Patrick cameron presents spellbound for salon international
Glamorous is the word usually associated with Patrick Cameron's long hair styling but his latest collection, unveiled exclusively at Salon International today, took this love of glamour to new heights.
Spellbound: The Lost Art of Vintage Hair was a celebration of the most beautiful hairstyles from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, given a 2012 update and broken down into easy steps using Patrick's trademark tips and techniques.
"There's not enough glamour in our lives," said Patrick. "So this show is all about just that. I've noticed in my travels and education that not many young hairdressers know the classic techniques that we older hairdresser take for granted. I want to change that, but to look forward we must look back."
What followed was a hairdressing history lesson with styles from each era recreated in an apparently effortless style by the maestro of long hair dressing.
Fingerwaves, rolls, chignons and beehives were all broken down into easy-to-follow steps with Patrick using his own range of padding, accessories and styling products to achieve the looks.
Travelling through time, Patrick started with 20s and 30s looks which he acknowledged were enjoying a revival thanks to Downton Abbey. Classic waves created with butterfly clips were first up, followed by historically-accurate styles that were flat to the head for a small shape and brushed-out pin curl sets with texture.
Next up were 1940s looks - styled lower on the head with fuller shapes at the back and plenty of rockabilly-esque rolls. In typical Patrick style, looks were made more simple with the use of padding; rather than fiddling with rolls on top of the head, hair was simply wrapped around the Patrick Cameron Crown Lift Pad on either side of the head. His second look from this era was a more modern update on vintage styles, with a quiffed roll full of texture.
Moving to the 1950s, Patrick explained that this era was all about setting hair for looks that were flat at the back with movement at the front.
A classic updo got a modern update with knots and twists while a classic chignon got a glamorous finish with studded jewel pins throughout.
The final era of the show was the 1960s with a spectacular towering beehive covered in looping barrel curls and adorned with a golden bow and a voluminous bouffant that Betty Draper would be proud of.
"You can never have enough glamour," said Patrick - and as a capacity audience took to their feet in appreciation, it seems as though there's certainly a demand for it.
