Studio: Hair Shapes and Silhouettes

The shapes and silhouettes that hairstyles create are important for a strong overall finish.  In class this week we were looking at creating sleek hairstyles with strong shapes, from prepping the hair to creating a ponytail and other hairstyles.

Equipment needed:

- Water spray

- Serum

- Hair dryer

- Paddle brush

- Hair straighteners

- Hair bands

- Pintail comb

- Hair grips

How to Prep the hair:

- Begin by wetting down your model's hair with a water spray and add a small amount of serum into the hair too.

- Blow dry the hair straight using a paddle brush.

NOTE: Do not create lift at the root.

- Hold the paddle brush under the section of hair with the nozzle of the hair dryer pointing down to make the hair lay flat as you blow-dry.

- Create a middle parting and work with the back section of hair first before working on the side sections.

- Straighten the hair once you have blow-dried it straight to create a perfectly flat finish.

Sleek hair.

How to create a Sleek Ponytail:

- Brush the hair through and then brush it back off of the face, taking a section of your model's hair to where you want the ponytail to sit.

NOTE: The ponytail should sit on the crown of the head.

- Hold it in place and work around the head, brushing the hair up and bringing more hair into the ponytail as you go.

- Change from a brush to a comb in order to get the hair extra flat and then tie in place.

NOTE: If you want extra height on the ponytail you can add another hair band a bit further up.

- Take a bit of serum in your hands and brush them over your model's hair to tidy and get rid of any baby hairs.

Sleek ponytail.

How to create a Softer Finish:

- Bring the front section of hair back (created from temple to temple), but pin it out of the way whilst you work with the sides.

- Bring side sections of hair around the head and pin with grips in a criss cross.

NOTE: Be sure to keep the sections flat.

- Bring the top section over the side sections and make sure that it is flat.

NOTE: You can create this same style with some lift by backcombing the underneath of the top section before bringing it over the side sections.

Sleek, soft finish.

Sleek, soft finish with added height.

Evaluation:

These hairstyles were  fairly simple to create and good techniques to learn in order to help me design my final looks for my chosen brand.  The ponytail was the trickiest to do, as I found it hard to keep the hair flat and in the right place.  Also, when I tried to tie it in place, the hair began to bunch in the hair band, making the hair bumpy.  I think that these simple hairstyles could be effective for some of my future looks that I will be creating.