MAKING WAVES
Backstage at DKNY, Bumble and Bumble's Jimmy Paul describes the look as "a cool girl with soft, romantic waves, very Charlotte Gainsbourg." Perfect. This is the hair I've always wanted: polished but touchable, like those Breck Girl ads. First, Paul asks me to soak the models' manes from root to tip with a thickening spray. After blow-drying, he hands me a curling iron. He's trusting me with hot tools? Fake it till you make it, right?
"We want the hair flat on the top and wavy on the bottom," explains Paul, who also teaches me to open and close the clamp every few seconds so the hair doesn't get too hot. In total, it takes only eight seconds until the hair's set, but it feels like an eternity to my already sore arms. After each ringlet is released from the iron, I'm instructed to pin up the curl so it will cool but retain its shape. Then I brush out the curls, rub styling cream on my hands, and finger-comb the ends "to get rid of the Miss-America-pageant waves." A cloud of hairspray all over is the final touch. One girl done ... 50 to go.
