Friday, September 24, 2010

New 'Do

So, it was time for a little change of the old coiffure. As my hair got longer, I noticed I wasn't getting the results I wanted from setting it anymore. Pin curls and rag curls both just made my hair hang sadly and heavily. So I decided it was time. No more sad curls!

I took a couple inspiration pics to the salon. You might recognize these lovely hair models:

I'm liking the length, though it wasn't as dramatic a change as I thought. People hardly noticed at work yesterday—it's almost like they had more important things to do than discuss my hair!

I set it in pin curls and it came out very nicely. I unfortunately didn't get a good post-set pic, but here's how it looked at the end of the day, after brushing.
I also tried some fanciness.
I'm looking forward to experimenting more with it. Any tips on how to get that extreme pageboy rolled-under curled look?

25 comments:

  1. This one is a good pageboy video!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOkyhGB2sQI
    If quite involved, I've never done it. But I love me a Marcelle wave, I usually put my fringe in 3 standing up pin curls rolling away from my face towards the back of my head. They can be annoying to sleep in though, as I tend to sleep on my front. When I take them out I give them a good brushing and then clip them into position with big hairdresser clips, then spray the heck out of them. Once that's set, maybe sneak in some bobby pins to hold it in place, smooth down and spray again.
    This is the result:
    http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs289.snc4/40766_464140712577_501397577_6645829_5029619_n.jpg
    Side view
    http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs073.snc3/14127_417673027577_501397577_5403174_4376106_n.jpg

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  2. Beautiful choice :)
    Your glasses are very beautiful, too.

    Have a great Friday!



    http://jungleworldcitizen.blogspot.com/

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  3. I love to do this look. I have tons of very fine hair so my style only lasts a half day no matter what I do with it, but with your texture and thickness I think you would get a lot more longevity. I wear large sponge rollers to bed, mostly on the top of my head, being very very careful to roll the ends in TP so they are smooth. When I wake up I brush the entire thing out with a boar bristle brush, fluff up the crown with my fingers and maybe some baby powder(I have blond hair, this wouldn't work for you but there are dark products out there)for volume at the base. With the hair brushed totally smooth I take a warm curling iron, evaluate where I want the waves to be and kind of sculpt them into existence. The fact that there is already a lot of curl in the hair from the rollers makes the hair just want to go and stay the way you want it. I spray it lightly with hair spray and I ALWAYS wear perfume in my hair, it makes it sexier! I think the shorter cut is going to help you tremendously, it's very cute:)

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  4. I know just what you mean - the longer my hair gets, the limper my curls look. Love the new 'do!

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  5. It looks great!

    Also, your influence is being felt. I watched my first four episodes of On the Road with Austin and Santino last night. You are so right. It's some of the best TV on right now. Thank you for blogging about it.

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  6. It's so bouncy-looking! I love it! Your pink glasses are great too, especially with that green top-or is it a dress?

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  7. ohhh lauren bacall! haha i always feel like i have some kind of ~connection~ with her, since i was named after her ;) silly, i know.

    i think your new hair looks great! and i LOOVE the glasses!! you are too cute!!

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  8. You look great. Wish I could help you, but I'm clueless. Sorry.

    Trudy
    www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com

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  9. I must say, it isn't a huge difference visually. But I'm sure you'll get a lot more lift and bounce out of the new cut.

    You look especially fabulous the "fanciness" shot.

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  10. Hot rollers hot rollers hotrollers.

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  11. I strongly recommend picking up this book - Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques by Lauren Rennells. Its about $30 and it covers literally everything. I originally found this via LisaFreemontStreet on youtube. She has done numerous tutorials fromt his book. Good stuff.

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  12. Thanks, all! Some fabulous tips here. I did sponge rollers last night and it came out great.

    Amanda, I do have that book and I loooove it. Her pageboy style is on longer hair that's rolled up and pinned. I'll have to go back and consult for more general curling tips!

