Hairball Alley

The Only Good Fight There Is

I know a lot of talented people, not all of them are successful, I think this month I noticed the distinction. If you put your energy into demeaning, or attempting to cause problems for others, it’s likely you’ll have no energy or self-worth left to fulfill your own ambitions. Basically stop worrying about what he/she/they are doing, and keep your eye on your own shit.

I’m a self-confessed control freak and never do what I’m told if it’s at all possible, this is why self-employment is my absolute goal. The people who inspire me in life are sometimes difficult, very independent and highly motivated. And, I really am turning in to my father! 

I have met some interesting and inspiring ladies recently, talented in various ways and the kind of people who shake me into pulling my socks up and getting out there a bit more.

I spent a morning with Lorraine at Violet’s Salon a couple of weeks ago, (such a great looking wee salon) watching her cut, perm and set the older set; it’s quite different to what I do, but inspiring and makes you reassess how you go about things. Top tip from Lorraine was, get your lacquer build-up out using Radox bath salts! Hopefully I’ll be able to hear more from Lorraine once she gets back from her holidays.

Envy Greene visited Miss Dixiebelle for our styling evening. A stylist and makeup artist from London, she really impressed with her knowledge of vintage fashion, I really enjoyed hearing her thoughts about shoulder pads, and was thrilled that she had admired my work at Vintage Southbank. Envy really inspired me to get my years right, her date specific knowledge was seriously impressive.

I hooked up with Edinburgh’s premier nail girl and an absolute inspiration herself Miss Cutie Kills aka Zara Brodie, for a stand at the Roller Derby on Saturday. Though I tried and failed at the Derby when ARRG first started, I have a lot of respect for the girls that organise and participate, there is no motivation lacking there, the passion within their community astounds me, it’s impressive stuff.

Anyway on to the hairstyling. I’ve been getting practical this month, I’ve even been doing some wearable sets one day and taking it out the next day, not washing my hair every day! My inspiration for my wearable sets came from Valerie Hobson, and started with an homage to the original hairdo (from Preview 1950, note the year!).

I used some tongs to achieve a similar look, I simply tonged in various directions, and back combed each tonged section slightly and rolled and pinned in various directions, creating most volume to the back.

Start with your part.

Always take your tonging very seriously. Set in the direction you want the hair to fall, so go wild with updos.

As I started to unclip and back comb and pin, working from the nape up, you can see the back combing compared to the smooth tonged sections still clipped. Just experiment with directions and shapes, there is no right or wrong way to do this, just do what looks nice. I never look in a mirror at the back until I’m tidying up at the very end, I do it by how it feels, it’s less confusing.

The sides I combed out and shaped in to a wave, using sectioning clips to help.

I brushed the top out into a wave, combed back and curled the ends back toward my face

So I went out to work as I was running late as always, and returned home and got changed for going out, and finally got some finished style photos!

This post is dedicated to rolling the dice and not letting anyone stand in your way, whether you have tongs in your hand, skates on your feet or you’re just trying to get where you’re going.

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.

And Even Lana Turner’s Smile

The wind in Edinburgh recently has been unbelievably annoying, frustrating, soul-destroying, hair-destroying, basically devastating for me; this style was perfect, it was as if the spirit of Lana was guiding me to a better way of coping, so despite the challenge of trying to look like Lana, this style had to be replicated in some form.

I started off getting some curl with heated rollers all over.

The only snazzy part of the set was to have a couple of rollers rolling the hair up the head on the small side of the part. I brushed all the hair through apart from this small section.

I took all the hair at the back and put in a basic french roll, or even just twist it up and roll into a pin curl at the ends, whatever you do, just keep it simple and get it outta the way.

I took the large side and back combed underneath slightly, combed it through and through, and sprayed with hairspray to encourage a smooth shaping.

I rolled in the end, without pulling the hair too taught, as I wanted to encourage the undulation in the hair. Once I pinned the roll in, I kept working through with the comb to encourage the wave shaping (NB** this is why you need curls to start with, the curls will do the work for you with the shaping, you just need to style and control them)

I took the sides that I previously rollered up the head, oh yeah I’m a bit blonde at the moment (little Lana peroxide tribute..?) which makes this easier to follow, and backcombed, smoothed and rolled in and pinned in 2 parts.

Two little side rolls later and you have the bottom part left, which you can play with to suit you.

One option was to do another little roll…

But that wasn’t going to be Lana enough for me, so I took the hair over the other roll….

…and pinned into the other roll a little further from the ends so to left the ends a bit loose.

And it’s Lana Turner Overdrive, well not quite, but it’s my Lana homage at least…

You can see how the shaping looks, just remember to work on this, sometimes it’ll come quite easy and sometimes you’ll have to fight the hair to get it.

