Rachel Peters Talk Shop: Cutting Bangs is a Critical Skill

by Rachel Peters Talks Shop on Monday, February 8th, 2010

Rachel Peters has been a stylist in Austin, TX for nine years. She has worked in salons and spas of all kinds specializing in hair cutting, coloring, and on-site wedding hair & makeup in Central Texas. Rachel blogs about interesting new trends in the salon industry and life as a CurlStylist. Other interests include karaoke, mustaches, and YouTube kittens. For questions, comments or to schedule a consultation, visit Lovely Day Hair & Makeup.

Bangs
Are that on which the world hangs
I’m only holding your hand so I can look at your bangs
- They Might Be Giants “Bangs”

short blunt bangs

Ah yes, bangs. Fringe, wisps. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, but no matter what, stylists have to learn to cut them correctly. Nothing says “deal-breaker” quicker than a client whose hair stylist can’t cut her bangs. In my first year as a stylist, I worked at the mall. Ugh. I ran into a lot of characters, some of my most loyal clients, and some clients you’d expect from … the mall. One such client was a woman who came in for a cut and style. She had dark, waist-length, permed hair with the biggest poof of teased bangs I’d ever seen. Now, this was not twenty years ago. This was 2003. This woman had been rocking ’80s bangs for quite some time. So I, like any conceited, young stylist, tried to gently nudge her into the 21st century.

I began by asking her how much she would like trimmed, how she typically styled her hair each day (which involved a can of Paul Mitchell’s Sculpting Foam and a gallon of Freeze & Shine), and if she had ever thought about wearing her bangs to the side. The answer was a gentle “no,” so I kept prodding. I trimmed the ends, added some layers, and casually trimmed the bangs. I didn’t make any sudden changes, because my plan was only to style the bangs differently. You know, just to show her how to love herself again by unveiling her true beauty…again conceited, young stylist.

long blunt bangs

After scrunching the permed ends (always a painful memory), I took a medium round brush and blow dryer and swept the bangs over to one side. She eyed me in the mirror, and I was imagining she thought I was a genius. But without missing a beat, she snatched that brush out of my hand, picked up a hot 1″ curling iron from another stylist’s station, and went to town on her brown poof. This was not her first merry-go-round. She yanked one section back, clamped one section forward, and teased the two together into one clump of a rat’s nest. It looked like she pulled a wad of hair out of a dirty brush, rubbed it in a dog’s bed, and stuck it to her forehead. “There,” she barked, “maybe that’ll teach you a thing or two about fixin’ hair.”

I couldn’t believe it. I could feel my face flush and my heart begin to race. And before I could stop myself I heard the words coming out of my mouth. “Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t learn to do hair in 1982.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Needless to say, she did not become a loyal, returning client.

Learning to cut bangs correctly can be daunting. A lot can depend on the texture and color of the hair. There are a few basic rules to follow:

1. For blunt bangs, rely on shears perpendicular to the forehead. No angling or the fringe will have layers.And if you’re going blunt, stick with super long or super short bangs. None of this “in-between” nonsense.
2. Sideswept bangs are a delicate art. Don’t simply cut straight bangs and push them to one side. Learn to over-direct the hair to the opposite side you intend the hair to sweep. If the client wants bangs sweeping to the left, I like to stand on her right. I pull the entire section towards the right side of her face and cut straight across. This creates a diagonal line where the right side is the shortest point and the left is the longest, hence the sweep.


“wispy” bangs

3. “Wispy” bangs, or bangs that are so transparent you can see the client’s forehead underneath, are OUT OF STYLE.

Wait a few more years, and they’ll come back in style.

If you’re working with a cowlick, first try to coax the client away from bangs all together. If that doesn’t work, try a sideswept bang where the majority of the hair rests on the cowlick and “weighs it down.”

Take the time to learn and bangs can become a breeze.

Cutting Curls

by Michelle Breyer on Thursday, February 4th, 2010

When it comes to working with curls, the options seem endless. In no area is that more apparent than cutting techniques, where a growing number of philosophies that are evolving as curl empowerment has taken hold – both in the chair as well as behind it.

We talked to some pioneering texture experts who have developed their own approaches to working with waves, curls and kinks. Their varied approaches illustrate the challenges and rewards of working with texture. When it comes to texture, there is no place for a one-size-fits-all approach.

Curl Expert: Ouidad “Queen of Curl,” a pioneer in the curly world who opened the world’s first salon 26 years ago devoted to curly hair

Cutting Technique: Carve-and-Slice method

Depending on the density of the hair, she slices – takes a little – or carves - takes a lot. You go to the depth of the curl, following the curvature of the curl and allowing the curls to puzzle into each.

