Vintage hairstyling tips that will make you look like a modern-day Marilyn Monroe
Our grandmothers really knew what was up when it came to styling hair. I remember when I was a little girl watching my own grandma roll her long, grey hair up into pincurls and hot rollers. I was mesmerized by how each curl stayed perfectly in place and came out shiny, smooth and bouncy every single time. And later, when I was working at a blowdry bar and learning the art of styling, I remember learning basically the same techniques I watched her use. Just in a more modern, efficient way and with better tools. I couldn’t believe how little had really changed. I guess it’s true when they say that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it!
Let’s take a look at the awesome ways we still use vintage hairstyling tips:
Vintage Tip: To achieve curls that last for multiple days, wet set your hair in pin-curls overnight. Use a setting lotion to achieve hold and shine.
Modern Idea: Now, we have curling irons that work hard for us so that we don’t have to sleep on pins. Instead, rough dry your hair and use Kevin.Murphy’s Anti Gravity to combed through it. Then, use a curling iron to curl and set each section until dry. Pull your pins out, shake your curls out and voila! A perfect pin-curl set in less than an hour!
Vintage Tip: For volume, set your hair in hot rollers. Or soda cans.
Modern Idea: Now we don’t have to resort to using steam to heat up each roller. Instead, round brush your entire head to heat up the hair after applying a heat protectant. After each section, use a plastic roller with teeth to comb through the hair before securing. Then, let the hair cool down around the cool roller and you’ll get bounce, shine and volume without damage.
Vintage Tip: Brush your hair 100 strokes each day.
Modern Idea: Brushing is still a good idea, but excessive and unnecessary brushing can be damaging. Use a boar bristle brush regularly to remove buildup at the scalp and to inhibit shine through the ends. By cleaning your scalp of debris and buildup and allowing your natural oils to easily move through the hair, you’re helping to maintain healthy locks. And by using boar bristles, you’re exfoliating the cuticle of the hair strand and adding shine.
Vintage Tip: Tease your hair for height (and wind proofing!). Remember, ladies, the higher the hair, the closer to God!
Modern Idea: Today, we don’t want hair to look as tucked, pinned and perfected as was the style in the past. We want to look polished, but not overdone and that means a more natural amount of volume and movement. Instead of backcombing and “teasing” your whole head at the roots and smoothing over, implement backbrushing. Use a smoothing brush to gently lift under the hair strand from the roots to ends. Gentle is the key. Then, brush over the top of all the hair until your style takes shape. This will give you a natural amount of volume and lift throughout the entire style, not just at the roots. And more movement for a modern feel. Less bouffant, more bombshell.
