Materials needed:
Shown in this picture are a comb and two *small* banana-type clips, which you can see, and two bent hairpins, which are harder to see. The hairpins are the open type made of thin wire, not bobby pins. The clips need to have a good grip. These particular ones are sold in grocery and drugstores under the name "Cosmopolitan," and grip like a bulldog. Probably brown would be easier to hide; I chose red so they'd show up well in the pic.
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| 1.) Actually, the first step is to get the curl into your hair! I'm not going to go into instructions on that since everyone's hair is different, and what you have to do get your hair to curl and stay curly may be a lot different that what I have to do (in fact, I hope so, since mine is the stubbornest hair on the planet.) These pics will be only an approximation of the look, since Rachel was in a hurry that morning at DragonCon and didn't have time to curl her hair! But the pinning technique is the same.
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| 2. and 3.) Notice that in the films, it is impossible to see any pins in Natalie's hair or tell at all how it was clipped up. It seems to stay up by magic! In order to hide the banana-type clips, a thin football-shaped wedge is separated out horizontally from the crown of the head and wrapped loosely. It will be unwrapped and used later.
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| 4.) Use the comb to make a good straight part down the center of the head, and then part off a section of the front to the top of the ear on one side of the head.
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| 5.) (For illustration purposes only) This is approximately how much hair to take on each side. Obviously, you'd do one side at a time, but this photo is also illustrative of the direction you want to be holding the front sections, out from the head, when starting to pin, to get the desired shape.
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| 6.) After starting with the front section of hair held and combed out to the side, loosen the tension on it and put a few twists in it, rolling up and away from the face, as you slowly bring it back alongside the head and into position. Usually two twists are sufficient. Practice it a few times; it'll work.
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| 7.) Hold the twist by the tail and experiment with where to place the tail on the head. Depending on where you clip the tail down, you can put more or less tension on the front section, resulting in a higher or lower placement on the head or more or less fullness in front. When you get the "poof" in front just like Natalie's ...
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| 8.) ... hold the tail as shown, drooping downward alongside the head, and clip the part that hangs down as shown. This seems to work the best (on my hair and Rachel's hair, at least) to get and hold the proper shape framing the face. If you have a grippy enough clip and include enough of the free hair under it, it will stay put quite nicely.
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| 9.) Now to hide the clip, if you so desire. Unband the section of hair you wrapped earlier and divide it in half. Bring the half on the side you just pinned forward and "fold" it to cover the pin.
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| 10.) I then place a hairpin bent into the shape of a horseshoe just under where the clip is hidden and slide it into place, working the "legs" of the horseshoe under the red clip. With a little finagling it should anchor itself nicely and stay put.
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| 11.) The finished side looks like this. A little obvious with no curl in the hair, but with a full curly head of hair you almost cannot see this at all.
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| 12.) This is the finished hairstyle from the front. The curlier the hair the more volume you can get in the "wings." This isn't quite as full around the face as the movie hairstyle, but it would be with the curl.
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