You cut the hair in sections, shaking it to see the tightness and start of the wave pattern to see how it stacks. You either slice or carve so that the curls sit inside each other. You never cut closer than 3 inches to the scalp to prevent the hair from puffing out.

Ouidad always cuts curly hair when it’s wet.

“Curly hair doesn’t dry the same, so it’s very difficult to cut it dry. You need to know the curvature of the curl in its natural state,” Ouidad says.

Curl Expert: Shari Harbinger of Devachan Salon, trains and inspires both new and seasoned hairdressers interested in working with texture

Cutting Technique: Dry Cutting

When stylists at Devachan Salon prep for a curly cut, they know to trust their intuitive eye and their visual eye.

“You can’t really understand that if the hair is wet because you’re not seeing the hair as you wear it, in its natural form, which is dry,” says Shari Harbinger, who emphasizes that curls should be cut only when the hair is dry.

Before an appointment at Devachan, clients are asked to stop shampooing their curly locks one to two weeks before their cut, although daily conditioning is recommended. When they step into the stylist’s chair, clients are required to arrive with their hair dry and in its natural state, uncombed and without any products in it at all.

“We look at the face shape, the hair, the curl type, the hydration level, and all those factors will determine where we cut, and how much we cut,” Harbinger adds.

The only tools in a Devachan curly cut are scissors and the stylist’s hands — no combs or brushes.
“Combs aren’t necessary because you’re then stretching the curl out of its natural form, which defeats the whole purpose of cutting curly hair in its natural order,” she says.

Curl Expert: Jonathan Torch founder of the Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute

Cutting Technique: Jonathan Torch studies curly hair when it’s dry to look at the direction the hair grows, but he always cuts hair when it’s wet.

“That way I can see the grouping of the curls and the way the curls bounce,” Torch says. “We look at the individual curls and choose the size of the curl. In order to make a ringlet, the hair has to rotate 2.5 times, otherwise you get wings.”

Since every curly head has more than one curl pattern, Torch recommends against traditional layers for curly hair.

“Even layers do not work in curly hair,” Torch says. “We have developed a technique called curly layers, and it’s all about creating unevenness, breaking it up.”

If you’re looking for height, volume or bounce, Torch suggests telling your stylist exactly that.

“You have to change your terminology. If you want volume, say you want volume. Don’t say you want layers because you’re going to be upset with the result,” Torch warns.

Curl Expert: Christo Artistic Director of New York’s Christo Fifth Avenue Salon

Curl Technique: Christo has always believed curly hair should be cut wet.

“Curly hair, when you cut it dry, won’t have the freedom of style,” Christo says. “You may wear your hair curly 90 percent of the time, but maybe the other 10 percent, you want to wear your hair in glamorous waves or you want to blow it straight. I think you should have that option.”

Your textured mane should only be combed (wide-tooth comb only!) when it’s wet and then allowed to bounce back, according to Christo. “That way you can see how the curl is going to bounce, and then you cut accordingly,” he explains. “If the hair is dry, how is it going to bounce? It doesn’t.”

Since there may be many textures on one curly head, Christo may choose to texturize tresses using regular scissors, channel scissors or a double-blade razor on wavy, coarse hair.

“Some people have wavy hair on the bottom, while it’s curly on the top, so you can texturize the bottom in long angle layers, but you have to know to know what you’re doing,” Christo says. “You want the waves to lock into each other — not become bushy and frizzy.”

After the hair is cut and then dried with a diffuser, Christo may make a few touch-up snips on a dry mane, but without combing the hair or disturbing the curl.

Curl Expert: Kevin Murphy the “Texture Master,” editorial and session stylist

Cutting Technique: Lacing

Lacing involves cutting into a wave formation free hand. This loosens up the top of the hair without layering it.

You section the hair on top of the head either side of the part. The section should be about 2 inches on each side of the part. Because it is a freehand technique, no tension is applied to the hair as you cut in freehand to form a wave. Begin cutting from the ends of the hair toward the roots. Treat each section separately, and only blend visually. “This slight layering of the top of the head allows you to keep the weight in the hair and gives it the touch of poofiness on the crown area,” Murphy says. “The trick is not to go too deep as this is a subtle look.”

Curl Expert: Diane Da Costa textured hair expert, Mizani multi-textured expert / creative consultant and author of “Textured Tresses”

Cutting Technique: Free-Hand Slice

Da Costa uses this technique to add more texture to hair, slicing into the hair toward the ends and point cutting straight down into the hair from ends to hand placement. She holds the hair out at a 45-degree angle, letting it fall freely, slicing directly into the hair up to one to two inches form the ends.