Hairball Alley

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!

Quick As A Flash.

I’ve been pulling my wheelie suitcase, which I keep my styling gear in, all over the place this week, it’s non-stop at the moment, and only 10 days until the Scottish Tattoo Convention! I still have a skirt to make for it, as I told Slybacon, I have nothing to wear, so making a completely new outfit from scratch was necessary, and I don’t think I’m busy enough already.

I got some photoshoot pics back this week, which are lovely, still more to arrive from the wonderful photographer Kerstin Gruenling.

Photography is something that I’m learning more and more about every time I’m on a shoot. For aspiring hairstylists and MUAs working with students for portfolio work is rewarding and fun, and I’m quickly discovering that in photography more is more when it comes to hair, the bigger the better!

I did a shoot with Slybacon on Sunday for fun, snooping around derelict buildings in an absurd fashion…

I did my hair for this just with tongs, I did a similar thing this morning, hungover I might add - so it’s not a tricky one to do!

Do a deep parting at the front, and you’re going to be a doing a bit of curling the hair over (rather than under), note the clamp for the tong is underneath my hair, this will guide you to curl over. Curling over will give you a flat top, curling under will volumise.

Go the same way for 1 or 2 more rows, depending on the thickness of your hair.

Here’s the trickiest part, on the larger side of the parting, start the first roll rolling over the hair, the next roll you roll under, the following roll over, the next under, and so on for as many rows as you like (I just do the 4).

Now to be quick, just do the rest of your curling vertically through the hair, all going in the same direction around the head.

This doesn’t have to be particularly exact, just make sure and heat the hair well and clip in place to cool.

Take our your clips, you should be left with lose ringlets, but hopefully not the Terminator eyes. Brush it out well, curling the hair under with the brush and use pomade and hairspray to help shape and smooth.