Vintage hairstyles involve a lot of hair rolling. If your hair has uneven ends (also known as layers), it is very annoying when you are trying to roll up hair. The ends keep falling out!

This is when end-papers come to the rescue!

End papers are rectangular hairdressing papers to keep hair ends neat and even, thus prevent them from slipping out when rolling. You can also put end papers under sectioning clips to avoid crimping.

 

How to Use End-Papers:

 

1. Fold end paper in half.

2. Place paper around end of hair strand.

3. Place roller against the ends and roll towards the scalp.

End papers in general are very cheap, you can get a big box for only a few dollars from hairdressing supply stores.

Some people use toilet paper or tissue papers instead, I don't reccomend this because they get mushy when in contact with damp hair.

If hair is thick, you may want to use 2 end papers per roller. Instead of folding in half, use one on each side to make sure all ends are covered.

The Sculpture Pin Curl

 

Pin curls form the basis of nearly all 1940s and 1950s hairstyles.

There are 2 main types of pin curls: the Basic Pin Curl and the Sculpture Pin Curl.

 

Basic pin curl

 Basic pin curls are easy and quick to do. Just wind strands around the finger, and roll up to the scalp. Each loop is outside the last loop, end of hair is outside the curl.

 

 I DO NOT reccomend doing type of pin curl at all. Why? You will result with messy, stray "fish hook" ends, that are hard to comb into shape. Curls lack proper direction and shape, and end up going everywhere! Because ends are not tucked inside, the end curl is not tightly wind, therefore tend to fall out. Unless you are after that messy Boho look, stay away from this type of curl!

 

Sculpture pin curl

 This type of curl is what you NEED TO DO. It is what Ivan of Hollywood called " The finest curl known and is used by all master hairstylists."

 It is characterized by each loop inside the last loop, end inside the curl. You end up with nice, neat sculptured curls, that look more professional and beautiful. They last a lot longer, as they follow the natural tendency of hair. 

 

How to do sculptured pin curl

 

1. Part hair into a little square block using pointy end of a rat tailed comb. Pull up a square section of hair that you have divided. Comb through to get rid of tangles, ensuring it's nice and smooth.

 

 2. If your hair is dry, wet it thoroughly with a water spray bottle. You can't set a dry pin curl, it will not hold. That's why it's good to set your hair after showering.

 3. Smooth strong holding, curl enhancing styling product over the entire strand. Especially to the midlength to ends as they need the most hold. 

 4. If hair is wavy, hold it up to check the natural curl tendency of hair. It's easier to roll hair following its natural tendency, and results will last longer than if you go against.

 

 5. Manual method:

Use both hands, carefully roll end of strand into a small loop. Keep rolling upwards towards the scalp. DO NOT TWIST. Make sure end of strand is inside centre of curl. 

 Then, fasten with pin curl clips

 The manual method does take a few practices and a good bit of time to get the hang of. You may have to unroll and start again if it gets messy or just not right.

 

Sculpture pin curler method:

Just roll with sculpture pin curler and pin!

 

Pin curls may seem like a lot of effort. But the results are absolutely worth it!

Rollers, hotsticks etc are great quick tools but they have a lot of limitations. It's difficult, and often impossible to get the detailed nice ridges and wave pattern without pin curling.

 Once you get used to it, you can recreate many authentic 40s and 50s vintage hairstyles you thought impossible before, because you can now can shape precisely how you want the waves and curls to be. Grab a few setting patterns and you can make all sorts of wonderful vintage hairstyles!

 

 

Here are a few of useful pin curl videos, just goes to show you the best 40s 50s hairstyles are achieved with pin curls.

 

pin curling 101 by vividmakeup

 

A couple of nice pin curled hair styles:

 

Aja's 1950s hair style

 

lisa freemont st's 1940s hair. I think this looks very Rita Hayworth's Gilda.

 

 

 

The Vintage Comb Out

 

 

After pincurling, rolling and setting hair, it's time to comb out those soft fluffy vintage curls! The comb-out process is very important as it is the final step that determines the shape of your hairdo.

 

These tips are essential for a good comb-out:

 

Only comb dry hair. Make sure hair is COMPLETELY DRY. DO NOT comb out wet/damp hair, doing so damages hair shaft and precious curls will droop and loose shape! Combing out damp hair and hope for the best has NEVER worked out for me. If you are short for time, use a hair dryer. Or pin curl or roll hair into an updo. Only released the curls when they are dry, you have been warned!

 

Use a brush to comb out curls. DO NOT USE A COMB unless it's for giving a flick, or to arrange or deepen waves. Cheap plastic combs especially tend to create static. Also combs' teeth tend to separate hair into those nasty string-looking curls like this Christina Aguilera picture. Not vintage! you want hair to come together in into a fluffy continuous wave like Rita Hayworth.

 

Christina with her nasty stringy looking curls

Rita with her soft pleasing fluffy vintage waves

 

Keep brushing. When you first take out a setting it can look very curly and even afro. It takes a while for hair to be brushed into smooth waves. As you brush more, hair will fall in line. Brushing may seem to disturb the set temporarily, but will not affect the strength of the curl if the setting is sound.

 

Use backcombing. It blends hair together nicely, help shape hairdo into smooth lines, and also add height, "pouf" and volume! Back combing is basically holding hair up and out from scalp, comb underneath layers toward scalp with ruffing motion, then carefully smooth top layer over. There are numerous videos on youtube that shows you clearly how to do this.

 

Handle hair gently - Excessive brushing with alot of force can make hair lose shape and curl, and cause damage! Light brushing motions are the best.

