Nocturne Vintage Hair Styles ::: Pin Curls

PINCURLS
Pincurls are the basis for almost every 40's style - even if you put the front of your hair in rolls, you still want to make sure the back of your head is as pretty as the front. They're not hard to do, and once you have the hang of it, you can sit on the sofa and turn your locks up into pincurls without even looking in a mirror. They're more of a finishing touch than an entire do - used for the back when the front's in rolls, or to clean up the ends if you've tried fingerwaves. You could conceivably do your whole head in pincurls - a lot of perms from the day were made exclusively with pincurls.

Check out some of these vintage beauty books!

FINALLY! I finally managed to pick up a copy of a book that has pictures of how to make pincurls, among other things. Keep an eye on the main hair page... as I scan in more pictures and instructions, I'll post new links!

Take a small section of barely damp hair (not wet, especially if your hair is long - it can take FOREVER to dry).

Grasp near root and smooth the strand. If you haven't already, use a little bit of gel. Too much gel will turn your curls into unpenetrable lumps, and you'll have difficulty combing them out.

Turn hair strand around end of forefinger in the direction you want the curl to go, like winding a ball of yarn.

When you get to the end of your hair, put the tip of the finger with the hair around it against the scalp, and gently slide the curl off your finger. Hold the end plus the entire curl in place with thumb and forefinger. Flatten loops/curl slightly, with the ends on the inside of the curl.

Use pin curl pins rather than bobby pins to hold curl in place flat against your head. (Bobby pins dent the curl.) Let it dry thoroughly (I left mine in for a full 24 hours - it's not fun to sleep on, but it lasted for days - and I have hair that just doesn't hold a curl!).

If you do this on bangs, you'll get tidy little curls that can be finger fluffed to look like Betty Grable's. Use smaller sections of hair, so the curls are tighter. Pincurl the rest or use curlers, then use a scarf like a headband behind the bangs, pinning it in place.

If you do just ends of your hair around the back you'll get curls like Ginger Rogers in Swing Time. In this case, make vertical parts down the whole of the back of your head, like you're partitioning for corn-rows. When you are performing step 2, grasp the hair by the root at the nape of your neck - the only part of the hair that grows from the top of your head to be curled will be the ends. This will make your hair smooth down to the nape, then the curls kick in. If you do this all the way around, bring the curls up higher as you move closer to your face (just follow your hair line), then use some pretty hair clips to pull some of the bulk back from your face, and to make it safe for dancing!

Myrna Loy You can leave the curls tight by just combing gently to break up the gel, or brush them out, depending on what style you're looking for. They can get pretty fluffy if you brush a lot, but can be coaxed back into place with a little patience and a comb.

If you have shorter hair, you can even use finger curls in rows around your entire head, alternating directions, to set your hair up to be styled in fingerwaves.

More Information:

1 - Pin-Curl How-To
2 - Right & Wrong Way to Make Pincurls
3 - New Setting for Pincurls, Part 1
4 - New Setting for Pincurls, Part 2

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