Curly Cut Hair

Curly Hair Cut - Click for Larger Pictures

Curly cut hair is something to be desired. And admired.

It's curly hair that's been cut by a specialist, someone who understands the special needs of curly hair.

You can't just hack into curly hair with a razor and scissors and expect it to look good. In fact, keep razors away from your curls. They're not sharp enough for the fragile texture of curly hair, and they damage the ends.

And you can't cut curly hair wet. That's an absolute no-no, for two reasons.

Firstly, water stretches out your curls, and this hides their real shape. Each strand of curly hair has to be cut individually, precisely at the crest of a curl, and not just anywhere along its length. It's impossible to identify the right place to cut a curl when it's wet, stretched and distorted.

If you cut it at the crest of a curl its shape will be preserved. That's curly cut hair and you'll love it.

Cut it anywhere else and you'll you ruin it. That's not curly cut hair. It's curly hair cut badly, and you'll be very disappointed.

The second reason not to cut curly hair when it's wet is that you can't judge the final effect of your hair cut. Curly hair seems longer when it's wet. Cutting it then virtually guarantees that you'll take off too much. Your hair will look a lot shorter when it dries, as each curl springs back to its normal shape.

It's no fun to discover that a stylist has cut your hair shorter than you'd intended. That's not properly cut curly hair either. It's a curly hair cut disaster!

You have to know how long each curl will be after you've cut it, and that means you cut curly hair dry.

If you'd like to read a definitive guide to the proper cutting of curly hair, have a look at Curly Girl, by Lorraine Massey.

Massey is herself the owner of a healthy head of naturally curly hair which, generally, she allows to find its own style. She hails from the UK originally but now works in New York.

Her chapter called A Cutting-Edge Philosophy explains how she manages a consultation, how she cuts curly hair, and why she does things that way.

If you have curly hair and don't live in New York, or if you don't visit that city regularly, you can still find a genuine curly cut hair practitioner to look after your curly hair.

Maybe.

Actually, curly hair style practitioners are pretty hard to find. For some reason they don't seem to advertise their availability.

But there aren't many of them, anyway.

For years and years it was a straight hair, hair straightening world, and it will take many years more for large numbers of curly cut hair stylists to emerge. If they ever do.

In the meantime, ask around. Word of mouth seems to be the best method to find these rare creatures who know how to cut curly hair properly and create beautiful, natural curly hair styles.

There's a section on finding them in Massey's book.

At the very least, if you can't locate a genuine curly hair style specialist, you can still insist on a couple of things at the salon to preserve both your sanity and your curly hair.

Like no wet hair cut. And no razor.

You might not walk out of that salon with perfect, curly cut hair. But with luck you'll have avoided a complete curly hair cut disaster.