A Straight Razor Can be Hair’s Best Friend
Image courtesy of Avery.
You’ve probably heard before that razor cutting hair is a great way of creating more interesting texture for a haircut. Unfortunately, whether because of inexperience in a hairdresser or ignorant demands from a client, razor cutting has gotten a bad rep with a few people and scared a lot of stylists and clients off from it. But if you want to create a style with movement and texture or easily thin out certain areas of hair or even fix up layers, the straight razor is an invaluable tool. If you’re using it right.
There are a lot of factors that can turn your razor haircut into a huge, split-end mistake, so it’s important to consider a few things before you start slicing.
Do You Have the Technique
Make sure you know what you’re doing. Angles are important. It can be hard to find that magic spot between too flat and too perpendicular, especially taking into account that the angle might vary between hair types, so be sure you practice on a mannequin a lot before trying it on a live client. There’s only so much that can be explained beyond aiming for a 45 degree angle cut. It might take a while to perfect your technique on live clients because mastery over this kind of cutting really comes from learning how to feel for the right angle on the hair that’s in front of you. You’ll refine that touch over time. Just make sure you can easily handle the razor itself.
Does the Hairstyle Need It
Razor cut the right kind of hair and for the right reasons. Generally, you use a razor when you want to create a low maintenance look. Most types of hair can benefit from razoring so long as you have a clear idea of the look you’re going for. If hair is very thin and straight you can avoid giving them a blocky or rigid look by giving more rough cut ends that will grow out into a nice textured look with a little bit of layering. It can create some great short hairstyles, and it’s almost essential for the client with the flowing beach waves. Nothing endangers a free-flowing look like a pair of scissors. You should absolutely not take out the straight edge for brittle or compromised hair, and definitely never do it just because the client asked you to.
What About Curly Hair
Contrary to popular belief, razoring curly hair is not a deadly sin. In fact it can be preferable since shears work strictly in straight lines. A razor lets you shape and layer the hair in more fluid shapes. The technique can be a little harder to get down for this curly hair, but when you think about it on principle, it makes a lot more sense to use a straight razor. Shears cut in hard, longer lines while razors can make much shorter, natural-looking cuts so you have a lot more freedom in shaping. You run the risk of thinning out sections of the hair too much or making the hair frizzy, but these are the kinds of problems you can make disappear with practice and proper hair maintenance.
Stay Clean and Sharp
Something often overlooked with the razor cut is the condition of the blade. You need to be cutting with a fresh, sharp blade that is either new or thoroughly sanitized. If your cuts with the razor aren’t smooth, or if they tug at all, you need a sharper blade or else you will damage the hair. There are a lot of options in this case. Whether you want to switch out blades each time you do a new razor cut, or clean and sharpen them on your own is up to you. So long as you’re using a clean tool and getting those nice, easy cuts.