HAIR BASICS

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Tools and Tricks of the Trade

Things will go much more smoothly if you lay out everything you need before you start. It's frustrating to have to go looking for a comb when you're in the middle of cutting hair—especially a child's. By the time you return, the child will have either taken off for parts unknown or given him or herself a new haircut.

Always start with damp or wet hair. This makes it easier to handle, but keep in mind that hair becomes shorter after it has dried. So be conscious of "the drying factor." As you may know if you have curly or wavy hair, the drying factor is even more extreme with curls, which become much shorter when dry. So try to compensate for this before you start snipping.

Invest in a pair of sharp scissors with rounded tips. Trying to cut with dull shears is hopeless and results will not be pleasant. Rounded tips are also safer when it comes to cutting the hair of small chilren; too often they seem to have ants in their pants, making it difficult for them to sit still.

A good pair of hair clippers are a must for all types of hair cutting and trimming. They are indispensable for shaving the nape of the neck in order to give a short cut a neatly finished look. They usually come with various attachments or rakes for cutting hair to different lengths. They also come in handy for shaving heads in the hot summer months.

Let’s Get Cutting

Place a towel or piece of sheeting around the neck of the person's hair that you'll be cutting and secure it with a pin. This will keep the clippings from getting down the person's back, which can be extremely irritating.

Short Hair
Begin by wetting hair, keeping in mind the "drying factor." Don't part the hair unless you want a bowl-type look. Take small sections of hair at a time; work with strands of about a half-inch wide and less than a quarter-inch thick. If you try cutting large clumps of hair at a time, the cut will looked unkempt, like you used a dull knife. Starting at the front, use a comb to pull the first strand of hair up and trim straight across. Take the next top section and do the same; continue all the way past the crown of the person's head, checking to make sure that the sections are even with each other. To make the sides of your hair "feather" (or layer), pull the hair up vertically with a comb and cut. Continue doing this for each section on the sides.

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