Making Waves

I was bored the other day so I thought I would play with my hair.

What do you do when you're bored?

I usually watch a movie when I'm bored but this day I was feeling adventurous.

Here is my recent pin curling hair adventure.  

I set my hair in rows alternating directions, trying to achieve an S wave.

This is what I had when I first took the curls down.

And then what it looked like as I first started to brush it out.

As I continued to brush and shape my hair into the wave, this is what I finally achieved.

Forget the hair!

Where did my nose go?

Maybe we could turn that photo into a Wooly Willy type toy.

There you go!  Something to cure your boredom.

Think of the time you could kill while trying out different styles of noses on my face.

Or perhaps create a mustache.

The possibilities are endless.

Sure to bring hours of fun!

Jackie Kennedy's Hair

Today is the last post for my Jackie Kennedy series that has been going on this month in honor of her birthday.  I thought it would be fun to end the series with an attempt at recreating her iconic hairstyle seen below.

She sported a couple variations on this style but they were all basically the same.  So, lets take a look at how I tried to achieve this look.  My first attempt I tried rolling with large hot rollers on second day hair.  The first day had been rolled on hot rollers as well but with smaller ones which left me with a slightly tighter curl.   Here's how it turned out.

The second time I tried out this hairstyle, I started with freshly washed hair that had been blow dried and then set on large hot rollers.

For my setting pattern, I rolled the first roller on top towards my face and the rest were rolled back and / or down.  This is the same setting pattern that I used on the first trial run.  Here's what I had when I took the rollers out and brushed my hair on top towards the back.  This gave me more volume on top.

Since I tried this on freshly washed hair, using large rollers, my curl wasn't tight enough to last all day, so by the end of the day they were drooping somewhat, but I think that its still reminiscent of her style.  What do you think?

I have had so much fun doing this series and learning more about Jackie.  I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I did.  If you missed any of the posts, be sure to click on the button in the sidebar.

Decades of Hair

If you didn't know this about me already, I like experimenting with my hair.  I get bored having the same hairstyle, day in and day out, so I will try different techniques as subtle as changes in roller placement, as well as drastic changes in length and color.

Here, let me insert that even though my hair has gone through lots of changes over the years, at one point I did have the same hairstyle for about 10 years - long and straight with the occasional curl.

Before that, I never really kept it the same for long, it was super short for a while, then I would grow it out, then it would be mid length, then short again, until I finally grew it out and just left it. I'm not sure why I left it like that for so long.  Maybe I became attached to it, like a security blanket.

Then about two years ago, after having it pretty much the same for all of those years, I decided that I was stuck in a rut and in danger of becoming one of those little old ladies with long grey hair, and I cut it all off.  Do you think maybe I was having a mid-life crisis?

Cutting my hair pretty much coincided with my decision to delve into the vintage world.   I had tried my hand at replicating hairstyles of the past on several occasions before, with some success, but still had no idea how to truly accomplish the looks I wanted. Then one day, shortly after cutting my hair and while recuperating from major shoulder surgery, I was lying in bed surfing through Youtube videos and ran across Ashley from Lisa Freemont Street.  I was mesmerized,  here was this gorgeous, young woman sporting a vintage hairstyle and showing me just how to achieve that look.  Needless to say, I was hooked.

Since that day, I have tried a plethora of hairstyles from different eras, trying to find what I like best, what suits my facial features best, and basically just having fun with lots of trial and error.

When I started writing this post, I looked back over some photographs of vintage hairstyles that I have tried to achieve and realized that they covered five decades of styles and I thought, how fun it would be to share those with you.  But, as I began writing, it also occurred to me that in another years time I will be turning 50 and will have truly sported five decades of hairstyles of my very own.  How cool is that? - Except for the turning 50 part which could really be depressing if I thought about it. - Let's skip that fact.

Deciding what I wanted to share with you, and just how far in the past to travel, I thought, why not share it all.  Nearly 100 years worth of hairstyles! Now, where to start?  I think we shall work from this decade back in time.

{2010s}

{2000s}

{1990s}

{1980s}

{1970s}

{1960s}

and present day
{1960s}

{1950s}

{1940s}

{1930s}

{1920s}

Lauren Bacall Hair It's Not

Another trial of trying to master pincurls, I set out to attempt Lauren Bacall's famous waved hair.  My hair is several inches shorter than her longer locks so I was trying to achieve more of her shorter styles, such as these.

I did my wet hair up in pincurls with the top rolled back in two rows of four stand up curls, while the rest are all rolled forward.  I used this setting pattern that I found on Victory Vintage as a guide.

Here is what I got once I took them down and brushed the heck out of them.

I know it isn't perfect, but it is a start.  I'm thinking that part of the difference may be in the fact that I have some layering to my hair while Lauren appears not to have any, or if she does, it's a few long layers.  Plus, on the light side of my part, I chose to brush the curl down below my ear, where she had waves of curl above.

On day two, I had softer waves and less curl.

It is definitely something that I will try again with a few setting adjustments, but I wanted to share this attempt with you.  Any of you dolls have suggestions on what to do differently?

Pincurl Set

I have been experimenting with my hair for some time now, trying to learn the art of pincurling and trying different hot sets and foam rollers, deciding what length is best for me, what flatters my facial features and what doesn't, etc.  So, as I was planning for some upcoming posts, I thought it might be fun to share my hair adventures -- the good, the bad, and the ugly -- with you guys.  Today I want to share a pincurl set with you.  The lighting in my bathroom isn't the greatest, but I think you will be able to get the jest of it.  Plus, I have been sick and didn't sleep well, so overlook the tired eyes with bags.

