B003YL4KS0 EBOK (39 page)
Authors: Lorraine Massey,Michele Bender
A playful twist and wrap updo by day. In the evening, unfurl the wrap and shake out to full, bouncy curls.
1
Gently pull your hair back into a low ponytail. For a soft look, leave out a few pieces of defined curls around your face; for a sleek look, gather all of the hair together at the nape.
2
Wrap a ponytail holder around the hair two or three times, but don’t pull the ponytail all the way through (you’ll have some hair that is tucked in and some that will fall out).
3
Loosely twist any front pieces of hair back. For best results, bring them forward so you can see them in the mirror, and place a bobby pin where you’ll pin them, then bring the hair back and anchor it near the ponytail.
CURL CONFESSIONClaire Warren
family physicianThere’s a photo of me when I was two years old and my sister, Ellen (see
page 166
), was eight. We both had giant heads of crazy, curly hair. Everyone thought we looked adorable—everyone but us. We thought we looked ugly. Our childhood was the saga of the curly hair. We used cut-up orange juice cans as rollers and slept on them. We’d fry our hair by ironing it with a real iron and using wax paper to get it really shiny. Or we’d spend hours blow-drying it. Amazingly, in medical school I had no time for anything, but the little free time I did have, I’d spend drying my hair. I could get it straight, but the minute it rained or became humid, it went curly.Then one day my sister called and told me about the Curly Girl religion and how you don’t use shampoo or brush your hair. I didn’t believe it until I saw Ellen’s hair! It looked incredible. I got my hair cut and followed the Curly Girl Method. I was stunned, but my fuzzy curls became little ringlets. Today, people in the street stop me all the time to ask about my curls. Before I let them in on my secret, I say, “This conversation is going to change your life,” because that’s what happened to me. I’m involved in a charter school where I met an African American girl whose hair was plastered against her skull. I shared with her what I did with my curls, and when I saw her a month and a half later, she had the most beautiful curls and the biggest smile on her face. It was like she was free!
The opposite textures of pulled-back sleek on top and curly ponytail behind are what give this hairdo its name.
1
Cleanse hair as described for your hair type in
chapter 4
,
5
, or
6
, leaving in more conditioner than you normally do.
2
While the hair is wet, smooth the top down with your fingers, making it as sleek as you can. Then bring it to the back into either a high ponytail or a low one at the center of the nape. (Usually, I don’t recommend tight ponytails since they can cause your hairline to recede, but it’s okay to do it once in a while for a special occasion.)
3
Take a piece of hair from your ponytail, braid it, and then wrap it around the ponytail holder and secure with a bobby pin. Scrunch loose hair in the ponytail upward and apply gel. Either diffuse the hair or allow it to dry naturally. Once the ponytail hair is dry, scrunch it to dissolve the gel cast. Then, give your hair a shake: The two textures will look totally different.
WEIGHTING FOR LONGERHow many times has this happened to you? You drive to work while your hair is still wet, and your hair dries up where it has been sitting, right at your shoulders! And all day long you hear, “Oh, you cut your hair!” Or you’re about to go out for the evening, but it’s humid and your curls have contracted and coiled back like fiddleheads. If you notice this happening to any of your curls as your hair is drying, attach a clip or two at the bottom of each curl until your hair dries. For intense spring-back curls, try attaching the clipped curl strand to your shirt or jacket. (It may sound silly, but it works.) The weight of the clip will stretch out the strand and naturally reduce the spring factor without distorting the curl formation.
Variations on this look:
•
Smooth the top of the hair and pull it into a side ponytail.
•
For a 1920s look, don’t pull the ponytail all the way through the holder the third time around, so you have a bun.
•
Place a flower or a hair ornament on the other side of your head.
This is the “it-looks-complicated-but-it’s-not” updo. Simple bobby pins, in all colors and sizes, are anchored, woven, and pinned into the hair.
Wed-Locks and Up-Dos: Pin-Up Curl (0:45)
1
Take the top front section of hair and twist it back to the crown.
2
Secure the twist to your head either by placing exaggerated amounts of bobby pins for a funky look or using just as many bobby pins as needed along the seam of the twist.
3
Either leave the rest of the hair to flow, or gather it into a low ponytail. Or, the third time you wrap the ponytail holder around your hair, don’t pull it all the way through so it looks like a bun.
4
For a softer look, gently pry out a few tendrils from around the hairline.
