one more important in establishing this fact than the wonderful, god rest her soul, Elizabeth Taylor.

I spend 50% of my life trying to be Audrey yet I don’t have a bob. 1950s bobs and short cuts are quintessential, keep it short, set it tight, pencil in those eyebrows heavy and you have a killer look.

BUT… when you have all those fabulous Rita dos to consider you need to keep it long don’t you? This is why it is of vital importance that everyone perfects their own mock bob.

There’s so many different things you can do with a mock bob, consider the possibilities, not just 50s, this is going to take you from the 1920s Louise Brooks, in any of her hair forms

To Natalie Wood 60s style

And everything in between

First thing to think about is curl, how much curl, how tight the curl and how big the curl. Even a classic Louise Brooks, you should curl your ends to help you with the style.

Next do you want a wave shaping? A fringe? Well you’re going to curl that in too. This is the fun part, just try things out, directions, size of curl, you can get some great effects from just going wild.

Once you’ve brushed out to suit your style you’re going to need a mountain of kirby grips, and possibly a little backcombing, depending on your hair type and the volume you want, and a heap of hairspray.

Every mock bob is going to have the under-section of hair pinned at the nape of the neck and it’s up to you to get creative with what you can do from there, especially at the front.

Nothing without lipstick, as always.

This is my Lizzy Taylor tribute, but I might well be bobbing all week. Hopefully I’ll have a glamorous assistant on Friday in the shape of the beautiful model and talented artist Eleni Kalorkoti, who has the privilege of having a bona fide bob, oh the fun we’re going to have! 

Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home

It’s 2012 now, happy new year, and I resolve to get back on top of my blog. 

After Japan, it went a bit festive, and moving house is never the best time to try and get anything done.

I’m now finished my Christmas holidays, a lot more chirpy than I started them. Spending time with my nearest and dearest, getting dressed up, getting clients dressed up and playing with my new camera, have given me a well needed boost after the stress of moving.

One thing I got the chance to do in the holidays was to model some of Miss Dixiebelle’s lovely head wear, and so my obsession du jour was born.

I’m a huge hair ornament fan, never more so than seeing the Geisha attire in Japan, but I’ve heard this is the year in fashion for hair ornaments and I’m running with it.

For my shoot with Fiona Timantti hats and Miss Dixiebelle’s range of vintage jewellery, I did a basic pincurl set in my hair, which I took out half way through to change for some classic waves. This is my favourite kind of set for getting the finished femme fatale waves.

The set was basic large pincurls (wrapped around 2 fingers), with a wave shaping at the front, which I promise a tutorial on this year!

You can see the full shoot on Facebook

Now, if today is anything to go by, my obsession with headscarves will be long continuing, but the lovely Emma made my day on Hogmanay at work, when she gifted me with a leopard print Bubble Betty. 

If you’re not familiar with these retro delights, favourite of older ladies in the UK certainly, but in dire need of a revival not only because they are incredibly practical and keep your hair dry and untouched by the hellish wind but because they looks stylish (do not beg to differ, they are chique, it’s only connotations that makes my boyfriend laugh at me in it), then you need to get familiar.

If there’s one piece of important advice I can give this season, it’s don’t go outside uncovered!

Lying There Like You’re Tame

I arrived back on Monday afternoon, slightly spaced out from a weekend of highs and lows at the Vintage 2011 Festival, at the Southbank in London.

My intimidating day 1 first job was to style a TV presenter for the news.. I got through it looking very nervous, but reasonably happy with the style I did in the 5 minutes I had to do it. I went on to style the public for the next 3 days, for free, 3 hour long queuing ensued, but overall I have no regrets and am both proud of myself and glad that I did it, despite points of wanting to throw in the towel/punch someone in the face.

I’m not a event reviewer and I saw very little of the festival itself, as I was too busy, all I can comment on is the hair and what I took from it is that people really want to know how to get a traditionally vintage look, not modern reinterpretations. The amount of people who asked about my hair was incredible, I did wet sets for ease all weekend (I was sleeping on a friends couch, and trying to keep disruption to a minimum), and I told countless people about how to do a wet set.

One thing that bothers me about modern vintage styling is the fear of the frizz, my hair was far from sleek in the hot humid Festival Hall, and I’m going to argue the point that frizz is sometimes a good thing!

As I used my Babyliss stylers and Wave Envy (glorified crimpers if you ask me, my 1 unhappy customer got treated to these, it was an experiment that I won’t revisit) over the weekend, I thought about how much more “vintage” it looked to have a bit of fluff.

