Is Your Natural Hair Cut One That Suits You?
Your hair is your crowning glory and your hair cut
is how you show it to the world. It helps you look good, feel wonderful and
ooze confidence.
But, your hair growth varies across the entire area of your scalp, which is why
your natural hair cut can appear out of shape quite soon after your visit to the hair salon.
As a general rule, a short precision natural hair cut needs trimming every four weeks and a longer
style every six to eight weeks.
And, if you want to grow your hair long it's essential that you have it trimmed regularly,
about every ten weeks, to prevent any splitting and to keep the ends even.
In addition, hairdressers use a variety of techniques and tools to make your hair appear
thicker, fuller, straighter or curlier, whatever you desire.
A selection of hairdressing tools and techniques.
Helping you understand what can be done with your hair, as well as expand your perceptions
of what you might like to have done with your natural hair cut.
Blunt Cutting... Here the ends are cut straight across, a technique
often used for hair of one length. The weight and fullness of the hair is distributed around the
perimeter of the shape.
Clippers ... Clippers are used for close cut styles and to finish
off a cut. Also very popular with teenagers cuts.
Graduated Hair ... Graduated hair is cut at an angle to give fullness
on top and to blend the top hair into shorter lengths at the nape of the neck.
Layering ... Layering your hair evenly distibutes the weight and
fullness, giving a round appearance to the style.
Slide Cutting ... Slide cutting (also called slithering or feathering),
thins the hair. Scissors are used in a sliding action, backwards and forwards along the length of
the hair. This technique is often used when the hair is dry.
Razor Cutting ... Razor cutting creates softness, tapering and
internal movements so that the hair moves more freely. It can aslo be used to shorten hair.
Thinning ...Thinning either with thinning scissors or a razor,
removes bulk and weight without affecting the overall length of the hair.
Clever Natural Hair Cut ...
Fine, thin, flyaway hair can be given volume, bounce and movement by blunt cutting.
Mid-length hair can benefit from light layering to give extra volume, while short, thin hair can be blunt cut and
the edges graduated to provide movement.
Razor cut fine hair to give a thicker more voluminous effect.
It's best not to let fine hair grow too long as, when it reaches the shoulders,
it starts to look wispy.
Thick and coarse hair can be controlled by reducing the
weight to give more style and direction.
Avoid very short styles as the hair will tend to stick. Try a layered cut with movement instead.
Layering also helps achieve height and eliminate weight. On shorter styles the weight
can be reduced with thinning scissors expertly used on the ends only.
Sometimes hair grows in different directions, which may cause styling problems with your natural hair cut.
A cows lick, for example, is normally found on the front of
the hairline and occurs when the hair grows in a swirl,
backwards and then forwards. Clever cutting can redistribute the weight and go some way to
solving the problem.
A double crown occurs when the hair has two pivots at the
top of the head, rather than the usual one. Use styles with height at the crown to get over this.
To maximize the effect of a widows peak, the hair should
be taken in the reverse direction to the natural growth. This will give the impression of a natural wave.