by Candice DeVille | Nov 12, 2015 | CDV Vintage Salon, Vintage Weddings
Relaxing, glamorous and elegant our new vintage hair and makeup space in Melbourne is all a girl could dream of.
Looking for the perfect space for our vintage hair and makeup salon in Melbourne was no easy task.
We wanted something intimate and warm with a truly vintage heart. Simple shop fronts felt to cold, or too busy, we needed to find a place where you can truly relax and enjoy the whole experience of a vintage styling day.
Years of collecting skills, stories and vintage beauty ephemera, meant I had a wonderful stash of pieces that needed to be both showcased and shared. Now we can.
With wedding season in full swing and holidays just around the corner, our salon is a hive of glamorous activity. The sounds of Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole accompany the golden bubbles of Proseco and the sparkles of special occasion bling. There is a wonderful sense of memory making as we go about our work.
If you’ve been meaning to book in for your holiday looks or treat someone special to a vintage makeover gift voucher, now is the time to catch me before we head off for our Thanksgiving jaunt. Simply pop me an email and we’ll make some magic together!
by Candice DeVille | Feb 28, 2015 | CDV Vintage Salon, Vintage Weddings
I realised the other day that I’ve not shared my vintage styling work with you all in quite a while, and as it has been keeping me so very busy, it was overdue!
Valentines Day weekend was one of our busiest in a long time. The team and I rocked up to Ballarat in country Victoria to run a mini beauty salon for the Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival. I’ve learnt (the hard way) that these festivals are not something where you can combine business with pleasure. After eight or more solid hours on your feet, transforming ladies into visions of retro loveliness, what you really need is a cup of tea and a good lie down!
What I find particularly rewarding about these events is the diversity of women who come to see us. Women of all ages and very different backgrounds. Those who love makeup and getting dressed up on a regular basis, as well as those who haven’t touched a makeup brush in decades! Seeing the looks of delight as we reveal the transformations and the warm, heartfelt letters of thanks we received in the following week, is a reward beyond measure.
Seeing our work appear in bridal blogs and magazines is an honour I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. I had the pleasure of working with It’s Beautiful Here for an editorial shoot in Hello May. With beautiful gowns by Neveka, the ladies created a Jayne Eyre inspired bridal feel; complete with overgrown woodlands and wild flowers.
Working on Weddings and other special occasions is such an immense honour and privilege. Being invited in to someone’s personal space and helping them to create a perfect memory of their day, is nothing short of marvellous. Seeing the excitement, nerves and joy all bundled together in a room full of happy women as they prepare to make the big leap. Best friends tell stories of their years together and anxious family members potter about the kitchen making tea and sandwiches to keep themselves busy and focused.
While I’m often not there to see the final walk down the aisle, the pure joy and emotion that comes back from these talented photographers is something I’ll always treasure. My team and I travel all over the countryside (indeed all over Australia), bringing our brushes to bear on bridal parties of all backgrounds and ages.
This beautiful wedding was shot by Eric Ronald and featured in Rock N Roll Bride.
Now, as I look toward the rest of 2015, I’m planning out dates for our full day hair and makeup workshops for cities all around Australia. So if you would like to come and play with me one day, drop me a line!
by Candice DeVille | Sep 16, 2013 | 1940, 1950, CDV Vintage Salon, daily outfit, Hair
Since 1997 I have been trying to get this hair cut. Like many of you I have all kinds of pictures, illustrations and even original cutting diagrams. So the questions is, after such a very long time, why have I never been able to get this cut to happen correctly?
Although I’ve had some fabulous hairdressers over the years, I now understand what the difference is. It is all in the training. The modern hairdressing schools teach a very different style of cutting than was taught in years past. There is a myth out there that hairdressers all know how to do the same thing, and nothing could be farther from the truth. They all have different skills and different specialties.
For instance, the hair styling that I provide in my Melbourne based Vintage Hair and Makeup company, is far more complex and time consuming than what most hairdressers have ever tackled. It it what I live and breath, as well as requiring a very different skill set than those skilled colourists for instance. But I don’t cut, I don’t colour.
Last week I was recommended to a career hairdresser (Maggie Timms) who has had over 40 years experience and was taught the Vidal Sasson way of precision cutting. She has an excellent understanding of the finished styling I want to achieve, and although this cut isn’t asked for by her day to day client, the core requirement of specialty precision cutting remains. In no time at all, (and without any diagrams needed), she snipped away and created my 6inch middy hair cut.
It is perfection.
Although my regular colourist is also an excellent cutter, the difference between the close approximation of a 1940s or 1950s style hair cut I usually sport and this new cut, has made an incomparable difference. How can I tell? This cut looks perfect set or unset, it brushes out into so many different styles with the one set, and it has cut my rolling time by more than half.
In a nutshell, if you’re looking for the key to a successful Middy Cut, it isn’t in bringing pictures and diagrams, but in finding a long term hairdresser experienced in precision cutting.
What do you think?
What are the biggest problems you have when trying to explain your hair cut requests?
