Saturday 31 October 2015

Types of Laces for wigs

    There are different kind of lace we can use to create a wig. Everything depends on out taste and of course on what it is going to be used for. As for example, for a film, the lace of the vig is going to be uch moe thinner in order that even if it's filmed in HD you cannot see it. In this blog post I will analyze different types of lace there are for making a wig:


  1.     Opera Lace-  This lace is used for wigs that are worn for stage plays or operas. This lace is 2 times thicker that a film lace and it is perfect to make very strong wig foundation.







  2. Silky Gauze Base- Wig- making foundation used to create natural parts in a wig cap and silk base closures. The foundation of this lace is soft, silky and delicate.



   3.  Monofilament lace - Wig foundation material used to make custom hair pieces and wig pieces.
  4. Stretch wig foundation- This is used in custom wigs creations. It can be used to create a stretch wig cap in the back with lace in the front, or added arround the ears or in the crown area for flexibility when creating custom lace wig cap.
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5.  Natrice- It is delicate, thin and flexible. It is usual natural/beige color. Considered as a wig-maker's favourite.
6.  French lace- It is a great choice when creating a wig foundation. It is very durable and allows your hair to breath. It appears invisible on the front hairline when adhesive is applied. If it's matched properly with the models skin-tone it can be virtually undetectable.
 7. German lace - It is basically the strongest lace.
8. Swiss lace- is a very fine lace usually of a beige colour and looks very natural.
9. Film lace- lace that is usually used to create wigs that are used in films and movies. This lace is literally very thin. Perfect to use in front of a camera. Also great to make temporary beards, moustaches or eyebrows.
And it is not only about the thickness but also you have to be aware of the colour of the model's skin, because you have to use the appropriate colour of lace:


Wednesday 21 October 2015

70's hairstyles

    70's was another decade that is remembered for it's variety of hairstyles. People used to experimet a lot on their hairstyles.and sometimes it was even an expression of that time. Here is an example of 2 different hairstyles and the step by step of how to make them:
    This first look is going to be a "soft" kind of  hairstyle:
Tools:

  • Curling tongs
  • Tail comb
  • Kirby pins
How to:

  • Section the front part of the hair: from one ear to another one. 
  • With the hair that remained on the back part, first brush it. After that, take a small square section right on the top of the hear and curl it downwards with your hot curling tongs.
  • Start  by doing a brick work
  • Make sure the sides are directioned towards the back of the head, because in this kind of hairstyle everything is about directions.
  • Pin every curl you make with a kirby pin so that it can cool down still having the same shape.
  • Once you finished with the brick work (curling) all the hair from the back part of the hair, you can now start working on the front part that you've seclected at the beginning.
  • Make a middle parting for that front part. You can slightly go for a side parting but anyways be aware cause it has to be anyways close to the middle.
  • As I said before, everything in this hairstyle is about direcytions, so be aware of how you direction it.You have to curl the hair dipendinog which side you are working on - towards tthe back but at the same time sloghtly downwards.
  • Pin again every single curl with kirby pins until it cools down.
  • When you finish with every piece of hair, start taking the kirby pins
  • Start back-combing it slightly on the roots just to make a bit of volume, cause as in 80's the hairstyles where a lot about volume in 70's as well.
  • Brush gently the curls without destroing the sape and consitence of it and arange then towards back 









I enjoyed doing this hairstyles as well as I love our practical lessons as it is not only teaching us different skills and different hairstyles of different periods of time, but they are also relaxing and really good fun at the same time. I am also happy with my result,as also Lottie said that it looked really 70's, but i have noticed after I did it that one side has slightly more volume then te other one and it was already too late to fix it. It means that everytime I am doing something that especiallu needs to be simetrical I have to be more attentive at how I direction every single piece of hair while I am working on it, especially when is regarding heating tools.

