Timed Assessment - As The Stylist

In todays assessment, I was the stylist - creating Hannah's contemporary design on her hair. I am really pleased with how this has turned out and I think it is the best that I have ever executed it, especially as it was the first time using the correct shaped padding and the flowers in the front of the hair. I had never created a dutch plait before so when my partner first showed me her design I was a bit nervous and I started practising right away, I feel so much more confident in doing them now and I love the way the look! We both came to the assessment calm and prepared and I set up the work station in a neat and organised way so I knew exactly where everything was and so I didn't forget anything. Whilst I was creating her design, my partner done her own makeup for the photographs and I think it helps bring the look together. The trickiest part of this hairstyle that I struggled with was getting the padding as equal as possible. It was quite hard especially as the design is supposed to be messy as you can't make both sides exactly the same because of the backcombing. I had to think carefully about the placement of the hair as this affected the shape of the padding quite a bit. If I were to go back and do the assessment again I would like to have practiced more with the correct padding and the accessories as it meant I would have been able to get the shape right but overall I am impressed with how it has turned out and I think I produced it to the best of my ability and I think it looks really good in the photographs!

Timed Assessment - As The Designer

In the morning of the assessment, I quickly sketched an image of where I wanted the pearls and I sent it to her so she knew what to expect. I am still not entirely sure about the pearls, I will see how they turn out but I may not even use them in the front of the hair. I also wanted the padding in 3 strips so that you could still see the backcomb underneath. I kept everything else the same and my partner told me she was happy with the changes and she felt confident in doing it. 

For the hair assessment, I was the designer and Hannah was the stylist. I am really pleased with how smoothly the timed assessment went! We were both very organised and my partner was very calm about the whole thing. I wrote out all the notes and pictures that my partner needed and she was already very confident with the design as she has practised on my hair so many times! I bought in all accessories and extra things we needed to create my hair design and Hannah set up the workstation neatly and laid everything out so she knew where it all was. She followed the instructions and design carefully and created what I wanted. Earlier in the day, I had a quick change of mind as I wanted to make my design more contemporary as I felt it had too much of an Elizabethan feel. I decided to have the frizzing in the fringe but to place it in 3 lines over the padding rather than just brush it all over. I also decided to lose the pearls at the front and just place them around the bun at the back. I spoke to my partner about this and she was confident in doing it and I had confidence in her! I feel like the padding was equal and I love how the bun turned out, especially with the pearls around the back of it. I think Hannah did a great job and my hair is so thin and hard to cover, but if I had to tell her how to improve it would be to make sure that the padding and shape is equal around the ears and to make sure that all the hair is swept back and there is no loose hanging strands.

Practising my Partner's Design in Lesson

We had another practice lesson for our timed assessment and this was the first time that I have done my partners design on her hair. I put the padding in as normal and backcombed it but unfortunately my partner didn't have the correct shaped padding to make it as big and messy as she would have liked it. I then split the hair down the middle and started the dutch plait down either side slowly getting closer together so that they meet at the end. I then joined them up together and carried on the dutch plait. She then wanted lace incorporated in the plait. I laced them up like a corset and I think it looks really good, I am really pleased for my first attempt. I will practice again with my partner so I have more confidence when creating this look in the assessment. 

There wasn't enough lace to tie the end into a bow so we tied a new piece of lace onto the end and created the bow that she wanted.

The padding wasn't the correct height that my model wanted and it was hard to get it exactly how she designed it but I will make it bigger and messier in the timed assessment!

Practising my Partners design

Unfortunately, I became ill and was unable to attend the lesson to practice my partners design. Although I didn't get to practice on her, it didn't stop me from practicing on Kate! My partner, Hannah send me her design and I practiced at home. Below is her hair design and my step by step images. 

I put the padding in as normal, and backcombed the hair over as my model wants it to be very messy looking. In her design, there are flowers at the front, but I didn't have anything similar to put in. I also didn't have any ribbon for the laced up look at the back, so I had to make do with elastic.

So Hannah wanted a dutch plait in the hair, which I have never done before so this was my first attempt at it. I am so used to doing normal and french plaits so this was quite hard to get my head around as it is the opposite way. I feel that I have done quite a good job considering this was my first go. It would look a lot better if I had ribbon and the flowers at the front of the hair, but I will practice again before the assessment. I sent these photographs to Hannah and she was pleased with how it turned out. To improve, I would make the padding even messier and make it more of a heart shape that meets in the middle more. 

Final Design and Prep for Assessment

As the assessment is fast approaching, I wanted one last practice with all the accessories in it and I basically wanted to pretend it was the real thing! I did this on my Kate Head as I would have ben able to do it on my own hair, especially with putting the accessories in the back! It also meant that if I didn't like how something turned out, I could easily change it. Overall, it took me just under about an hour and a half to create. Below are the step by step images and my final look. Here is the products I used and the notes that I have written.

 As my hair is so thin, I wrapped the padding in crepe hair (that by chance just happened to be my hair colour!). I used the hair brush and pin tail comb, hair bands, string of pearls, pearl hair pins, 5cm hair pins, 5cm strong hold grips, sectioning grips and some stronger and longer black hair pins. 

I listed all the equipment and steps for my partner so that she could easily create my hair design.

My Final Design

I started off with sectioning the v-shaped parting and clipping it out the way.

 I then backcombed the hair to cover the padding. 

 I secured it with kirby grips and hair pins.

 The unclipped the fringe section and used the frizzing technique to frizz the hair. 

 Using the pin tail comb, I split each frizz in half and then secured it over the padding with kirby grips and hair pins.

 Then I french plaited the fringe but stopped where it was level with the end of the padding and then continued it on as a normal plait and tied it in a ponytail in with the remaining hair at the back.

 I then backcombed it to give it texture before putting it in the bun.

 Using the doughnut technique we learnt in class, I created a bun shape.

 I used the pearl hair band for decoration.

 I then put in the string of pearls along the v shaped parting.

 And used the pearl hair pins to decorate the back.

The finished look!

I am really pleased with how this has turned out, it still looks very 16th century which is what I love but it has a contemporary twist with the v-shaped parting and french plait. The only thing I might change on the day is the placement of the pearl hair pins to see if I can make it look slightly more contemporary.