HOW-TO: Create Finger Waves 1930s Gangster Style

Renowned hairstylist Eiji Yamane of Eiji Salon created sultry 1930s gangster finger waves for designer Zang Toi’s Fall/Winter NYFW collection, Paris of the Orient. “The inspiration behind the collection was Shanghai in the 1930s and the Art Deco style,” says Zang. “It was a very decadent time.” With a thriving shopping scene, Parisian-like cafés and grandiose movie theaters showing the latest Hollywood films the ‘30s were certainly a luxurious, prosperous time for Shanghai, the first metropolis of the Far East. A booming nightlife saw politicians, celebrities and some of history’s most famous gangsters rubbing elbows in the city’s most popular jazz clubs, adding a hint of danger to the era.

“We wanted to update and bring 1930s Shanghai to 2014. This woman is glamorous, sexy, beautiful and a little dangerous,” says Eiji. Zang adds, “The hair is perfectly coifed and seductive. The hair has a very socialite look.”

GET THE LOOK:

STEP 1: Take a section of hair from the top of the head and curl it with a 1” curling iron away from the face. Once you have the curl, clip it to keep its shape.

STEP 2: Using a boar-bristle brush dip into René Furterer Styling Wax and begin brushing the wax through the hair. This helps give the hair sheen and control flyaways. While brushing in the product, gather hair at the nape of the head into a low ponytail and hold it in place with a black bungee cord.

STEP 3: “Prior to the show we curled and clipped in hair extensions that matched each model’s hair color. To the side of the curl, we made earlier, we pin the base of the hair piece securely to the top of the head and clip the length of the piece along the side of the head.”

STEP 4: When unclipping the curl, split the strand into two and make a deep side part. With the hair closest to the extension, loop and wrap the client’s hair around the hair piece and begin to wave them seamlessly together. Once you reach the end of the hair piece, wrap the remainder of the model’s hair around the bungee cord of the ponytail.

STEP 5: Dip brush into styling wax and brush through the length of the ponytail to make hair completely smooth.

STEP 6: Taking the end of the ponytail, loop and roll it toward the base of the ponytail and pin it into place with bobby pins. The low bun should then be shaped and pinned towards the side of the head with the hair piece. “We created the shape by fanning the hair slightly. The bun isn’t meant to look overly complicated but there should be a nice flow from the side curl into the bun.”

STEP 7: Spray with René Furterer Glossing Spray. Take the remaining loose curl at the top of the head and pin the strand on the side of the head without the hair piece. Place clips into the strand to maintain the spiral, and then tuck the end into the base of the bun. Set hair with finishing spray.

“We kept all the clips in the hair until right before the models walked the runway so the curls wouldn’t lose their shape.”