Curling, Frizzing and Shaping the Hair

Our week 4 lessons with Lottie and Helen consisted of using each other as models to create an Elizabethan hairstyle using traditional techniques. As I missed week 3's lesson, I had to experiment and produce a style on the spot without a plan.

I had not learned the technique of crimping and frizzing before starting on Beth, so to begin with I started with a spiral curl technique that I was familiar with to incorporate a style of curl into the Elizabethan style. Looking back on my choice, I feel I should've perhaps used a roller curl to create more volume. Once these curls were released, I started to backcomb the front section of her to start shaping it into a heart shape. 

I feel the shape was reasonably successful in creating a high hair-line and a divided, volumized heart shape. However, I feel it could've been much bigger if I had used a hair rat or crimping. This look I created is a simple and toned down version of how I would've wanted it to look. Also, the parting could've been clearer when you are looking above Beth's head. As I knew we had to incorporate a bun shape at the back

of the head, I simply created some rolls at the back to finish the look. I do not feel this could've been my best attempt but as I had missed a previous lesson learning the techniques I realised I have to practise more to create a better look. My finished attempt on Beth was not large enough to compare to an Elizabethan look, and I feel I could've incorporated more techniques (crimping and padding). I really struggled to get to grips with creating a look on the spot, so after the lesson I practised on my model head to perfect crimping and shaping this hairstyle. 



On the Kate model head, I crimped the hair all over and brushed it out to create the 'frizz' used so often in Elizabethan hairstyles. Following that, I divided the hair into a centre parting and backcombed the sides to make the sections sturdy enough to hold itself in the desired heart shape. The first image shows my attempt at this. I feel this second attempt is a more successful shape compared to the one in class as it is much more structured and solid (leaving the heart shape clear), as well as having more of an Elizabethan feel having the crimped texture. I finished the look off with a simple twist bun. The result of incorporated all the hair into this left an unintentional heart shape from the back of the head too. Once I noticed this, I used a pintail comb to tease the heart into the heart shape further. The attempt became much more effective with the shape as well as the frizzing technique. I also developed an idea to incorporate tiny plaits over the backcombed hair to add another dimension to the hair - almost create a cage or adornment on the hair.


In our Elizabethan Adornments lesson, I created a heart shaped plait (shown on this blog post) and developed a successful technique to re-create the look. I wanted to include my new skills into this look to develop it further. The crimping and frizzing technique allowed me to create a raised heart shape within the plait. It also allowed me to have a higher and more rounded front of the hair.

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