Timed Assessment - Desinger

On Monday, 1st December, we had our second hair assessment & it was my partner, Jay's turn to be the stylist & I was the designer. She was creating my design. I'm so happy with how this turned out & I couldn't have asked for a better partner to work with. It also helped that we were the only random partnership that was inside our friendship group out of all the make-up & hair students! 

I can honestly say that this is the best quality that Jay has done my design. She did this effortlessly & it looks just the way I wanted it to. I knew that Jay was a bit nervous at first to do my design because she had never done dutch plaits before, let alone having them join into one with a lace ribbon weaved through. However, she really couldn't have done a better job when it came to this, she tackled it well & practiced. I did try to take off some pressure by saying that if she couldn't do it then we could change it to french plaits, but she was determined to do dutch! 

We both arrived to the assessment calm & ready to get on to get on with the task in hand, we just wanted to get started! Jay set up her workstation in an orderly way make sure that she didn't forgot to place anything in the hair. While she was carrying out the assessment, I did my own little contemporary Elizabethan make-up to really complete the look for the photographs. The only thing I would say Jay struggled with, was getting the padding equal. She was getting hot & flustered because she wouldn't get them equal. However, after the assessment had finished, I reminded her that it didn't need to be equal because over the top of the padding was my birds nest! 

(All images taken by Jamie-Ann Kale)

Selfie Time! 

Litterally, couldn't be any happier with how my final look turned out & this is reflected in the images taken. It also helps that they look professional.

Time Assessment - Stylist

On the morning of the assessment, Jay gave me a sketch that was placed on the mirror of my workstation, along with other notes, of where she wanted the pearls & the front of her hair. Even though I knew how to do this, and was confident at it, we still had to put up images & notes to show that we had prepared our work & it was something to look at if I needed any help as we weren't allowed to discuss any of the work with our designers. 

This is the hair chart that she sent me;

This was our very first assessment at Solent University, I was the stylist & Jay was the designer. I'm over the moon with how well the assessment went. I managed to get the times just right so it was completely finished with time to take photos, & also take it all out afterwards. My partner wrote out all the notes & brought in the pictures that were needed for the assessment to show our tutor, Lottie, that we were organised & prepared for the task at hand. Before we started, I set up the workstation professionally, laid everything out that we needed neatly & pinned up the notes. Jay brought in any other extra accessories that were needed. I followed the instructions that she wrote out carefully & created my partners contemporary Elizabethan design. 

A few hours before that assessment, Jay slightly changed her design because she thought it felt to historical for her liking. She decided to have the frizzing in the fringe still but not brushed out & positioned in three consecutive lines over the padding instead. I liked this because it made it look like lightning bolts over the padding, very contemporary. She also decided to lose the pearls at the front of the hair and just place them around the back at the back instead, again because she felt it was to historical. These weren't big changes so I was happy to do them. As she spoke to me before the assessment, I knew exactly what to do to change these minor things, so my partner had a lot of confidence in me.

I believe the padding came out looking even to one another and looked professional all over. The bun looked neat & again even & the placement of all the pearls looked accurate to the hair chart. Overall, I am very pleased with what I had created, I over came any obstacles that I came across when it came to my partners hair & adapted to it.  One thing that I didn't realise until we took the photos, was that the hair at the bottom of the padding wasn't exactly equal. However, my partner didn't notice this either. 

(All images taken by myself)

I'm so happy with how the images came out because they show all the detail that was included & they look very professional. 

Practicing My Final Design

Unfortunately, my partner fell ill & was unable to attend lesson to practice my hair for the first time. However, she practiced it on the Kate Head so I knew she knew how I create it in full as she sent me pictures as she did it at the time. This gave me confidence in her because it was the first time she was doing this. 

We got another chance to practice my hair design in lesson for our timed assessment and this was the first time that she had done my design on my hair. Due to my own fault, I didn't have the correct shape of padding for my hair so it wasn't big enough for my liking. She started by placing the padding in place as to where I wanted it & backcombed over it, I called it my birds nest because I wanted it overly messy. She then split the hair down the middle and started the dutch plaits down either side slowly moving closer into each other so they meet at the bottom. She then continued to plait them together into one. I wanted lace incorporated into my design so I had a lace weaved through my plaits in a corset like style. 

