The Cutting Edge

  Oh, cutting week! It was certainly the most technical, hands on week we've had so far. We were on our feet a majority of the time. You don't really realize how physical and tiring cutting hair is until you do it. The angle of the cut will mimic your body position, so if you are doing it angled your elbow it up to the ceiling, even a straight cut means elbows out straight to your sides! That being said, I adore cutting!

  Our first cut, the gateway cut, was a square one length. Cutting a straight line is more difficult than you would think, and for the square cut you really do put corners in. You can see them in my photos, if you look. The back and sides meet near where the shoulders would be and form a point.

The back. Note two points on one side, finished this over two days and lost my sectioning!

See those awesome corners??

  Our next cut was a tri-grad, which stands for Triangular Graduation. This is the hair cut you see most of the time the hair is short in the back and longer in front. It looks layered in the back. It's a really fun hair cut, it has a lot of potential. You usually see it shorter, but I kept mine long to preserve her length. You can still see the shape!

See the angle? The back would be the point of the triangle.

    Layers. Let's talk about layers. Our first day doing round layers was honestly the first day I left school feeling defeated. I felt like I was doing them right, I was almost certain I understood how to do it, but they just weren't coming out right! I asked Tabs what I was doing wrong, and she told me to think on it that night and we would talk about it when we started again the next morning. I literally spent all night contemplating those stupid layers! I was so mad that I was doing them wrong, and what made it worse, they actually looked good. I couldn't understand how it could look good and still be wrong. So I spent the night going over and over the stupid cut in my head.
  So, I get to school the next day, sleepy but resolved, and within a minute I know exactly what I did "wrong". A round layered cut should have a round one length to start with (in a perfect world). We were putting round layers on a triangular cut. Instead of relying on my guide from the previous section, I was using the angle at the bottom of the hair cut! I'm glad tabs made me figure it out, if she had just told me I would have known, but I wouldn't have understood. So, the other side I did them the right way. Which do you think looks better?

The left side has my correct round layers. The right my triangular-round layers. See how the layers get shorter with the angle of the cut??

  We started to learn the state board cut, too. And then we learned all sorts of blending and thinning techniques. Which we then practiced on top of that hair cut. Let's just say I really REALLY had fun point cutting. Tabs used Kylie and her gorgeous, perfectly colored extensions as a blending demo. It's amazing what a difference just a little bit of work with a razor can make!

Her layered extrensions are stupid pretty.

Honestly, I can't tell where her real hair stops and the extensions begin, and I was there!

  The last thing we covered this week was mens' cutting. I have been cutting Adams hair for years, but there is a lot I still don't know! It was exciting and a bit heart wrenching to chop all the hair off Addison. She is the mannequin I colored, and cutting off all those beautiful high lights was sad. Especially since what little blonde was left made my hair cut look like Nick Carter back in the 90's. Addison/Nick will soon be given to Adam to be used to further his shooting technique.

Hair today, gone tomorrow. (See that length difference? Like I said, point cutting.)

Everything out of the clips in the previous photo has been shaved!

That is a LOT of hair on the floor!

I present to you, my 90's boy band wannabe. Note: The hair at the ear has not been cleaned up.

  Cutting week was definitely intense. By the end of the week I was exhausted, my hands hurt, and I was so unbelievably ready for the weekend. And by that I mean I LOVE CUTTING HAIR! I can't wait to get on the floor and do it again. Every day I am blown away by how much I love this. Next week is spa week, so look forward to makeup artistry, nail art, and the downfall of my "adventurous" eyebrows.
xoxo Rae

P.S. No one in my class cut themselves this week! It's a big accomplishment, and Mama Tabs was so impressed she even faced us for it during Pow Wow!