Don't tell anyone!

Selfies after Taylor's assessment. Absolutely love how my design turned up! It exceeded my expectations and I felt so royal with that hair! 

Don't tell anyone!

Assessment selfies?! Yes, please!
Why not have a bit of fun after all this stress (or during it)?! :))

I am so happy that the first assessment is now over! I was so stressed about it those days, I thought I couldn't make it perfect but in the end it was all good. Now I can finally relax  prepare for the next assessment which is Wednesday! YEY!

Taylor practising my design - Week 7

It was a hard day for us because we were at the Uni from 9.00 AM to 18.30 PM but it was really satisfying. We both practiced our hair designs and we both did well.
Taylor improved her padding skills really well and this time I've got the right accessories to achieve this look. I have made a new hair rat which was bigger and in the appropiate shade for my hair colour. My partner struggled at first to handle it and to hide it because it was really big but then she managed to bend it a bit with some bobby pins and to hide it with a few hair pieces from my extensions. So once the hair rat was ready, everything went well when creating the front part of my design. We realised that it takes really long to curl the hair and, because we are allowed to add texture to the hair prior to the assesment, we decided that it's better to curl the hair in Helen's class and to unpin it when everything else is finished.
I am really pleased by Taylor's improvement and I can clearly see that she gave her interest in doing my design. Everything looks exactly how I wanted, and I am surprised by how nice it looks with the curled extensions aswell.

Practicing Taylor's design - Week 7

This time it was better. I have practiced plaiting at home and I felt more confident in what I was doing, plus that I knew what's going to happen. Taylor gave me the step by step instructions and it was easier than first time. Unless like last week, today I've crimped the whole head first and it was better. I have also timed myself to see how much it will take at the assessment and I need about 50 minutes before to crimp the back section of the head and to section everything, leaving the front part crimping and plaiting for the exam. I have also added the spiral-pin pearls and I found adding them difficult at the beginning because they needed to be a bit loosen, but I've managed to stretch them a bit and now they're prepared for the assessment.  I feel confident about the assessment!
I just looove today's result!

Taylor practising my design - Week 6

We haven't got much time today to practice my full design because It took me long to practice her design. We didn't finish curling the hair and adding the extensions, even if we remained in the studio after the lesson about 1 hour and a half. But assuming that she has three weeks until her hair assessment, that's perfectly fine.

Taylor's first attempt was pretty good. I could see that she's struggling to do the best, and I really appreciated this. That means that she is motivated to practice and improve her skills to do a masterpiece. I didn't expect to look perfect from the first attempt because we haven't got the proper accessories needed to create it and neither the time. And, as I said in a previous post, this design in not one of the easiest. I really like how she modeled the plaits at the back and that she is really ambitious and willing to try several times to do something perfect.

The hair rat wasn't the good size. I have to make my own hair rat.

I think that we'll have to add extensions to cover the hair rat better, because my hair is really thin and there are patches of the hair rat showing. 

Practicing Taylor's design - Week 6

After Helen's lesson we exchanged our designs and to achieve the final hairstyle and we discussed them. We also wrote consultation notes, because we found this very important in order to maintain health and safety. We decided that I will go first in the assessments, which meant that I only had 2 weeks to practice the hair and the make-up designs that Taylor gave me. I thought that it's better to start practising today and it was a good idea because I realised that I still needed to improve my plaiting skills and my hair skills in general.
At the beginning, I didn't even know how to start, but Taylor's instructions helped me. After I've sectioned the hair, I tried to simple french plait, but it didn't work, because we couldn't achieve the volume wanted, to create something like a "crown effect" from those braids.
Another failed attepmt to give volume to the plaits from the front was to try the rick-racking technique. It worked to add volume indeed, but when I plaited it it just looked messy and we didn't like this finish either.
After failing these braids, I tried to crimp the braid that wasn't frizzed, to achieve volume just like in my design. This worked and it gave us a wonderful effect. To finish the french plait, I just plaited in in a simple three strand braid and rolled it above the ears, covering the rest of the hair, in something like a snail shell.
After finishing the braids, I've just crimped the whole hair in sections and backcombed a bit at the roots to give more volume.
I have to bear in mind that next time when I practise Taylor's design, to crimp the whole head first, to save time.

