Help with finger waves

[fortworthgal]

I decided to attempt finger waves, as my hair is fairly short and I figured they would work well and be relatively easy in comparison to some of the other vintage styles. How wrong I was! I bought the "lottabody" setting lotion, clips, and printed out multiple pages of instructions and pictures from various websites. Tried them last night and I may as well have been trying to land the space shuttle. I finally gave up. (Although I had already sprayed some of the setting lotion in my hair - and wow! That stuff is awesome!) I tried again this evening and had slightly better luck, but still wasn't able to get them right. I feel like I don't have enough hands to do what I think I need to be doing.

Is there a secret to doing finger waves? Is it possible to do them on your own head? Or is it just going to take a lot of practice?

 

[jitterbugdoll]

They take a lot of practice, and coordination, to do on yourself

My hairdresser explained to me, that the tirck was to comb all the way to the scalp and make 'C' shapes as you went along. You comb the hair straight back, pushing it around your hand and bumping it up to form the first C, then comb it straight foward, and pushing it around the hand and back again (bumping up as well), to form the second C (now and S), and so forth, inserting clips as you go. I some great pics of a finished set on this Web site:
http://demode.tweedlebop.com/gatsby.html

And for fun, here is a shot of Jean's hairdresser styling her hair with a waving iron. It shows the basic wave pattern well:

Don't forget, you can cheat and use pin curls to form your finger waves--just reverse the direction of each row of pin curls--i.e., the first row will be curled to the back/left, the second row to the front/right, and so forth.

 

[Tourbillion]

I can wave the front of my head, but the back, that's just impossible. I can try to stick a few wave clips back there, but in the end I just can't reach back there.

I recommend going to a hairdresser. (you can always watch and learn)

I am trying to talk my friend Samantha into taking up vintage hairdressing, she does 60's stuff now, I'll see if she wants to do fingerwaves. She works in Long Beach and Beverly Hills/Weho now. I know she was excited about Victorian hairdressing. It can't be much harder than that.

Right?

 

[fortworthgal]

Hmmm, okay. Is it possible to do pincurls on short hair? My hair is layered and some of the shorter layers are probably only about 2" long. If it is possible, maybe I'll try that. Is there a tutorial website/pictures for pincurls?

 

[jitterbugdoll]

Yep, pin curls work great on short hair--just make sure you don't take too small of sections or you'll end up with frizz. Here's a site for you to check out:

http://www.nocturne.com/swing/hair/pincurls/pincurls.html

If you haven't seen it already, they also have a finger wave tutorial:
http://www.nocturne.com/swing/hair/fingerwaves/fingerwaves.html

 

[Brad Bowers]

Please forgive my intrusion, ladies, but I wanted to thank you all for answering a long-time nagging question: what are finger waves? I've wondered about that every time I hear "Moonlight in Vermont," and the line "Icy finger waves." I always pictured a gloveless hand, waving fingers at someone.lol

Now I know better. I saw this thread from the main page, and went, "Ah ha! The answer is here!"

Thanks so much,

Brad

 

[magneto]

Please forgive my intrusion, ladies, but I wanted to thank you all for answering a long-time nagging question: what are finger waves? I've wondered about that every time I hear "Moonlight in Vermont," and the line "Icy finger waves." I always pictured a gloveless hand, waving fingers at someone.lol

Ha! Well, if you read (40s-50s artist/comedian) Alexander King's memoir "Mine Enemy Grows Older" (a great book) "getting a finger wave" meant something rude back then...in jail. I'll say no more. fftopic:

 

[fortworthgal]

Yep, pin curls work great on short hair--just make sure you don't take too small of sections or you'll end up with frizz. Here's a site for you to check out:

http://www.nocturne.com/swing/hair/pincurls/pincurls.html

If you haven't seen it already, they also have a finger wave tutorial:
http://www.nocturne.com/swing/hair/fingerwaves/fingerwaves.html

Ooh, thanks! I've seen that before but for some reason I couldn't figure out how to wrap the hair. I think I was overanalyzing it because it makes sense now, and actually doesn't look too difficult! I may try that one this evening and see how it comes out.

What type of pins should I use to hold the curls? I have bobby pins but I notice that the website says those create dents. I have several boxes of vintage hairpins, the kind that are almost shaped like a U with ridges in the center - are those what I need?

 

[Etienne]

Yes, those work great. Just take the u-shape and straddle the pincurl on one side, and use another one on the opposite side and cross them so they hold. BTW, at that class I took in L.A. where they taught 40's hairstyles, they said that those clips that look like 4 inch wide silver "jaws" can be used to make a type if finger wave, too. (We had those in our house in the 50's, leftover from my Mom's school days and they look exactly like the ones in the beauty supply stores that you can get today.) The instructor said to use them end to end to make rows of loose waves.

