These 10 useful tips from Dell Styling Secrets, apply to every vintage hair style that requires hair curling and setting. I have published them here verbatim, couldn't have described it better myself!

1. Start with clean, healthy hair, freshly shampooed to gleam, glisten and glow. Towel-pat excess water, but don't dry.

    

2. After shampooing, remove tangles by brushing and comb hair in direction of desired finished style. If a part is in the picture, make sure it's neat and even.

    

3. If a setting lotion is used, choose one to suit the texture and condition of your hair. Apply evenly and use as directed.

    

4. Section hair into curl areas. Work on one section at a time, first pinning remaining hair out of way so that you aren't confused as you set one part.

    

5. Determine direction of curl. Before you start, study the hair-setting pattern. Each roller and curl is clearly marked.

    

6. Use the right tool for the job. Clips come in various sizes for small, medium or large curls. Rollers make bouffance, in sure smoothness and extra soft waves.

    

7. Remember that haste may mean wasted effort. Careful setting means a better looking hairdo – and longer lasting, too.

    

8. Use a rattail comb in setting and styling. A basic brush and comb are absolute essentials for finish, for maintenance.

    

9. Be sure hair is thoroughly dry before removing clips and rollers. Brush out set, first curl by curl, then cover all.

    

10. Comb in the final lines of the style and then use a light touch of hair spray for highlighting, controlling wayward crisps.

There are 3 types of sculpture pin curls.

Forward sculpture curl and Reverse sculpture curl are just flat pin curls wound in opposite directions. The stand up curls, also known as barrel curls, are pin curls wound and clipped standing up on the head.

They are often combined to achieve all sorts of wonderful vintage hairstyles.

Forward Sculpture Curl

- Curl is wound toward face.

- Usually in clockwise direction.

- Commonly used in page boy hair styles, where hair is curled under and forward.

Reverse Sculpture Curl

- Curl is wound away from face.

- Usually in counter-clockwise direction.

- Common in used in up-do , victory roll hairstyles, where hair is curled away from face.

Stand up Curl/Barrel Curl

- This is often used to add height to a hairdo.

- Curl can be wound away from face to add height.

- Curl can be wound forward towards face to make a nice controlled forward bang.

Stand up curl is secured at the base with a clip or bobby pin.

You can add extra hold security by adding a light weight clip across top, as insurance against falling.

Do you have neck so long that you are embarrassed by the tall “Giraffe neck” look? Is your neck so short that you are worried it looks as if you hardly have any neck?

SOLUTION: You can effectively correct/disguise neck length simply by choosing a suitable hairstyle!

Long Neck

In general, keep back hair long enough to disguise the long throat line.

-Those long bob pageboy, or fluffy curled hairstyles are very becoming.

-Low hair twist and chignons are also good if you want to keep hair tidy

-Avoid up-dos

-Avoid curls piled high on top.

-Avoid extremely short hairstyles such as those 1920s shingled bobs.

Short Neck

In general, back of head should be neat and above the hairline. Hair should be kept away from the neck as much as possible.

-Up-dos are very becoming.

-Short bobs look great too.

-Avoid long fluffy hairstyles.

-Avoid low hair buns/twists.

Necklines

You can also manipulate illusions of neck length by open or close clothing necklines.

Open necklines make neck look longer.

Closed necklines make neck look shorter.

To make vintage curls and waves, and keep them in shape, we often have to sleep in curlers/pin curls. Doesn't matter how good the initial setting is, some curls will go limp and lose bounciness during the day. Especially hair on the side of the face, and at the back. They therefore have to be reset at night.

Hair setting should be ideally done in private. Not only was it considered rude and very unattractive for a woman to be seen in public with her curlers or pin curls still in her hair. At home, they were also recommended to spare their husband and family members with this unsightly view! Yes I am looking at you Christina Aguilera.

So what do we do?

At night, you can still look lovely and cute by using a ruffled night cap or light turban to conceal those unsightly curlers and pins!

