An essential tool of your eighteenth-century toilette is the humble papillote paper, a triangular piece of tissue paper used to hold in place and protect curls or crapes when they are heated with the iron. It takes a little practice to fold and twist the papers (here), but you’ll get the hang of it in no time.
• Tissue paper (enough to make a goodly stack of papillote papers)
• Ruler
• Scissors
1. Fold your tissue paper evenly as many times as needed to achieve a measurement of approximately 8 x 6 inches (20 x 15 cm).
2. Using the ruler, draw a 5 x 5–inch (12.7 x 12.7–cm) square, then bisect it diagonally into two triangles.
3. Cut the triangles out. If you have any folds from step 1 remaining, cut those apart as well.
4. Now you have a stack of papillote papers, ready to get your curl on.