Continuing in the theme of Halloween Hair Styles, I’ve decided to demonstrate how easily you can get a super-curly look without having to been born with it (or making a permanent
commitment). Of course, while the inspiration for this was the Disco era and the Afro-tastic looks of many disco divas of the 70s, this look would also work for other costume inspirations. A red-head could use this to
create a perfect “Little Orphan Annie”, and add some clown make-up and brightly-colored temporary spray and you can make a clown look without resorting to an irritating wig. The possibilities are pretty varied, so think
about what you want and if a super-curly style would make your look complete, we’ve got the techniques to help you make it happen.
What you need:
• Freshly-washed and conditioned hair
• Setting Lotion or Firm-Hold Mousse
• Small-to-Medium sized perm rods
• End papers for perm wrapping
• Tail Comb
• Spray bottle with water
• Wide-toothed Comb or Pick
Hair Length
The ideal hair length for this particular style is five to six inches, with the hair cut into a layered style – ideally a uniformly layered or ‘circle’ cut. However, due to the
nature of the style and the puff-ball effect of the curls, you can usually hide some variance in lengths by fluffing out the areas that are shorter and leaving the longer areas more tightly coiled.
The only time that length is going to be a real problem is when the hair is extremely long (in excess of eight-to-ten inches). This can often be mitigated by using a stronger
styling product, but it will require more effort to fluff it out properly and get the look you want. For individuals with very long hair who want the puffed-out look, I typically suggest pulling the curled hair back
into a ponytail at the crown, or into separate pigtails at the sides of the head and fluffing the hair into puff-balls in those positions.
How-To:
The process is really simple: after you shampoo and condition your hair, and rinse as directed, you towel dry the hair and apply a liberal amount of your preferred setting
product. Comb the product through the hair to distribute it evenly, and then you wrap the hair on perm rods just as you would for perming the hair. This is where your tail comb comes in. The fine-tooth comb part is
perfect for smoothing the hair and distributing the styling product, and the tail gives you a thin “finger” with which to separate the slices of hair to wrap on the perm rods.
You can use any wrapping technique you like as long as it uses the croquignole method. For our demonstration, we used the standard perm wrap: a column of rods from crown to
front in the top section, a column of rods from crown to nape in the center back, and the sides divided into even halves with side by side columns.
Most women, unless they are well-practiced at rolling their hair or perform self-perms regularly, will probably need to enlist the aid of a friend for this. Consider taking
turns doing this with a friend who also wants to get a disco diva look.
