timed assessment as the hair stylist

Hair assessment as the hair stylist

In the five minutes set up time, I made sure I followed the health and safety rules and regulations, which included hair being tied back, bags and coats away, hands washed thoroughly and an jewellery was removed.
I then made sure I was prepared to create my partners final hair design this meant making sure I had all the correct equipment I needed, the tutorials , sketches and inspirations for her idea were taped to the mirror in order for me to see them clearly and also that my mirror lights were on, On the day unfortunately only one of the bulbs were working, but I made sure Lottie was aware of this during the assessment.
The next thing I made sure of was that my partner was happy, I also made sure she was wearing a cape in order to carry out her hair design and also made sure the chair she was sat on was at a suitable height in order for me to carry out her design .

Once the five minutes preparation time was finished I then had an hour and a half to create my partners design. I firstly started by sectioning my partners hair , using my fine tooth comb I  create a section in which was the same length as the padding which would be secured to my partners head.
In my partners design on either sides of her head she requested two braids which would then be incorporated into a fishtail plait, therefore using my fine tooth comb I took into consideration creating four small sections for the braids which were even. When sectioning my partners hair I also had to take into consideration the fact that she was wearing clip in extensions which she requested to be in the design, when sectioning the hair I therefore also had to resituate where the clip In extensions were placed in order for them to be hidden.

Once I had sectioned my partners hair I then started by creating the four braids either side of the head. My partner also requested lace to be weaved through the braids, so each section of hair which was going to be braided I sectioned into three even sections and tied the lace onto the middle section of hair in order to secure the fabric in place then I began to braid the hair taking into consideration that the sections were even in order for the design to look neat, once the section of hair was half braided, taken into consideration the act that my partner wanted the braids incorporated into a fishtail plait I then secured the braid with a hair tie   . I carried out this process four times in order for my partner to have four braids two either side of her head.

Next I then section a small part of the section which would cover the padding and began to create a horizontal braid across the hair which would act as an anchor and hold the padding securely in place. Once I had create the braid across the back of the hair I secured it in place using several hair pins. Next I pierced the padding using several hair pins and anchored them into the braid securing the rats in place.

I then crimped the section of hair which would be used to cover the rats using the crimpers and my fine tooth comb in order to make sure the section of hair was crimped evenly and also to avoid burning my partners scalp, I then slightly backcombed the roots of the section I had crimped in order to create more volume and then used the hair to cover the rats and secured it in place using several hair pins.

Once the rats were in place I sectioned the remaining hair at the back of the head into two sections and created a fish tail plait which I also incorporated the two braids from either side of the head into . I create the fish tail plait by taking a small section of hair from one of the two sections and overlaid the hair overtop of the other section. I carried out this process until a prominent fish tail plait appeared in the hair .

Once I had created the fishtail plait the next thing I had to think about was taking the fringe of my partners forehead this was generally quite difficult due to my partners fringe being short, in order to take the fringe off the face I used the crimpers to create volume and used my brush to scrap the hair back into my partners design. Once the fringe was off my partners face I then secured it in place using hair spray.

Finally to my partner’s design I had to situate a jewelled headband and pearls over the padding and into the hair, I kept reverting back to the mirror in order to make sure the headband was straight. By my partner requesting a jewelled headband in her design this also helped to keep the fringe from falling back onto her face.

During my assessment i took several photographs, a side view of my partners hair and the back of my partners hair .

Hair evaluation

During and throughout the hair assessment, I felt as the artist I managed my time well, and was  generally happy with the final outcome. The things I felt I carried out successfully were weaving the lace through the braids without it looking untidy and also incorporating the braids into the fishtail plait. 

For my partners design in the hair assessment she wore clip in hair extensions in order for her hair to be a suitable length for her  design, I felt I was able to manage sectioning the hair well and was also able to successfully disguise the clips from the hair extensions in order for my partners design to look tidy.

Even though, I was satisfied with the outcome I feel there was a couple of amendments  I could have made, one being taking into consideration how the beads were on tops of the hair were situated , although it looked effective from the front of the hair I felt viewing the beading from the back looked untidy and insecure, in order for this to have worked  feel I could have secured the beading underneath the padding at the back of the head.

