Monday 30 September 2013

A Hat Trick for Goodwood Revival

Shay-Anne Aboud by Scott Chalmers Photography for Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival 2013
A touch of film director Tim Burton's world influenced our official Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival 2013 photoshoot this year, as we paid tribute to the 1930s stars who played with their androgynous sex appeal, whilst showcasing avant garde styling for a truly memorable day with our effortlessly stylish model Shay-Anne Aboud as the ultimate female dandy with a hint of the gothic. Her top hat "hair hat", photographed by Scott Chalmers, turned more than a few heads, so here's a short photo diary of the morning's work that went into this beautiful image.....

First, we crimped and pincurled....
Francesco Zamolo and Gloria Holloway start the hair prep
We sectioned.....
Sharon Holloway starts construction
And backbrushed....
Pincurled section of hair left intact as volume created on the crown
And backbrushed....
There's a lot of hair here
And backbrushed....
And it's very very long
Until we got shape....
Top sections smoothed and gripped into place
Time for a pause to start makeup....
Prepping the eyes
Working on the eyes....
A combination of 1920s and 1930s green tones
Before airbrushing foundation with Airbase....
Airbase High Definition Airbrush Makeup
And finishing touches to eyes....
Adding top and bottom lashes
Before returning to the hair chair to unclip the pincurls and start work on the brim....
The sectioned off hair is folded and pinned into place to make the hat brim
Making sure we keep a "jaunty angle"....
We're now on the "home strait"
Let the waving begin....
Smart bit of finger waving by Gloria
The brim can now be completed....
Shay-Anne's endless patience is a joy!
Tricky bit round the front....
Blending the brim
Plenty of Davines hairspray on this....
Getting the brim firm
Nearly there....
Oh the concentration!
Shay-Anne gets into costume and has finishing touches....
Katy Leicester from handpickedvintage.com adjusts the cravat
And at midday our models are ready to meet the crowd!
Shay-Anne Aboud and Jen Merchant emerge from the Vintage Hair Lounge marquee
Huge thanks to Shay-Anne Aboud, Jen Merchant, and our fantastic Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival sponsors - Davines, Easydry, Babyliss, Airbase High Definition Airbrush Make-up, Besame Cosmetics, Maqpro, PAM, handpickedvintage.com and Scott Chalmers Photography.

All images by Scott Chalmers.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Airbase Airbrush Makeup Goes Vintage for The Goodwood Revival

Hair and makeup Vintage Hair Lounge. Photo Scott Chalmers
An exciting new collaboration between Vintage Hair Lounge and Airbase High Definition Airbrush Makeup is launching at this year's Goodwood Revival (13-15 September). The leading airbrush makeup company, led by CEO Lloyd Naake, has embraced the Southampton based leaders in vintage hair and makeup styling and industry training to sponsor the Vintage Hair Lounge salon "Over the Road" at the world's leading classic car motor racing and vintage event which will see 149,000 visitors descend on the Chichester motor racing circuit in vintage costume this September.

The roots of the partnership originate from the ever increasing demand for flawless makeup looks that recapture the iconic faces of the golden era of the Hollywood megastars, in a new high definition age. Airbase has already built an impressive reputation supplying to the television industry (ITV, Sky) and thousands of makeup artists whose work can be seen throughout the photographic and media industries.

The airbrush system delivers long lasting water and heat resistant makeup that is easy to wear and beautiful to photograph, as this recent 1950s inspired image, featuring model Miss Deadly Red, shows.

Sharon Holloway of Vintage Hair Lounge using Airbase. Photo Scott Chalmers
"Airbrush makeup has become known for very modern looks in the industry," explains Vintage Hair Lounge Creative Director, Sharon Holloway, "but that is one fantastic use of this great product. We are setting the standard for a new wave of uses of Airbase to recreate authentic vintage makeups that pay their respects to the pioneers of film makeup in the 1940s and 1950s. Different products in those days, but the looks were flawless, and with new techniques and products we are creating a vintage glamour that continues to resonate in the 21st century."

Airbase equipment. Image with kind permission of Airbase High Definition Airbrush Makeup
The Vintage Hair Lounge team at Goodwood Revival will be offering vintage makeup services using Airbase, with additional professional makeup product support from sponsors Besame Cosmetics, the leading international vintage makeup brand, PAM, Maqpro and The Makeup Brush Company.

"We are so excited to be working with such outstanding makeup companies this year at Goodwood Revival," says Sharon. "We value our partners all year round, but this event gives us a unique opportunity to showcase our work and demonstrate the quality and integrity of all of our product partners."

Bookings for vintage hairstyling and vintage makeup at Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival can be made by emailing Sharon Holloway at enquiries@vintagehairlounge.com.






