Check out our newly priced in-depth tutorial movies, on our movies page.

2012 looks set to be the year of retro glamour. From the recent movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (featured last month.) To Michelle Williams’ portrayal of iconic style legend Marilyn Monroe, in the movie “My Week with Marilyn.” We don’t really do politics here, but if we did, we might talk about the global economic slump sending us scurrying off to our perceptual time-machines to escape the present. Whatever the reason, there is a huge nostalgia for times past in cinema right now. So we thought we’d shamelessly jump on the vintage band-wagon and bring you a contemporary uniform layered haircut, topped off with styling inspired by 1950′s Hollywood glamour.

When we met up with our model Roza. Her gorgeous vanilla highlights had begun to dry the ends of what was otherwise fantastically great hair! The solution was to take more than a third of her length off to get her hair back into top condition, while giving her a cut that is both contemporary and very versatile.

When we think of uniform layers, we tend to think of matronly, bobble-hat looking haircuts that you might find gracing the head of someone who has slightly given up on looking good… and that’s exactly the effect you might get if the hair is club-cut slightly too short but not short enough on a hair type that is totally unsuitable. So what is the secret?

The key is to establish the correct length, It’s got to be long enough to have that gorgeous soft, floppy bounce or crop it boy-short. Cut uniform layers in between those two extremes are you’re seriously risking wooly hat territory! Why? Because uniform layering is a great way to add volume for a chunky look. The technique works really well to beef up typically fine Northern & Eastern European hair types, and definitely works best on slightly wavy hair, where it encourages that natural bounce in mid-length cuts.

The trick with Rosa’s vintage look is to keep the ends of the hair soft and textured without deviating from that very structured uniform layered haircut. This creates perfectly blended layers throughout the head. The entire haircut is cut open without clipping the hair into sections. Cutting without formal sectioning is a wonderfully free and sculptural way of working that allows the stylist to relate every hair to every other hair on the head, for perfect symmetry and balance. Check out our full length tutorial movie for step-by-step details on this cutting method. As well as some great tips on fast hot-tool styling to create photo-shoot-ready vintage curls.

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Concept/Photography/Hair: Neil North MA.
Make-up: Cornelia Page.
Model: Roza Anna.

© Neil North & totalRestyle.com (All rights reserved.)

Usually it would be a bit early to start thinking about the next Autumn/Winter season. That is, if it wasn’t for the hype around a late 2012 cinema release of the latest adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. That trademark look of the mid-1920′s, with sleek bobbed hair, red lips and pale & interesting skin tones, couldn’t have come sooner for those eager to backlash against the rise of fake tan and hair extensions. As the beauty pages of fashion mags around the world explode with flapper-glamour, we thought we’d do some research to see how they did it back in the day.

You could be forgiven for thinking that getting an undercut is about the most contemporary thing you could do. Well it pretty much is, but that doesn’t make it original… By piecing together traditional barbering techniques used in 1920′s hairdressing and combining them with contemporary methods, we’ve taken the iconic look of the early 20th Century and updated it for the 21st… With a combination of old-skool clipper cutting and contemporary scissor work, we’ve created a look that will hold it’s shape, almost without styling and a hemline that swings like the Charleston!

Our full-length step-by-step tutorial movie showing you how to create this classic cut is:
Available for download here.

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Concept/Photography/Hair: Neil North MA.
Make-up: Cornelia Page.
Model: Stella S @ totalRestyle.

© Neil North & totalRestyle.com (All rights reserved.)

Ever wished that you could transform yourself like an xmas party superhero – from chic corporate goddess to wickedly wayward party vamp with a few spritzes of hairspray in the office toilets? Our next tutorial movie features presenter/model Zoe going for the ultimate in versatile holiday-season party hair… Clever graduation allows this classic A-line shape to be worn sleek & chic as well as wonderfully wild. The secret lies in the subtly powerful graduation that defines this haircut. The clever part is packing all of that fabulous graduation in, without compromising the quintessential concave-bob outline. A great staple for advanced students and graduates to learn, for those clients who want a strong, classic cut with superhero tendencies. The full ‘Quick-Change Bob’ tutorial movie is now available to download.

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Concept/Photography/Hair: Neil North MA.
Assisted by: Justin Van Wade.
Make-up: Cornelia Page.
Model: Zoe @ totalRestyle.

© Neil North & totalRestyle.com (All rights reserved.)

Remember Ellen from our first video tutorial release? Well, we hooked up again recently to plan an Autumn/Winter update of her look. This time with a bit more ‘edge.’