|
 |
A Twist with a Spray of Curls
Styling Techniques for this Simple Up-Style
A simple up-style that can be achieved in under half-an-hour, and that is great for those of you out
there with heavy hair. You know what we mean. You rarely wear your hair up because your hair is so coarse and thick that even when
you use a whole package of hair pins, your hairstyle is falling down halfway through the evening.
This style works with heavy hair because it uses structural reinforcement in the form of a ponytail
hidden within the style. This provides extra stability and a sturdy base upon which to build a simple style.
Tools You Will Need:
- large bob pins
- snag-safe elastic band for ponytail
Creating the Style:
As always with up-styles, we begin with unwashed hair that has been brushed until it is smooth and
tangle-free. Remember that freshly-washed and conditioned hair is typically too smooth and silky to hold properly in an up-style, so
if the hair you are styling is too clean, you may need to 'dirty it up'. This can be done by misting the hair with water until damp,
applying styling gel to the hair and drying it again. Then, part the hair into thin sections and spray them lightly with hairspray.
Allow the spray to dry and brush the hair until smooth and untangled. This should leave the hair sufficiently dirty for almost any
up-style.
Once the hair is ready for styling, separate out a large circle at the crown area of the head and
make sure to leave at least two-to-three inches between the hairline and the perimeter of the circle. Collect the hair within the circle
into a ponytail and bind it with the snag-safe elastic band. Be sure to re-brush the loose hair to make sure it stays smooth.
To create the twist, pull the elastic band out from the head until there is about five-to-six inches
between the band and the scalp, and the ponytail hangs loosely. Then, holding the ponytail taut - straight out from the head - gather
the remaining hair up around the ponytail. Use your brush to keep the hair smooth as you collect it from around the hairline. Be sure
to gather up all the hair except for two thin tendrils in front of the ears.
Once the ponytail has been concealed within the remaining hair and the whole is smoothed into a single
handful of hair, twist the hair inward as though you were forming a French twist hairstyle with the ends of the ponytail and surrounding
hair emerging from the top of the cone-shaped twist. Secure this twist with large bob pins (for our demonstration we only needed four
pins in the entire style) being sure to form an 'X' with the first two pins directly behind the twist. The inner ponytail of the style
and its elastic band held to add stability to the twist and will allow the hair to be more easily held by fewer pins.
At this point, lightly mist the twisted hair with hairspray and smooth it using your styling brush,
or fine-toothed comb. Also, carefully comb or brush the hair sticking up from the twist to make sure it is still tangle-free.
This is the main part of the style. All that remains is to add finishing touches. For this you can
opt to tuck the ends of the hair back into the cone of the twist for a tidy finish, or perhaps add some extra spray (maybe one with
glitter or bold colors) and a flat iron to make bold spikes fanning out around the twist. For our demonstration, however, we've chosen
to use our marcel curling iron to create a spray of curls.
We create the spray of curls by taking small slices of the emerging hair and wrapping them around
the curling iron's barrel. Depending on the width of the slice, we alternated between barrel curls and spiral curls. After allowing
the curls to cool, we used a small amount of styling pomade and our fingers to separate the curls into smaller ringlets and smooth
them out. The tendrils of hair we left in front of the ears were curled into long spirals, which were sprayed with hairspray and
allowed to cool before being smoothed with the fingers to give a softer look.
The finished style is fancy, and suitable for most evening functions as is. If you preferred,
or if the occasion calls for something a little glitzier, you can add your favorite accessories - jeweled pins and barrettes, or
gilded combs. The variety of options for finishing and dressing the style make it immensely versatile. However, the most important
aspects of this style are that it is a very quick style and is sturdy enough to last all night.
Stacy McCurdy - Stylist ©Hairfinder.com
|
|
