How to: Contemporary Victorian Hair (Inspired by American Horror Story)

Equipment:

-Tail comb

-Paddle brush

-Curling tongs

-Hair grips

Step by step:

Prep

1. Put the hair into a side parting using your tail comb, making sure there is some lift at the root. 

2. Starting at the front, take two one inch sections on the side the parting is on and three one inch sections of the other side, and curl them all away from the parting. Make each section about the width of the curling tong. 

3. Secure each of these curls with hair grips, as seen below. 

4. Next, curl the section of hair that is just behind the front curls, about the width of three of the curls in front, i.e about three inches wide. Curl this section horizontally, downwards.

5. Then take a section below that of about t six inches wide, split it into two, and curl both sections. 

6. Repeat the last step below this section created above. 

7. Now curl the hair in three inch wide sections the rest of the way down the middle of the head. 

Bird's eye view.

Side view.

8. Curl the rest of the hair at the sides in sections, going downwards, and secure them all with hair grips. These curls are curled towards the face. 

Front view.

Back view.

 Up-do (Inspired by Moira O'Hara, the maid)
9. When all the hair has been curled and pinned up, let the last curl cool and then remove all the hair grips from the hair, apart from the five curls on the top/front.
10. Use your paddle brush to lightly brush through the curls to make them more managable.
11. Start twisting the hair up upwards, moving from one side to the other in a horizontal line, until you get the look below.
12. Secure the twisted hair with hair grips. Try to make them as hidden as possible.
13. Use your tail comb to lift the hair being pulled back to give it some more body.
14. Take the hair grips out of the curls at the front of the hair and pull the curls out individually to them push them back into the hair to create a wave against the head, and then pin them in place with hair grips.
15. Layer the curls on top of each other to give more body.

Back view.

Front view.

Side view.

Side view.

I was happy with how the look turned out, however I can see that there are areas I need to work on. I like the positioning of the twisted hair at the back, although I could have brushed the hair out more so that the twisted hair looked neater and smoother. I could have also used my tail comb to give the back more body by lifting the hair. I am happy with the positioning of the parting and the height of the curls, however I think I should have brought the curl slightly further forward on the left side so that the curl didn't sit back as much. I really like how the curls are positioned on the left side because there is a lot of volume and it looks very textured. If I did it again, I would have layered the curls on the right side to get the same effect, as I think the right side looks too blocky and heavy, with not much pattern to it.  

Down-do

9. Use a paddle brush to brush out the curls, using a over and under motion to get big, smooth curls to form. 

10. Push the front sections, on both sides of the parting, back so that the hair goes back and then curls back on itself, giving a very glamorous look. 

11. Play around with how the hair falls until you get it how you want it, e.g sweep the top sections down and forwards, and help clump sections together that curl the same direction. 

12. Back comb the roots if any extra volume is desired. 

13. Add a bit of wax or shine spray to your fingers and smooth it over the ends to give a more polished finish. 

I am happy with how the hair either side of the parting is smoothed back and then curled back on itself because it adds a sense of glamour to the look. I like how the fringe is swept down and then curls at the end to mix in with the rest of the curls because it looks very sleek. To make the look more polished I should have used wax or hairspray to smooth down any fly aways and finish off the ends of the hair. 

 Above shows the result of shaking the head up and down; this made the hair look a lot bigger and more voluminous. I like that you can still see the curls in the hair, but they are just looser and more spread out. This hair style is a lot more messy and crazy looking than the other more glamorous and elegant hair style. These would both be suited to very different characters, even though they are, in fact, very similar in technique.