One of the most important things to know about your hair is its limitations. Learn to live with them. This means accepting your hair’s texture. If it is fine, it probably tends to be flyaway and doesn’t hold a set well. If it’s medium, it probably behaves itself quite well and holds a set. If it’s course, it is probably unruly and hard to curl. It also means accepting the amount of hair you have — its body or bulk. If the hairs on your head are massed and close together, your hair is thick. If they’re sparse, your hair is thin. The amount of straightness or curliness imposes some limitations, though perming or straightening can usually correct this. You are born with these qualities and there is nothing you can do to change them, so make the best of them. Fine hair is usually thin and looks fullest and best when it’s blunt-cut and not much longer than chin length. Medium-textured hair with the medium body can take almost any kind of style or length — it has the fewest limitations. Coarse hair often responds well to a longish blunt-cut. The length tends to weight the hair down and make it behave. Too short a cut is apt to leave you with hair that brushes and sticks out.
If hair is curly, the humidity will make it curl more. Chemical straightening can be a solution if you insist on a straight look.
Straight hair, especially if it’s fine, will usually resist curling except under good weather conditions. So again, your best plan is to find a style that doesn’t rely too much on curl, unless you invest in a good permanent wave. This, depending on how fast your hair grows, is a fairly temporary solution and can be expensive if your hair needs re-perming often. However, modern soft perms are very good indeed and do offer the straight-haired person the chance of a complete change of look.
How to Make a Top Knot
If hair is curly, the humidity will make it curl more. Chemical straightening can be a solution if you insist on a straight look.
Straight hair, especially if it’s fine, will usually resist curling except under good weather conditions. So again, your best plan is to find a style that doesn’t rely too much on curl, unless you invest in a good permanent wave. This, depending on how fast your hair grows, is a fairly temporary solution and can be expensive if your hair needs re-perming often. However, modern soft perms are very good indeed and do offer the straight-haired person the chance of a complete change of look.
How to Make a Top Knot
- Hair must be long enough to scoop up off the face, without leaving too many loose strands. Beforehand, brush hair forward to give it body and then smoothly back off the face.
- Take all the hair from above the ears and around the face up to the crown and hold it while the back section is combed in to join it.
- Hold the hair tightly in the place where the finished knot will be, twist it until it coils around neatly and the ends can be tucked in.
- Finally, secure the knot with grips or ornamental hairpins.
- OPPOSITE The finished effect: a neat small head, cool and comfortable for summer.
Blow-Drying and Rollers
- With this good basic cut, several things can be done: it can be blow dried for a sleek, barely curved look; set with heated rollers for the curly look, or with a combination of regular rollers and a hand dryer for a long-lasting pageboy.
- For the curly look: Blow-dry the hair, not to style it but just too dry and smooth it. Then set with medium-sized rollers, two on top, three on each side, two turned under, one close to the face rolled forward. The back is set in one row of large rollers rolled to the nape. When the rollers have cooled, unroll them, brush hair gently into shape. For extra hold try one of the wetting-plus-conditioner products made especially for use with heated rollers.
- For the pageboy: For more hold than just a blow-dry will give, use a large regular roller clipped to the scalp on either side and two in the back. Let blow-dryer heat set them for a minute or two.
- For added fullness on top use four rollers, and two pin curls for the shorter side.
- OPPOSITE The soft, curly look.
Cutting your Hair from Long to Short
- The change cutting makes can be dramatic, as it is here: from shoulder length to three-inch layer at the back with shorter hair in front. This looks even shorter as the model’s hair is also naturally curly.
- After shampooing, the hair is cut in sections from front to back so that it can be seen how the new shape suits the model’s face, and if necessary be adjusted. The length of the sides is carefully watched so that the hair does not get pushed up my ears.
- Halfway through the cutting, it is already apparent how flattering this style is to the model’s face.
- The hair is kept wet while cutting.
- The hair continues to be cut in sections, as the tape is neared.
- An anti-static and light setting lotion is rubbed through, and the hair is towel dry.
- It is finally finger dried, and when completely dry the roots are sprayed again to bring out the curl and left to dry naturally into the finished shape.
- The dramatic result.