Here is my set, after I slept on it all night.  It was a wet set, meaning I put it up into pincurls while my hair was wet.  I parted my hair on the side with two rows of three stand up curls on top and then the rest of the hair rolled toward the back.

On the light side, the curls were rolled forward, and then the back was rolled any which way.  I always have trouble with the back so I tend to do whatever I can get it to do.

This next photo shows what it looked like after I took it down and just ran my fingers throughout the curls.  I rather like it this way.

Here it is after it has been brushed out.  It could have used some more brushing but I was running late for work, so I just went with what I had.  Also, just so you know, my hair is just below shoulder length, so the curls pulled it up to about my chin.

Just as a side note, the lipstick I am wearing is Revlon's Cherries in the Snow.  It comes off as a rather fuchsia pink on me.  I like it, but not with my red sweater.

Well, there you have it.  I think I prefer it laying in the loose curls before I brushed it out.  What do you ladies think?

Lipstick and Rollers

One would think that sleeping in pillow rollers would feel just like sleeping on a foam pillow, but in reality, not so much.   Maybe it's just me because my Hubby says I'm like the Princess and the Pea.  I can't even stand to have a wrinkle in the sheets, drives me bonkers.  But, I love the look and curl that pillow rollers give me, so every so often, I endure.

After a long nights sleep, or lack of sleep rather

Boy, somebody needs to get those gray roots touched up!

In a completely different train of thought, do you ever apply your makeup while driving?  I confess, I am one of those dangerous drivers.  This morning I applied my lipstick while driving to work and I don't think I did too bad of a job - plus I didn't wreck.  It's going to be a great day!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain in Adobe 055

I'm off to finish a few projects, hope everyone has a Happy Friday!

The Lady in Red

Yesterday I read this post by Chronically Vintage in which Jessica spoke about being featured on fellow blogger Kathleen Lisson's blog, That's a Pretty Hat.  Both of these lovely ladies regularly wear hats and it made me consider why I do not.  I mean, I like hats and think that ladies look lovely wearing them.  So why then have I not purchased any of my own?  

This last statement is not an entirely true statement because I do, in fact, own a couple hats.  I have a straw wide brimmed sun hat that occasionally I will wear at the beach and I also have a straw cowboy style hat that I occasionally wear to some southern function.

With both of these hats, they are worn on occasions when I would not feel out of place with the general population.  Could I really be that self conscious of wearing something on my head that would make me stand out?  Me?  The "weird" lady (in this small town) who already goes around wearing vintage clothes and styling her hair in decades old styles?

Thinking about this made me remember that I regularly sported a beauty of a red felt hat while in high school.   It had a cute little black feather on the side.  Here are a couple photos of me in said hat from way back in 1978.  (Now, don't be trying to do the math with my age, it takes more fingers and toes than I've got!)

Notice the blue shimmery eye shadow.

Some amazing red lipstick!  Wonder what shade that was!

I liked this hat, and I remember how special I felt while wearing it.  So, I think it is time for me to rectify this hat situation of mine, don't you?  I already wear scarves, flowers and snoods in my hair, so why not a hat?  Why not, indeed!

Adventures in Hair Extensions

I have been very busy lately with family issues plus I am feeling run down and under the weather today, so forgive me for being late with my posts.  Even so, I did want to let you dolls in on my new adventure.  I placed an order a few weeks ago for hair extensions with Glam Time.   I love having shorter hair as it lends itself nicely for those styles of the 50s and the 20s and 30s.  I can get some 40s and 60s styles in there too but I was wanting to be able to do some of the longer styles of those eras.  Think Veronica Lake or Brigitte Bardot.  

So, I ordered hair extensions to play with.  I chose to order from Glam Time because they offered high quality human hair at a reasonable cost, plus they had free international shipping.  My package arrived about 10 days after I placed my order.   I had intentionally ordered them a color that appeared lighter than my current hair color because I was afraid I would not be able to match my hair exactly and I planned to dye them to my color.  I ordered the Chestnut Brown #6 color but was a little surprised by just how light they actually were.  But no biggie, hopefully the dye would match up.  

I started out by dying the extensions with my usual color of choice.

I placed the extensions onto a sheet of aluminum foil to protect my counter tops and used my normal process of coloring my own hair.  After each piece was thoroughly saturated with color, I folded them up and let them sit the allotted processing time.

I then rinsed them and gently squeezed the water out, placing them on a towel to air dry for a few hours.

After I let them dry for a while, I then pin curled them and set them aside to dry overnight.

It actually took them about 48 hours to dry on their own.  WOW!  I was not expecting that!  Before I show you what they look like on, here is a shot of my normal, unstyled hair.  It has just been blown dry.  (Please forgive the tired face.) 

And here I am with the hair extensions clipped in.  I purchased the 120 gram set and I am very pleased with the amount of hair that I got.  In fact, in the pictures that follow, I am not even wearing all of the hair pieces.

In this last photo, I only have the two 6" wide extensions in and I think it looks very natural.

I think I will keep them pin curled and stored wrapped in a scarf so that I won't have to wash them very often, but I can't wait to actually get to style them and wear them out!  What do you guys think?