Wednesday 15 May 2013

How Casanova led to a Goodwood Revival coup

Jade Hargood by Scott Chalmers. Hair & makeup Sharon Holloway at Vintage Hair Lounge

As Vintage Hair Lounge opens for bookings for Goodwood Revival 2013 this week, a peculiar chain of recent events has resulted in a particularly special coup in securing the involvement of supremely talented Hair and Makeup Designer, Christine Allsopp, and sponsorship by her wonderful The Make-up Brush Company. So how did we snatch 3 times BAFTA nominated designer from the claws of a rigorous international filming schedule to join us for 3 days in Chichester this September?

I could say it began 3 years ago (there are a lot of 3's in this post which probably means it's my lucky number!), when Vintage Hair Lounge first opened, and we began to stock The Make-up Brush Company brushes and makeup bags in our salon. The distinctively pink, and unashamedly retro style brushes have graced my own make-up kit ever since. And then along came an extraordinary photoshoot concept from Scott Chalmers Photography...
The Make-up Brush Company brushes

So the proposal was for our longstanding client and friend, Jade Hargood, to be photographed in her wedding dress. Now that doesn't sound much of a shoot, until you know that Jade was married in a deep red dress, complete with cape and tricorn hat, in December 2012, with hair and makeup by Vintage Hair Lounge in late nineteenth century meets 1940s glamour style. Mmmm, this could be interesting! Scott and Jade began to create a mood board of gothic images on pinterest for me to have a look at, and the recurring theme was horns. Yes, horns. And not to mess about, Scott actually delivered a huge pair of real ram's horns for Jade to wear for the shoot. So I pondered the images, thought about Jade and her spectacular dress and began to think of the hair and makeup design of the BBC Casanova television series that first aired in 2005. It made a huge impact on us at the time, and was one of the most exciting pieces of period hair design I'd seen in a long time. And that was down to Christine Allsopp who received her second BAFTA nomination for it. So far so good.

BBC Casanova tv series 
Jade has very very long hair! Which will come as a surprise to many who see her featuring in our Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival 2013 (Anything Goes) publicity film, where Gloria Holloway's extensive experience in traditional waving and setting techniques allowed her to effortlessly create a stunning short 1930s hairstyle, notwithstanding the sheer volume of hair Jade has!



But the gothic/eighteenth century inspired look for the new photoshoot was left in my hands, so I started with sectioning off two sites on the top of Jade's head where the hair horns would sit. They were crimped and sectioned off again whilst I methodically crimped the entirety of the remainder of Jade's hair, using Davines Defining Ecohairspray on each piece. I backcombed the horn sections and wrapped the hair around itself until the horn shapes began to satisfy, and then got to work on on the front and sides sections, effectively creating reverse "Victory Rolls". On went the real ram's horns, and with some hair padding inserted behind to secure them (they are very weighty items) to the best of Jade's comfort, I then created a huge french pleat in the shape of a heart, to ensure the balance of the hairstyle was in tune and looked spectacular from all angles. With a small section of red hair extension pinned into place from the top of the head and down into the side pony tail, adding a flash of colour to pay homage to the Casanova hairstyling,  the creation was complete.
In between these stages, we had also taken to the makeup, creating a layered effect around the eyes using variations of brown and red, gave the blusher a miss in preference to strong contouring, and perfected the finished look with Besame Cosmetics Classic Color lipstick in Merlot. Once Jade was dressed, it was possible to get out the airbrush and work down her neck and shoulders with a good combination of Temptu foundations, freshening up the face makeup with a mist all around the hairline, jawline and down the bridge of the nose. Thanks to my recent airbrush training with Martina Parmar at the Professional Makeup Academy, this proved a good decision, as the final images show a great colour balance between face and body, that just leaves a haunting look that worked to perfection.

And so, the following day as I was leaving Southampton's shores for a couple of days' May Bank Holiday break, I saw a flash in my Facebook inbox only to find Mr Chalmers had uploaded the image from the shoot online, a fine going away present if ever there was one, and shortly after came the defining moment of approval : Christine Allsopp had seen the image and shared it on her own facebook page, praising the look as something that would have sat more than comfortably within her designs for Casanova all those years ago. Well, one doesn't miss an opportunity like that, so needless to say, I got on the phone to Christine, and the rest, as they say, is history.....

Christine Allsopp will be joining the Vintage Hair Lounge at Goodwood Revival 2013 team (13-15 September) and The Make-up Brush Company will be an official sponsor. Additional sponsors include Davines, Besame Cosmetics, Professional Makeup Academy, Scott Chalmers Photography, EasyDry, handpickedvintage.com and Babyliss.

To pre-book vintage hairstyling and vintage makeup (airbrush) appointments for this year's Goodwood Revival, email enquiries@vintagehairlounge.com