How to make a vintage Sculpture Pin Curl

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.