By far, my most requested hairstyle tutorial has been pin curls.  I hope this is a help to all those vintage style girls out there looking for a way to do pin curls!

These can be tricky at first if you are new to more involved hair styling. Pin-curls are a 1940's staple, and are necessary for many 1930s and 1950s hairstyles as well.

First of all, find a setting lotion that works well with your hair type. This may take some trial and error, so be patient, ladies!

Start with washed hair, and let it air dry or blow dry so that it is still damp. It is most useful to put setting lotion into an atomizer (plus, lots more fun!) because it can be applied more evenly. Comb through hair and part into sections. If following a certain style set, curl in the directions that it will need to go in the final style.  Wind the curl around your finger making sure that the strand isn't twisted in any manner that would disrupt the direction of the curl.  Once the end is started, it is easier to roll up the rest of the way. For more wavy curls, roll pin curls in a spiral, a tightly curled center with a loosely curled outer. For more ringlet styles, remember to keep the curls uniform and make a little donut shape. Pin with bobby pins (best for spiraled pin curls) or regular hair pins (better for pin curls that don't lay as flat). To make waves along the face, wave clips can be used, but are hard to sleep in and best for use with hairdryers. Avoid rolling ends too tightly, or they will be frizzy, to avoid this, keep a slightly hollow center, about 1/2" to 1" depending on the amount of frizz your hair is getting, and it should come out with a fine curl. Sections of hair can be from ½ inch to 1½ inch thickness, depending on how thick the hair is, or how it behaves to curling.

The photo to the left was done with smaller tighter curls. To make my hair fluffy, I blow dried the roots of my hair until they were nearly dry, and sprayed half setting lotion/ half water on the ends to curl.  This is a great trick if you have fine hair, or if your hair tends to not be dry by morning.  It adds great body and life to the pin curl set as well.  As you can see in the picture, for a peroxide blonde as myself, it's a good alternative to washing my hair everyday and damaging it further!

In the photo to the right, you can see a very classic style for the finished pincurl set.  It was gently brushed through. The bangs I had at the time were curled to one side with the pincurl left standing up during the set to give height to the front of the hairstyle.  Done on shoulder length hair, this style is quite easy and low maintenance.  Even if you mess up some, when it is brushed out it comes together alright.  My hair was parted in back pulling some more hair back than usual to add fullness to the back which often looks flat from pincurling.  This style can work great if you go between decades a lot, it works with 1930's, 1940's, & 1950's outfits just great! I think I wore this one a lot during my "Beatnick" phase! It's not too showy and it works well for most gals.

In the photo below, these pin curls were done with more of a spiraling  curl, which is how I usually do mine to create gentle waves on the top and tight curls on the bottom.  Remember that the back of your hair will have to have tighter curls all along the bottom to keep it neat.

Despite the difficulty this may be to master, after only a few sets you should find it easier to do and take less and less time. Actually, this is a very low maintenance style because it can be done the night before, and only needs to be brushed out in the morning and dolled up with just a few pins (wonderful for ladies who just aren't morning people). And sets like this can double up on evenings with a just a few more pins! A set can last from one to five days if kept up at night in a snood or scarf. So with a little bit of patience in learning this technique, a girl can get to just being a girl!

Try setting your hair in between commercials when watching tv, or listening to the radio, and it will help you be a little more patient. If a pin curl doesn't look right, start over.

If you are having a lot of trouble curling, you may be in need of a proper hair cut.  Keeping your hair well trimmed will give you even layers to work with and make your job of pin curling that much easier.

Below is an example of pin curls in a very windy situation, when done correctly pin curls hold up well to wind.  And to give you an idea of how pin curls shorten the look of your hair, note that my hair was a little past shoulder length.  Shoulder length hair cuts will work best for pin curls and most vintage styles, but longer hair can be styled similarly.  If, for example, you pincurl your long hair, use the loose, spiraled pincurl like the ones shown above and you will have a look more like Veronica Lake when it is brushed out.  In the photo below, my hair was just fingercombed, no brushing, and you can see the result is tighter and more defined curls.