The second look is very different from the first one as it has a rebel soul in it. It more a rough hairstyle, and  I consider is more suitable for people who are not afraid to show who they are.
The tools I used for it were:
  • U pins
  • Tail comb
  • Kyrbi pins
  • Straightners
  • A hair brush
How to:
  • The way to do it is very easy but takes a really long time if you want to do it well, because in my case I took small pieces of hair. It was also challanging because You need to work havin the zig-zag parting averywhere in order not to have obvious lines when you so it. So everytime you take a piece of hair to work on, make sure it form a zig-zag kind of parting.
  • Take the U pins and make an infinity shape through it with the section of hair you have taken.
  • In the end pin it with kirby pins
  • Then with hot straighteners heat them for some second and continue to move on with the rest of the hair
  • When everything is done, starttaking the hair pins and you will notice a kind of wavy hair stile. 
  • Take the hair brush and brush through the hair and... Done!
You will realize that it is what we call Afr hairstyle:








I really enjoyed doing this hairstyle, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time to finish it in class, so this is why my pictures are taken at home. Also I wanted this to look really nice and this is why I took small sections of hair. This is also the reason why I spent 3 hours on it, but these were a relaxing work at the same time, even though I couldn't feel  my fingers in the end. For me it looks absolutely perfect as it is exactly as I expected.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Facial/ body hair

    Many times in films and theatre we make-up artists have to create facial or body hair on their models or characters. You can do it easy and perfectly suitable for that particular model. It is true though that if for example in the theatre the same actor has to change character at a certain point, and has to take off that exact piece of hair, then is more convenient to use an actual hairpiece that he/she can take off , rather than to use this method:

Products:

  • Blusher brush(preferably use and old one or at least one you don't really use)
  • Spirit gum stick
  • Crepe hair
  • Spatula
How to: 

  • In a bowl or a box cut some hair frome the crepe hair. Cut small bits as it is easier to work with. You can even use more colours, also because the real hair is not all of the same shade
  • Using your spatula, take so Spirit gum and put it on the back of your hand and warm it up a bit, "playing" with it on the back of your hand
  • Take a small amount from the back of your hand and apply it where you want on the model's body/face.
  • Whith your brush take a small amount of the hair you have cut and apply it on the part of the body/face ,where the sturit gum was applyed.
  • Let it dry.




























Monday 12 October 2015

How to put an acrylic wig on


Wigs are often used in films a theatre to create different characters and looks. In fact, thanks to them we can change a persons look into a completely different one.

Tools:

  • Hair brush
  • Tail comb
  • Kirby pins
  • A wig cap
  • The wig 
How to:

  • If the model has mideum or long hair, you can either take small square sequences of hair and twist them around the 2 fingers and then pin the with kirby pins making an X shape, or you can make a french plait . It is important that you gather all the hair, especially at the edges.


  • Then put the wig cap on the head. Make sure you leave the ears and outside the cap
  • With the tail comb try to put under the cap all the hairpieces you have left outside.
  • Try also to arrange the cap in a way that the edger are still a bit seen, because you don't want it to be seen under the actual wig.

















Applying hairpieces

Hairpieces help hairstylists to create various hairstyle especially when the model has thin hair or even short. There are different types of hairpiece and I will analyse them later but now I am going to tell you the step by step of how to apply a hairpiece.
  •  Select tHe area where you want to put the hairpiece
  • Take a small square of hair and twist it around your fingers
  • Attach it with kirby pins making the sape of an X, so that when you put the hairpiece it will be more secure
  • Take the hairpiece and an pin it to the circle you created.
  • Then cover the hairpiece with the actual model's hair and style it as you want




And finally... a group picture ! 




Sunday 11 October 2015

Modern looks isnpired by 80's hairstyles


 Whithout a past there can not be a present and especially a future. This also contributed to create nowaday's fashionable hairstyles. I am going to show different hairstyles' inspired the the 80's hairstyle, but with a modern touch in it:
"Hair: fashion and fantasy"


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http://www.hairstalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/modern-bouffant-hairstyle.jpg







https://www.pinterest.com/pin/382383824590049798/






The 80's "big hair"