I set my hair last night with rags for a change, and today was close, muggy, rainy, hot, you name a weather that scares your hair, that’s what we have today; so perfect frizz weather.

First off here’s the ragging.

Once you’ve cut out some fabric strips this is so simple and you can play around with the size of sections and directionality, just as you do with pincurls and rollers.

As usual I had almost dry hair, wetted down just slightly with setting lotion and water mix.

I did a heavy side part and rolled my hair up in the rags all over, just have fun with it, most people seem to roll straight down the head, I used the approach I take with rollers and pincurls and went in various directions.

Unrolling is easy.

Rag curls tend to be a bit looser than pincurls and rollers.

As usual I brushed and brushed and brushed out the curl, don’t be afraid to really brush it out, and always use a Denman styling brush.

One side brushed out, undulatey.

I went with what the hair wanted to do and shaped in my fringe, as I felt looked good, and which went with the undulations made from the curling.

Pinning back one side seemed like a good idea.

And that’s the sleek part done…

….I just needed to go out for the day and work on wrecking my hairstyle.

My inspiration here is going to have to be the infamous Betty Page, who’s hair is often frizz-tastic, but gorgeous.

After a full days work and walking about in the hot rain for a couple of hours I brushed my hair through, quite fluffy, a bit frizzy, but not in my opinion bad hair. I love brushing out the products girls with curls put in their hair that make it look crispy or wet and giving them a good frizz and fluff, I have no idea why there has become this fashion dislike of brushed out curls.

Before I went out I brushed it furiously to a real frizz. Inspired by Betty I rolled in a fringe. Don’t be afraid to backcomb for this, it’s the only thing really holding it up, the pins are really there to keep it in place, it should stand without them if you have the backcombing stability correct.

Smooth the top layer of hair with a soft brush.

You should roll in and pin in the middle of the roll, before spreading around the sides.

The backcombing should hold the roll together as you spread it around the side of your head.

A quick RIP to Betty, and you’re ready for your Jungle moment

The artificial gloss of the Vintage Festival is over for me now and it’s back to the reality of being amongst the over-straightened. For those about to frizz, I salute you.

Curls on Film

After a mad, but fantastically rewarding, couple weeks of wedding styling, I’ve had the confirmation this week that I’ll be working down in London at Vintage 2011 at the Southbank Centre. This is mostly exciting, although the thought that people might be asking me for 80s hairdos does send a shiver up my spine, since when was the 80s vintage? This makes me feel old, and I’m not! I’m sure I’ll come to terms with this over the next few weeks and suck it up in time for the styling. 

With my time in Miss Dixiebelle of late, the days I wasn’t in South Queensferry -Weddingsville, I took the time to admire (ie. steal photos from) some fantastic books that a lovely customer had dropped in for Emma. These Film Review books are most excellent for reference, and have some photos I haven’t come across anywhere else.

I have just ordered 5 of them from the 40’s 50’s and 60s from Abe Books, who I love for old photo books.

The 2 books in the shop have left me a bit embarrassed by my loose curls/waves that I’ve been sporting a lot lately, while rushing in the morning with heated rollers.

I did one slightly half-hearted wet set last weekend, but now inspired by these lovely bushy-haired vixens I set about setting.

For this styling I used traditional 40s pincurls, now today was hot and sunny, the lighting was fun… not!

I’m pretty lazy when it comes to pincurling, my pincurls are rather large and not the neatest, though I have slept on these to dry, when you set them damp with setting lotion, do comb the hair through and try to get the pincurl as neat a possible, I section into rows and pincurl from the neck up.

I did some large stand up pincurls on top, as I like a bit of lift, you can do flat ones if you suit a flat to the head style.

You get your corkscrews when you take them out, this is what you want and the more you have the more volume you’ll get, though the more you have the harder it is to work with.

I should mention that wet setting, although it seems like it would be better for the hair than heat, the breakage is far worse, you’ll notice how much hair you loose in brushing it through.

Brushing out I worked the top through to create my undulations, which all classic 40s style should aim to achieve.

And that’s my fluff all brushed through.

I used a smidgen of pomade and combed the side back to pin.

My taste for the asymmetric (if you have a non-symmetrical face, you should do the same) meant I pinned one side low, with a low parting.

I created my shaping on top using sectioning clips to assist, and pinned the ends of the hair into the top of my high back section

I’ve actually watched very few films of late, but given that the Film Review is my new bible, things could be changing.

Getting Warmer

After my little obsession with Lana Turner it feels only fitting to be wearing something well fitting. What I mean is that I’ve gone in to a 1950s frenzy, not only am I obsessing over mid century furniture, I’m wearing my warmest sweaters and tartan skirts, and it is supposed to be summer.