 

Use a light, brushable, strong holding hairspray. This way you can touch up repeatedly without holding hair down. Good hairspray give hold, flexibility, resist humidity and are brushable even with repeated sprays. I use Sebastian Reshaper. I'm sure there are many others that are just as good, just ask your hairdresser or local hairdressing supply store. It's wise to pay more money for a good hairspray. Cheap hairsprays make curls too stiff, and are often very drying. Curls lose that swing movement. When you brush repeated into stiff curls it's very bad for hair.

 

 

 

 WHEN TO USE ROLLERS

 

 

-If you want a Smooth wavey look.  Rollers give looser curls than pin curls. They lend just that little bend that lets your hair brush into a soft sleek shape.  

-If you want add smooth lifts,  height and puffiness to your hairstyle.

-If you have long hair. You need enough lengths to use rollers, especially medium to large size ones. If your hair is too short it can't go all the way around the roller.

-If you want 1960s, 70s hairstyles. These 2 decades are all about big bouffant smooth waves. rollers form the basis of nearly all hair styles here. 

-If you have dry hair. You can't do pincurls without wetting hair. But you can use heated rollers to set dry hair.

-If you don't have much time. Rollers are a lot quicker than pincurls. If you are proficient, those hot sticks and bendy rollers are especially quick. Only take a few minutes to set the whole head.

 

 

 WHEN TO USE PINCURLS

 

-If you want a curly look. Pin curls in general give tighter curls than rollers. They are especially good for ensuring ends of hair are nicely curled.

-If you have short hair. There aren't enough length to wind around most rollers, so pin curls are ideal as you can wind the shortest hair as long as there's a bit of length to form a circle. 

-If you want authentic 1940s and 1950s hairstyles. Pincurls form the basis of nearly all hairstyles in these two decades. I know these days people use modern tools and methods to replicate those styles with eg, hot sticks, curling tongs... But they don't come anywhere close to results of an authentic pincurl set. It's near impossible to get the nice waves, ridges, and tight sculptured curls and capture all those nice little details without pincurls.

-If you have wet or damp hair. When doing pin curls, it's essential to wind wet/damp hair. Dry hair will not stay!  

-If you have time. Pincurls take lots of time to do and set. So if you don't have time, obviously pin curls are not ideal.

 

 

USE COMBINATION OF ROLLERS +

PINCURLS

 

- If you want special effects.  Rollers add lift to roots of hair, pincurls ensure ends of hair are curled. For example you can use rollers to get a smooth lift at the top or sides of hair, and use pin curls to give fluff or curls to the rest of your hairstyle. Or you can pincurl a fluffy fringe, roller the rest into smooth waves. Or you can just pincurl those short wispy hard to curl neck line hair. The possibilities are endless!

 

Does this sound like a familiar senario?

 

You spent a good hour or two carefully rolling your hair, then another good solid hour under the dryer to set. You imagine Rita Hayworth curls as you carefully un-furl those precious curls....  Hmmm, they look kinda alright, something that Rita herself would be proud, as you smugly brush out the curls and congratulate yourself. Alas, half an hour later, your worst horrors are confirmed: curls are drooping! All that hardwork is coming undone. Why does this always happen to me?!

This is one of the most frustrating part of doing vintage hair. Vintage hair styling is all about shaping hair into desirable swirls. One of the hardest things is to make them stay.

It's crucial to first understand the curling process: Moisture, heat and styling products put hair in an easy to manipulate, malleable state. You shape hair at this stage by waving, putting in rollers, pincurls etc. Once hair is shaped,  it needs to retains that new shape by reverting back to non-malleable state, usually by drying. 

 

Therefore:

-  Do the old fashioned wet set. Whenever possible. ( A wet set is using water to set hair. Usually with some setting lotion.) In my experience the process of hair going from wet to dry is one of the most potent for hair setting. After a proper wetset curls last incredibly long. The trick is: Curls needs to be completely dry before taken out.

- Make sure hair is completely cool before taking the curls out, if you are using heat to curl hair. Heat setting does not last as long. It's good to clip wind-up curls, and leave them in for a while before taking out.

- Use small diameter curlers for hard to curl hair, tight curls unravel slower than loose curls.

- Stragglers at the nape of the neck must be wind very tightly, as they tend to unravel the quickest and easiest.

- Apply good holding products to mid hair shaft and ends. That's where you need the most hold. You can buy specific curl enhancing products. Various holding gels, sprays, mousse all sort of do similar things.

 - Hairspray underneath curls as well as on top. Making sure all areas are covered.

- Back combing helps, especially if you have flat straight hair. Back combing adds volume, and that helps to disperse moisture, and hold hair hair better.

 

Enemies of long lasting curls:

- Humidity, rain and anything that makes your hair wet! it brings hair back to that malleable state, which reverts back to natural shape.

- Excessive brushing. It is like slowly straightening hair, enough said.

- Putting too much hair on roller because you are lazy or ran out of rollers. This lead to loose curls with not much structure.

- Wind messes up hair. Therefore may possibly lead to misshapen curls, and you have to brush them again and again.

- Badly placed clothing, scarf or handbag strap that puts pressure on and flatten shoulder curls. Make sure they are out of the way of your hairdo!

- Brush curlers and velcro curlers are worst curler types to use for hard to curl hair. When you un-furl the curls, the teeth on them literally brushes out the curls.

- Greasy hair has too much oil and weighs hair down. Therefore is hard to curl and won't hold well. This is often due to too much hair conditioners or gloss serums. Or the hair is just plane dirty. 

 

Tips for different hair types

Straight hair - your hair is hard to curl and hold. you need to use good strong holding hair styling products and a wetset is strongly reccomened.  

Very curly hair - you may need to straighten hair before shaping 

Thick hair - you need to use more rollers, don't put too much hair on one roller. 

 

That's all I can think of now, will add more later when I think of more.

Feel free to add to this list.