Here are Taylor's consultation notes:

Here is Taylor's design:

Step by step pictures:

First attempt to plait. Failed the "volume test".

Second attempt to plait. Rick-racking technique. Failed the "looks pretty test".

Third attempt to plait and "the chosen one". Crimping technique.

Another photo with the final result. Love it!

Although I love how it looked like in the end, I still feel like it needs more improvement, but that will come with practice.

FINAL hair design - Idea 3

I must say that this is my final final final hair design, and I want to bring this one to my partner. I feel like this is the best of all and that incorporates almost all the techniques learnt in this semester (padding, crimping, backcombing, plaiting) and requires a little extra - adding hair extensions.
I have explained in the first post about the first hair design that for this Elizabethan inspired design I want lots of volume, many techniques and something to stand out, something dramatic, to suit the make-up design aswell.
 I don't really know if I'm going to do the same hairstyle when having the make-up assessment, because the make-up one starts at 9.00 AM and the studio isn't open before, but I'll try to do something similar by myself, at home, even if I'm really the worst person at doing my own hair.
I realise that this is a complicated hairstyle and it requires lots of practice and patience, but I am confident that Taylor can do it. Maybe I wouldn't choose such a difficult one if I didn't think that she can do it, but I find her really talented and I think that this challenge will help her a lot. I refer to this last hairstyle as a challenge because if I were to do it at the assessment, it would be a challenge for me too.
For this design I'll keep the rounded front and the plaits on the sides, but I'll replace the crimped fluffy rest of the hair with big, voluminous curls.
My hair is not either thick or long, and it's really hard to give volume to it if you don't crimp or backcomb. Because of my thin hair, I am going to add a hair rat in the front. No matter how much it will be backcombed it will never be the shape and the height I want without a bit of help. To add lenght, I will add hair extension in the back section, because I really want long and voluminous curls, and I know that when you curl the hair you loose lenght, despite of how long is your hair.

Here are the images that inspired me the most:


Historical:

1606 - Painting by Robert Peake the Elder (British, active by 1576, died 1619)

 of Princess Elizabeth (1596–1662), Later Queen of Bohemia

Love the big, round shaped hair of this lady.

Isaac Oliver, Queen Elizabeth I, The Rainbow Portrait, 1600

I find this portrait of Elizabeth really inspirational because of the loose curled hair that she had. Sleek, round shaped front, loose curled hair at the back, this is what I want.

Modern:

The front part could be just as big as it is in the above photo, or maybe bigger.

I want the crimped plaits to have volume and to meet in the back, more precisely, in the middle part of the section.

I want my final design to look similar to this bautiful bridal hairstyle, but without those hairs that seem to "hold" the little crown and with crimped plaites on the sides.

So, to recap:

Front - padded, sleek, round shaped hair in the front section. Big, with hair rat added.
Sides - crimped french plaits. Voluminous.
Back, the rest of the hair - curled hair. Big curls, hair extensions added.


My final facecharts:

Step by step to achieve the hairstyle:

KEY

Bold - instructions

Text – additional information

1)      To begin with brush through all of the hair and check for any abmnormalities;

2)      Section the hair in three pieces:

•         front - which should have a medium density, so you will be able to plait a small French plait, backcomb and cover the hair rat;
•         middle - which should have a reduced density, but still enough hair so you could crimp and plait to obtain a voluminous effect;
•              back - which should have a high density, so you can hide the hair extensions through it;

3)      Pin the other pieces of hair leaving the back section, so you can clearly work at it;

4)      Start backcombing the back section, where you want to add the hair extensions and then place them as close to the roots as possible, so their clips will be completely hidden;

5)      Brush the back section so the extensions and the natural hair mix together;

6)      Curl the back section, using a large curling iron. After you curl a piece of hair, pin it and add hair spray on it so the resulted curls will be voluminous but tight. Leave the curls pinned until you finish doing the front and the middle sections, and unpin them afterwards;

