Hair in 2015 - Styles and video tutorials

And the final part about my 2015 hair journey and activities!

-YouTube channel: In 2015 I started to upload - at long last - hairstyle tutorial and haircare videos. I plan on continuing to upload more tutorials, including my cosplay styles, in 2016.

-Styles: I've been wearing lots of parandas in my three-strand and rope braids; lots of braided ponytails, flipped buns, donut buns and cinnabuns; half-up half-down rope-braided updos; and, less often, French braids. In 2016 I'd like to wear my hair loose a bit more often (in half-ups, perhaps), and keep practising side braids and braided styles in general.   As for new styles I have learned,  I'd highlight Leia's Ceremony updo and Elisabethan hair-taping. In 2016, I'd also like to post about film styles more often.

• 2015 most worn styles and new learned styles pic overload:

-Updos: Cinnamon, flipped, donut, braided with paranda:

-Braids: Three-strand with paranda and flexi-8, braided ponytail, French:

-Length-shortening updos: With cinnabuns, usually rope-braided:

                                

 -New styles: Elisabethan hair-taping, Leia's Ceremony updo:

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Hair in 2015 - Texture experiments and hair in cosplay

The second part of the 2015 hair recap and 2016 hair goals! 

-Hair texture experiments: I've continued to experiment with heatless bendy rollers curls and braidwaves, especially for cosplay purposes. I've also started using Lush's sea spray as a hair fixator on the ends before adding the bendy rollers. It works pretty well for me and doesn't over-dry my hair (I also only use this method sporadically), although I always deep-oil the ends after. In 2016 I'd like to continue experimenting with more heatless waves/curls methods.

-Hair in cosplay: Apart from River Song (Doctor Who) and Elsa (Frozen), I've been using my hair for all my cosplays, in styles ranging from updos with heatless curls (Fem!Sherlock, Sherlock BBC) or with fake hair for more volume in the front (Fem!Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who), to multi-braided styles (Lúthien Tinúviel, Rivendell Elf, Tolkien universe), to high braided ponytails (Elven ranger, Tolkien universe), to half-ups with loose hair (Noldorin Elf, Tolkien universe). In 2016 I plan on cosplaying Elsa and Merida, which require wigs, and also Missy from Doctor Who, and for her I'll be using my hair and learning Edwardian updos.

• 2015 heatless texture experiments and hair in cosplay pic overload:

-Bendy rollers curls and braidwaves:

-High braided ponytail for my Elven ranger cosplay:

-Half-up with heatless texture for my Noldorin Elf cosplay:

-Elisabethan hair-taping inspired updo for my Rivendell Elf cosplay:

 -Lúthien multi-braid:

-Fem!Tenth Doctor flipped bun with volume:

-Fem!Sherlock half-up half-down cinnabun with heatless curls:

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

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Hair in 2015 - Length and colour

The first of my three-parter 2015-recap hair series and 2016 hair goals!

-Length: This year I finally reached my goal of knee-length hair. I plan on staying here for a good while, maintaining at knee to thicken up the hemline, which is a bit worse than it was a couple of years ago (growing to the next milestone without maintaining might account for the loss of thickness). My main goal for 2016, regarding hair, is to thicken up my hemline.

-As for colour, the Vampire Red Manic Panic from two years ago has finally nearly faded out completely (some cool reddish tints remain in my lower length), and my hair is nearly back to its original dark auburn which changes drastically in the lighting when I take pics xD. I plan on using a batch of Jamila henna which I have had for nearly a year on the first fortnight of January, because, while I already have quite a lot of red highlights already, I do miss that henna red shine in the Sun :)

• 2015 Length shots (and 90+% natural colour) pic overload:

-January 2015, getting close to knee length:

-April-May 2015, almost knee length and with the remaining Vampire Red showing:

-May 2015, the first time I reached knee-length! (I trimmed back a couple of months later and I'm back to knee length now):

-September 2015, length shots in the Sherlock Holmes pub in London:

                              
 -October 2015 hair-detangling video still:

-December 2015 length shots and colour in the Sun:

 -May vs December 2015, both knee-length:

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Film hairstyles - Leia's Ceremony braided updo

Here's my version of Leia's Ceremony braided updo with parandas, which I wore to see the new Star Wars film :)

-Film: Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977)

-Character: Leia Organa

-Brief description: A braided bun (with a ponytail as base and hair donut to add volume) with a braid hanging loose from the center of the bun.

• Reference pics:

• Starting texture:  Straight (my natural hair texture)
• I used:

-A metal-free elastic for the starting ponytail.

-Three parandas.

-Small metal-free elastics in my hair colour/the colour of the paranda (or transparent ones) for the braids.

-A large donut.

-Lots of open bun pins.

-I didn't need any hair fixators (such as hairspray) for this style.

