Two weeks + 6 books + laptop = HEAVEN.
Here's my contribution to keeping the thread going. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about actually finishing my WIP after trudging unhappily through an Official First Draft of the prologue and Chapter One. There are so many missing scenes and holes ahead of me that it weighed on my mind. But I happened upon a YouTube video that gave me renewed vigor!
I had watched one on dressing an 18th century woman, so get recommendations of similar videos, one of which was on papillotte curls. Papillotte refers to parchment (even though the curls are also called "butterfly curls" probably confusing it with the French word for butterfly which is papillion). The hair is divided into strands, pomaded, twisted into curls and the curls are then wrapped in paper. Then you take a "pinching iron" which looks like a pair of big old tongs with shallow cups at the ends, and pinch the curl with them.
The paper protects the hair from burning - and with pomade on it, I imagine it might be pretty flammable. The iron isn't red-hot, apparently, but one slip on the part of the hairstylist and you could probably get a nasty burn. So when you show up at a party, everyone is wondering: is that odd red mark on your neck a pinching iron burn or a giant hickey? Inquiring minds want to know! Me, I can't see anyway waving a hot iron anywhere near my precious eyes, so I'd be the chick wearing the unfashionable wig.
Anyway, this information percolated in my brain and my brain turned it into a scene with my heroine and her best friend curling each other's hair for a ball, before which my heroine will be (kind of ) married to the hero in an illegal wedding ceremony. The scene yielded new and intriguing character development for the best friend, and showed the depth of their friendship and love for one another. It moved the plot along, and made a bridge to the wedding scene.
Needless to say, I'm going to scour YouTube for more 18th century research. You never know the big dividends some odd little bit of info might pay out!