Picking your wedding hair inspo
Here’s your too long don’t feel like reading bullet points (always me)
Purchase your dress first
by all means, have fun and start pinteresting your heart out the second you get engaged, but know that 9 times out of 10 your wedding dress will determine how you’d like to style your hair
Pick inspo that is the same as your hair color
important, and an explanation below
Consider your hair type and it’s density
little cosmetology lesson below
Know there is always a way to achieve what you want, but if the gap between what you have and want you want is big it will cost more $$$ and more time.
While browsing Pinterest and Instagram for wedding hair inspiration, start to notice what you are drawn to. This is a bit of a lengthy explanation below, however, I find sometimes people think this is common sense stuff or this is entirely new and foreign to them, all good either way.
Hair Color…
So often I have brunettes showing all photos of blondes or highlighted heads of hair. This is because their hair can look flat or “boring” according to them. What they sometimes don’t know, is that their dark hair, when photographed, absorbs light and so it appears flatter or less textured than blonde or highlighted hair (which reflects light). In an attempt to convey that they want texture in their hair, they’ll end up (without realizing it) saving only photos of blondes.
If tousled, textured hair is your goal and coloring your hair to achieve lightness isn’t something you’d like to do, your best bet is to find hair inspiration photos of hair colors that match your hair. I always suggest that brides do this, but for that girl who is a level 2-5 virgin hair brunette and drawn to tousled texture, she’ll still show me a brunette with caramel highlights lols. (said with love). Just do your very best to pick inspo of people who’s hair resembles yours.
Also! Don’t fret. Brunettes without highlights can have textured styles, (pic for proof below) they just don’t and will never photograph the same way blonde will and it’s something you should take notice of to get your expectations to match the potential.
There are definitely also things for blondes to keep in mind when inspiration shopping…. Dark hair has this amazing ability to showcase shape in a stunning way - think glam waves and the impact of a dark head of hair vs waves that are blonde. Blonde’s just don’t have the depth or contrast that brunette has.
I think blondes who show these pics that are almost always two packs of extensions, black to dark brown waves are looking for that sultry impact that they have, and again, with the blonde, it will never photograph the way a brunette will, but it’s more about the vibe she wants, anyway.
I like to ask brides what they’re trying to give. Like how the kids say “it’s giving……” because to me, that’s more telling than anything. Are we looking to give chic… trendy… romantic…. undone… sexy… timeless… classic…. bold… organic…. feminine…beachy… boho…rich… playful…bridal… etc!
Hair type….& why it matters!
Fine, medium or coarse hair is a description of the diameter of one single hair strand. Take one single hair and run it in between your pointer finger and thumb - does it feel as thin as a spider web - or is it thicker like a thread? The smaller the diameter, the finer the hair, the wider the diameter, the coarser the hair.
Thin to thick is an explanation of how much hair density you have.. another way to think about this is to picture one square inch section of your hair - someone with thin hair will have less follicles/roots/hair strands in that square inch than someone with thicker hair who have more.
That is why someone can have very fine, thick hair… or coarse thin hair, or fine thin hair or medium to coarse medium hair. Hopefully that’s making sense.
The next thing to consider is your wave pattern which ranges from straight to extremely curly. You hair lies somewhere along that spectrum. And parts of your hair can be in different wave patterns than others.
Wave pattern can be changed via heat or chemicals. (curling straight hair / straightening curly hair ) The hair diameter, not so much. There are products that claim to thicken the hair diameter, however these are temporary solutions and will not change the thickness of the diameter of your new growth. Thickness of hair can be changed greatly via diet and hair product practices and scalp wellness - as well as more extreme solutions such as surgery. Check out YouTube for peoples natural hair growth journeys.
Okay, cool & why does it matter to me (a bride)…
Knowing your hair type will further help you choose your hair inspiration, or it will help you discover what it will take to achieve what you want.
Hair prep can be very important when it comes to achieving your wedding hair. Maybe your bridal stylist knows you need a blow out the night before the wedding, or maybe you need to air dry your curly hair - maybe after finding your inspiration photos you realize you need to adjust your hair color, or purchase hair extensions.
All of these variables are best discussed with your hair stylist(s). They should be able to communicate clearly about where you’re at, where you’d like to get and how to go about it all.
phew. sorry for the novel!
-Kels
