Final Assessment My Design

For the practical assessment where I was the designer I completed a step-by-step for AJ to refer to in the assessment just in case she needed it. I also included photographs from when she had practised the individual techniques on my hair- that can be seen in previous posts, so that AJ could see her previous work and refer to it during the assessment if she needed to. However she didn't need to look at it in the end as she knew exactly what she was doing without it.

Final Design Step By Step

-Section the hair at the front of the head using a pintail comb and sectioning clips so that there are three sections ready to be plaited. Make sure you leave hair out at the sides near the ears so that this hair can be curled later on.

-Do a French plait in the middle section of hair at the front of the head and secure with a hair elastic.

-Complete two fishtail plaits one either side of the French plait and secure them with hair elastics so that they finish in line with the French plait.

-Section off the hair that will go over the padding and crimp using crimpers making sure heat defence product is used on the hair.

-Make a plait for the padding to be secured to and then attach the padding to the head using the plait as a base and secure with hair pins and grips.

-Brush the remaining hair at the back of the head into a ponytail using a paddle brush securing with a hair band.

- Complete the bun using hair pins and grips to keep the hair in place. Make sure all the hair is rolled under and that the bun has a smooth finish.

- Curl the hair that was left out at the front of the head using barrel curlers, using heat defence product on the hair.

-Use hairspray to set the style and then add decorative pins to the bun to complete the style.

These are photographs from the final assessment day.
 Photographs taken and hair styling by AJ Curtis.

Final Assessment

I think AJ and myself work well together, we practiced as much as possible and the end result was how I wanted it to look. If I did this again I may have made the design slightly simpler as there were a lot of elements to complete in the given time. The reason I incorporated a lot of elements was that I wanted to give my partner the opportunity to show off their ability by using several different techniques, however I realised that under the pressure of being in an assessment this may have been difficult to complete. In the final look photographs I decided to have pale make-up with pink cheeks and lips to make myself look Elizabethan but I kept by eyebrows strong to keep the look modern. I wore pearls as they were very popular in Elizabethan times and they also matched the decorative bun pins that I had chosen. I also wore black as this was seen as a symbol of high social class in Elizabethan times as black was expensive to produce. I thought this went with my design well as the hairstyle would have been worn by someone of wealth or high social class if it was worn in Elizabethan times.

Peer Evaluation

I was pleased when I found out that Amy Curtis (AJ Curtis) was my partener for my projects as we had worked together well in a previous task and I was confident we could work well together again. AJ followed my design well and took on board all the feedback which I gave to her, for example making the plaits tighter and the bun neater. Also she gave suggestions as to how she thought the design could be improved for example where the best place to put the decorative hair pins was. I thought AJ did well on the assessment day and even though there were a few problems with getting the padding to stay in the correct place she managed to stay calm and completed the padding well. Then she completed the bun and curls in the time that was left and created the shapes I wanted for both very well. The plaits were also very neat and sat flat against the scalp which is what I had hoped for and the finish to the design was smooth with everything feeling very secure. Overall I was very pleased with the work AJ created and I would be happy if we had to work together again in the future.