Hair--Read All About It : New books, videos and gizmos give the lowdown on those fancy styles.
Do-it-yourself French braids and elaborate up-do’s are coming to a head near you--and it isn’t due to patient moms or hairdressers alone.
Intricate styles such as these are taught to anyone with a few bucks willing to buy one of a number of new books, videos and gizmos designed for even the most amateur beauty school dropout.
Bullock’s latest video offering, “Tress to Impress,” is from Jontee. It plays continually--and is sold--in the hair accessory area alongside the bows and combs. The hourlong video includes demonstrations and tips on how to style hair using various tools. The video, which sells for $15, is designed for women ages 15 to 50 and is available in all Bullock’s stores, including the Fashion Square Sherman Oaks store.
Elsewhere in the mall, the Hairdini is the hottest selling hair tool at Accessory Lady. It is available with an instruction book at $15, or with a five-minute video at $20.
The Hairdini is a long, pencil-shaped tool covered in foam that is designed to catch the hair without pulling it. The tool is worn in the hair to hold it in position. With it, women can create about a dozen styles, including French twists and wraps, intricate buns and cascading styles.
Another of the store’s tools for tresses is the Hair Scroo. Sold in sets of two for $10, these tiny wire corkscrew-shaped pieces are similar in appearance and function to bobby pins. They are available in several colors.
The Ratz is another of the store’s new hair gizmos. This mesh lump, generically called a rat, rose to popularity in the early 20th Century but waned with the advent of natural long hair and blow-dry cuts in the late ‘60s. The Ratz is available in tube and doughnut shapes to facilitate various styles with greater ease. Each is designed to be wrapped with natural hair and, like the Hair Scroo, comes in different colors designed to complement a variety of natural hair shades. The Ratz is ideal for elaborate Victorian holiday styles.
At Bookstar in Woodland Hills, a variety of braid books tempt readers and closet amateur hairstylists. In paperback are “Beautiful Braids” (Random House, $4), and its companion volume, “More Beautiful Braids (Random House, $4). In hardcover are “Braids and More” (Ingram Book Co., $19.95), and “Braids and Styles for Long Hair” (Ingram Book Co., $19.95).
But the most popular book at the Woodland Hills store is “Braids & Bows” (Klutz Press, $17.95). The book is written to assist girls ages 4 and up to braid, twist and roll a variety of special-occasion hairstyles. The colorful selection of barrettes, bows and other accessories included with the purchase and visible under clear wrap atop the book’s front account for the book’s popularity, said Bookstar manager Robin Longmire.
“Longer hairstyles are so popular now, and they are lending themselves to the popularity of braiding techniques,” Longmire says, adding that she expects the books to remain popular until the long-hair craze subsides.
