Bibliography

1. Making Up The Renaissance - (Elizabethan And Contemporary Hair Treatments):  https://sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/renaissancecosmetics/cosmetics-recipes/hair/#again & https://sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/renaissancecosmetics/cosmetics-recipes/hair/#remove
2. SkinSight - (Hair Conditions):  http://www.skinsight.com/diseaseGroups/hair.htm
3. HairBoutique - (Hair Conditions):  http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/articles.php?f=tip2007008.htm
4. Elizabeth (1998)
5. The Virgin Queen (2005)
6. Templateeliz: http://www2.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/hairstyles.html
7. Beautiful With Brains:  http://beautifulwithbrains.com/2010/05/20/beauty-history-the-elizabethan-era/

Evaluation

    When working with my partners design I originally found her design quite challenging, as for someone who has had no experience in hair what so ever and is not confident in that area at all I did worry quite a bit at the start. However after she talked me though the design, by explaining how she wanted each step to be done, also explaining the tools she used in the different sections of the hair design, and practicing it on my Kate manikin I got a lot more confident in my executing her final design.

    When developing research for this project it would first start with our technical sessions and what we had learnt from them, then I’d research about things relating to certain techniques and use that as my starting point to research more into designers, brands, movies, and TV shows that have been inspired by the Elizabethans. Doing this really helped me when it came to drawing up my final designs, as I had that modern and historical response to make this design my own, yet still relating to the brief of contemporary Elizabethan.

    After the assessment I was pleased with how my partners final design came out in most areas of the design. The padding and shaping I used on the crown of the head, and the slight curl at the very ends of the remaining hair, I felt these areas was partially strong in comparison to the french braid at the very front of the hair which I could of gone about executing differently, which would make the overall appearance much stronger in my opinion.

    Overall this whole project has been amazing to work with and I have enjoyed every aspect of this project from the hair to make-up and photography. I also think it was such a great first project to introduce me into this course as it got me thinking about different eras of hair, and also how so many designers have been inspired by the Elizabethans which before starting this project I would never of started to make connections like that. I also enjoyed how this project got me to be creative and wasn't strict with me with my imagination on my designs and my vision for this whole project.

Hair Assessment: Being The Designer

    This is my final hair design that Annabel executed on myself a week ago for her assessment. My design was to create an overall heart shape by crimping the whole head and using padding, connect each section together to create a point at the end and make the ends rounded off to make that signature heart shape. The pearls was a last minute touch, and I'm so happy I decided to add them in as I feel like it really completed the look and really made it contemporary Elizabethan. In terms of how my partner created my design, I felt like there could of been a few changes with the overall shape of the the design but that is my only fault but other than that I feel she did a great job overall and I'm so happy to have gotten to work with her as she's a very talented designer.

Hair Assessment: Being The Stylist

    When I was first paired with my partner I was very happy as I knew I got along with her and had spoken to her in the two months leading up to our assessment, and when I saw her design I was even more grateful to be with her as her design as it was rather easy to create coming from someone who has had no experience in hair what so ever and is not confident in that area at all.

    When starting this look I sectioned each part to make sure it'll all be in proportion and the sections would be big enough to create the french braid and use the buns to create the heart shapes sitting on the crown of the head. After sectioning the hair I moved on by curling the ends of the hair and leaving them to set so when I came to take them out after I had completed everything I knew they'd hold their curl. Next was crimping the section of hair that would be put up in the buns as I didn't want to try crimp hair after putting a french braid in the front of the hair, which was the third step I did, I made my partner move her head to the side as I braided from one side to the next then pinned it into place so it was hidden. Lastly was to create the heart shapes on the crown of the head which involved me rolling the bun from the tips of the hair to the base then pinning into place while arranging the hair to the buns was hidden and wouldn't come up in the photographs. 

     Overall after the assessment I was pleased with it in some areas, however I felt I could of gone about creating certain areas of the look a lot different which would make the overall appearance much stronger but like I said it, I'm not strong in hair at all so I guess I have to be proud of myself for being able to go from no skills to obtaining the basics and I look forward to learning more skills and building up a good hair portfolio.

Hair Trial

    In preparation for our hair assessment me and my partner practiced our hair designs on each other during the week to make sure we could achieve the look in the time frame we're given and see how we could achieve it. I started off by sectioning the hair into four parts, a section for the plaits that would be placed at the front, the next section would be crimped and made into a heart shape using rat buns to create height. The next section is the same as the first section where I create a plait, and lastly the biggest section of the hair will be left straight and curled at the bottom to add a lift to the hair.
    When recreating this look I came across a few struggles like not section the hair for the plaits big enough which made the plaits very small and tight which isn't the effect my partner wanted to achieve with her look, and a small tip I was given was when starting off this look to plait the hair that needed to be plaited first then move onto creating the heart shaped hair, doing this insures that you won't bump into the hair thats up making it lose its shape and can cause it to fall out. I also learnt (or reminded) that I could and should use curling tongs to create the tight curl at the end of the hair instead of trying to use a tool that isn't meant for curling. After this practice I feel so much more prepared for my assessment and will be practicing her design over the weekend and make sure I get it done perfectly!

Elizabethan & Contemporary Hair Treatments

Elizabethan method -

How to make the hair blonde like gold:

Take roots of ivy and shave them well and mince them into tiny bits and make them into water in the alembic, with this water wash the head with a sponge and in 8 days your hair will become like gold.

Contemporary method -

Hair bleach:

Sodium carbonate peroxide, sodium peroxide, or sodium perborate are made by reacting molecules with hydrogen peroxide. When the result is added to water, the hydrogen peroxide is released. Borax also works by releasing hydrogen peroxide into the water.

Elizabethan method -

How to remove hair so that it'll never come back:

Take 2 ounces of quicklime, 1 ounce of arsenic, and as much rock alum as you could fi tin a chestnut, and grind it all together in a powder, then knead with gold. Paste it where you want the hair to fall out and leave it for the time it takes to say two 'Our Fathers' then wash it off.

Contemporary method -

Lemon and sugar scrub:

Mix 2 tablespoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice with 1/2 a cup of water. Apply i ton your skin and the hair in the same direction the hair is growing. Leave it on for 15 minutes, then wash off.

Contemporary Hairstyle!

    For my contemporary hairstyle I decided to go down the big hair route. I've also been inspired by catwalk shows of models wearing heart shaped hair and decided to recreate something similar on my model. I started off by sectioning and crimping her whole head of hair and I then sectioned the hair into quarters and took rat buns and rolled each section of hair to meet at the base of the head then pinning into place. I then look my thin tailed comb and made some finishing touches like moving the hair to make sure the hair was touching and flowed in a perfect heart shape and I was finished!
    I was really happy with my outcome looking back at it now, whereas at the time I was getting stressed over the slightest thing and felt my look was the worst thing in the world when in reality for my first go I thought it was a pretty good go. However in the future I will work better on my pinning as it always looks so messy and untidy, and also work on finishing touches like making sure the hair is all level and no fly aways are showing.