Karen:(or anyone) Patrick Cameron's Book Questions

Hi Tammy,I did not tease my hair nor did my stylist. I have very thick hair that will "bulk up" appropriately. I am not opposed to teasing my hair....every once in awhile...carefully. However, for the styles that Shelley did she did not tease my hair. We discussed it and she felt there was no nead to do that.If your hair is waist length, that may mean you have enough hair...thickness wise...to compensate for the teasing and not require it.Patrick does tease the hair on most of the styles but I would like to mention that the hair on the women in this book of "Dressing Long Hair" is not super long. In most cases the hair seems to stop about bra length. So if you have really long hair like yours or mine, the length can substitute...in many cases for the teasing requirement.I also believe that the styles are best used as "patterns" and can be modified to fit each individual hair type and texture.If you refer to the article below, you will see my hair in the Cameron French Twist right under the actual photo from the book. The only difference is the thickness of our Twists. The Cameron model has "bigger" hair as a result of the teasing.As you can see, the style can be done as beautifully without teasing as with.I believe that Patrick has some fabulous styles in his book and besides the French Twist which is shown on the page below, I have personally did the Nape Knot myself on several ocassions. This style does not use teasing at all.I also did the Edwardian Roll myself and had my stylist do it and it turned out pretty good.Another trick you can use to get fullness without teasing is to use a "hair ratt" which is an instant volumizer. Ivana Trump wears them to give her the "big hair" rolls that she wears all the time.I guess my answer is....no you don't have to tease you hair. I don't think it is bad for once in awhile events, although I personally try to work around it. I think any of Patrick's styles can be done in a modified way or if your hair is thick enough and long enough, that compensates for the height.Another thing to keep in mind is that Patrick is an Internaional hair artiste. Therefore he will tend to be most concerned about the perfect outcome and less concerned about whether to tease or not. So that is probably something he just doesn't worry about.You and I and anyone with long hair does worry about any unnecessary damage to the hair.Start simple. Try the Nape Knot or the French Twist. If you want more "volume" there are several things you can do to "plump up your hair" including using a volumizing shampoo and conditioner (ARTec makes a great one) and also setting your hair on giant rollers and gently drying it.The beauty of Patrick's book is that is unleashes...in my opinion....a whole new world of possibilities for new styles for long haired women. You have no idea how many emails I get from women who are bored with their long hair and want "new styles". Patrick offers new ideas.Yes, you are right to be concerned about teasing but the key is to modify and put your own spin on the styles and you can still wow people. Just like everything else, developing awesome new styles takes a little practice.Send us some photos when you get the styles down pat.Best wishes,Karen> Karen, I read your review of Patrick Cameron's book in> which you said you had tried several of the styles out> yourself (or had it done by your stylist) including> the Top Roll. I've had the book for several months now> and would like to try many of the styles out on my> thick waist length straight hair, but I'm a> tease-a-phobic and am frightened by the thought of all> the backcombing. Yet I read your artical on french> twists which talks about the need for back-combing,> and I must assume you teased your hair as called for> in the top roll (and from the picture it looks like> you need to tease it a lot!), and would like your> feedback and personal experiences on the subject. How> much did you do it? How did you get it out and how> long did it take? What styles have you tried? When the> stylist starts backcombing do you close your eyes and> shudder or what?> Personally I'd like to try the top roll, the roll, the> tiffany, the french pleat, the alternative pleat, the> bouffant, the loop, and the sculpt but all require> backcombing. Have you tried any of these? Would they> even work with hair as long as mine? Am I right to be> fearful of teasing altogether or is it OK for special> occassions if done correctly? How do I know if it is> being teased "correctly"? It certainly would> be fun to be able to do some of these styles. It would> definitly wow my friends and boyfriend.> Karen or anyone, please respond soon.Related Link:Patrick Cameron's French Twist

Thanks for the quick response. Do you have any other pictures of yourself with your hair in these styles? Also, what advice would you give to women who do need to tease their hair to get these styles ( I have friends who've seen the book and are in awe of it but have hair the same length or shorter than the models)?Finally, how should I go about finding a stylist to do these styles. I don't even know what questions to ask over the phone, and going shop to shop could take forever, and I'm still not sure I'd know what questions to ask, and I'm also quite sure that most everyone would say they could do the styles.