Pin Curl Projects

Really, this is just me playing dress-up with some lovely friends who let me pin-curl their hair, humoring me since I get major kicks out of vintage-ifying folks for a day. These girls are both gorgeous anyways, but I think the pin-curled look especially suits them, don't you agree? 

My favorite part about doing other people's hair is when they are really obviously pleased with the results and they walk around smiling, with a little pep in their step for the rest of the day. Having helped pep-their-step is most satisfying, indeed. 

I did Jeanette's hair on Thursday night. We sat in the dining room, where some of our friends were beginning an all-nighter for their papers, and I cheerfully pin-curled her hair while she watched Star Trek on her iPod and dozed off, jerking awake every so often to quote a line in the movie while it was being said. 

I asked her how she sleeps, in terms of body position, and she said with the side of her head pressed to the pillow, on her stomach. So, with this in mind, I did stand-up pin curls all over her head (top and back) except on the sides of her head and temples so that they wouldn't get squished. For both sets (hers and the next girl's) I did it on freshly washed, air-dried hair (this is important because I think letting it air dry encourages the natural wave to appear, rather than blow-drying it which makes it straight), with only a Lottabody/water mixture sprayed on (not too much - damp but not soaking).

I don't know why I took such a blurry picture... but you can still see that the back is stand-up pin curls whereas the sides are flat.

One more picture, just because Jeanette is so freakin' adorable!

The next morning, we met up again in the dining room and I took out the clips and bobby pins:

Spiral-y right after taking out all the pins.

Then, using a bristle & tooth combo brush, I gently ran it through for the first brushing - I didn't brush very vigorously as I do on mine, because Jeanette has very soft, somewhat fine hair, and I could tell the curls didn't have a lot of tension. Her hair is also quite long, when straight it's a bit below shoulder length, so I knew that would also weigh it down eventually.

After the first brush-through. Success! The shape is there!

I asked her what she wanted me to do with it, and she said something easy and low maintenance. So, the easiest and most low-maintance thing for me was also appropriate: just a bobby-pin on the heavy side of her hair under the marcel-esque wave to a.) keep the hair out of her eyes, and b.) increase the wave's appearance. I thought this really suited her face: she was so cute I had to restrain myself from squealing and doing a happy jig, and then forcing her into a 50's sundress and parading her around like my personal, brunette Sandra Dee. (This is no random comparison: Jeanette is 20 or 21 but she is constantly mistaken for being much, much younger!)

I saw her when she got back from class and the curls were looser, but still there!

Then yesterday (Friday) night, I curled Cadence's hair. She also has very soft, somewhat fine hair, that has the slightest of natural wave to it. We sat down in the TV room and watched Meet Me in St. Louis, the umpteenth time for both of us, while I pin-curled. She also sleeps on her stomach, head turned to the side, so I also did flat pin curls on the sides of her head and stand-up curls everywhere else. 

You can see Judy singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" in the background!

The next morning, I took out the pins and clips:

Then did the first brush thorough (again, not very roughly since her curls didn't seem to have much tension). Cadence's hair is medium length, with lots of layers. It's almost like a middy cut, except that her layers are more choppy and modern-style. Still, it worked out very well:

Her hair took on a really nice and strong marcel wave! 

She really liked it, which made me very happy. She decided to get into the spirit of things and popped back to her room to put on some red lipstick! :D

She was taking a day-trip to Bath, so she also wanted something low-maintenance for travel and so on, so I also added a bobby pin to keep the wave out of her eyes:

She tried it out with a headband she has, trying to decide if she should bring it along for the trip to aid in hair-management, or in case the curls wilted (I haven't seen her since she got back so I don't know how it held up!)

Annnnnd another set, because she is ridiculously pretty:

So there you have it! I am obsessed with practicing vintage-esque hairstyling on my friends - just for the fun of it! Tonight, I might be making my first attempt at vintage hairstyling for men, if my guy friend holds up his promise (it took much pleading, gleeful jigging, and poking and prodding in order to get him to agree to let me do this)! I'll share the results of that, assuming they aren't horrendous!

- Emily