Hair Styling For Beginners

Part VI: Getting Into the Swing of Things

By Coreen Clark
( © Copyright 1997 )

Subscribers can also read Part one | Part two| Part three | Part four |Part five |Part six |


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"Accessories"
"Wrap-Up"
T his series began with a bit of background information, then showed three "how-to"s for progressive lengths of hair; short, medium, and long. In illustrating these styles, the prosesses were presented step by step, or in other words, rather methodically. Truly excellent results can be obtained by blindly following the steps as given, but that is not the goal!

Hairstyling is an art, and though it is beneficial to start with a guiding hand, the intent is to become sensitive to the feel of it... using your imagination to dream up new things to try, and to find variations on the theme. The knowledge gained in experiencing the effects of different methods and rolling patterns, will help relate things back to your creative side, letting you know how you can achieve these new hairdos.

Consequently, we will now focus on some easy changes and variations, that can be done to styles such as those created in previous articles. Sometimes a little divergence in setting the hair produces a subtle change, and other times a whole new 'do can result! Alot can also depend on what you do after the rollers are out. Will you leave the curls alone, finger style them, brush, back brush, or backcomb them? There are alot of options!

Hopefully, the following examples will get some ideas of your own flowing. Don't be scared to try anything (at least at home!). This is where styling becomes fun! I now enjoy many an evening trying out all kinds of whims and fancy. Some work great and others, not at all. When you do stumble onto some styles that really work well for you, make sure you practise, so you get better at doing theshortm, and so you don't forget what you did (Hey! It happens... when you try many) !


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Flip Your Curls!

Although the hair is longer here, this is used to show a variation to the first style, that was covered in Part III: Creating A Basic Hair Style. Another difference is the use of hot rollers instead of the "wet set" velcro rollers, so that the time involved is reduce, but so is the longevity of the curls, assuming the roller sizes are comparable.

Though a full head of curlers are used, what is relevant here is the orientation and direction they are rolled. At the sides, instead of all the curlers being rolled under, they are alternated, going towards the back, to be rolled under, then up. This fills out the sides more, and makes things less orderly... just masses of curls everywhere! Also, note that the two front curlers are rolled sideways. This was an attempt to cover my widow's peaks, which worked, except that the result also accents my forhead and makes my face too "squarish".

The variations on this theme are endless, by changing either the angle each curler is rolled, or which of the two directions it is rolled, or both! This basic style alone could take a lot of your time to exhaust all the possibilties! Just keep trying different things. You may have a "weak" area that needs more volume, let's say. You can concentrate on that area by trying to roll hair into that part of the head!
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It's the Size of the Wave that Counts!


As just mentioned above, this was an effort to bring up some weak areas, except using the style of Part IV: An Easy Style For Medium Length Hair as the basis. With just a couple of roller changes, the same method was used to address my bangs/widow's peak (with the same result) as mentioned above, but additional focus was given to building up the sides of the crown. This was accomplished by putting in some large (but not jumbo) velcor rollers in those spots. I think the end result is not too bad, but it still squares off my face too much.


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Playing the Part!

By changing the rollers and leaving some out, this new style was created from Part V: Swept Volume For Longer Hair. It is somewhat more subdued than Part V, making it a good style for going out and doing things like shopping. It doesn't scream for as much attention as the "big hair" 'dos!

All the techniques are the same, right up to the rolling of the hot curlers. At this point, we make a side part then put in four rollers in the larger section of the part. They are rolled sideways and under. Going towards the other side, two large curlers are placed in a similar way. This will lift the top and create some volume there.

Everything else is left as is except for the ends, which are rolled under using the medium sized curlers. Once again, you can alternate the rolling direction of each curler as you proceed around the head. After removing the rollers, the hair is back brushed with the head forward, then flipped back. Use some hairspray and a hair pick to lift up any areas you feel will shape things better.
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Volume Rush!

This is great if you have little time to do your hair, or you just want a break from the more "labor intensive" styles. It is simply the first part of Part V: Swept Volume For Longer Hair. (where it was explained in more detail). Once you are finished the geling and dryng, you're basically done!

In essence, this involved applying gel to wet hair, then drying on high heat/speed with head forward.With fine hair, you can even skip the gel! After hair was about half dry, the volumizer attachment was reattached, and, switching to low speed/heat, the attachment's fingers were rotated in the hair and lifted out to dry the roots for volume. Starting at the base of the neck and working side to side, the entire head was covered by proceeding in rows, back to front.

