New Normal and Deadlines.

The country's lockdown continues on and we are all feeling the pressure of staying indoors now. The temptation to bend/break the rules is greater as the weather gets better only to be followed by frustration when you know you just can't. It's getting more and more difficult to curate a calm and functional working environment at home, with so many distractions and other things to be worrying about... it feels like uni work has taken a back seat!

But the deadlines continue to close in and so somehow we must continue on!

This weeks post centres around all of the hair work I have been doing in preparation for Unit 31, where we have been asked to create/recreate a DVD cover and promo poster for a period film or TV programme. We have been given a few different eras to chose from, but I settled on doing the late Victorian years. I toyed with doing something like Downton Abbey or Mr Selfridge - both set in the early 1920's but I realised I already have a lot of 20's inspired looks in my portfolio now and as far as the hair is concerned I really wanted to push myself to learn some new skills.

With guidance from Kerry Fookes (our hair tutor at university ) we revisited the basics of hair; curling, braiding, pin curling etc. Kerry also taught us how to style using more traditional methods which has been so helpful to learn when it came to styling wigs! During most of my practices I was using a training block with real human hair but I wanted to compare the two different ways of styling so I styled half the hair with modern heated tools and half wet-setting.

So to kick things off, this was my first attempt at pin curls (since completing my level 3 in 2015!) This was a traditional wet-set. I wet the hair down with water and sprayed on setting lotion section by section, rolling the hair up around my fingers and securing with a flat pin curl clip. These curls do not give any root lift and it can be tricky to keep the fine ends of the hair tucked in as you roll them up but when brushed out they can create lovely spiral curls!

This is the modern side from the same day, using a curling wand and hairspray. I curled a section of hair and whilst the hair is still hot I rolled the curls back up into the clips so that the hair will set as it cools. Hair switches between Alpha and Beta keratin state. Alpha Keratin is the hair as it naturally grows whether that's curly or straight but when the hair is wetted/heated and stretched into a new shape it's then in a Beta Keratin state. I found using the wand gave me more control over the direction of the final curl as I found it easier to get the hair into the clips. I also prefer this way as the hair will cool faster than it will dry. I would either need a hairdryer or wig oven to set those wet curls.

L - Wet-set R - Hot tool

As you can see, the two methods have given me very different results! I used the second process recently in order to create a loose 20's inspired wave.

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Next up we have wet and dry versions of roller setting. Much like the wet-set pin curls, I wet the hair and sprayed with setting lotion before applying the rollers. I haven't ever used these kind of rollers before but once I got the hang of using a tail comb to keep the ends tucked in and not taking too big a section I actually preferred these as the small teeth helped grab hold of the hair and hold it in place. More practice is still needed with these as I didn't wait long enough for the hair to dry (despite using a hairdryer!) and they didn't come out well at all.

This is the dry set. Ive used heated rollers before on my level 3 but again not since then. I was surprised at how well I managed to place these as I had previously struggled with that. however I ended up having a lot of flyaways and frizz as the heated rollers don't have the teeth that the others did. These curls came out lovely and bouncy though but I don't have anything to compare each set as the others didn't dry!

L - Wet set R - Dry set

Again, very different results but the photo on the left is not a true representation of what those curls should look like. More patience next time!

Thats all for this one folks! Read part 2 for how I used these skills to create a 'Gibson Girl' hairstyle on a training block with human hair and on a synthetic wig, thank you for reading!

Fern x