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  13. Gertie, I don't know if you have hot sticks but I find they're really easy (and fast) to use to get the pageboy look. (As a disclaimer, this is more of the Dita picture, but with the really rolled page boy - the Lauren Bacall is a lot easier to brush out and a slightly different method.)

    I start out by parting my hair much like those pictures - far side part, and then I use the small hot sticks on the smaller part and the larger ones on the emphasized side. I work with a 3 inch strip, give or take, for each side. The curling isn't the hard part, you just make slightly upward-tilted rows, rolling the hair under. I have a lot of layers so I like to use perm papers to for the ends of my hair. For the back and sides, I like to use small hot sticks on the very bottom and the larger hot sticks over them, just two rows to make a nice soft curl under to match the front.

    When I take the hot sticks out, I work with one side at a time. I like to remove them from bottom to top and make sure that each subsequent layer is cupping the last.

    Now, to brushing... I use a regular comb and a nylon/boar bristle brush. I've found that the best way to get a sleek look is to do controlled brushing over your non-dominant/non-brushing hand, which would be my left. With this look I do most the brushing from mid to bottom of the hair. The hair should already be rolling in the general direction that you'd like.

    Without pulling on the curls too much, first you want to back comb the ends a little for volume and so they stick inside a bit.

    Now take your left hand and brush the curl around it so that all the layers combine. The left hand will sort of act as a rounding barrel - it takes a little practice and I'm having a bit of a hard time describing this all with text.

    Once you get your roll shaped, you'll want to stick some pins in the roll at the top to secure them and then hairspray (requires much less if you decide to do a wet set instead - just follow same rolling pattern) the roll. As the roll travels down it will become looser and you'll combine the sides and back using your controlled brushing over your left hand also. Don't forget to back comb the tips of the back section of your hair too.

    This may or may not help, but hopefully it did a little bit. I may just do a video tutorial after a while! Haha.

    Nancy

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  14. Oh, I forgot to mention about the bang/fringe section...
    I typically brush that backwards and then the hair does an s curve from the back of the fringe toward the face again - you can play with that to decide whether you want more or less of a ridge and this part usually does not need back combing. Same rule applies with more hairspray for hot sticks, less (or sometimes none at all) for wet set.

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  16. Your looking is eye catching. You remind me of alittle Katy Perry mixed with alittle Katherine Hepburn.

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  17. Lets see if I can remember. I wore a Pageboy in the late 50's but it was a more relaxed style than that of the 40's. I used brush rollers (a mesh roller, with a brush in it that grabbed the hair and a plastic "pin" that was long enough to pierce through the roller and press against the head to keep it in place). I honestly cannot remember if the diameter was 1-1/2" or 2". I rolled my hair down from the top center of the crown of my head down to the nape, which was only about 3 rollers. Then the back sides, and finally the sides over my ears. After my hair was dry, I bent over and brushed from nape to crown, stood up and brushed downward, using my forearm as a smooth roller over which I brushed my hair and smoothed it under with the brush. Hairspray helped hold my hair in place. This was a snap as my hair was red, heavy and straight and I really loved the style. In the 80's, I did not bother with the roller and used a hair band.

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  18. And may I add you have a most lovely complexion, my dear. To die for.

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  19. Not sure if you've seen this one, but this is an excellent pageboy video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ts3jPHMyJY

    I've personally done this according to Miss Aya's instructions and had excellent results! (wish i had pics!)

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  20. The new hairdo is fantastic! I always love that great curl definition after a haircut.

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  21. Hi Gertie, I asked my 85 year old mother-in-law how she used to do it: Brush (she claims 100 times )and part hair as desired. With a long ribbon (long enough to go around your head) tie a low ponytail. Slowly pull the knot until it's at the almost the end of your hair length then carefully roll hair under like a victory roll (Making a tight hair tube around ribbon).Keep rolling until you reach the nape of your neck making sure no strands escape. Then tie ribbon on the top of your head. You should have no problem sleeping like this AND look cute for hubby! :) Good luck!

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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