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Renaissance Fair hair

ren fair hairI am not a Renaissance fair attender. I have been invited before, kind of as an ironic joke. I didn’t go. My friend Holley and I talked about going to the Ren fair dressed up as unicorns, but we didn’t. It just hasn’t been in my cards. I’m not quite there yet in life.

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When I hear renaissance fair I think of that scene in Cable Guy where Chip (Jim Carrey) goes to Medieval Times and jousts with the King and says “Does thus have thou a mug of ale for me and me mate? He has been pitched in battle for a fortnight and has a kings thirst for the frosty brew thus thou might have for thus” and then puts chicken skin on his face like Hannibal Lecter. Maybe you don’t know this yet, but I had a life chapter that revolved around watching Jim Carrey movies and playing pranks on Brette and Sarah.7U6A0050

I do love Gunne Sax dresses. I collect them just in case I might need one to wear to a Ren fair. A fact about my dude? He was once a Ren fair greeter. Screen Shot 2013-07-17 at 10.02.15 PMAs in, he was the guy that greeted people as they entered the fair and directed them to ren fair fun in ren-speak. I am telling you this so that you understand that although I am not a ren fair person, I walk a fine line.  Screen Shot 2013-07-17 at 10.01.39 PM

Maybe I am intimidated by them, and kind of feel like it is a club that I am not cool enough to join. This is a leftover highschool feeling that is outdated and stale, but I still go to that “not cool enough” place sometimes. Maybe I have too many unanswered ren fair questions like “are you being serious or just having fun?” and “Am I laughing at you or with you?” and “what is your real life like?” Anyhow, I would venture to guess that any Ren fair would happily have me when I am ready to join the club.

Last weekend, I attended the Oregon Country Fair for my yearly #bethefair experience. OCF encompasses all of the above……….Hippie hipster earthship renfair artist musician fairy land forest village magic night time wonderland. (I will be posting lots of #bethefair hair in the near future;) At the fair, I was lucky enough to meet and watch a professional ren fair hair artist named Raychel. Before we met, I was irritated because she had been juried in and I had received my OCF application with a big DENIED on it.

I started to see her hairstyles everywhere. They were unmistakable. She stamped her unique and ethereal style onto every hairdo. There was not a hair out of place. She was charging 35$ a ‘do, and she was cranking them out. and, she used Aloe Vera instead of gel.

Her hairstyles were absolutely complicated and immaculate. She combined several style elements for every hairstyle. She used a lot of 5 and 7 and 9 strand braids in spirals and then lots of perfect 2 strand twists to accent and drape each look. I decided I need to get better at braiding.

I went to her booth and introduced myself. We chatted and she was really nice and down to earth. I had a hard time concentrating on what she was saying because her fingers were moving so fast through a 9 strand braid.. She kept her eyes on me as we conversed. She was weaving the hair like a basket without even looking.

DSC05349I went back to the booth where I sell jewelry with some friends. I found a long haired lady that would let me try a Raychel inspired spiral braid on her 4 foot long thick silver hair. It took me forever and nearly brought me to tears. My fingers were crying, but It looked pretty cool when it was done. (stay tuned for spiral braid tutorial!)

I am sharing this with you because it seems relevant that you might want to learn some Ren fair hair techniques. They are kind of hot right now, thanks to Game of Thrones. ( Check out this pictographic!)

You know me, I like to keep things simple. A couple months ago I gave you my most heavily pinned on pinterest Fair Maiden hair tutorial, the Maiden of the Unicorns braid. Today I am sharing some more advanced maiden braid techniques. These hairstyles are complicated but do-able with some practice and patience.

For ladies obsessed with Ren fair updo’s you can also incorporate hair extensions, you can either choose clip-ins from humanhairextensionsonline.com.au.

Here is  Raychel Emmons you tube channel, and a DIY 9 strand braid  video to get you excited. *Bonus…..There is a warbling bird chirping in the background of this video. #putabirdinit

Here is a link to her website. Click here to follow her on Facebook. If you are in Oregon and need any special event ren fair or ren wedding hair, definitely look her up. She is a hair artist, and I salute her!

XO, HTHG

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