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The Side-Roll

7U6A6205Hello! Today, I am excited to introduce you to a vintage hairstyle made intentionally wonky. I am a fan of imperfection and asymmetry, so this is the HTHG version of a classic roll.

You can see a hairstyle like this one demonstrated on Youtube with a lot of preparation and involvement, and a lot of hairspray…..This here version is less fussy and way quicker. And you have my permission to not try and perfect it, but to practice it until you can at least get it securely in your hair, and then let it deconstruct itself a bit over the course of the day. It is a hairstyle that looks lovely when rough and lived in:)

This particular side roll was demonstrated on the stunningly lovely young Cameron, who has the look of a Viking Shield Maiden no matter what she does. Her hair is thick and fine, which is the hardest sort of hair to secure in a hairstyle like this. My secret weapon? Masterbraider, Duh!

When in doubt of your hair staying where you want it to, a pre-misting with Masterbraider texture spray is a must! why? because it has enough salt in it to give a whale a stroke. And it will make your hair into a material that moves like wool and can be molded into anything. master

This hairstyle is best done on medium-long hair. To begin with, prep dry hair with texture spray. Flip your head upside down and spritz it evenly all over.

Do some light back combing around the crown of the head to create a little volume and texture.

Create a grid of criss-crossed pins across the back of the head, slightly at a diagonal. It should begin roughly at one side of the nape of the neck, and end behind the opposite ear. This will be the scaffolding to hold up your roll;) Each pin should slightly overlap the last one so that your criss-cross is continuous.

Now, bring all the hair over one shoulder and gather it into a ponytail band, at the ends. The band should be about 3 inches from the very ends of the hair.

Begin to roll the ponytail upwards, tucking the ends in as you roll. Use both hands to carefully roll the ponytail all the way to the head. The roll should lay roughly on top of your criss-cross pins.

Now use as many bobby pins as you need to to secure the roll to the criss-cross pins. I suggest pushing your pins downwards through the hair on the head and through the inner edge of the roll, into the criss-cross pins….this will keep your pins hidden while securing your roll. It may feel like you have a ton of pins in your hair, that is okay! You need that scaffolding strong!

7U6A6010Use a few large bobbies to secure the sides of the roll…..I suggest pushing them against the head and straight into the roll horizontally from each side, grabbing the inside of the roll and attaching it to the head. see how that works in the picture above?

7U6A6006Here is another finished look of the roll, along with Birch’s Knotted Fishtail Bun from the same shoot.

Here is the Knotted Fishtail Bun decorated with flowers and berries.7U6A6143

You can decorate your roll with flowers or plants if you want! I totally think you should.

PS. Cats love this hairstyle too.

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xoxo, HTHG

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