Hair
Arranging hair for photographs can be terribly difficult, especially if you don’t have a beautician handy. In general, make sure your hair is clean and neat if nothing else.
For women, the most flattering style is loose around the face, but still pulled back enough not to obscure the face. If you have really short hair, this is easy enough… three inch long hair can be waxed and slightly spiked, while brushed towards the face in a pixie-like ‘do. A little like Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted, only longer for a more softening effect. Longer hair can be slightly curled and moussed for the same effect, only a bit more sassy. (I can’t believe I just used the word sassy in a sentence.) Shoulder length hair can be curled more, and held in place around the face with hairspray and a few strategic bobbi pins. But with even longer hair, you can do all sorts of things.
A younger girl with a slender build can wear a crown braid with spectacular results. Section off the hair in a circle around the head, with the point at the very center of the top of her head. Start the french braid just below the bottom of her ear (have her bend and turn her head with the braid to keep it smooth), and work the braid all the way around her head, going from bottom of the ear over the top of her forehead, to the other ear, and gathering the last loose hair back where you started. Finish off the braid and hold it with an elastic band, and wrap the loose part of the braid around her head just inside the original circle. Bend the end of the braid under itself so the elastic is hidden, and use bobbi pins to keep it in place. Use *lots* of pins, pinning anything that looks like it might move, but try to keep the lines smooth. Hairspray like crazy. Gwenyth Paltrow in Emma wore a crown braid at one point, and I believe she decorated the braid with ribbons. You can easily do the same, and also small flowers if you’re careful.
A few smallish braids with ribbons woven in can be very flattering for many women, but unless you have the face and figure for it, avoid any hairstyles that are tight to the head or flat. Larger women look better with fuller hair, so curls are a good thing… but don’t do big hair. Tammy Faye Bakker *baaaad*, big hair *baaaad*. Also remember that your hair is supposed to frame your face, not cover it. But do not, do *not* emulate Farrah Faucett and curl your hair away from your face. That is so bad and nasty, I don’t have the words to describe it. I just start spitting. The seventies are long gone, let that hair-do die. It doesn’t flatter anyone.
If you can’t think of anything else to do, simply curl your hair, spray it, and let it hang loose.