I'm overjoyed with how well my stylist did my hair design because, apart from the padding size, she hit the nail on the head with the final creation of it. We had to use an extra bit of lace for the sweetheart bow though because there wasn't enough from the corset. As I have dip dye hair, I decided to do the bow just where it changes colour to give it a better effect. I also forgot to bring in the fabric flowers that would go round the front of the hair on the hairline.

Practicing My Partners Design

On Monday, 17th November, I had the opportunity to practice my partners design before we had our assessment. We had practiced it previously to try to adapt it slightly & make any necessary improvements that were needed. This was really helpful because it gave me a chance, as a stylist, to see what would work in my models hair & how her design would give an overall look. I started by sectioning off the hair to the necessary places. I then french plaited down the middle of the hair into a V shape and then started to frizz her fringe to add texture to the padding. Here's how it went;

I placed the padding in Jay's hair & backcombed her hair over it to try to cover it, however, where Jay's hair is so thin, it didn't work too well as you can see in the pictures so our tutor gave us some crepe hair to work with. This is was actually a perfect match to my models hair so it just made it that bit simpler for us!

Unfortunately, my partner forgot to bring in the pearl necklace that she wanted for decorations in her hair so we improvised & used a similar necklace to resemble the pearls position & how they would be placed. She also had some pearl hair pins ordered but they didn't arrive in time for the practice run.

I believe I have a very good understanding of my partners hairstyles and I know exactly what she would like it to look like & how to do all the techniques that she requires. We had a meeting previously to go through the techniques that she wanted in the hair to make sure that I was confident with doing them all. Luckily, I was. I believe my partner has a lot of confidence in me so this makes it easier for the both of us.

Practicing a Full Elizabethan Look - Design No.1

For this lesson, I had to try to create one of my three designs on my model to see if it would actually work as a complete hairstyles. This was also to see if it needed tweaking in some places. We were told that we could use anything we liked in the hair like, ribbon, pearls, feathers or anything else you could think of. You could incorporate plaits, buns or twists within the hair & also the front had to be curled or frizzed, but it must have padding in it.

This is my creation on my partner & the stages that I took to get to my final peice;

I started by sectioning off the hair & pinning the back section of the hair into a pony tail. 

I then created a french plait in the hair, placed the padding in place & crimped the front section of the hair that would be going over the padding.

I then pinned aside the hairline bits of hair & placed the crimp section into place. I slightly backcombed the roots of the crimp because through working with my model before, I knew that she had thin hair so it needed that extra thickness & texture. In the second image, you can see how i've placed in back in three different sections & rolled the ends of the hair up & under the padding. I'm happy with this because its nice & neat.

I then added the frizzing technique to the hairline as these bits of hair are very thin & uneven. It's also to demonstrate the I can create another technique & work it into my design. 

I also added a few roll curles into the front of the hair for decoration & to also show the separation of the hairline to the padding. Looking at this now, I should have included a fifth curl in the middle of the hair so the gap wouldn't be visible.  

To finish my look off, I plaited the pony tail, flipped it up & pinned it into the padding to make it into a joined look all over. I then pulled out the plait at the sides to give it a little more volume & pinned it down either side of the base. 

I'm really pleased with how this turned out because I was able to create the look that I desired that also matched my hair chart & looked Elizabethan. I was also able to set up & complete a finished look in the 2 hour time slot. Compared to a few weeks ago when I could only do half a head!

Wiggle Plait & Backcombing

I had never heard of a 'Wiggle Plait' until our class got shown this, what looks like, very complicated yet beautiful wig design. This is what we were shown;

Yeah, looks very complicated, right..? Well it couldn't be more simpler! It's literally the easiest thing i've seen to create since being at Solent, which is weird because it really doesn't look like it. This is how you do it;

Start by creating a normal three-strand plait in the hair, wherever you like. We chose the bottom for the demonstration so you can clearly see what's going on. 

Once you've gotten to the end & run our of hair, hold two strands in one hand & the third in the other. With the two strands, push up against the third strand till it reaches the top.

Spread it out a little & adjust it till you're happy. Then, there you have it. A lovely yet simple way of creating decoration for the hair. I love how this looks so I tried it out myself. 

Mine didn't turn out quite like Lottie's one because i did the plait too tight in the first place. However, I like how this turned out, even though it wasn't like the demonstration because it's got more wiggle in it. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Backcombing is something that people don't like using because it's got such a bad name to it. 'It ruins your hair, makes it weak & breaks' All not true, if you do it properly. Most people tend to grab a section of hair and brush down on it as quick & hard as possible, why? I do not know! This is how you do it properly. 