7)      Start working on the front section. French plait at the root and then backcomb a little so you’ll be able to hide and fix the hair rat into the hair. To hide and fix the hair rat, simply roll the backcombed hair on it, until it reaches the French plait, and then fix it inserting pins into it and into the French plait. For this design the front should be really high, round shaped and sleek;

8)      After you have finished the front, start working at the middle section. Crimp the whole middle section of hair using a medium sized crimper (you are allowed to do this before the timed assessment if you wish to) and then French plait away both sides starting from the ears, until they meet in the middle of the head. Clamp both plaits in the middle with a hair elastic and then curl the hair ends using the same curling iron that you have used for the curls;

9)      Once the front and the middle sections are ready, unpin each curl and slightly brush them with your fingers or with a comb, but be careful not to untighten them too much;

10)  Add self adhesive gems into the crimped French plaits that you have created and spray the whole hair, retouching what needs to be retouched and then the hairstyle is complete.

Final hair design - Idea 2

I really liked the first design idea and I didn't want to change it completely. I mean, more like in terms of structure, like sectioning etc. But instead of the heart-shaped front I have opted for a round one because I liked this more and I thought that it will be less time consuming. I have also added crimped french plaits on the sides of the design because I felt like I didn't incorporate so many techniques that we've learnt in the first design and it looked better.

Here are some images that I found inspirational for my look:


Historical:

Another version of the Armada Portrait attributed to George Gower, c.1588

Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603), English School, circa 1592. A half-length portrait of the Queen wearing a richly embroidered and jewelled dress with elaborate lace ruff and collar. She has a 'moon-jewel' in her hair. The painting is possibly derived from Isaac Oliver's miniature of the ageing Queen.

You can clearly see the round-shaped curly or crimped hair that the Queen has in those portraits. I would love how it will look with a sleek texture and crimped french plaits on the sides.

1606 - Painting by Robert Peake the Elder (British, active by 1576, died 1619)

 of Princess Elizabeth (1596–1662), Later Queen of Bohemia

There were also other important figures that adopted this round big, round shaped hair in the front. The best example is the latest portrait, the one with the Queen of Bohemia, which seemed to have really big, round shaped hair in the front, but with a sleek texture instead of a curled one. 

Modern:

Elizabethan inspired round-shaped hair.

Imagine these crimped braids on the sides with that sleek round shaped hair in the front and the crimped fluffly rest of the hair. Lovely!

My hairchart:

Final hair design - Idea 1

My first idea for my design was to create something big, really voluminous, both in the front and in the back. My final make-up design is something dramatic, something that stands out, and it's Lettice Knollys's modern adaptation so I supposed that she wanted to copy the queen in terms of styling her hair, doing her make-up etc, because she wanted to be like her. I also wanted two kinds of textures in my design, or maybe three, and to incorporate majority of the techniques that we have learnt in the class.
I decided that a big, heart-shaped and sleek front part will suit my preferences, but I didn't know, at first, what to do with the rest of the hair, because it was clear for me that I want to section it so I can add as much textures as I could.
After some more research, I have opted to leave the rest of the hair straight and crimped, and just a little bit fluffed out to add more volume at the roots.

Here are some images that I found inspirational for my look:


Historical:

Elizabeth I (Armada Portrait).

1592 Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603 with a Fan, Unknown Artist

The beauty of Queen's Elizabeth heart-shaped hair cannot be forgotten. This inspires me for my design. Replacing the curly texture with a sleek one will make it more contemporary.

Lettice Knollys as Countess of Leicester, c. 1585 by George Gower

And it seems like Lettice was keeping up with the Queen's hairstyles. Was she really trying that hard to steal Robert Dudley's heart by looking like the love of his life, the Queen, or was just keeping up with the latest trends? Perhaps we'll never know. But she certainly looked wonderful, just as Elizabeth. In the end, it's her cousin!

Modern:

This photo it's exactly how I want my design to look in the front. And it's extremely beautiful!

And with the rest of her hair looking like that, I think that it will look amazing.

My hairchart: