Natalya~Hairstyles

I LOVE doing hair! :) :) :) Only...I don't do a lot with my OWN. My hair is down to my hips...which means it's too long to do a lot of things with it. (I have done Esther's sometimes, and I'm so going to have to try Trish's) I usually just leave my hair down. But my friend Kali has the perfect length of hair for one of my favorite styles! "40's/50's wave". When she and her siblings came over last night we did her makeup, then her hair. I used golds and browns on her makeup, and the lipstick is a bronze (which I think she looks fantastic in) I did a hot red (very 50's) then wiped it off, though (because it was so bright red) some of the red color remained (that was what I wanted!) Then when I put the bronze over it, it still had a red to it, and wasn't just brown lipstick (which really doesn't look good on anyone)

Here are the instructions:
What you'll need:
1. A curling iron. I think mine is a 3/4 diameter.
2. Hair gel. I use Extra Hold strength (I don't recommend Freeze hold, trust me), but I forget the brand. Any brand will work.
3. A can of hairspray (use a flexible hold)
4. A natural bristle brush (if you don't already have one, you should get one, they're MUCH better for your hair. They won't cause as many split ends, and help distribute the oil evenly from your scalp down your hair, even if it's as long as mine)

1. Start with clean hair. If it's not clean, the curl won't stay. Take your bottle of hair gel, put a generous amount (like the size of a 50 cent piece or bigger) rub your hands together and COVER your/her hair with it. Make sure you get underneath the part you can see too. You want ALL the hair coated. Don't forget the bangs.
I don't have pics of the process, so I'll just describe it:

2. Take about in INCH of hair and grab the hair spray. Spray the hair BEFORE YOU CURL IT. Hold the hair spray at least 4in away from the hair and spray it (make sure you do this in a room with good ventilation, I didn't and Kali's response was: "You could get high on this stuff, it stinks!" lol)

3. Now pick up your already hot curling iron. (set it to whatever temp will give you ringlets with your hair) Clamp the end of the hair in it so you can't see the ends, or can just see the tip of them. (If you leave a lot of end sticking out of the clamp, you will have a lot of hair sticking out of the curl and looking absolutely ridiculous.) Roll the iron so the hair wraps around in IN THE DIRECTION IT WANTS TO GO FROM THE CLAMP. As in you'll have the ends on on side, your/her rest of hair on the other and the clamp in between. Don't roll right over the clamp, you'll get a funny crimp. Hold this position for about 15 secs as CLOSE to your/her head as you can without burning yourself/her.

4. Now to take the hair out of the iron. Gently open and close the clamp and pull the curling iron out of the curl. DO NOT UNWIND THE HAIR FROM THE IRON!!!! This will ruin your curl.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 with 1in strips of hair all the way around your head.

6. If you have bangs: (like Kali!) you'll want to give those a bit of a curl too. Here's how: First, side sweep them, if you don't already have side swept bangs, part them with a side part and make them side swept. Curl the shorter side using the same process as before, only curl the whole thing, you don't have to take 1in sections. For the other side, grab the ends of the whole thing in the clamp and ROLL UNDER. Hold for about 15 secs and then gently release by opening the clamp and sliding the iron out of the curl.

You will now look like this:
You could pull this into just about any up-do, but to get the adorable "40's wave"...

7. Flip your/her head over so all the hair is hanging in front of your face. Run your fingers through it until you've kind mashed the curls together. Now flip back. Take your natural bristle brush and brush your hair. You don't have to worry about wrecking it, because a natural bristle brush is very gentle. It won't ruin in, it will give you a nice wave. (seriously, this is basically fool proof, you really can't wreck the curl with a natural bristle brush.

That's it! Cute isn't it? Pull the sides with combs if you want an even more 40's look. Just make sure it's not pulled back tight, but loosely. Now grab your white pumps, your white hat, your white gloves, and your 40's/50's style party dress and you're ready to go! ;)

(Note: If your hair is a whole lot longer then Kali's (as in more then 2 or 3in longer) this won't work. Don't worry though, there are LOTS of beautiful hairstyles for longer hair, Maybe I'll post some sometime.)

1Co 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

And what a pretty covering it is! :)

~Natalya