How to: Early Victorian Hair

Equipment:
-Tail comb
-Paddle brush
-Hair clips
-Hair grips
-Hair elastics
-Small curling tongs

Step by step:
1. Comb the hair on top of the head away from the face so that it is easier to make the parting straight.
2. Using the end of the tail comb, draw a straight line, from the nose backwards, to create a middle parting.
3. Starting from the top of the head, draw a straight line down to each ear so that the front half of hair is separated into two equal quarters.
4. I brush back the hair in the back section and tied it with a hair elastic.
5. I then split the ponytail into two sections and twisted them together into a bun.

Top view.

Side view.

One half of the head..
6. To create the look below, flatten the hair down until you reach the ear and then plait the hair flat to the side of the face.
7. Sweep the plait backwards and pin it to the bun at the back to secure it in place. Make sure you keep the plait untwisted and flat to the head.

Side view of the plait.

 Second half of the head..
8. I sectioned off a thin, long section from the front, clipped the ends into the curler tong and twisted it towards the head, making sure the curl goes towards the face.
Notes:
-Make sure you tuck the ends round the curling tong to get a smooth curl.
-Keep the curling wand facing up so that you can pull it out of the curl and bring the hair downwards.
-Start the curl further down the head so that the top part is flat and smooth.

Front view of how to hold the curling wand.

Side view of curls.

Front view of both sides done.

Side view of finished curls.

I am happy with how the plait along the side came out because the plait is very defined and neat, however to improve, I will next time make sure that the flat part of the hair is very flat against the head and that it is smooth and even. 

Half way through curling the hair I realised that I had curled a lot of the hair the wrong way, facing backwards. I therefore re-curled sections of the hair so that they were facing the right way. I will make sure to always double check which way I am curling the hair so I don't make this mistake again. I also noticed that the bottom of the curls looked messy and didn't follow the shape of the curl, I will therefore make sure that I tuck the very ends of the hair into the curling wand to finish the look of. When I first started curling, I was using short and thin sections, however I soon noticed that that was not the style that the Victorians went for, as they wanted thicker sausage curls instead. I also think that using a sneaky pin just above the curls would help flatten the top section down, so I may experiment with that next time.