 

[Tourbillion]

You can also use curl clips, or bobby pins without the crimping. Roller clips would work too, but they are kinda long.

Here's a website I found with pictures of curl clips http://www.bebeautiful.com/site/department.cfm?id=237964F8-BDB9-1208-48B0E2A253493957

They also have longer clips that use can use to pin your finger waves until they dry (sectioning clips).

 

[ITG]

This past November I picked up a triple barrel iron at Big Lots for $8 that can give a finger wave look to your hair.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=3330&page=5&highlight=big+lots

 

[Rebecca D]

A long time ago I did an online search for fingerwave instructions and was mortified to find out that fingerwaving is also a term for something WAY different than what we're talking about here. So be careful if you're doing a search at work, otherwise you may get a call from HR!

ITG, I have that 3 barrel iron and can only get a crimped look. Am I missing something? And I just don't understand how Jean's stylist got that look with a curling iron. She must have had a really tight perm.

 

[Tourbillion]

I've waved my hair with a curling iron before, it is tricky and takes forever. I don't really recommend it, if you have a choice.

I have a three barrel waving iron too. I don't think it gives you a good marcel, I would like to know the secret to it.

Also, since this has been on my mind for a while, I was looking on ebay for stuff to help and found these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8425284019&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

If someone here has deep pockets, they can try them, they're way over my budget.
Not only do I not know what most of this stuff is, I have no idea how to use them.

Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I have never used a three-barrel waving iron, but a few years ago, my hairdresser finger waved my hair using a single barrel curling iron. However, the trick is to flip the curling iron upside down (rather than curling under, your slide the barrel in as if you were going to curl the hair upwards, like a flip, but starting at the top, rather than the ends.) You reverse this process as you go down the hair (essentially, waving an inch-wide section at a time until you reach the bottom of your hair, flipping the curling iron over, then under, then over)--it takes forever, so I've never bothered to try this at home, but it turned out great when he did it!

Wish I could check out the eBay link, but alas, my work blocks Internet auctions...

 

[decodoll]

Also, since this has been on my mind for a while, I was looking on ebay for stuff to help and found these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8425284019&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

If someone here has deep pockets, they can try them, they're way over my budget.
Not only do I not know what most of this stuff is, I have no idea how to use them.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Geez!! I have a bunch of those....didn't cost me anywhere near that much! They are Mervin Wave clips. I could never really use them with my longer hair. Maybe I'll have to pull them out and give them another try. You press together the tabs on the end to open it up, put it against your head so that it grabs the hair and then release. The one section I did try once, did make a pretty good finger wave.

I have a three barreled iron too. (Okay...I have a minor hair curling/waving implement obsession ) I've never achieved anything that really looks like a finger wave, but it does make my hair wavy.

 

[magneto]

Strange old waving implement?

I was looking at the curling irons in the store today and saw this intriguing old-fashioned looking thing I've never seen before: it was marked "hot wave iron", it was shaped like a big tuning fork with U-shaped prongs, but it was *not* electric. Looked very interesting. I think it was ~$20. Anyone know if it's a finger/marcel wave-maker or have ever used one of them?

 

[LizzieMaine]

If it's got kind of a wavy metal plate that the prongs close into, it sounds like one I have. As far as I can tell you're supposed to heat it up on the stove or in a flame and then use it to press in waves. The one I have probably dates to the early thirties or so -- I've had it for maybe fifteen years now and I've never dared to try it!

 

[Tourbillion]

If you get a marcel iron without a cord, I strongly recommend that you not use a stove or flame to heat it. You will fry your hair.

They make heaters for them. Try here: http://texasbeautysupplycom.stores.yahoo.net/golsupelcuss.html

You might still fry your hair with the iron heater, but they are a little less scary.

 

[magneto]

Aha, so it must have been a Marcel iron...now I remember seeing pictures of the very old ones you heated with a spirit lamp. I'd be terrified ...remember reading how Billie Holliday started wearing her trademark flower in her hair to cover up a burned spot made using one of those.

 

[RetroModelSari]

I actually asked yesterdays hairstylist about the most effective way of quickly doing fingerwaves. She said it´s probably best to buy a three barrel iron in a stylist shop wave it and than to fix the waves with clips the way you want it and spray it. I know that´s not the traditional way, but I guess it´s time-saving! I plan to get the barrel and will report about my results.