Another thing I feel I could have improved was the placement of the padding, although there was a suitable amount of height gained I feel if I moved the padding forward slightly this could have helped to hold my partners fringe which I had to hairspray back off the face in place more securely.

final Elizabethan hair design

Final elizabethan hair design

After practicing my techniques and experimenting with creating different Elizabethan hairstyles i have finally come up with a hairstyle for my final assessment which involves wiggle plaits zig zag curls plaiting and applying padding into the hair.

Before creating my final hair design i sketeched the design to get a vague idea of what the diesng would look like once all the different techniques were put together.

Firstly i started by sectioning the hair for each different technique. I sectioned a small peice of hair either section of the head using my fine tooth come . I the sectioned another section of hair which would then be used to cover the rats in the hair.

Before applying the rats to the hair I sectioned a small piece of hair which i then plaited and secured in place using several hair pins, the plait would act as an anchor to secure the rats in place. I then attached the to the the plait using several hair pins.

The small section of hair at the front i used to create wiggle plaits which i overlayed over the padding. In order to create wiggle plaits i created a simple plait and then pushed two sections of the plait up in order to create a wave like effect in the hair.

In order to complete my final look with the remaining peice of hair i created a plaited bun situated at the back of the hair and a couple of zig zag curls either side of the head. I created the zig zag curl effect using a geisha pin which i used to weave the hair through i then applied heat to the weaved piece of hair and removed the geisha pin .

After i created my final design i felt i need to work on making the hairstyle overall more neater due to the rats in the hair being generally quite visible. I also felt i need to work on creating a better plaited bun at the back of the hair . I also found creating a plaited bun at the back of the hair quite difficult due tot he length of the dolls hair being quite short .

Inspiration for my final hair design

coral rickard. (4/03/13). beautiful braids kim kardashian style. Available: http://www.reveal.co.uk/beauty/news/a458813/beautiful-braids-kim-kardashian-style-get-the-look.html. Last accessed 29/11/14.

The photograph above gave me the inspiration on situating my wiggle plaits back off the face and over the padding .

anonymous. (unknown). braided updo hairstyles. Available: http://hairstylesweekly.com/hairstyles-for-summer-braided-bun-updos/braided-bun-updo-hairstyle/. Last accessed 29/11/14.

The photograph of Jessica Alba with the braided bun updo gave me the inspiration to incorporate a plaited bun into my final Elizabethan hair design.



practicing my partners final Elizabethan hair design

Practicing my partners final hair design

In order to become prepared for Mondays assessment during Thursdays lesson I started to practice my partners final hair design . I referred to a sketch and an attempt she had previously created in order to create the design she wanted.

Firstly I began by sectioning the hair in order to  make it easier to create the design. I sectioned the hair into two sections . I then created a section in which the padding will be applied two this section was situated nearer the top of the head in the centre. Either side of the section which the padding was going to be applied to I then sectioned two smaller sections either side which will be braided.

Once i had sectioned the hair with my final tooth comb and the sections were even, I firstly began by braided each section either side of the head. I found this generally quite difficult due to my partner wearing clip in hair extensions for length. In order to braid the hair I realized to resituate the clip in extensions in to the sections in order for the clips to be hidden and for the braids to look neat.

Once I Had created the braids on either side of the head I then applied the padding to the hair . I sectioned a small piece of hair which i then braided in order to act as an anchor for the padding to be secured into and then using several hair pins I secured the padding into place. Using the remaining sections of hair at the top of the hair I covered back combed the hair to create more height and then covered the rats in the hair, once the rats was completely hidden I secured the hair in place using several hair pins.

after applying the rats to the hair i then incorporated the two braids on either side of the hair and created a fish tail plait to complete my partners final design.

Overall I was quite happy with my first attempt at my partners final hair design, however after speaking to Helen about the design we realized in order to give the design more height moving the padding slightly forward would be an improvement.

After moving the padding slightly forward the overall design looks much better. Helen and my partner was happy with my attempt at her final design, however Helen suggested more techniques could be incorporated into the design such as crimping or curling.

The things my partner is left to consider is whether there are any other techniques she wants to incorporate into her design. We spoke about perhaps crimping the sections which covers the rats in order to create even more height and maybe incorporating some pearls into the design.

In order to become more confident with my partners final design , I practiced my partners final design at home in my own time on the dolls head, however due to the hair on the dolls head being slightly shorter i found the design more difficult to created .

In the photograph it is noticeable that the braids are generally quite loose this is due to when incorporating the plaits into the fishtail due to the hair being shorter the plaits became loose making the design overall look quite messy.

I found applying the rats into the hair on the dolls hair I was quite confident with. I am also more confident with roughly where the padding has to be situated in the hair in order to create more height.

practicing final elizabethan designs

practicing final hair designs

Firstly I began by sectioning the hair into two sections creating a centre parting on the dolls head. I then sectioned a small piece of hair from the hairline to about the temples which will by used to incorporate wiggle plaits into the front of my design. I then sectioned a larger piece of hair which I will geisha pin and backcomb and will be used to cover the rats which will be applied to the hair. I then began by applying to French plaits into either halves of the hair which will be used to anchor the rats into place, in order to secure the plaits I used hair pins to which I weaved in and out through the plait. Using the same technique to secure the plaits I the applied the rats into place.

Once I was satisfied with how symmetrical the rates where on either side of the hair I then started to zig zag curl the larger section of hair which will be overlaid over the rats, I carried out this process by weaving small sections of hair through a geisha clip securing the weave piece of hair in place heating with the hair straighteners and then removing the geisha pin, which then left me with a zig zag curl effect.

I then slightly backcombed the zig zag curls to create more height and a frizzed effect. I then overlaid this section of hair over the rats and secured in place using several hair pins.

Once the rats were secured in the hair I then focused on the front of the dolls head, sections several pieces of hair I then began to create a few wiggle plaits on either side of the hair which I then secured in place using a hair pin, in order to create a wiggle plait I started by simply plaiting the hair and then pushing the plait up the hair to create a wave like effect in the hair.

With the remaining piece of hair at the back of the dolls head , I began to French plait the hair but slightly rotate the French plait in order for it to go around the back of the head, I then finally secured the plait in place by using several hair pins.

I was generally quite happy with the outcome of the hair design, however the things i need to improve on is making sure the rats are properly covered in the hair, or perhaps next time use some darker colour rats which makes them look less noticeable in the hair.

backcombing hair and creating a wiggle plait

creating a wiggle plait 

During our hair lesson with Lottie, I learnt how to create an simple Elizabethan style plait which looked very effective in the hair. In order to create a wiggle a firstly took a small section of hair and separated the section into three smaller sections, I then started to create a simple plait in the hair. Finally in order to create a wiggle plait i took the two end sections of the plait and push the plait up the hair which created a wave effect.

I really like the idea of a wiggle plait and may consider incorporating the technique into my final Elizabethan design.

first attempt at a wiggle plait( although the photograph is unclear)

In my own time I carried on practicing the wiggle plait technique in order for me to become confident enough with the technique due to wanting to incorporate it into my final Elizabethan design

Backcombing

During the lesson I learnt how to backcomb hair professionally with plenty of volume without knotting the hair and making it look untidy. When backcombing the hair correctly I learnt that it is important to backcombing in the direction of the hair . If the model has fine hair I learnt that in order to apply volume to the hair before backcombing the hair firstly apply the crimpers to the roots of the hair , due to applying the crimpers to the hair the heat will make the hair swell creating volume in the hair. The start to backcomb the hair. 

Before washing the clients hair I learnt that it is important to brush the back comb out of the hair in order to avoid the hair from becoming tangled, Due to backcombing the hair correctly the backcomb will be easy to brush out f the hair. Once the backcomb is brushed out of the clients hair I am then able to wash the model hair.

Once I had worked on both of the techniques I learnt in the lesson i then started to practice certain elements of the Elizabethan hairstyle which will be incorporated into my clients design.

During this lesson I felt I had a bad day in the hair lesson and was  unsatisfied with any of the techniques i incorporated into the hair, particularly applying the padding to the hair, I was unable o apply the padding without it being unsecure or untidy. I also tried to created a bun using different plaiting techniques , I also felt unsatisfied with the result which therefore made be become demotivated during the lesson .

In order to create the bun I created three fish tail plait which i twisted together. The picture as shown above is generally quite unclear and hard to see the fish tail plaits incorporated into the design.

creating Elizabethan hairstyles

creating Elizabethan hairstyles

I started to create an Elizabethan hairstyle using techniques learnt from previous lessons such as crimping and curling on real hair rather than synthetic. It was different to work on real hair, I was more cautious of burning the client with heated appliances.

Firstly I sectioned the hair into two . I crimped the front section of hair, the sections started from the front of the hairline and finish just behind the ear, in order to make sure each section I crimped was even I sectioned each piece of hair using a sectioning comb . Next I tightly plaited the hair where the section finished and secured the plait in place using hair pins , the plait will act as an anchor and hold the rats in place. Next I secured the rats to the plaits on either side of the head taking note whether they were symmetrical, I then pierced the rats and then anchored them to the plaits using several hair pins. Using the crimped section of hair I overlaid it over the rats and tucked the ends of the hair under the rats this made the hairstyle look neater I then secured the hair in place using several hair pins.

The remaining section of hair, I curled using the curlers, in order to avoid burning the client and in order to make the style look neat I section each piece of hair before curling it and made sure the ends of the hair were also secured around the curlers. In order to maintain tight curls I wiggled the curlers out of the hair slowly. Once I curled the remaining piece of hair this created a finished look to my Elizabethan style.

This was my first attempt at an Elizabethan hairstyle  after speaking to Lottie about the outcome of the overall decided I decided that in order to make the style look overall more secure and more Elizabethan I decided to move the rats higher to give more volume to the hair.

This is my second attempt at an Elizabethan hairstyle . I like how the padding is higher and more secure but prefer the how neat and the style of the back of the hair is in my first attempt.

Another attempt at an Elizabethan hairstyle was creating a heart shape at the front of the head using rats, focusing mainly on the symmetry , completing the hairstyle with a simple bun .

Firstly  i began sectioning the hair into two halves of the head. Next using my sectioning comb I section smaller sections of the hair which I would then crimp, I carried out this process for both halves of the head. Next i considered how high I wanted my padding to be placed. Once I had a rough idea on where i wanted the rats to be fitted to the head I took a small section of hair and plaited the hair, using hair pins i secured the plait in place using several hair pins, due to my model having long hair i had to fold the plait and secure it using hair pins several times, I then carried out this process again on the other side of the head.

 Once both plaits were secured to the head, I then pierced the rats using several hair pins and anchored the rats into the plaits in order to secure them.

Next the crimped piece of hair surrounding the rats I then used to overlay and cover the rats, i then secured the hair using several hair pins. I carried this out on both sides of the head.

Finally I creating a simple bun using a technique learnt from one of our previous lessons which was creating a bun without a donut, I tied the models hair back and sectioned the ponytail into four sections I then backcombed each section and secured in place using several hair pins once all sections were secured an rounded shape was create.

When creating my Elizabethan hairstyle I found it difficult making the hairstyle look neat once i had applied the once I applied the padding to the hair. I also found it difficult to create a bun without a donut due to the models hair being long, i had to roll the hair several times under in order for it to create a bun shape, also due to the hair being quite heavy i found it hard securing the bun into the hair without it dropping or falling out

I felt my completed Elizabethan look was good effort but perhaps I need to work on making the hairstyle overall more neater particularly when overlaying the crimped section of hair over the rats.

 The side view of my final design slightly shows the rats which are secured to the hair i need to work on covering the rats and making them look neater in the hair.

During my first attempt I was unhappy with the result of how the rats looked in the hair i felt  the rats were to low and didn't look very secure in the hair I also didn't cover the rats very well during my first attempt .