I hope you find time for a little Lana love this week too.

Gypsies, Vamps and Sleek.

I donned my Maria Montez inspired do the other day, and my giant fringe attracted some comment, positive ones luckily. One of which was from a new client at my admin job, which is good, i don’t want to lose my job over a novelty fringe.

I parted the front piece of hair into a triangular wedge shape, and set this in stand-up pincurls rolling forward, the rest of the hair I set in sponge rollers rolling from the inside of the hair, apart from the top row which I rolled from the outside so that it leaves a flat section at the top.

This was one of those times when I was reluctant to brush out, but it really needed it, the curls look, quite frankly, shit before you brush them through, and it still held the full curls.

Plus gypsy hoops and I was ready to go, well I couldn’t wear a gypsy skirt and peasant blouse in January could I!

I did a final wave on Friday, my presentation seemed to go down well, I’m so glad people got as enthusiastic about the waving as me. Lots of lovely ladies getting really excited about hairstyling, I really hope they keep up the enthusiasm and I get to see more stylish femme fatales around Edinburgh.

I did extra pincurls though the back for some 1940s curls that would take the length up a bit, and pulled the front shaping straight back, so it gave a sharp, almost 90 degree angle, to the first wave. 

Working yesterday at, Debbie Does Dos fundraiser event, I went all sleek, with a clean and professional, sort of 60’s inspired wave shaping ending in a pincurl. I simply twisted up the back and hid the ends under my front wave. I got a really basic curl to my hair by using the tongs loosely around my head about 10 times, this helps for shaping the wave and the pincurled end.

I’m awaiting one, if not two photoshoot results this week, one 1960s shoot and one sort of 1940s-50s style, I’m so excited about seeing these, and I’m quite distracted by it, but I will try to post some useful information this week.

Rollerin with the Romas

Disclaimer: This post may be, at least moderately, politically incorrect, but it is all meant with heartfelt admiration for an old-fashioned-stereotype style.

Good news! Gogol Bordello are touring soon, come March I will be merrily shaking my fist in the air to those moustached maniacs that play self proclaimed “Gypsy Punk”. This has prompted me to have a momentary obsession with gypsy style.

I’m desperate to try out this Maria Montez style from Gypsy Wildcat and wear giant hoop earrings. Big rolled fringe plus perfectly set sponge-roller curls.

Pola Negri in Gypsy Blood has managed to crop up again, totally different to Maria with her 40s style, Pola has classic 20s with kiss curls, which I’ve actually been rocking a little of recently, and used last week for a 60s photoshoot. Use strong hold gel to set kiss curls.

The other name for the Gypsy Blood story, of course is… you should know this, Carmen, and don’t you just love Dorothy Dandridge as Carmen Jones? I like to think this is the correct way to do the gypsy trash look.

Such a fab, easy style for short haired ladies, basic brick work set with perm rods or small rollers or pin curls, but do your set backwards/reversed, so all the curls roll towards the face and brush out that way. Stick a big cheap rose in your hair for authentic traveller magic, you will look like you’re going to read a palm, but that’s a good thing, it’s “mysterious”.

Not so much a gypsy, but The Gypsy, Miss Rose Lee’s famous fluffed fringe/bangs are simply enough done, with pincurls or rollers to set and then messily brushed out.

Apologies for the previous Gypsy, it’s tenuous to say the least, but here’s Gipsy by name, Gypsy by nature: Gipsy Markoff (gorgeous, gypsy child, accordion player, can you get any better!?), sleek waves and big fluffy curls, a real Yvonne De Carlo kind of a look going on. I would never normally consider earrings like this, but worn in this way they look amazing. There’s so little information floating around about this lady is the sad thing about it, I want to know more!

I’ve not been watching that gypsy programme on Channel 4, if you wondered. I’d rather not have my, slightly questionable but still romantic, gypsy-stereotype-notions shattered at the moment.

And if there’s any room for a Roma,
What else is there left to romanticize?

Making More Waves

I’ve been waving away this week, and have actually tired myself of it, I moved on, but that’s for another post. One last giant wave tomorrow I think.

I’ve done a few different waves, 2 from sets and a quickie job with tongs.

Here’s one set I did, which is really basic and it can just be adapted to get different effects.

I do yoga on top of my sets normally, headstands tend to make your set a little messier than it even started, my sets aren’t neat anyway, especially when it comes to the back!

basically a load of pin curls going towards my face, you can see the directionality clearly in the photo above, just work forward from the back of the head.

Brush out, totally basic brushing with a standard denman styling brush. and the resulting style:

I did less of a dramatic wave at the front, a bit shorter and tighter and less depth of the hair taken into the wave, for this next one, but similarly set through the back and sides, but pinned one side behind the ear. 

