The Art of Freehand Cutting
Freehand hair cutting and coloring techniques are designed to customize and cater to the uniqueness of every client, even to the extent of their individual hair strands.
We are pushing these freehand techniques and working with the hair’s natural texture, whether curly or straight. So the end result is that air grows out better and is easier to maintain.
The best thing we can do for our clients is to not only listen but hear their desires. They will guide us to what’s fashionable. INDIVIDUALITY.
As hairdressers, we always want to change, but the unique canvas we are given — with its imperfections — can be the most beautiful thing about them.
Freehand cutting
Freehand cutting is a different way of looking at the approach to cutting hair. It is less rigid than the way hairdressers are initially taught when they first learn the art of cutting. We are usually taught to keep the hair wet, and that by cutting straight lines, we create the foundations. This is very important because it gives us a good understanding on how to build a solid shape.
Then we learn to combine the different forms of layering and graduation cutting to enable us to create other shapes. This form of cutting is generally done in a fairly technical manner, and is easy to put into a blueprint, which makes it reasonably easy to teach others.
With freehand cutting, the hair is often dry, which allows you to see the hair for what it is. Sometimes you use scissors without a comb, leaving one hand free to move the hair around. This may be where the term “freehand” comes from. Observing the natural textures of the hair is what it’s all about to get the most out of it.
Like most things we do, the more you practice this approach, the more you begin to really understand it. To the untrained eye, it can appear that the cutter is randomly cutting without any real logic or sense, moving around the head in an unconventional away. This is because you are looking at the haircut as a whole as opposed to looking at it in small sections, moving the hair around to reveal areas that appear to weak or to strong. You are looking at the balance of your shape as a whole in relation to the face and body, as opposed to pulling pieces of hair from either side of the head to see if they are the same length.
When you first start to use this form of cutting, it can feel very unusual and leave you feeling uncertain as to where to cut and what to look for. It is important to have a strong idea in your head of what you want to achieve.
It can take time to “train your eye to see,” and have a good vision as to where you want to end up. The journey can often change while you’re cutting, so having a good vision as to how to keep things on track is essential. Be honest with yourself and move the hair around to truly see that the cut is working from all angles. The bottom line is that once you have fine-tuned this technique of cutting, the client needs do very little to her hair to achieve a great shape because it has been sculpted with the scissors and not the dryer.
Everyone’s hair grows differently, with different growth patterns, textures and thicknesses. Allowing the hair to dry while cutting allows you to see this better and work with what you think of as the imperfections
Sometimes you may wash and dry the hair before you start the cut, and sometimes you may start the cut before you wash. There are no set rules, if your client shows up with her hair pulled back, it is difficult to see what is working with the previous haircut and what is not. Educate your client to come in with their hair free so that they will get more out of your consultation. It will be much clearer what needs to be done.
I have had clients with curly hair who I’ve asked to wash their hair a few days prior to coming in because that’s when their texture works best, leaving me more time to cut there hair in the appointment time given. Again, educate your client how to get the most out of you.
At the end of the day, they are paying for the appointment time and not a wash, cut and blow dry, so the way you use that time to get the best result is up to you.
I personally believe that the so-called imperfections in hair are what give haircuts character. It’s just a matter of knowing how to make the haircut work in a way that it has good character. Relying on the blow dryer or flat iron to make the haircut behave a certain way can be an easy trap to fall into. While good styling techniques are an art, relying on those skill to make an average haircut look like a great one can shift the emphasis away from the cut.
Let’s face it, how often does a client comment they can never get their hair to do what the hairdresser does?
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Tags: Cutting, hairdressers, styling shears
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