Le Poisson de Paris Prom (or Bride!)

Posted on May 8, 2013

Marlena’s hair is waist-length, thick, silky and blonde. Dream hair, basically. She wanted a ‘do for prom that went with a beautiful grecian inspired white dress and chandelier earrings. She wanted something a bit different, so she got an epic french fishtail with some accent pin curls that was so beautiful on her that we both almost cried.

Here is how I did this one.

1. I started by curling all of her hair with a large barrel iron. I sprayed the curls and let them cool for a couple minutes to set. Then, I worked through her crown back-combing tight-n-right to make a nice full base. She wanted plenty of volume. I smoothed the surface of the hair over the back combing.

2. I started a french fishtail braid in the back, slightly off to one side.

3. I added hair in small sections from the sides into the braid until I reached the nape of her neck.

4. I continued to fish-tail the free end of the braid over one shoulder and secured the end with a clear elastic.

5. Then I pulled the braid apart to loosen up. Here is a tip…..Start pulling apart from the end of the braid and work your way up. Start pulling big pieces to bulk it up, then pull smaller pieces out to rough up the edges.

To finish off this look, I isolated curls from around her face and pinned them onto the side as decoration. Then I sprayed the HELL out of it and gently (here is another trick;) Ran the curling iron over the top of the curls to heat up the spray and glue them to the head. Then, I let em cool, removed the pins, and set her free.

Also, you can wrap a small section of hair from the end of the braid around the elastic and tuck it in to finish off the braid.

XOXO! HTHG

DIY Friday…..Gatsby girl. A Zelda Fitzgerald hairstyle.

Posted on November 30, 2012

(Photo styled by Mel Arens, Mayapple boutique)

Zelda Fitzgerald was the dynamic and willful wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, iconic author of The Great Gatsby. The lead female character in that book, Daisy Buchanan was loosely based on Zelda. She was gorgeous and fashionable and hob-nobbed with the boot-legging elite of New York in the 1920′s.

If you haven’t read it, please do. Read it before you go see the blockbuster movie that comes out next spring. I predict that 1920′s hairstyles are going to be HUGE next year, so lets get started early.

Here is my interpretation of what Zelda’s hair must have looked like when attending a swank New York party.

This 1920′s inspired DIY Gatsby girl hairstyle is much easier than it looks. I threw it together on a whim of experimentation on Whitney, my daughter’s fabulous kindergarten art teacher. I think she looks absolutely perfect as Zelda Fitzgerald. Her hair is fine and medium-long. It is heavily highlighted, which helps it hold a style. I used no styling products. If you have very slick hair, you will definitely need a good texture spray to disperse throughout your hair to hold this style.

Because it is a very drape-y and loose hairstyle, It is hard to do on thick straight, coarse hair. If that’s what you have, first set your hair with texture spray on damp hair, and one of HTHG’s no heat curl techniques. This will help it hold. Definately get some long bobby pins, too.

Here is how I did it…..

1. Start by sectioning the hair down the side of the back. One side should be about 2/3rds of the head, and the other should be about 1/3rd of the head.

2.On the heavy side, begin a twist that starts at the temple and wraps around the back of the head.

3. Continue the twist all the way to the end of the section.

4.Wrap the end into a loose bun and pin through the bun with large bobby pins.

5. Reinforce the twist with a couple small bobby pins.Don’t worry about making a really neat bun. It looks better loose.

6. Now make another section that comes down from the top of the head to just in front of the ear.

7. twist that section down to the ends of the hair.

8. Now wrap it into a loose bun and pin it into place slightly above the first bun. Take a swig of a PBR and get ready for the next step.

9. Make another section that leaves just a small amount of hair around the face. Twist it back and pin it into a small loose bun. This time use little bobby pins so you can hide them better.

10. Take the last little bit of hair and twist it into a tiny little pincurl.

11. Snuggle it in with the curl before it and try and hide the pin.

12. Now give it a spray of firm hold hair spray if you want. It will help it hold.

Bootleg bride, anyone? Flapper? red carpet starlet? stuck at home on a rainy day? DO IT!

XOXO

3 dreamy DIY hairstyles for Offbeat Brides

Posted on November 27, 2012

DIY Bridal Hair Series…..

To celebrate HTHG’s first ever ad on www.offbeatbride.com, I created 3 fantastically whimsical and dreamy hairstyles to share with my DIY brides who are looking for a beautiful hairstyle that is perfectly different.

I didn’t plan any of these hairstyles. I went over to Darcy’s house with my HTHG bag of tools and tricks, with a mission to play around with her fabulous vintage clothes and jewelry and do pretty things with her hair. We set up her vanity and pulled out some fun things like vintage hair combs, white feathers, and sparkly bits and pieces.

Between the 2 of us (She is a DIY hairstyle queen. Check out this post!) these hairstyles just happened. I talked her through em, she did the work, and all of the sudden we had 3 DIY bride hairstyles that made us feel like we wanted to go out and get married just to have fun hair.

Presenting, 3 brand spankin’ new DIY bride hair videos……….

Valley of Roses- Pinned curls with a hint of pink

The Nautilus Braid-The coolest fishtail braid bun ever.

Cupcake Bun-An Audrey Hepburn inspired whimsy-bun that makes me hungry for frosting.

Which one of these whim-tastical DIY hairstyles will you wear down the aisle? Once you choose your ‘do, be sure to check out these inspired DIY accessory and floral hair ideas.

XOXO!

The Cupcake Bun

Posted on November 25, 2012

This DIY vintage inspired hairstyle is a little bit Audrey Hepburn and a little bit cotton candy cupcake. It is both glamsicle and whimserous. It makes me feel like a little kid who wants to live in unicorn land and be the most beautiful pony in the clouds.

This hairstyle is great for brides, perfect for birthdays, and totally winning for New Years Eve. Will you try out this fabulous hairstyle this holiday season?

In this video, to get the cotton pink color on Darcy’s ends, I used Color.bug by KM. It’s fun to play with non-committal color.

XOXO.

Here is the video…

The Nautilus braid.

Posted on November 23, 2012

Ever seen a chambered nautilus? They are really cool. This DIY nautilus inspired hairstyle is like the fishtail version of the infinity braid. It looks even more intricate and impossible to do, but trust me it ISN’T.

Do you know how to do a fishtail braid?

Practice up, ladies. This hairstyle is just 3 fishtail braids, wound around each other and pinned into place. And it looks so dope!!!

Love this one. I see it on a bride, a red carpet queen, or just an adventurous hair statement for a regular day. It works on medium to long hair. Try it this weekend??

Accessorize it???? Yep.

Here is the video…

XO!