Ruffles Not Diets

Currently I am in a phase where I am bored with all my normal hairstyles and want to learn more new ones.  It happens periodically, but I thought I should turn this impulse into something useful and share some of my favorite resources with all of you.

I am a very visual learner, especially for things I need to do, like hairstyles or crafts, so I have been spending a lot of time on youtube.  Here are some of my favorite channels, in order, from shortest to longest, of how long your hair has to be to do the average style on the channel.  For me a good channel for hair videos is one with clear instructions, decent image quality, interesting an varied styles, with styles that can be done on yourself and don't require a lot of product or heat styling, and that shows what the finished style looks at the beginning so you don't have to watch a nine-minute video and then discover you don't actually like how it looks.

Dolly-Tube: She creates beautiful unique styles, often incorporating interesting braids, and gives clear easy to follow instructions. I also find it charming how she calls her styles "hair ideas" which I think sort of demystifies the whole process of inventing your own hair styles "oh, this was just idea I had and so I messed around with it". I am actually currently wearing this style:

I wear my hair up practically everyday.  Partially this is to keep my hair out of the way and protected from snagging on things or tangling, and partially it is so much faster to just throw my hair up in a bun than it is to engineer it to be de-frizzed or non-static-y and wavy through a full day in a humid in the summer, cold and dry in the winter climate.  Most days my hair is the last thing I do and most days I am running late by the time I get to it, no matter what I do, so most hairstyles I regularly use take 2-5 minutes or less.  Now it takes some practice to get down to that time, but not really a huge amount.  My hair is about arm-pit length, but some of these styles work for shorter hair as well.  I made a video attempting to demonstrate these, but be warned I have a terrible camera.

My number one go-to hair style is the Orchid bun, it is secure all day and looks radically different depending on the specific way I pin it or what hair accessories I use.  It can be secured with pins (generally I use Goody Spin Pins for this), hair forks, or giant clips like Ficcares or flexi-8s. My hair is only just long enough for this style.


If I have more than a minute, but less than two, I do a flipped braid.  For this style, just braid hair down the center, fold the ends towards your head, then fold at least once more and secure.  This can be done with much shorter hair, and indeed my hair is getting a bit long for it, as I have to fold it over 3-4 times.  It can be secured with a big clip or barrette of some kind or a hair stick.


With a little more time I will do a figure-8 or Infifity knot, usually the figure-8 though as for some reason it seems to be more secure on my head.  The best tutorial for these ever is here.  I usually use Amish pins to secure this, one piercing and attaching the top coil, and the other going from the tucked in end up.  The top one can be replaced with a hair fork or stick.  This is another which my hair is just long enough for.


If I am feeling slightly more fancy and not wearing a necklace with a particularly tangle-y clasp I like this style, inspired by one worn by Yvaine in the Stardust movie.  To make this, roll the hair along both sides of your head and gather into a low ponytail, pull through elastic twice, then only pull through half way, creating a loop-bun with a length of hair outside the loop.  Twist the length of this hair, then coil around the ponytail and secure either with pins or a hair comb.  For shorter hair, leave the bottom section of hair outside the ponytail then twist and coil that.


For extra fanciness I will do a crossed bun.  For this, divide the top and bottom sections of your hair, twist the top and make it into an infinity bun, then twist the bottom half into a figure-8 bun, pulling the top coil over the middle of the previously made infinity bun.  To secure, I use 3-in long Amish pins, on in through each bun.  This is a particularly messy version, usually it looks more elegant.


If I have actual time I will do heidi braids, which are not in the video because they take awhile, but I think everyone knows them.  Braid hair into pigtails, cross on the top of the head and pin. They tend to work best if your hair is long enough that the braid over lap by at least 2 inches on the top of your head.

I obviously had too much free time at work today, and am excited about finally seeing Harry Potter this weekend (I had put it off until now, both because I didn't really have time until the end of term and because I have a free movie pass that is only good after a movie has been out ten days or more).  The result was me thinking to much about what it would look like if various characters decided to follow a form of Harajuka fashion.

Luna Lovegood would obviously follow Fairy Kei (and/or Pop Kei as I am not at all clear what the difference is and couldn't find any handy guide)



Obviously Luna is a My Little Ponies fan.  I imagine the crazy, hideous but Luna can totally work it, cardigan thing having been made for her by Hermione, because girlfriend does love her some bobble-knitting.  I am also way too excited to have found Ravenclaw Chuck Taylors.

Bellatrix Lestrange, is basically a goth style icon at this point (of course how much of that is due to being played by Helena Bonham Carter in the movies....), so my first thought was of course Elegant Gothic Aristocrat, but she's a little more off-kilter so I thought I would try something a little more Ero lolita style, of course, also gothic: