Urban Tribal Updo

I haven’t been feeling so good about my appearance lately, but one of the things I’ve found that aids in ameliorating this state is doing something absurd to my hair for no particular occasion or reason besides amusement.

I messily pinned up my multicolored tresses this morning before making the rounds on Capital Hill in Seattle. I started with damp, clean hair and added a metric crapton of inexpensive super hold gel. I scrunched my limp locks until they carried a light wave, coated them with equally cheap strong hairspray, and blow-dried my hair upside down until it was just on this side of wet. I grabbed the shorter, purple section of the front of my hair, pushed it forward to gain body, and messily pinned it to the top of my head. I then scooped up the sides of my hair and twisted it back on itself loosely, and pinned it on my head behind the first bunch. I swept the lower sides of my a-line haircut toward my occipital protrusion, and pinned it in a twist to keep it out of my face.

I finished the updo with more crunchy hairspray and slid three long porcupine quills into one side. I covered the hub of hairpins at the crown of my head with two black and white marabou feather clips. I was tempted to add to my face a trail of bindis and a deep red moko (chin tattoo), but decided that would be pushing it for a jaunt in the snow to the tea shop.

The quills came from The Bone Room in Berkeley, California. The feather clips were a gift from a friend but could easily be remade with bits of marabou boa and springy hairclips.

Despite the ‘do sounding complicated, it really only took me a few minutes from start to finish and definitely lifted my mood.