1940s hair is hard, especially when you're trying to do it with longer hair than was typical in the 1940s. And typical hair was really short. I've been doing 1940s hair for a long time, from longer (just above the waist) progressively to short (brushing the shoulders) and now going back to long (currently bra strap length). The advice to keep brushing is true, but it's not the whole story. It works easiest for those with shorter hair. Poof and craziness IS what happens. The brushing has to continue past that, when the hair will calm down again. But here's what's going on.
Curled hair is now formed into a spiral, which means ringlets. Halfhearted brushing means the hairs will just twist around each other again into looser ringlets. More brushing will open up the ringlets, but each hair still has a lot of spiral. Result: POOF AND FRIZZ. But with enough brushing, *each individual hair* is straightened out from its neighbor and *flattened* into a wave. That's how you get the beautiful smooth, even waves of 1940s hair.
That's the basic principle, and it holds pretty true for all lengths of hair. But I found that the *size* of the curl and the *length* of the hair had a direct relationship. If I set small curls in shorter hair, it was fine to brush out. But in longer hair, those spirals twist on each other and turn to knots and magnificent snarls when brushed. The spirals are just too long and too tight to effectively brush out. I was breaking hairs all over because of the knots.
If I gave up at that point, I had a fro. Like really. If I kept going, the force and length of time I had to spend really did pull out the curl. So I switched to doing larger curls for longer hair. If you look at longer hair ladies like Rita Hayworth, their waves are bigger and looser. It's just how hair works. (For what it's worth, true long hair ladies like Dorothy Lamour tended toward updos, especially with braids. I've seen a period beauty book that had some impressively complex braid arrangements for hair your length or longer.)
So here's my tips:
1. Use larger curlers (or pin curls). With my current length I'm rolling over a form that's about 1 1/8" in diameter, which is pretty big for 1940s hair. (This is for modern daily wear, not 1940s.) My reproduction pin curl tool has a diameter of 1/2", however. For your length, I would try 1" and see what happens.
2. Finger separate the ringlets into waves as much as possible before even picking up the brush. This goes a REALLY long way to preventing knots and snarls. (I tried a tight 1950s set in December and it wasn't too terrible to brush because of this; even then, I pinned up most of the length to a faux bob.)
4. I brush out half my hair at a time, starting at the bottom and working up. Even when it was short, it was way easier and less tangly to do it in sections.
I hope that helps a bit! I LOVE vintage hairstyling and I've worked on it a lot. All of this I have learned by trial and error. Just recently I found a Facebook group that has a huge number of people doing awesome hair. https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageUpdosForModernGirls/ This lady in particular has hair about your length and does a ton with it. I need to sit down and watch some more of the videos, because they look amazing and so hard to do with that much length. https://www.instagram.com/nena_moreno/
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sforzinda
no subject
Date: 2018-06-05 07:41 pm (UTC)Curled hair is now formed into a spiral, which means ringlets. Halfhearted brushing means the hairs will just twist around each other again into looser ringlets. More brushing will open up the ringlets, but each hair still has a lot of spiral. Result: POOF AND FRIZZ. But with enough brushing, *each individual hair* is straightened out from its neighbor and *flattened* into a wave. That's how you get the beautiful smooth, even waves of 1940s hair.
That's the basic principle, and it holds pretty true for all lengths of hair. But I found that the *size* of the curl and the *length* of the hair had a direct relationship. If I set small curls in shorter hair, it was fine to brush out. But in longer hair, those spirals twist on each other and turn to knots and magnificent snarls when brushed. The spirals are just too long and too tight to effectively brush out. I was breaking hairs all over because of the knots.
If I gave up at that point, I had a fro. Like really. If I kept going, the force and length of time I had to spend really did pull out the curl. So I switched to doing larger curls for longer hair. If you look at longer hair ladies like Rita Hayworth, their waves are bigger and looser. It's just how hair works. (For what it's worth, true long hair ladies like Dorothy Lamour tended toward updos, especially with braids. I've seen a period beauty book that had some impressively complex braid arrangements for hair your length or longer.)
So here's my tips:
1. Use larger curlers (or pin curls). With my current length I'm rolling over a form that's about 1 1/8" in diameter, which is pretty big for 1940s hair. (This is for modern daily wear, not 1940s.) My reproduction pin curl tool has a diameter of 1/2", however. For your length, I would try 1" and see what happens.
2. Finger separate the ringlets into waves as much as possible before even picking up the brush. This goes a REALLY long way to preventing knots and snarls. (I tried a tight 1950s set in December and it wasn't too terrible to brush because of this; even then, I pinned up most of the length to a faux bob.)
3. Use a Denman brush. I saw this used in the model pictures from a vintage hairstyling book. Later I discovered that it's widely recommended among the vintage hair community. It is MAGIC! The "bristles" are super strong and will penetrate even the thickest hair, but are closer together and don't snag, unlike a wire brush.
https://www.sallybeauty.com/hair/brushes-and-combs/classic-styling-brush/DENMAN01.html?list=Home%7CBrands%7CDenman#start=1
4. I brush out half my hair at a time, starting at the bottom and working up. Even when it was short, it was way easier and less tangly to do it in sections.
I hope that helps a bit! I LOVE vintage hairstyling and I've worked on it a lot. All of this I have learned by trial and error. Just recently I found a Facebook group that has a huge number of people doing awesome hair.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageUpdosForModernGirls/
This lady in particular has hair about your length and does a ton with it. I need to sit down and watch some more of the videos, because they look amazing and so hard to do with that much length.
https://www.instagram.com/nena_moreno/