Like the pun? Hacking a haircut? Yeah, okay I know, lame joke. Anyway, I admit this post isn’t simple. I purposely wanted to show a layered cut so you can see the flow of the hair and how it pertains to the head and its shape. In future postings, I will show simpler cuts and tips and tricks.
First and foremost, I deconstructed this haircut according to my brain. If anyone else finds a different method, great! I would also like to state I am not a guru so if I am stepping on any toes, I am not in your realm. I am just an everyday person (with three witches chanting over a cauldron).
My previous post, explained the partings and how the hair falls in each section. This time, I take the parts and show you how they can create a haircut.
1 - Comb the hair in back straight down and cut the initial length. This is a rough cut just to make the hair cut simpler. This can be the actual length or it can change.
2 - This section to me is the most important. I would say it is more important than the back because this area determines two things: shape and layering. How I cut this will tell me the shape because it can determine the length of the entire haircut. Do I want the back to be even, making it a bob which will act as a guide for the back. Or do I want it shorter making it into an angled long hair cut? Or something else. This is part makes the ultimate guide line for the haircut because to me it is the constant. (I will get into this more in a future post.)
3 - Take a sliver of the front side and cut it to the same length or longer at an angle or shorter, depending on the style. For simplicity, I kept it the same length as the side. After it is cut, just ignore this little sliver until the end. Pin it or swing it behind the ear so it doesn’t get in the way.
4 - Cut the bangs into the length you want. There are ways to cut them for a sideswept look but I will keep it at the simple one length. You can cut this with a razor to give it more dimension and less bulk. 5 - Cut the area above the little sliver. Create and angled frame and make sure to check the lengths for evenness by running your fingers on the strands after the cut.
What you have done is cut the inner most layers of the hair.
6 - Take the side hair and lift it to a 90º angle and use the bottom hair as a guide. Cut the rest of the hair to that length. 7 - Different angle.
8 - Take the hair from the nape of the neck and bring it forward. Use the side hair as a guide and cut it at the angle shown to keep the length.
9 - Take the hair below the occipital bone and bring it to the side to blend with the side hair. Some of the hair may not read and that is okay. 10 - This is a traveling guideline, meaning it will move to the shape and angle of the head. Keeping the constant length through your own instinct and the guideline of the previous hair that had been cut, move the hair around towards the back of the neck.
11- See where it ends? The hair should be a a little shorter than the bottom layer. 12 - How it looks so far.
The bottom back layer is done. Time to do the top.
13 - See the subdivision I made. It is impossible to just take half of the hair so I take what I can and bring it to the side and cut it at the length determined by the side hair. (You see why I call this the pie?)
14 - A different angle.
15 - Take the hair from the same area and angle it downwards and blend it with the bottom layer, using that hair as a guide. 16 - Take some of the top hair and use the top side hair as a guide and cut it the same length.
17 - Now, that the top and the bottom has been cut, you have a two guidelines. Just swing the hair around to the shape of the head and cut any hair that sticks out. (Diagram is of the after cut.) 18 - For more blending, take the same area and pull it straight back, the hair closer to the center will be a tad longer. That needs to be cut.
Now, we are at the center top back.
19 - From step 16, the top length has been determined. Using that guide, cut the center top to the same length. 20 - Cut the center back hair by using the top hair as a guideline and let the hair travel to the head shape. This again is a traveling guideline.
Since the area above the occipital bone has been cut. It is time to blend with the bottom.
21 - Depending on the length, the bottom part of the hair may angle outward. Trim the excess hair that sticks out between the top and the bottom hair. 22 - How it looks so far.
Now, time to cut the area above the little sliver.
23 - Use the side as a guideline. 24 - Blend the hair at the top from the different sections. Little corners or bits of hair will stick out, cut what sticks out between the back and the front. This might result in cutting at an angle. You don’t want to cut the top back to the same length as the front.
Cutting the very top.
Remember the flow of the hair?
25 - Allow all the hair to fall in that angled direction and use the bottom hair and the little sliver as a guide and cut to the shape. 26 - Next bring the hair all the way up and cut to the same length as the side guideline.
27 - Blend the back top with the front. 28 - Blend the bangs with the top.
29 -The initial cut is finished. From the top, the cut should look like a spider with many legs! (Just kidding!) The shouldn’t have and long bits sticking out. If there is, it needs to be cut and blended in.
And yes, blending is important. Checking the length from the front all the way to the back as the arrows show.
What is done after all that is the texturizing with the texturizing shears and razor. Where it is done is up to where the individual feels it is necessary. Don’t do it too much or it loses its shape, too little and it looks to bulky. Just use the force!
And the cut should end up something like this.
What I suggest if you want to dabble in hacking this cut, is to get a mannequin head.
*Disclosure: I don't claim to be some great hair guru. I just like to explain difficult beauty stuff.*