In thinking about 50s hair, you really want it to match your sweater, in that you want it to be casual, clean and subtly sexy . I looked to Gil Elvgrin for inspiration on how to make a sweater look sexy, and there’s a man who likes a ponytail!

I know many a man, and woman, who are particularly impressed by this Vanity Fair shot of Isla Fisher, which incorporates the sweater/ponytail combo perfectly, and demonstrates the impact of both if done right.

So, with my inspiration I was ponytailing away last week and did a quick set of photos before I went to work at the Green Door Club on Saturday night (hence the poor lighting I’m afraid), which was a good one might I add, and I felt especially 50s and especially warm given my cashmere choice.

I started with dry hair, with a little touch of setting lotion in for hold, and scraped in a slick ponytail, using hairspray, a smoothing brush and a comb to do the final smoothing.

I left out a rectangle for the front, and secured  the ponytail itself using a regular hair elastic.

I put in medium heated rollers through the front and through the back, I kept them all rolling in the same direction for smoothess of shaping, if you want wilder curls just put the rollers in all different directions.

The back comes out all ringletty as usual, so brush through with a styling brush to get a nice whole together shaped curl.

Like this!

I secured the bottom with a grip so that it would last the whole night in the Scottish weather.

I also wrapped a small section of hair from the ponytail around the base to cover the elastic.

Curly front.

Combed it through, with a smidge of pomade.

And backcombed the base for a little bit of 50s lift, ala Beverly Owens:

Tip:Use sectioning clips to help you in achieving nice shapings.

I then just pincurled the ends into a sculptural curl and pinned front and back with grips.

And that’s your front done.

And this is me with my new (well old) stereogram and 50s sweater girl do!

I warn you, this 50s phase could go on for a while, I am living and breathing 50s design at the moment and wearing anything but wool just seems wrong right now, this is Stylish with a capital S.

Bike Parts

For me, this week has been all about being practical with my hair.

I’ve been painting my living room this past week, choosing not to get paint in my hair, I’ve taken to wearing a headscarf, which is acceptable on occasions such as this, I even hid my set under it on sunday in preparation for going out on Sunday evening, incredibly practical stuff!

This week, I am so excited to say, after a few weeks wait for the payment to go through on my bike to work scheme, my certificate arrived, and I picked up my gorgeous Barrosa Seville, which is, in my hugely biased opinion, the best bike ever. So, I had to think about what’s practical for biking. To be honest, I’ve just curled my hair and worn it down, flowing in the wind style for the past few days, but it’s time to get serious about it.

I saw this wonderful little parting situation going on in an art book and I’ve been hooked on the image ever since.

I thought doing a cheeky little boyish 1920s faux-cropped style for biking would work a treat.

I started with my parting, roughly based on the one above, just a narrow rectangle like a squared off fringe.

I sectioned another square behind the fringe rectangle section and secured it out of the way.

I combed back one side and sprayed with light hold spray to smooth.

Twisting in the hair at the back, and pinning in place, underneath the remaining hair.

Because of my length, I twisted the remaining length on top of the first twist, and again pinned in place.

I did the same with the other side, but left out a little sidey section for later.

I pulled this side over the twist to cover it and pincurled the end, and secured with numerous grips.

I did a little bit of backcombing on the top section, to create a small lift.

And combed this section diagonally backward, to reveal the parting clearly. I simply pincurled the end on top of the previous pincurl at the back.

For the front I used pomade to smooth, remember to use pomade incredibly sparingly, it’s very thick and you only want to give your hands a light coating, a pot of pomade could last you a lifetime if you’re using it properly.

I started off doing the fringe like the picture, and used curl clips to organise, before I would pin in place.

You can see the effect, but I decided this was too much for daytime, and just did one large pincurl instead.

However a cheeky little kiss curl was on the cards to give me a bit of novelty appeal.

Spray the kiss curl with plenty hard hold spray and it should hold fine, as long as the hair isn’t too long.

And that’s my Asian/bicycle/1920s inspired style, it lasted beautifully all day and was perfect for jetting about on my favourite new toy. I can add that I have been repeatedly rained on during my cycling, and even this hasn’t been enough to put me off the cycling.

Kindness and Curlers

After a bit of a dry spell I’ve been bombarded by inspiration. I thought I’d start with my obsession since before my last post.

After seeing this Honky Tonk promo pic in one of my photography books, I’ve been dying over Lana Turner.

It’s not the first time the sweater girl has caught my eye, but I really think she deserves a post all of her own.

One of my customers was taken with this photo the other day, which I also adore.

