Rockabilly Essentials: Hair & Make Up

With my upcoming rockabilly tea party (The Mad Hepcat's Tea Party) I'm putting together a mini series of entries of everything rockabilly: Clothes, Accessories, Hair & Make Up, and Music.

No rockabilly look is complete without a slick of red lipstick and an edgy hair cut. This entry will show you the basics of hair and make up. It might look scary, but, as with anything, practice makes perfect and soon enough you'll be looking like the perfect pin up!

Hair

There are three very simple hair styles that you can perfect and individualise to your own tastes, whether that's all out or just a subtle touch.

1) The Bettie Bangs 

So named after the Queen of Pin Ups Bettie Page, this is a short fringe cut into a 'U' shape. These, surprisingly, suit most face shapes, and if you don't like it, it grows out in a couple of weeks! If you are going to get it cut in, remember to take a photo of the lady herself so the hair dresser knows exactly what they're doing.

2) Victory Rolls

These look really scary to do, and they will be a little tricky to create at first, but once you get it, you will be on a roll (please, pardon the pun!). You can just do one at the front, two at the side of your head, or as many as you want. Curl the rest of your hair, or roll it up in a bandana for the best result!

Here's my little tutorial on how I do mine...

3) Waves & Curls

Whether you do these with curling irons, heated rollers, foam rollers or pin curls, the result will always be rockabilly. By brushing out the curls in a certain way you can get a variety of looks from page boys to poodles! Just remember to use plenty of hair spray!

Katy Perry sporting a victory roll come Bettie bang fringe

Make Up

The make up is really very simple. Matte foundation, black winged eyeliner, red lipstick. Of course you can complicate things with eyeshadows and what not, but if its simple you're after just stick with that. Mac probably do the best lipsticks, but 'drugstore' brand ones are just as good. Remember to shop around to find the best red lipstick for you; if you have a yellow skin tone orange based reds work well, and if you have a pink skin tone, stick with the blue based reds. The eye liner will take a little practice, and a steady hand, but just be patient and you'll get the hang of it!

For both hair and make up the best Youtube channels are:

LisaFreemontStreet (my personal favourite)

Cherry Dollface (she's a model, she knows what she's doing)

ClassicRetroGlamour (Great for updos and 'second day' hair)

I hope you enjoy that little walk through rockabilly hair and make up! Stay tuned for the fourth and final part: The Music!

Perfect Pin Up Hair Brought To You By Bettina May

I have been slightly aware that this tutorial exists but for some reason it had been pushed to the back of my mind. Surfing through the realms of Youtube the other night I came across Bettina May and Go-Go Amy's Pin Up hair tutorial and it all came back to me! I've watched the make up version before and searched for the hair tutorial but my quest was always unsuccessful - until now!

Bettina May is the perfect teacher for beginners as the 45 minute tutorial goes through step by step to create several vintage pin up looks. She shows you how to set the rollers, how to brush them out, and how to style them all with a lovely smile. This is definitely worth a watch if you're a beginner in vintage hair styling, or just want to perfect your skills.

1950s Page Boy Hair - How To

This is probably the most iconic 1950s hairstyle as it's most famous sporter was, of course, Marilyn Monroe. It's always my 'go to' style when I want to set my hair with pin curls (you can do it with rollers too - I shall probably do a How To video on that too) and I've now got the technique down to my best ability so I'm pretty pleased with how the style came out today.

Also, my hair has been pink for two weeks (almost!) now and I think the hair dye has lasted pretty decently! I haven't reviewed the product yet because I'm waiting for it to completely fade but don't fear, there will be a write up!

Check out how I did my 1950s Page Boy Hairstyle by watching the video below:



How Did You Do Your Fringe?

Imelda May works this style the best and has brought it to the mainstream



It's a question I get asked whenever I wear my fringe/bangs rolled up so I thought I'd show ya'll my interpretation on how to achieve this look. It can be done on any length of hair as long as the piece of hair to be rolled reaches around your eyeline - so a long blunt fringe, a side fringe or just a long piece of hair from the front of your face would work.

First up is how to create the look from wet; I find this look is a lot kinder on my hair but doesn't have the staying power of the style created from dry hair (I usually have to re-roll it the next day and add some more spray).

The style on dry hair is just as quick to create and takes about two minutes once you've got the hang of the technique. Like I said above it is quite harsh on the hair so I wouldn't recommend doing it too often - plus its a pain to brush out when you want to restyle your hair! Because it has so much back combing the style's staying power is a lot longer and generally can stay in until you want to take it out.

I hope those explanations were easy enough to follow, but if you have any questions just leave me a question below or on my Youtube channel =)