Vintage Hair

As a result of my new obsession with Downton abbey,

I am doing my hair.

Downton Abbey has vastly become my new favorite show. I am especially in love with all of the gorgeous hairstyles that make their debut on the English television program. Through some quick research, I have been discovering that hairstyles from the early 1900's mainly consisted of heaps of gorgeous, long hair being piled into well placed, voluminous tousles, twists, and bouffants. However, my interest does not lie with the lusciously sculpted updos of the period, but rather with what lies beneath... Or, within rather.

Typically, with these such early hairstyles, many women would wear their hair in partial updos with curls and braids, or an alternative complete updo. But my fascination is with the hair when it was worn down in this era. You cannot find many pictures of women with their long locks worn down anywhere, however that just makes them all the more tantalizing for me. I want to see what Lady Mary Crawley's hair would look like down and brushed out in all of its splendor.

This image is one of the very few pictures that I could find with a photo of a woman with her hair down from the period. She looks so much like an angel on a Christmas card. I love the soft look of the thick curls, as well as the tight curls around her face. Presently, you always see actresses/models with their immaculate locks that are so shiny and perfected. No real woman has hair like that. I feel like this style can allow a woman to embrace the natural softness/porousness of her hair's texture without have to go to a stylist. I am going to try and recreate this style to my own liking and to suit my own hair's natural personality.

Here is an image that I found that is from sometime during the 1800's. You can see that her hair is very voluminous and wavy, but you can also see that there is probably a high amount of frizz. And why does everyone hate frizz so much. From now I am going to take care of my hair to the best extent and embrace each frizzy strand.

My face looks so crooked sometimes. But here I am, no makeup and with no product/tools applied to my hair. Let the work begin.

I first began by curling sectioned pieces of my hair. I pinned the curls that were closest to my face to help them have a little more hold. Next, I curled the back strands leaving them down. I used a one inch curling barrel.

After I did my curls I finished my makeup to allow time for the curls to set. I applied a light foundation all around my t-zone, then next came the translucent powder. I then colored in my eyebrows with a dark, matte brown shadow. I polished off the look by applying mascara to my eyelashes and my eyebrows.

After I was done with my makeup, I unpinned the curls and gave them a nice tousle. I really like how they looked before I brushed them out and will remember that next time I try a look like this.

Lastly, I ran some hair slick all through my hair and brushed it out using a boar bristle hairbrush.

I feel like in no way does this reflect any sort of early 1900's hair styles, even if it is to be worn down. It turned out looking very Martha Washington.