40's Wavy Hair Tutorial

The 40's wave is a timeless hairstyle and once you know how to do it, you can use the technique in many other hairstyles, from retro to modern.

40's Hair - Before and After

It is best to start this hairstyle on clean, dry hair. My hair was washed yesterday but I have done this style before immediately after drying my hair and it has stayed in until my next wash (2 or 3 days).

You will need -

• 1 pair of curling tongs - I used babyliss 25mm but you can vary this depending on your hair type and how tight or loose you want the wave.
• 1 crocodile clip or hair tie to secure your sections.
• 1 can of medium hold hair spray - I used VO5 Ultimate Hold.
• 1 smoothing brush The image in the pictures is a back combing brush but this is a link to a good smoothing brush.
• 1 pintail comb
• 1 serum or conditioning milk to smooth your hair at the end. I personally love the Aussie Conditioning Milk.
• 1 heat protective spray to prevent hair damage. I used Tresemme Heat Defence.

Step 1 - brush your hair through to remove any tangles and decide where you want the hair to be parted. Traditional 40's is a side parting which you can make as light or heavy as you like. I went with quite a light parting because my hair is quite fine.

 Step 2 - section your hair into layers leaving out about a quarter of your hair loose at the bottom. The main thing about sectioning is that you want everything to be even. the hair sections you tong should be an even size and shape throughout the whole hairstyle. Start as you mean to go on. Each section can then be split into 6-8 individual curls as you go.



Step 3 - Spray each layer of hair with a heat protective spray
 and start tonging.With this look you will need to curl towards your face for the side with the lighter parting and away from your face for the side with the heavier parting. It may help to split your layer in half down the back of your head.

(I'm left handed and I hold the tongs in a bizarre way so don't necessarily copy that but do make sure the tong is vertical and parallel to the head and that the hair curls from top to bottom.)


Step  4 - Continue curling until the whole layer is completed then spray the layer thoroughly with hair spray and let down the next quarter of hair. Repeat Step 3 until all hair is tonged evenly.
Make sure your parting is defined before starting the top layer.

Step 5 - Once everything is curled you may feel worried that you look like Shirley Temple or some sort of 90's prom queen. This is normal.
Spray your hair thoroughly with hair spray.

Step 6 - At this point you may want to pin up the front of your hair with your crocodile clip and spray with hair spray to help maintain a little height at the front.
You may also want to apply suitably 40's makeup to go with your new hairstyle. I went with black eyeliner, pink cheeks and red lipstick.

Step 7 - The next part is quite scary but this is where the magic happens. Get your smoothing brush and gently brush out all of your curly little corkscrews to reveal the finished look! By brushing out the curls you will create the softer wave which gives the classic 40's feel.

Step 8 - Tada! To finish everything off smooth a little serum over the hair to add shine and smooth any strays.


(Whilst posing for what is essentially a 'selfie' is not my strong point, especially front on, I had to get a proper picture of the old boat race to show the look, so excuse the stupid face and here we are!)

The End. Xxx

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