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00:00 Gerard Scarpacci here, co-founder of the Hairbrain community.
00:04 So happy to bring you today the second installment in our series with Pivot Point called Professionals
00:09 Who Practice.
00:10 If you remember last week I did some dry cutting with a scissor on a Diane mannequin.
00:16 Today I'm practicing some razor cutting.
00:18 You guys know how much I love razor craft.
00:21 And I'm using the Elise mannequin.
00:22 We'll talk about her in a minute, but let's get into the technique.
00:25 You can see Elise was previously cut into kind of a long angled bob as my previous practice
00:31 session that I did the other day at home.
00:33 I've been doing a lot of razor craft classes and I wanted to just really run through the
00:38 technique and how I'm teaching it.
00:40 Now what I'm working into is what I like to call razor graduation.
00:44 And I know many of you guys have seen me do this before, but I thought it'd be a great
00:47 lesson to share here today.
00:49 So starting off by cutting in my first two sections with what we call a closed stroke
00:54 of the razor.
00:56 You'll notice I use a folding razor.
00:59 It's not that you have to use this, but I prefer it for balance and accuracy and control.
01:05 Lots of tension coming in from the fine teeth of the comb.
01:09 Little bit of over direction is super important here as well.
01:12 You can see how I comb from the roots and I comb slightly back and I really clamp it
01:16 in.
01:17 You'll also notice how my fingers are kind of closed in like a gun.
01:20 If you can see that because tension is of the utmost importance here because you're
01:24 cutting behind your fingers.
01:25 So it's very easy for that hair not to be controlled and not to be accurate as you're
01:31 cutting.
01:32 So when we put in that first section, what I always recommend because the idea is this
01:37 section is supposed to be quite defined because it's the baseline of a bob that's going to
01:43 have graduation.
01:44 I always check my first one or two sections with point cutting of the scissor here.
01:49 So I do my best to get a very clean razor line in and then I define any graduation or
01:55 any excess angle using point cutting.
01:59 So coming in around here and coming through, detailing, always checking with the fingers.
02:05 The goal is that you have very little or nothing to cut off.
02:08 Sometimes it's more difficult than others.
02:11 Sometimes it needs a little bit more refinement, but just a little bit of point cutting there.
02:16 Now that feels pretty good so I don't think I'll need to use too much more scissor work
02:20 until I get into the baseline over the ears.
02:23 Next section, sections are about a half inch thick.
02:26 I judge them by about the thickness of my finger.
02:28 I've got about half inch wide fingers and that seems to work perfectly for me.
02:33 Since we are graduating the hair here, it's going to be really important that the section
02:37 size is consistent because of the type of graduation that we create with the razor.
02:43 It has everything to do with the density of the hair.
02:46 So if sections are thin and thick, you'll have inaccuracy in your graduation.
02:50 Alright, just want to take a moment and say hello to everyone who's watching.
02:55 Elori and Valerie from Hawaii, Michael Snyder, hello, Carol from Mississippi, Nanette.
03:00 Welcome all of you guys.
03:01 Thank you for being here.
03:02 And if you're wondering, that is the voice of Kelly O'Connell here.
03:07 She's hosting from behind the camera so say hi to everyone, Kelly.
03:10 Hello everyone.
03:11 And she is looking for your questions and happy to answer them for you or direct them
03:17 to me so I can answer them.
03:18 Okay, so you can see I'm getting into my second section here and it's cut exactly the same.
03:23 We call this a short or closed stroke and I'm trying to work with the edge of the blade
03:28 across the hair to minimize graduation.
03:31 Just moving the fingers very, very gently to get something that's quite scissor-like.
03:35 And as I mentioned before, you could cut these first two sections with the scissor if you
03:40 prefer or you can cut them with the razor and check them with the scissor.
03:44 It's really up to you and your flow of work and comfortability because I really haven't
03:49 started graduating yet.
03:50 So it's not that different from a point cut baseline.
03:53 It's actually very, very similar.
03:56 Coming in here, a little bit of definition, checking my balance, a little heavy on the
04:03 left here.
04:06 So a little bit more elevating and checking there.
04:11 What's great about these pivot point mannequins, really all of them, and we'll see that as
04:15 we look at some of the other ones that I've prepared for you, is the hairlines respond
04:19 really well.
04:20 So you can get a really great lesson.
04:22 Sometimes with cheaper mannequins, when you get close to the hairline, the hair just sticks
04:27 out or it becomes really, really not like a real hairline.
04:31 You can't practice bangs or fringes or close graduation or anything like that, but with
04:37 the pivot point mannequins, because of the quality process of designing them, the hair
04:42 really behaves a lot more the way you'd want it to when you're going to try this new technique
04:47 out on a person.
04:49 So coming in right at the section, over directing slightly back.
04:53 Now I'm going to start to create a little bit of graduation by turning my blade a little
04:57 on a bias.
04:58 So I was doing what before is called edge cutting, cutting across the hair one at a
05:02 time.
05:03 Now I'm rotating the blade, so I'll get a little bit more scrape on that little end
05:08 of the hair before I actually cut.
05:10 And this will start to introduce a little graduation onto the surface of the cut.
05:17 Work my way through.
05:19 Now the trick is to do the same thing on the other side.
