Whenever I interview famous hairdressers, or really successful and talented people in the industry, I always ask them what their biggest challenge was while in beauty school. I expect to hear things like retailing to clients, cutting a specific hair style, or styling a a specific hair texture.
NO! I pretty much, without fail, always hear the same thing: FINGERWAVES!
Oh my gosh, seriously?! How hard can they be!?!?
The answer? EXTREMELY HARD!
We learned how to fingerwaves last week and, wow, they weren't kidding. They are tough!
Alex and I making sad faces about our inability to master fingerwaves in one try, lol.
Fingerwaves really are a timeless classic-we see the look on the runway, in magazine editorial shoots, in period hair from movies and in advertising. Understanding how to create the look, and why it's important, is so, so important. Especially if you want to be a well-rounded stylist. Where would Kim Kimble be if she wasn't able to do a fingerwave? Beyonce and Dream Girls just simply wouldn't have been as realistic! 
We should have known from looking at the description that they weren't going to be easy!
Although the look was popular in the early 20th century, we learned, over time, hair designers have found methods to create this wave formation with a variety of tools and techniques-yet, they all rely on the fundamental principles of working with oblongs or alternating oblongs.
Here's Ms. Lisa, aka Operation Education, doing a demo on the technique. She makes it look so easy!
Many commercial and common salon designs incorporate one or more oblongs in part of the design. When alternating oblongs are created throughout most of a design, the overall look is glamorous and the perfect choice for formal or elegant occasions, our textbook says.
Jen looks like she's on the right path! Not bad for her first time!
Melissa's ended up being one of the best! She's a pro!
After we did our wet sets, we placed them in the dryer for an hour or so, backbrushed and defined the form. While I'm no expert, I'm glad to have leaned the technique-and will MOST DEF keep on practicing!
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Originally posted on Modern Salon
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