But what if curls aren't quite set and you need to go out in public during the day?

The solution is to conceal it with attractive covering. A light weight fabric is ideal as it allows for air to penetrate and dry hair. A chiffon scarf, or a turban will be lovely during the day. Also perfect for those bad hair days!

This 1940s video has some nice turban ideas. You can add brooches, flowers, ribbons and even feathers to add interest to the turbans!

Vintage hair enthusiasts often do their own hair dyeing. And why not. It saves a lot money and is fun to do.

Most of us are pretty good at colouring the front section, because we can see what we are doing. The problem is when you DIY the back section, you can't see it properly and there's nobody to help you. So you might end up missing a few spots, or not using enough colour, resulting in unevenness.

Here is a diagram from “Clairol's how to do better hair coloring”. I find this very helpful to make sure the back is not under-colored.

Part hair into 4 equal sections. You can hold hair by clips or hair tie. I find those big hair sectioning clips are easier for this.

The partings for color application, is like a series of horizontal parallel lines coming out from the centre. Illustrated by the white circular lines.

First part and pick up strand of hair at the top with your free hand. Hold hair away from the head to expose roots. Place nozzle point over the new growth and apply horizontally. Liberally apply colour over the entire strand. Then start the next parallel parting underneath and repeat.

Picture taken from the Art of Hairstyling, Edward Weck company.

This is the most important principle in making an authentic pin curl.

The thing about vintage 40s-50s hairstyles is that the ends are nearly always tightly winded and not obviously exposed.

A curl is like a series of circles.

If the the circle is largest at the end of hair, your pin curls is not going to be very good. It will fall out and be too loose. The end of hair should be the tightest circle! That is why vintage hairstyles do not have obviously exposed messy ends, as end curls are all tightly winded up, therefore do not come loose easily.

The Concentric Circles Theory of Pin Curls

"A ringlet should be a series of concentric circles with the smallest circle in the centre and each successive circle fitted around it." ( Image 1)

"If allowed to fall free, the same series of concentric circles would form a cone-shaped strand with the largest circle at the coarsest part of the hair or nearest the scalp." (Image 2)

Summarised as below.

Thin Hair

• Better Diet and Exercise. This one is a no brainer. Thin hair can be an indication of some sort of upset physical condition. Hair is weak and fragile when your health and diet is poor. If you eat well, are active and healthy, naturally your hair will be healthier and stronger too!

• Special Conditioning Treatments for hair, include regular massages with oil or tonic can really help build up thickness quickly.

• Massage scalp with your fingertips in circular motion. This can really stir up the circulation of your scalp, and help with hair growth and make it healthy. This is very relaxing and de-stressing at the same time.

• Regular brushing. Take one small section at a time, lift up with the brush underneath, and work the brush from the scalp to the very ends of hair. The pulling sensation when brushing is supposed to help exercise the scalp, therefore is good for both scalp and hair.

• Cut off the straggly ends if your hair is very thin. Even if this doesn't increase the rate of growth ( as was supposed at one time), it will make your hair look thicker.

Additional tips from me:

Dye hair with shade that's equal to your hair color or darker. I find this makes the hair look healthy, shiny and thick instantly. This is especially good if you want a quickfix. The hair colour coats the hair shaft and make it thicker and healthier looking. (This doesn't apply if you bleach/lighten hair.)

Avoid stress and have cheerful demeanour. We all know how bad stress is for our looks!

A good paddle brush with round ball tips give your scalp a nice massage when you are brushing. Really helps with scalp stimulation.

Vitamins can help thickening hair as well.

Thick hair

If hair is excessively thick, it can be almost much of a problem as thin hair. If you have hair that's too thick, the remedy is fairly simple! Involving only a cutting operation known as “Thinning out”. This is best done by a professional. If you have to do it yourself, you must be careful. Never cut out chunks of hair. Use thinning shears or thinning razor in a comb. Be systematic. Part your hair in sections and work from one to another, thinning first close to your scalp, then halfway down the hair strand.