• Method and video tutorials:

I followed Torrinpaige's wonderful tutorial:

Adding three parandas, one for each braid, in this fashion:

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December length shots and hair in motion

Some length shots and hair in motion fun from last week :)!  I'm maintaining at knee-length, my hemline still needs some work in order to thicken it up again (new year resolutions xD), and I love how the colour turned out with that lighting :) (mostly my natural hair-colour, with some remaining faded Vampire Red Manic Panic in the length). 

Left is from May 2015, right is from las week (December 2015). Even though I am maintaining at roughly 140 cm (knee), my hair seems to be a bit longer now compared to the May pic, so maybe that explains why my hemline is looking a bit more fairytail'ed. Also, same colour but different lighting (auburn hair being the chamaeleon that it is xD):

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Cosplay hairstyles - Fem!Tenth Doctor updo

Another cosplay hairstyle post, this time about the updo I go for when cosplaying a genderbent version of the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who.

 Seeing as I can exactly have sticky-uppy hair in Tennant's way with knee-length hair (most unfortunately xD)...

..I usually go for a gelled flipped bun with volume at the front and ends out of the bun - A mix of sleek and 'casual-messy' that I feel would suit a fem!Ten very well (if she had long hair, that is):

 

And it actually looks a bit like a long hair version of Ten's 1950s pompadour in The Idiot's Lantern:

Depending on the day, I get a more dramatic pompadour (never up to Missy's standards because that would be too much for Ten, of course) or a more subtle one. 

• I used:

-A 2-prong wood hair fork
-Bobby pins 

-Spin pins and/or open bobby pins to secure the updo

-Hair rats (synthetic clumps of hair to create volume. You can also use rats made of your own hair)

-Hair gel

-Hairspray
-Backcombing comb
-Tangle teezer (to undo the backcombing without harming the hair) and a baby brush (to brush away the hairspray)

                                    

Regarding hair fixators, in my day-to-day styles I avoid hairspray and other strong fixators. I  use light fixators, such as aloe vera gel, daily because of static and flyaways, and sometimes a bit of hair gel, in some specific cases (French braids or side braids, usually and not always). At the moment I only use hairspray for some cosplays, where I need to secure a style for a shoot or a whole day in a convention. The build-up is easily removed next time I wash my hair, and given that I have greasy roots, applying hairspray sporadically to my hair (minus the lower length, hairspray in the ends is a huge nope) actually doesn't dry my hair out, so yay. Not a fan of applying tons of hairspray, though (and I hate that smell, why, gods, why), and I think it's completely unnecessary and harmful for the hair to use hairspray and other alcohol-based products in a daily basis. So for  me, it's just for sporadical cosplay events.

As for backcombing, it's also a sporadical thing for me and limited to cosplay events. I don't think that sporadical backcombing in the root area harms my hair (emphasis on sporadical, every few months, for example), especially when I use the Tangle Teezer in order to undo the tangles safely without breaking the hair. I usually avoid backcombing, but there are cases, such as front pompadours (especially dramatic ones, such as the one Missy from Doctor Who has), where I find it necessary, especially considering my fine-textured straight hair. A backcombed base also helps the hair stay in place with the added boost of the hair rats (hair rats on their own can work for some hair types, but I definitely need some backcombing to keep the hair up).  I go for pretty light backcombing for the Tenth Doctor's pompadour, though, nothing overly dramatic.
But I strongly advise not to backcomb the length and ends of the hair - that hair is more delicate and can easily break. Backcombing often is also harmful because it can easily destroy hair thanks to continuous mechanical damage.  

• Steps (will be uploading a video tutorial in the near future):

1. Creating volume at the front:
-Separate a front section of hair and backcomb it lightly (optional) with a backcombing comb. Add a hair rat/hairpiece under it, securing it to the scalp with a bobby pin if necessary (I don't have to do this with a backcombed base). I used a larger piece in the centre and two smaller pieces on each side, all covered by the hair I had sectioned.
-Create more volume and further secure the floss by puffing the hair up and keeping it in place with bobby pins.
-I fixed the 'pompadour' with hairspray and a bit of hair gel, especially because I was going to spend the whole day at a convention and needed the volume to stay in place.

2. The flipped bun:
-Comb your hair up into a high ponytail, smoothing the sides and nape section and avoiding the frnt section you have just added volume to.
-Without tying the ponytail with an elastic, begin twisting the hair into a flipped bun, leaving the ends out of the bun before flipping the bun up. Secure it with a fork or the hairtoy of your choice, plus add spin pins and/or open pins to further secure it where needed.
-Because Ten's hair is always gelled, I added some hair gel to smooth the sides and get the ends a bit sticky-uppy :)
-Add some more hairspray to the whole look if needed (I did that because of the convention), and it's done!

Pic gallery:

 

 

A more dramatic pompadour:

And a very subtle version, with hardly any front volume:

And finally, here's another version with a less dramatic pompadour in a non-cosplay context (open in new tab for larger pic):

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