A fringe like this is easily achieved with a bit of curling with large rollers or tongs and backcombing for support for the height. I have been doing this kind of thing myself a lot recently.

Her hair is so varied and looks incredible every which way, she does full fluffy curls (lots of rollers and wet set ladies),

She does sleek smooth curls (you’d get away with some heated rollers or tongs for similar),

she pins her curls up (get the setting lotion out again, you’ll be needing the perm rods in all night to achieve this bush),

and she wears them half up, half down, and manages to look incredible at every turn (do some pincurling, mix the stand up pincurls on top with some small low pincurls around the bottom, for styling comb the sides back and pin down, and pin in the top rolls loosely for that quiffy look)!

The girl can even sport a fabulous rolled fringe (you know the drill, get your rectangle at the front, curl it, and backcomb it to hell, then roll it up and pin it in).

And in my controversial opinion, she’s better than Norma Jean, as she still looks insanely hot as a brunette (classic bit of wet set shaping at the top with some rollers at the bottom, the most difficult part is getting your nice side parting right)!

I think I’ll leave this post to Lana as she deserves her moment to shine alone, but I have done a quick Lana inspired do to follow this, and if my advice is useless to you at least listen to Lana’s hairdresser, this is a fantastic wee video, enjoy!

With a Nervous Toss of Her Hair

With the next Miss Dixiebelle Styling Evening fast approaching (this Friday), I thought it a good time to start thinking about the subject matter. We’re racing through the decades now, and we’re up to the 1960s.

I love the 60s look, particularly at the moment, as it’s spring and I have a hankering to wear my Ben Sherman houndstooth cape and cycle about on a retro looking bike, maybe with one of these box bags from Cycle Chic. I’m hoping that an elaborate hairdo might substitute a crash helmet!

Early 60s chic is my thoughts, and you have to start with the obvious Audrey moment, I’ll be working with this kind of style during the week.

Miss Hepburn recommends:

“For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day”

I couldn’t disagree more, I do not want jam or whatever that is all over my locks. To get this style, a more sensible suggestion would be, to get some basic shaping using a loose wet set overnight or use heated rollers on dry hair, then it’s all about back combing the base on the crown and shaping the hair around the base.

I watched An Education recently and was struck by the Audrey-esque look of Carey Mulligan, gorgeous dresses and gorgeous hair.

Again, you’re just needing a little shaping for these kind of styles, the 60’s look is a lot sleeker than the 1940s, so you don’t need loads of tight curls. If you have very curly hair, you should blow dry it straight first (avoid the straighteners if possible, they don’t help with shaping)

Thinking about young Jenny and her more mature chap, made me think about another 60s look, the Lolita.

The Sue Lyon young girl look is actually wearable by any age, it’s very sweet gentle curls, it’s not baby doll Shirley Temple, it’s closer to Ann Margaret than anything else. So I guess I’m saying it’s a pretty sexy look (for a woman over the age of consent please!), and it’s probably a good bet if you’re trying to impress an older gent yourself.

I’ve been doing a little of this kind of cutesy curling recently using a medium barrel tong. It’s super easy to go around your head, in any direction you like, I chose to go all in one direction, this can can look quite adaptable as a 40s/50s or 60s style, you can get a bit more volume on top of a more traditionally 60s look.

Side part, and use a little setting lotion+water mix as your holding product. Curl vertically and clip.

Repeat this right around the head, as I said before I went all the same direction.

The only change I made was at the fringe section, just noticed how much my front needs a cut! Section out your rectangle with a pintail comb.

Two rows, curl forward.

Once you’re all curled go and do stuff that needs done, like drinking tea, chatting about intellectual stuff with older men, hanging up the washing, putting on lipstick…, this gives the hair time to cool and set.

Now time to brush out.

Brush in the shape and direction you want, the hair will flex into the desired position, you just need to work it.

I stuck in a grip behind my ear to hold my fringe section back, otherwise no grips necessary. It’s very saccharine. 

Yesterday I did the same, but with red lipstick, and with my new tattoo patterns that I had added last week by Jason at Red Hot and Blue, which of course changes the look of the hairstyle a lot.

Wide eyed young girl shot, looking semi-retarded.

Detail shot for hair and tattoo. 

I’m excited to go speak to my bestie tattoo artist tomorrow about the next part of my intended 3/4 sleeve, check her out if you aren’t already familiar with the gorgeous Venus Flytrap, also check out Jason Zigzag, my pattern maker extrodinaire.

I’ve got some bizarre bits of work on this week otherwise, also very very sweet…, so I might have to start thinking about them soon too…!