I always do a pincurl at the end of the wave the one for the previous style was going away fom the face, you’ll see this one was toward the face.

This is my quickie tonged style, I did a bit of curling along the hairline to create a more dramatic shaping- I prefer doing this for wearing my hair pinned back, as it creates a really strong ridge, which can look a bit harsh on long hair down, but this week’s about waving and I waved it alright!

You can really see the difference a proper wet set makes, if I’d had longer than 15 minutes to do this it would be better, but it’s a lot more work to get similar effects from heated products on dry hair, and the wet set lasts so much better.

It’s my big presentation night tomorrow and this has actually really helped me to think, next time you have a project to do write a blog about it!

Killing a Camera

Braids, plaits, pigtails.. whatever you call them, I’m interested.

After doing my NYE inspiration blog, I’ve been doing some thinking about about these controversial lesions. I say controversial as I myself have a love/hate relationship with them and they’re in and out of fashion like no other.

They can either be 100% naff or perfectly glamorous, and there is a very fine line.

I’m not about posting pictures of bad hair, I’m sure anyone can find a picture of a ridiculous braided do in 2 seconds flat on google, and don’t get me started on white people with all over braided hair/corn rows. I’m interested in what you can achieve with braids that looks classy and timeless.

Joanie’s do is most likely done with a hair piece, matching her colour, though if your hair is long enough similar can be achieved, I’m rocking a similar do today, but more on this later down the line.

I love this style on Penelope Cruz, it’s very Grecian goddess, makes me think of Grace Kelly and Sophia Loren. I’m off to the Ballet on Saturday, and I think I’m going for a similar style, creating a bun by wrapping a number of plaits around the bun base. It’s funny because this is one of the styles I used to do back in the 90s (god that sounds weird), when I was still at school, I used to watch Ally McBeal and loved Portia De Rossi’s hair in it (when she wore it up similar to this and before she got painfully thin), then I dyed my hair green and the look wasn’t quite working anymore. Funny how things come back around.

These were from a tattoo mag and I’m not buying that it’s real hair, though I love the idea of creating something that looks like a little hat out of hair, just by wrapping like a bun. I have tried this style before on my own hair, but it’s just not long enough to quite pull it off yet.

Amanda Seyfried’s hair looks so simple and elegant here, it’s incorporating a vintage look, Veronica Lake-esque wave at the top, and turning into a modern pulled out braid through the length. I’m not a huge fan of pulled out messy braids, though this is nice, but I wouldn’t have gone for the black elastic, probably would have pinned the tail under the braid. I think this would work well with a herringbone/fishtail braid too.

I have no idea who this woman is but her halo braid is lovely, but I’d like to think she’s Poland’s first lady or the President of a South American country, I don’t want to be enlightened. This is similar to the milkmaid style, like Dorothy Lamour’s do in my NYE post, but it’s just one pleat right over rather than two which meet on top of the head, and the side parting is flattering especially with the slight fringe. You need a good bit of consistent length to do it, and this is the level of sleek you need to do this, as mentioned previously frizz is not a braid’s friend!

And finally I have to include Loretta Young, save this one for next years Fair Isle please, but she’s so adorable you have to love it.

Boardwalk Style

As a fellow Scot, I’m very proud of Kelly MacDonald, not just for being a great actress who’s done some quality work, but for her looking so damn amazing in those 1920s hairstyles in Boardwalk Empire.

I also got quite drunk last night, which made me feel kind of patriotic, and considering the boozing they did in prohibition era Atlantic City I’m hoping Kelly felt the same whilst making the series.

But back to the hair. Although you have the short flapper styles that were popular in the 1920s to consider, I think some of the longer styles in updos can be so much more flattering. They’re really soft and feminine, and they are easy to wear under a hat.

There’s a lot of long hair in Boardwalk, which seems to be just set in low pincurls, creating beautiful waves and ringlets, these are all just gently lifted and curled into varying sculptural curls and rolls.

Simple styles like this are everyday wearable, unlike really ridged fingerwaves which can be a little harsh for day time.

I’m also loving the evening looks, which is using the same principals, but just creating more volume and drama on the crown.

I did a little 20s Boardwalk-inspired-do last week, just some large fingerwaves at the front and large low set pincurls at the back set overnight with setting lotion, brushed out, and rolled up the hair from behind the ear into a sausage, and drapaed over the hair at the sides, and created sculptural curls with the ends of the hair.

I also came across these awesome, yet slightly terrifying, Devereaux Sisters dolls Here, they have excellent 20s hair and some killer costumes, worth a look, you can buy them here http://www.tonnerdoll.com, but they ain’t cheap!