My Journey with the Elizabethans - Experimenting with my Designs

I tried this design out on my friends hair to see how it might work out.  It was quite simple and easy to do and didn’t take a lot of time either.  However the finished look wasn’t quite how I had imagined it to look.  The braids on the top of the head were the main problem for me, as they didn't appear as fully as I had imagine them too.  When creating them, I found that there wasn’t enough hair to make multiple, full plaits, and unfortunately they ended up looking more like corn row braids.  To make the plaits appear fuller, I could try back-combing the section under the plaits, and creating five normal plaits, instead of french plaits.  This would give the illusion of fuller plaits.  Also, french plaits tend to pull the hair tighter and make it appear flatter against the scalp.

I felt that this design was a bit too simple as well, and that there wasn't anything in particular that stood out to me to make me think that I should use this for my final idea.  I feel that I can be more creative with my hair, so I think that it's time to re-think this design or scrap it altogether.

I tried this second look out on my friend again, and it was also quite simple to achieve, however I did face some difficulties trying to get it right, as the only curling tongs that I had available were not the right size.  Because of this, the barrel curls on top of the head ended up too big compared to the rest of the hair.  Instead of looking like the barrel curls that I imagined, they turned out to look a bit like a set of invisible hair rollers that had been left on the head.  Apart from the faults in the curls, the rest of the hairstyle worked quite well.  I managed to create the bun well, with it being evenly positioned all the way round.  I also quite liked the added ribbon, as this just added an extra detail to the design.

To improve this design I would need to work on the barrel and spiral curls.  If I was stuck with the wrong equipment again, I could try creating the curl with the bigger tongs, but then wrapping the curls tightly around a smaller object, such as a pencil, before pinning into place on the head.  However, I still do not feel that this design tests my abilities, so I think that this design needs some improving.

When trialling out this design, I began by crimping my hair.  I then pulled my hair back into a high ponytail on top of my head and tucked the ends of the ponytail back under the hairband.  I split the bun in two and pinned the bottoms of the bow sections to my head.  Then I brought the loose end of the ponytail over the middle of the separation to the front and pinned it into place.  Having crimped my hair, I found that my hair was a lot easier to manipulate and create into a bow shape.  The crimped effect also helped the hair to hold it's structure, so not many products were needed to keep it held into place.
I really like this design and have been more passionate about it than the others from the beginning.  I think that this is because the bow is such a contemporary twist, but as it is an up-do it is still in keeping with the Elizabethan theme of hairstyles.  To further develop this look, I think that I will experiment with other varieties of textures that might work well with this look.