Cycle 2: Perms & Long Hair

I’ve been excited to learn how to do a Brazilian Blowout since I started school. It’s in our Cycle 2 class, which I’m now almost finished. Or it was, until they had problems with the distributor… So tomorrow we’re learning a different keratin straightening system instead. Our instructors were all trained with the Brazilian Blowout stuff, and nobody knew anything about the system we’re going to learn until a few days ago. Our teacher who will be teaching us is taking the manuals and instructions home tonight to learn, and tomorrow will be doing a demonstration in the morning – followed immediately by our practical exam on it.

Well, my practical exam. None of the girls have models anymore after all of the changes to the curriculum. They were told they didn’t need to find models anymore, then that they had to find models, then that they could use models with wavy or straight-ish hair, then told they couldn’t use anyone with highlights, then that they needed models with naturally curly hair, etc. etc.

The conditions have changed literally every day for a couple weeks now. Yikes. o.O

And in the two week classroom period of Cycle 2, a whole two days were devoted to long hair designs. I still can’t do a passable French braid. (And our exam is on Friday! Yay!…Not.)

I think I’m starting to like up-do’s though, despite the fact I’ve hated them until now because I couldn’t do anything with them. I hope I’ll get better.

Here’s my very first…french…twist…thing:

French Twist

French Twist

And here’s my first try at this really ugly overlap thing we had to do. It’s very Russian-Gymnast-from-the-80′s looking.

Overlap

Overlap

And this is a…squid…? I don’t have pictures of it finished, only halfway through. I think it looks a little drag-queen ish. I liked it before I put the knots on the side though – with the two strands that are stretched over the top (in the pictures) down and coiled into circles, and the hair that I put up in knots hanging down in ringlets, it looked JUST like an octopus.

Squid/Octopus...Thing

Squid/Octopus...Thing

And here’s the last thing I did today. It’s a big mess of randomness.

Up Do

Up Do

Up Do

It’s slightly (overwhelmingly) too visually confusing… haha

I started with a ponytail in the crown (leaving a big amount of hair out, around the perimeter) and sectioned it into four strands. I made three big rolls, then I sectioned the fourth strand into three smaller strands and put them into celtic knots and pinned them in the in-between spots between the rolls. Then I started making knots down the perimeter, and joined them up under the three rolls on the crown. Then I had a bunch of hair left at the nape that I didn’t know what to do with, so I made two more big rolls.

I actually like the design of this, I just need to execute it better and make it less confusing, and work on keeping the hair smooth and neat. And hiding bobby pins better!

Long hair designs are cool, but hard. I’m gonna need lots of practice!