Monday, December 27, 2010

References: Vintage Hairstyling

I've had this book in my possession for all of 10 minutes and I'm already in love. I found it while browsing Amazon for makeup books. It's a smidge on the high side ($35) but so far it's worth it. It assumes you know nothing of hairstyling, which is good. Since the styles are highly detailed (but not difficult!), the writer wants everyone to have the same knowledge base.

Glancing Review: It covers styles from the 30's to the 50's. Many iconic styles are covered, like Victory Rolls, The Beehive, and various versions of Betty Page's famous bangs. The general how-to's are very in-depth. You MUST pay attention to these because the actual directions for the styles are usually only a page or two. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you're doing a style for the first time you'll be doing a lot of page flipping. It's hard bound, so keeping the page open to what you're working on will require some doing. I'd recommend making a copy of the needed sheets to use while styling so you won't be holding a page down with the same hand you just covered in gel.

Pros:
~Megatons of full color, multi-angle pictures.
~Highly detailed how-to's.
~Tools and Techniques guide.
~Basic makeup and nail info at the end.

Cons:
~Goes from beginner to advanced faster than some people could handle. Lots of required reading to keep up.
~(personal con) Not spiral bound. Handling the book is a little clunky.

tl;dr
Worth the price if you're looking for a good tutorial book. If you're new to the scene like I am, lots of practice is needed, but it'll help you every step of the way.

Vintage Hair Styling

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Le Sigh

If you knew how many half-done posts I've got queued up you'd kick me. Wig Head #2 is almost done (ran out of supplies), and I have about five suggestions posts floating around. Motivation, she escapes me! Thankfully I finally broke down and bought a new set of storage drawers, so I can put all that stuff on my sewing desk in a real spot instead of where ever I can throw it.

I also haven't done ANY Christmas crafting. I have at minimum 4 stockings, two first aid kits, two purses, and a makeup bag to make for various friends and loved ones. *pounds head on desk* I don't even have a valid excuse because I bought everything I needed WEEKS ago.

I am shamed. :(