The eyes were shaded using warm neutral browns and orange tones to bring out the blue of Becca’s
eyes. A bronze color was used as a base, with a warm brown in the crease and on the outer edges, with a soft orange on the upper part
of the eye below the brow. The eye color was then blended using a soft brush for best effect. Finally, a light application of
thickening mascara was used to define her pale lashes. (The results can be seen in photo 4.) Becca was amazed at how much larger it
made her eyes seem.
Photo 4 also shows how we used a soft bronzer to give a light glow to the cheeks and add some
definition. As she already has very warm pink lips, a soft gloss was applied to give a dewy look with no color.
The finished look is very warm and natural looking, and gives a hint of color to accentuate and
make the whole look softer and more radiant.
The Hair:
As mentioned above, Becca arrived with long hair (down between her shoulder-blades) which she had
taken to wearing up in a twist because she just didn’t know what to do with it any longer. The ends still had grown-out color from the
previous summer and Becca wanted a change. I’ve always been hesitant to cut hair too short, especially when the client has such long
hair. The client usually begins to regret the choice as soon as she sees the results.
Because of this I opted to err on the side of caution, and adapted the style Becca selected by
making it a couple of inches longer than the photograph I was working from. Her hair has a soft natural wave, meaning that the loss of
length would allow for more curvature in the hair, so the back-angled layering allowed the hair to follow its own natural curve. I was
glad of having opted to keep the hair longer, because halfway through the cut Becca stated that she hoped to still be able to pull the hair back into a ponytail.
For the basics of this haircut, see the previously posted article on the “Back Angled Bob” here on
Hairfinder. The difference here is the lower sections of the hair were cut to a longer length, while the upper sections were layered
in the traditional “back angled bob” style. Although the photo called for it, after seeing the resulting cut, Becca asked not to have
the razor-texturing done, saying that she didn’t feel it was needed.
I styled the finished cut by applying a little strengthening lotion to protect the hair during the
blow-drying process and then blew the hair dry using a round brush to keep a soft curve and turn the ends in the desired direction.
Afterward, I used a light spray laminator to give the hair a touch more shine. At that point, of course, Becca proceeded to adjust the
styling to suit her habit. {grin}
I explained that in addition to now simply needing to be blown out with a round brush after
shampooing, that her new cut would work really well with curls if she wanted to dress it up for any occasion. Any of you out there
thinking of a similar style might consider adding curls sometime to give the look a new twist. The layering allows for a lot of added
volume with the curls and using large rollers at the top decreasing in size to mid-sized rollers at the base of the head makes for a
full-bodied style that works for most every social function.