It was finished off by combing the dryer's fingers through the length of the hair. This smoothed and shined it, if the dryer was always kept pointing towards the end of the strands. The hair was let cool, brushed, and some hairspray was added (optional), before the head was flipped back up. Then either the hands are used just lightly pat down and smooth any "frizzies", or a very light brushing of the outer surface is done for the same reason. A final spritz of hairspray completes the look, and gets you out the door!
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Accessories


There are just all kinds of "hardware" one can use to add a little color &/or drama to a style. Combined with smaller ponytails or braids, they create accents in the style. I like to to always keep a lot of hair down to frame my face and neck, but using one or more smaller pieces pulled back or up, or made into a ponytail or braid, greatly enhances the appeal of the look. Keeping these in place is the job of the following items. This is by no means a complete list!

Barrettes implies two, but you can use them singularly. They come in neutral tourtouse shell, silver, gold, and host of colors. Use to hold back small to large strands of hair to create feminine effects. Match your outfit's color!

Hair Clips are very much like barrettes, but sold alone. Usually, they are bigger. Use like barrettes, or to hold front hair pulled back at the crown, or to hold your ponytail.

China Grips are mainly for ponytails. A typical example would have an oval of leather that is rapped around the hair, then a wooden or metal pin is insert through two holes, under the hair.

Spring Jaws are very popular today. The name describes them perfectly. Again, they are mainly for holding a ponytail, but they can easily be moved to other locations to hold hair back. Several small ones can be used to make smaller accents.

Bananas are long, curved items with teeth inside there length. You unclip them at the bottom, spread them open and capture the hair of a ponytail as you close them. You can move them up on the head, more towards the front.

Ponies/Hair Elastics are an old standard. The ponies are just smaller covered elastics. All kinds of styles are available. One of my favourites is the woven kind. Used mainly for ponytails and finishing off braids. With the ponies, you can make lots of smaller braids or ponytails in different locations. For big ponytails, try moving them to other locations on the head, like higher up the neck, off to the side of the crown, or straight up from the crown! Always use cover elastics and if you find they snag and rip some hairs when removing, stop using that kind.

Scrunchies are glorified hair elastics. They are a cloth "donut" covering an internal elastic. These are also very popular today with ponytails.

Headbands can be either stretchy fabric circles, or plastic (perhaps covered) horseshoe shaped items. With the fabric ones, you first pull it over your head down around the neck, pulling all the hair out. Next lift the front part of it up the front of the face (watch the makeup!) so that it is on top of the head. Usually this will result in it going behind the ears. You can pull strands or bangs back through to the front, and lift up the hair behind, if you so desire.

Ribbons... the universal accessory! When tied with a bow, they can perform the same functions as the ponies, and headbands. They can also be used as a strand in braids for very feminine or "little girl" looks. If you buy some bulk ribbon from a fabric store, you can cut it to make matching hair accents. With a few pieces from a jewelry craft store, you can even have a matching choker!

Flowers emphasis the natural look. Though perhaps not for everyday use, on special occasions it's hard to compete with Mother Nature! Try tucking some behind an ear, or pinned to some pulled back strands.

"New Fangled Contraptions" are seen offered from time to time on those obnoxious television commercials. If you wait long enough, they always seem to show up in stores at a fraction of the TV price. One I have is called a "Sophist-O-Twist". It is a long velvet casing with a bendable wire inside, and a hole sewn in the middle. It came with instructions on how to make all kinds of styles, all based on pulling some hair through the hole and winding it up, then bending the Sophist-O-Twist around to hold it. It works great and is fast and easy. Watch for other items popping up all the time. Another one I saw (though I forget the name) is a plastic pin with a loop at the top. It is used to make a different effect to a ponytail.

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Wrap Up

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this series and are now busily coaxing your hair into beautiful 'dos! There is absolutely nothing wrong with using wigs, but if you can, the feel of having your own hair gliding across your back, all the time is heaven! The ponytail at work helps brighten my day, and of course, we must take the elastic out and give the hair a good combing everytime we're in the washroom!

If you're interested in learning more about hair styling, more information can be found easily on the web. Try searching for "hair" or "hair styling". One excellent web page called Rollarama has been set up, (managed by "J.J."). It focuses on men (TG and non-TG) who enjoy and appreciate styling their hair, especially with rollers. In addition to it's content, it includes numerous links to other excellent web pages on hair styling.

Happy Styling!!!
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