Stylist Omar Mendez with Studio Nine helps us find the “big balance” and shares ways to get lift and volume, without the beehive.
______________________________________________________________________
Big hair has been a cultural trend and fashion for centuries. Big hair can be achieved by use of wigs, styling tools, and/or hair products. Big hair became a popular part of western culture in the 50’s and 60’s with the introduction of “the beehive.” In the late 60’s to the 70’s, it was the afro. The 80’s brought us the likes of the mullet, mohawk, and glam metal hair (used by the heavy metal rock groups).
Large hairstyles are achieved by using hairspray, gels, or mousses. The 90’s “big hair” look became more subdued. We wanted a smoother, more controlled look. Today, the big hair look requires little hair teasing or back combing, which I refer to as compressing. The East Coast uses more of a straight, wavy look with some mild compressing to the hair. The West Coast would be more curls and with also some straight looks again using small amounts of compressing throughout the hair. In Utah, we can see a combination of these styles but also some extreme “big hair.” If you compress the side and back of the hair, but forget to do the top, it creates a disproportioned look, one that I like to call the “Frankenstein head.”
If you want to create “big hair” you may do this by using Velcro rollers, hot rollers, and curling irons. When you use a Velcro roller, use a styling product such as gel or mousse, along with it. Apply or spray the product to the section you are about to roll, place the roller towards the ends of the hair making sure that your ends are nice and smooth around the roller. Next roll the hair down to the scalp and secure with a bobby pin .Do this entire technique throughout the head. Remove rollers once the hair is dry and then, where you want to achieve more volume, take a section straight up, grab the hair at the ends and using a special comb designed to make hair compressing easier, begin to use short rapid strokes at the base of the scalp working your way up the hair strand. When finished with that section, repeat the same process on the next section until you have provided yourself enough volume in the areas you desire. Remember, the mirror can be your best friend, in that it can show you flat spots or areas that need to balance. Balance is the key to “big hair.” If you add little or a lot of volume to one area, make sure that you are doing it proportionately through out the head.
There are some exceptions to that rule: One would be if you were wearing the fringe area smooth and flat. When using a hot tool curl the hair with the correct size of iron or roller that works best for your length of hair. Once you have compressed the hair, lay it down and smooth over the top as to hide the compression. Do this to each area and voila you are done! Finish the style with hairspray to hold your style in place. When using hot tools, bring the iron or hot roller to the ends of the hair making sure the ends are rolled smoothly around and roll towards the scalp. Let the hair cool and again section out areas that you desire to compress. Follow the same principles as you would for Velcro rollers.
____________________________________________________________________
Omar Mendez is a professional stylist with Studio Nine Salon.
To schedule an appointment or consultation, contact him at:
Studio Nine
926 East 900 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
(801) 532-2929
Add comment