Cutting hair is all about precision and when it comes to layers, creating a balanced look has everything to do with your technique. Through travel, educating and coaching, the Sam Villa Team has come across the realization that many stylists are faced with the problem of unbalanced layers and the mystery as to why it happens. In this tutorial, Andrew Carruthers, Director of Education for Sam Villa, explains exactly why this happens.

“Understanding why your layers are uneven starts with the knowledge that over direction mainly comes from your feet, not your hands,” says Carruthers. 

 

 

Andrew Carruthers offers two tips:

1. Step consistently on each side.  When sections are over directed, they are pulled to the center of the body.  If a stylist is moving more while cutting one side of the head versus the other, there will be discrepancies in length and weight because the center of the body changes with each footstep. Over direction controls weight and length, so if there are inconsistencies in over directing, the sides will not match.

2. Pay attention to the over direction within each section. It’s easy to get in the habit of over directing, but where the hair is being over directed to must be clear. If a piece of hair from a new section is over directed back to a guide pulled straight out from the head on one side and on the other side the guide is not pulled out at it’s natural point due to moving less, the new piece of hair is being stretched more to meet the guide.  This will result in building more length and weight on that side.

“If you take the time to study these two points – moving consistently on each side and minding the over direction in each section - you will have much more balanced haircuts and predictable results,” adds Carruthers.

For more styling and cutting tutorials, be sure to stalk Sam Villa Professional on Bangstyle and see what other tips they have! 

Try this at home and share your results on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter using #SamVillaHowTo. & be sure to check out the rest of Sam Villa's tutorials and tips on Bangstyle!