Start by selecting a section of the hair & gently push down the hair to the roots with a pin tail comb and keep repeating this & layering it up until you get the desired height for the hair. That is it, no torture involved!  It should also brush out very easily, if it does, then you didn't do it right. Here are some examples of how it should look;

Three Final Designs

I had to create three designs for my final piece, and then choose my favourite, get it some final touches, & then give it to my stylist partner. These are the sketches that I created;

Design No.1

 This is my first design. I anted to create a distant heart shape padding that would sit on the front , either side of the head. I wanted these to be very big & messy, I explained it to be like a bird's nest. I also wanted the hairline to be lined with little red fabric flowers for decoration as there is always some sort of decoration in the Elizabethans hair. At the back of the head, I wanted the hair to be part wiggle plait, part curled, leading into a low plait at the bottom of the head. However, I want this to be turned up onto itself and pinned to the head so the end of the plait is at the top of the head, leading into the padding. 

Design No.2

For my second design. I wanted to keep to same front but to slightly bring the padding closer together so its got a small dip in the middle making it a more subtle heart shaped padded front. I wanted to try a different style at the back of the head, so i created a two dutch plaits going down the head & joining at the bottom. However, I want a ribbon to be weaved through it like a corset & finishing at the end in a, what I call, sweetheart bow. 

Design No.3

My third, and final design, involved a large, rounded padding at the front of the head that covers the entire head in one. I'd rather this than two separate padding's because they still create that heart shaped dip in the middle of the hair. This would have frizzing covering the top over the padding along with a little backcomb in the padding section of the hair to give it that extra lift. Instead of the hair from the padding being tucked under, like it normally would be, it would flow down the the back of the hair which is all ringlet curls. For a final decoration, I would get a small pearl necklace & have it dipping into the forehead with the point & flowing into the back of the hair. 

Chanel Pre-Fall 2013 - Elizabethan Inspired

So just from looking at the runway images, you can see that the Elizabethan era has played a large role in the inspiration for this season for Chanel. I love how the Chanel designers have put their own twist on such a historical era! They've managed to incorporate height, the frizz technique, plaits & accessories into the hair, just like the Elizabethans did. In some of their images, they made it look sort of alien like. Here are a few images from the Pre-Fall 2013 Collection;

http://news.sammcknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC040167.jpg

http://www.wwd.com/images/processed/wwd/2012/12/05/chanel-beauty/portrait/00-main/chanel-beauty03.JPG

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsyC63wCI-vEWedGAUdPzJYC3qtDQHVImq0mvUMl3x9g6Qd5o2U7H_uhExLQhaLoNnonbaUbAl-M64XuozG7DmO0ibiDAG_v220IZf0gdTFWxUW_O_2HZuTuY9ILwXuQBPTMFwZGLDF4/s400/chanel-pre-fall-2013-aufmacher-hoch_article.jpg

I really do love how Chanel have taken a historical look and made it contemporary, & they've done such a good job of it! Not only is it the hair that's Elizabethan, it's also the clothes, accessories & make-up. They've really tired hard to represent a contemporary version of this classic era & I think they've really hit the nail on the head with this one. 

Working On Human Hair

On Thursday, 6th November, we had our first taste of working on human hair. For some people in my class, this was nothing new but for me & some other girls, this is completely new! At the end of the session, I realised how much easier it is to work on my Kate Head compared to a human head! The hair is so easy to control on Kate. One thing that I did learn from this, was that I actually had a very gentle touch when it came to creating the look & using the techniques. This surprised me because I was actually rather rough when working on Kate but obviously, you can be as rough as you like with her! 

We had to incorporate some of the techniques that we had learnt in previous lessons. So this could include;

Frizzing

Curling

Crimping

Plaiting

Buns

and we had to include padding

From these sections, I chose to use padding, crimping, curling & plaiting. 

This is what I created;

As you can see, I didn't have enough time to finish off my look so I had to stop half way through because we ran out of time. This showed me that I had a lot of practice to do when it came to my time management! I think for a first attempt on human hair, it didn't go horribly but obviously could have gone ALOT better. I didn't use enough hair at the front of the head to cover the padding so you can see it through the hair. Also, I crimped the whole head when I didn't actually need to... Lesson learnt! I wasn't 100% sure what to do with the back of the hair so I started to play around with doing some french plaits. I think it looked okay but I wasn't over the moon about it.