Wednesday, April 7, 2010

M: A variation on 90 degree cut- men

I watched a haircut on a DVD today. This was a different approach in that it works from the top down instead of from the sides up. I will try to describe how it was performed. A summary will be at the end.






Hair was sprayed and combed to natural fall from the distribution point at the crown.






There was no initial sectioning or parting of the top hair. Because there was no sectioning of the hair it is unclear how clean the partings were especially on the sides of the sections. I have seen people at hair shows who did not feel partings or sections were necessary once you knew how to cut hair. This may be aimed at people who already have a lot of experience cutting. They may not need to see the partings which would outline the area where they are working.



Cutting was started in the back top. From the video it looked like the first section was across the top of the head from side to side. They began just behind the apex or possibly slightly into the crown area. It was suggested to take sections 1/4 to 1/2 ". The sections to be cut looked like they extended a couple of inches on either side of center. The hair was cut to about 3" of length. The hair was cut straight across the top so that it was flat with the ceiling. It did not follow the head shape.



This area looked like what would have been contained in a horse shoe shaped parting starting at the deepest part of the recession areas on each side.



The hair on top was cut only to the recession areas going forward. From the beginning of the recession area forward, it was left uncut.







Next the top is combed back. The cut hair at the top is then combed up in the center of the head. This is in a section running down the middle of the head from front to back. This contains all the hair cut on the top. It contains all the hair that would be found in the high horse shoe shaped parting described above.







At the back of this top center section, a 1/2 " section was combed up from the crown area to connect to the section running down the middle of the top. The hair is held at 90 degrees to the crown surface. The section in the crown was then cut using the height in the center section from the top as the guide. When this section in the crown in cut, it is cut to follow the head shape and it is not cut flat to the ceiling. This means the fingers holding the hair in the crown curve around the head shape in the crown. The hair in the crown section is cut following the holding fingers.







Once the crown section is cut, the section on top is cut down the middle from back to front. This is a continuation of what was cut in the crown. It is the same area that was cut to start the hair cut but it is now cut from back to front and it is cut to 90 degrees following the head shape. It is cut all the way to the front hairline.
( Cutting the hair in this section all at one time may be a short cut for people who know what they are doing. Other videos have shown this kind of section divided into several sections from front to back. Each would be 1/2 to 1 " in width. The center section would be cut first and then sections on the side would be cut by over directing them to the guide in the center section.)

( By cutting the hair in this section on top all at once some over direction is added to the haircut. The hair furthest from the center of the top section will be longer on each side of the section. These hairs are pulled up from the side of the top to the center making them longer than the hair pulled up from the center of the head. )







The next shown step is to cut the bangs. The hair on top is combed forward over the forehead. The hair in the middle of the forehead is now the guide. In this video the hair is cut from the center of the forehead across the forehead to the outer eyebrow.






The next part of the haircut is a connecting of the top with the sides. Hair from the top is picked up in sections going from the center of the head to the side of the head. The hair on the top is used as the guide. The hair on the top of the side where the head shape rounds from top to side is pulled out at 90 degrees from the head shape and cut to follow the head shape. This connecting cut was done from front to back on each side. It was continued to the crown area.
(In other videos I have seen this done starting from behind the ear and working forward. As the the recession area is reached, you can then decide if you want to direct hair back in the recession area to leave more coverage.)



Next the hair on the sides is combed down. Hair at the front hair line on the sides is combed forward from a section that is about 1" deep from the front hairline. This is cut along the skin to connect to the bangs which were previously cut. The hair around the ears is then trimmed around the ears. ( It is not clear why the hair at the front hair line and around the ears is done at this time. In other videos, these refinements to the cut are left until the sides are cut as described below.)



Now vertical sections are taken from the top of the side to the hair line. On one side of this haircut it looks like these sections are cut with some graduation. This means the fingers holding the hair are further from the top of the side vertical section than they are at the bottom of the vertical section. However on the other side it looks like the holding fingers are straight up and down. I suspect that on both sides the intent is to cut with the fingers straight up and down and the hair is cut flat to the wall. (If graduation is the desired cut for the side, the guides from the top of the side would be connected to the guide from the trimming around the ear.)



( In this video the holding fingers are pointed down and the hair is cut on top of the fingers. I have seen this technique used by many and I have also seen these vertical sections cut palm to palm with the fingers pointing up with the pads of the fingers facing you. Some people feel the palm to palm method allows them to check the cleanliness of the section and to be sure it is not over directed up or down or front to back.)



The vertical sections on the sides are done from the front hairline on each side and continued to behind the ears. This is not clear from the video.


At the back in the area of the nape hairline, a small 1/2 " horizontal section is taken and it is combed straight down. It is cut to the desired length. At least one more horizontal section is taken here. There may be more but it is not clear in the video. The audio portion of the DVD makes it seem that more than two sections are taken. If this is correct, there is no mention of how many sections to take and where to stop taking them.


Once the above horizontal sections are cut, the hair in the nape and up through the crown, is combed into the middle to make wide vertical sections. The center section would be cut first and then sections of each side would be cut by over directing the side section to the guide in the middle section. The over directing of the side sections to the middle leaves the sides longer than the middle and this allows for more coverage in the corners behind the ears .


This cut is then finished with final touches to blending and some trimming of the periphery.


Summary

1. On top of the head, imagine (or make) a horse shoe shaped parting starting at the deepest part of the recession on each side.

In the back of the horse shoe section take side to side partings and cut flat to the ceiling. Start in back and work to the recession area and stop.

2. Comb hair in horse shoe section back. Then comb it all to a center line from forehead through the crown. Cut the hair in the crown to the guide length from the top. This hair is cut to follow the head shape. Continue cutting the section on top to follow the head shape all the way to the front hair line. The hair on top is held in one section and cut down the middle of the top.

3. Cut bangs starting in the middle out to the outer limit of the eyebrow. Center guide is what was cut in step 2.

4. Connect the top to the side. Make sections on the top going from center to the curvature where the side connects to the top of the head. Pull the hair out 90 degrees from the curvature and cut to 90 degrees following the head shape. Work one side front to middle crown and then work the other side.


5. On front side hair line form a section about 1" deep and comb it forward toward the eye. Cut it to the same length as the bangs. Do same on other side.

6. Trim around ears and back side hairline.

7. On sides, take vertical sections. Cut these flat to the walls using the top hair at the curvature of the head and the hair in the front side hairline as the guides. Work to behind the ears.

8. In nape area take horizontal sections starting at the hair line. Cut to desired length following the curvature of the neck. Take more horizontal sections working up to the crown?

9. Staying in the nape area, now comb the hair into wide vertical sections extending to the crown. Cut the middle vertical section first. This should follow the head shape. The crown hair is used as the guide. On the sides of the wide center section comb the hair toward the middle section and use the middle section as the guide.

10. Finish the cut with checking and blending.

Variations

1.This haircut is done from the top down. The first cuts are done at the top. This is then connected to the curved part of the head where the sides meet the top. Finally the sides and the back are cut in flat layers while using the hair above as a guide.

Another common method to do this would be to do from the sides and back first and then connect them to the curved area between sides and top and to finally do the top.

I can not see why one method would be preferable to the the other.

2. Trimming around the front side hairlines and the ears can be done at the end of the hair cut instead in the middle. Some examples on other DVDs have cut some graduation into the periphery to give it more room for the grow-in.

3. It is not clear to me why the top was first cut flat to the ceiling before it was cut to follow the head shape. It may be to establish the length to use in cutting the crown when it is cut to follow the head shape.

4. It is not clear why the nape was cut to one length before cutting it to follow the head shape in wide sections.

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