Women and Hairspray — We All Love It! — By Cristina Christensen
Women and Hairspray
Female beauty has been recognised since the world came to be. Venus, the goddess from Roman mythology who represents love and beauty, was widely admired by men for her exuberance and parts of her body such as her hips and breasts; she was admired so greatly that she provoked jealousy in some of the other goddesses.
The vanity of women when it comes to caring for their hair and their beauty has made the industry into a multimillion-pound profit machine. The statistics show that in Brazil, for example, the average woman will spend 10,000 euros on beauty products between the ages of 20 and 55.
The reason for that high spend isn’t just because they see it as something which is important, but also because our appearance, and especially our hair, expresses our personality, thoughts and beliefs. For hundreds of years women have demonstrated their strength and have valued their self-esteem through their appearance, and, of course, we often use it to our advantage when we want to seduce someone!
In the 1950s, women had short and wavy hairstyles, just like Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe, who stood out because of their beauty and their modernity. Many women had these Chanel bobs, a style brought into fashion in 1918 by Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, internationally known as Coco Chanel. Supposedly, she donned this hairstyle because she burnt the ends of her hair with the hairdryer and so she decided to chop it off, and thus the bob was born.
Do you know the word hairspray? I’m sure you do! The famous product never left women’s hair in the 1960s, it was a constant feature of hairstyles throughout the decade. This was a radical change from the bobs of the 50s, and it arose amidst the Black Power movement and the fashion of having a super long fringe pushed up into a beehive — hair was truly a form of expression in this era!
Do you know how to make your hair stand up in such a voluminous manner, like it did in the Golden Age? You know when you see celebrities who look perfect with their flawless hairstyles, do you ever think, how do they do it? I’m going to give you an incredible tip which will help you create a voluminous hairdo in your own home, and soon you will feel ready for a red carpet!
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Wash your hair and use a little conditioner. The reason for that is that we need to give the hair a little texture. Use the hairdryer and a circular brush; if your hair is curly, you can dry it by brushing until the root is smooth and straight and drying with the hairdryer pointing downwards in the direction of the tip, that way you will align the cuticles and the heat will activate the shine.
Always remember to shape the ends. If you have long layered hair, wrap the ends of your hair in the brush and direct your hairdryer towards the brush, then remove your brush in a spiral form, thus helping to curl it. Be careful not to let your hairdryer touch your hair, as it could overheat and burn your locks.
Now that your hair is brushed, let’s go on to how to texture it.
If you only want volume around your head, start by separating the top, then separate into small sections, and with a fine-toothed comb, comb in the opposite direction, starting about 6 centimetres away from the root, doing every other strand as if you were making a quiff. Do this several times until you have enough texture to create volume.
To maintain the volume, apply some texturing spray, lift the sections and apply spray on the bottom part; always keep some distance between your hair and the spray and be careful of your eyes! Repeat this in all the areas that you want texture.
Now, let go of the top part that you had separated, apply a serum just to the tips and use your fingers to shape your hair. If you like, use a waver or a curler to create a wavy effect in the long bit of your hair, keeping the texture near to the roots.
Now you are ready to show off your beauty on the catwalk of life!
Cristina is a Brazilian hairdresser from Rio de Janeiro. She graduated 8 years ago from Adam & Eva Skolen in Oslo, Norway, and is now the salon owner of C² Cris Christensen, specialising in keratine treatments. Cristina won the Best Brazilian Hairdressing Salon in Europe award in 2020.
Would you like to share your story or expertise with our readers? Contact our editor-in-chief, Rafael dos Santos, by clicking here.