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   The 80's is the time to find the inspiration to something bizarre and crazy. The BOOM colors and great variety of hairstyles folli- still tear us a smile. Due to the appearance of those days, that period is considered to be the period of extravagant!
  80's hairstyles are extremely bulky, and prevail hair combed to one side or the hairstyles with hair in front shorter than the back.
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   Especially for the working -class women, the concept of big hair was really strong. It was risurfacing in the 1980's with the popularitu of American soap operas such as Dallas and Dynasty. The lifestyle of wealth was adopted through different ways of hair-styling. The hair was carefully tinted and layered to flow copiously yet stay off teh face. Women began to tint, layer and backcomb their hair having as reference the idea of "big hair". This helmet of hair was a signifier of female power, wealth and success. It was best seen in a  modified  form in the 1980's with the look of Margaret Thatcher.
    With her rise to power came changes of image and appearence. Margaret Thatcher  showed her allegiance to the attitudes and look of her class by her epousal of the shampoo and set-style. A look that had much in common withe the one of the Queen, a kind of anti-fashion way of hair-styling used as a way of signalling immutability of the monarchy, it's resistance to change and its longevity and tradition. Her fixed appearence mekes her feel secure and sets herself outside the parameters of fashion.
    For Mrs Thatcher the hair, especially an abundance of hair had traditional association with feminity, particularly backcombed- signified a partticular brand of domesticated feminity. This is the idea based on which she broke the rules. The large,heavily set and sprayed style gave the illusion of a hard helmet and steadfastly situated her within the culture rather than nature.

 
 This bigness of hair on men had a particular traditional association with power and has existed as a status symbol for centuries (the hair od Louis XIV can be taken as example). It seemed the more important the public office a woman held the more important became the hair in taking space around the body.
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  In the 1980's the was a rise of the number of women entering the workforce, some in even in positions of executive power. Countless articles began to appear on the subject of the appropriate appearence for the woman at work. Especially the Blunt cut became (and still remains) a signiture look of the professional woman, the image of competence and seriousness. What this look was designe to do is to send men a clear message: " I am here as your colleague, as your equal and I can do what you can do, and maybe even better". Women needed a way of declaring their intentions and their "dress for success" fit perfectly the bill. A kind of high contrast was a standart in this case: broad shouldered, a little severe and perfectly disciplined. This look was created to say: " Put away your stereotypes about women being flighty,  emotional and undependable. Women are now ready for the demands of the corporate world". This is not to say that the corporate woman of the 1980's was not sexual. More than this, she was frequently utterly sexual. But there was a clear message in place: " Let us attend the affairs of the world, before we consider those of the heart".
    Most men said that they got the intended message of this cut- loud an clear. The hair tells them that the wearer wants men to honour her as a colleague before they respond to her sexuality. But it is difficult cut for a sexist men, and this is the reason why other men find this a "practical" cut. For them this is a kind of cut worn by women who have married and settled down. They would say that these women are no more subjects of sensuality and vanity.
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     Because of that reason why there was tread a thin line for the hair between being not too long, as it would be considered too feminine and therefore frivolous, and not too short as this was too butch. This is why even Malloy was very specific when it came to hair: "If you are a business woman your hair must be medium length. It can never be so short or styled in such a way that it would look manish or boyish. While women with very long hair can be veri feminine, veru sexy and appealing- non-authoritative. Too many waves an curls will hurt you in business. If a woman wants to be aithoritative she must have hair in the medium range". According to Molloy, a business woman must not have blonde hair, because of the stereotype: blondes might have more fun, but brunettes had more power in the workplace. Although some found his rigid ideas untenable.


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    Another look began to break through which was to dominate women's hairstylinguntill the mid 90's- the long tousled perms. This look was popularized bu the Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Disorder took over from the ordered executive chic that was dominating hairstyle and thousands of women bought into the look and continued to do so throughout most of the 90's. The tight perm, lasting up to 3 months, was associated with pensioners whose attitudes to haircare were still in the orthodoxy of the 40's and 50's. In the early 80's young women rediscovered the perm, but instead of having it to add volume, they left it in it's chemically enhaced kinky state or even exagerated it with mousse.


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Reference: Book- Good hair days. A history of british hairstyling by Caroline Cox
                  Book- Big Hair. A journeyinto the transformation of self  by Grant McCracken