The Pageboy Tutorial

Ever since I used curling tongs to create a lovely Pageboy hairstyle, I have been determined to teach myself how to do the same style but by setting, a much more hair friendly method. Like all vintage setting styles, practise makes perfect but I have found this quite an easy one to do as there are only six sections to set. I use rollers to set my hair, rather than pin curls as I must admit that I still have to master that technique! Rollers give a great heat free styling option that works every time once you know where to put the rollers to work for you.

I must also add that when I compare pictures of my Pageboy done by a set and curling tongs, the set picture looks much more authentic!

To begin the set, separate the hair into six sections. This can depend on how thick the hair is, but I do have very thick hair and this method works fine.

Part your hair as you would normally. I always begin with the smaller side which my fringe isn’t on as there is normally a little bit less hair.

1. Section One: Hair from just in front of the crown parted diagonally to the point at the tip of the ear.
2. Section Two:  I imagine a vertical line down from the point near the crown that I began section one from, to the hairline at the base of the neck.
3. Section Three:  A semi circle of hair around the crown that will mainly be backcombed
4. Section Four:  A rectangle underneath the hair in section three.
5. Section Five:  Take the hair out that will be in your fringe and part in a similar way to Section One.
6. Section Six: This should be the remaining hair just behind the ear on the fringe side.

 I use rollers that I recently bought from Boots for around £2 (these are them!). I add a large foam roller for the section at the crown as this gives a looser set to get the dramatic U shape of a Pageboy set. Don’t forget a spray or two (or three!) of setting lotion before putting the rollers in!
 

Now comes for the scary bit, adding the rollers. My top tip here is to really think about the end result when adding the rollers. Think of the classic U Shape of the pageboy and roll the hair to recreate this. To put the rollers in Sections One and Two, I roll the hair upwards with the plastic bit of the roller at the bottom.  I like to end up with the rollers fastened in place vertically to almost create a ringlet once taken out later. I use the same technique for Sections Five and Six except I find it easier to have the plastic securing bit of the roller at the top, because I am right handed it helps me to secure the roller in really tightly. For Section Four, I do sometimes add two rollers, to continue the U shape well for both sides of the head, however it does work fine with one. Put the roller in, rolling it up underneath. I sometimes slightly twist the roller so that the hair is slightly more set to the side which has least hair. If I do this, I then add the roller for Section Three slightly twisted in the opposite direction to that of Section Four. I hope this makes sense! My thinking is that the U shape will be a continuation along the hairline, rather than the hair parting down the back and falling to each side.

Add a quick blast of hairspray and a headscarf and get some beauty sleep!

The beauty of this set is that it is relatively quick and easy to style in the morning as the curls are quite large and loose. Remove all rollers very carefully and I generally encourage the hair back into ringlets once the rollers are out. You should look very old fashioned with a head of ringlets! I then take a large round bristle brush and gently brush underneath the hair to loosen the set. I use my other hand (that isn’t holding the brush) to smooth and shape the hair up and under into the pageboy style. If you get any fluff, don’t worry, just keep brushing out and smoothing around and underneath and you will be perfectly pageboyed! A little backcombing to Section Three and sorting the fringe, however you would like seals the deal and you are ready to go!

I hope you find this useful, and would love to hear how you get on!

Hannah xxx