05:22 So not only am I trying to match the length, but I'm trying to match the angle of the razor
05:27 and the amount of graduation.
05:30 A little bit more open here, just getting a little graduation, gently, gently tapering
05:37 the surface of the hair a little bit more than the previous section.
05:41 Continue working on.
05:43 Now with each section that I cut, I'm going to introduce more graduation.
05:48 So what that means is the size of the stroke is going to be larger and wider on the surface.
05:54 And we're going to be working with that blade on what I call the bias.
05:58 There are three different ways to rotate the blade.
06:01 You can be on the edge.
06:03 So if this is the head, the edge is the blade is more perpendicular to the head.
06:07 Bias, it's a little bit more on a diagonal to the head.
06:11 And flat, it's totally flat to the head.
06:13 And each one will introduce more and more texture and graduation to the hair, and you
06:18 have to kind of think about when to use them.
06:20 Now to use this type of technique, you have to master kind of fingertip control.
06:26 If you try to do this using your whole wrist, you'll take off way too much hair.
06:31 So you'll notice here, Kelly, if you can step back a little bit, a lot of times when we
06:35 razor cut, we use the wrist, which can be great for long layered and textured cuts where
06:39 you want a lot of separation on the ends.
06:41 But there's another technique where you just use the fingertips of the thumb and the pointer
06:46 finger.
06:47 And this is great for more gentle, especially as you get shorter and you're doing graduation.
06:50 And that's what I'm working on here.
06:53 So the next thing I want you to think about is that I'm closing my stroke down as I get
06:58 back behind the ear.
07:00 If I keep it all the way open from the center to the back of the ear, we'll lose our bob
07:05 corner.
07:06 So Kelly, come on and get a good shot of that here.
07:08 You can see in the center, always over directing the hair slightly back.
07:15 And I can see the graduation on the other side right there.
07:18 Now a little bit more open, now starting to get shorter and shorter and shorter.
07:23 So if you look at what you've cut off, you can see how it's going actually downhill.
07:29 And then as we get behind the ear, we want to really close it down.
07:33 So we come in here and you'll see that it's a very, very short stroke, so we don't get
07:37 any excess graduation.
07:39 Now combing the hair back and forth, back and forth, that'll allow you to see the graduation
07:44 starting to develop in the center and the weight being maintained behind the ears, which
07:49 is really the idea of this graduated haircut, so we don't lose the bob line.
07:52 Now Ned was wondering if it helps to keep the head straight.
07:57 You'll notice I pre-sectioned off a panel up to about the top of the occipital bone.
08:01 And in this area, I keep the head slightly forward.
08:04 So let's look at this great tripod.
08:06 This is the Pivot Point Universal Tripod.
08:09 So with this, I can turn the head in any direction, which is great if I'm looking in the mirror
08:14 or if I'm teaching.
08:15 And then it's got a great little control here where you just can loosen this to bring the
08:20 head up straight or loosen it to bring it forward.
08:23 For this first panel, I've got the head pitched forward at about 45 degrees.
08:28 What works for me is when I am deliberately trying to build weight and maintain weight,
08:34 I keep the head slightly forward.
08:37 As we get above this point, I'll bring the head much more into a natural position because
08:42 I want that hair more in a natural fall as the head is curving away from me.
08:46 Okay, so back to the technique.
08:48 Combing slightly back.
08:50 Again, a little bit more open in the middle each time.
08:56 And then slowly when you hit the mastoid, close it down.
09:00 So going from higher to lower or what we like to call more open stroke to a shorter stroke
09:06 or a deeper stroke to a more shallow stroke.
09:09 And by the time I get here, I want it quite shallow so I can maintain my bald line.
09:14 Coming back in.
09:15 Again, over-directing slightly.
09:18 Three, two, one.
09:23 So if you think in terms of counting, my openness in the center right now is I got a three,
09:28 now it's a one, now it's a zero, zero, zero, zero, zero.
09:31 And I'll explain that again on this next and final section here in this area.
09:36 Comb this hair down.
09:37 So I've gone from the first two sections, really the goal was to have as little graduation
09:42 as possible and then incrementally create more and more graduation on each section.
09:48 So that's how I use the number system.
09:50 So now let's say that this is going to be about a four.
09:54 So what that means is from here, four, three, two, and you can see what I've cut off.
10:03 Now going from two into one, always over-directing, two, one, zero.
10:10 And again, it's simple but it's not easy.
10:13 And if you haven't mastered the fingertip control with the blade, it's really hard to
10:17 do this with your whole wrist.
10:19 It's a beautiful technique when you use your whole wrist to get really kind of choppy bobs
10:23 and choppy layers.
10:24 But for graduation, especially this type of graduation, it's very different.
10:28 Four, three, two, one.
10:30 I feel like David Bowie there.
10:34 Space oddity.
10:35 Now going from the two to the one to the zero and closing it down and keeping that corner.
10:42 All right, awesome.
10:45 Thanks you guys all for tuning in with us.
10:48 We appreciate your time hanging out with us and sharing hair with you guys all.
10:52 Yeah, so for everyone that's joining, what we're doing here is a special series of having
10:57 educators and professionals who practice regularly to better themselves.
11:02 And I happen to be one of them.
11:04 I've used pivot point mannequins and tripods for the better point of 25 years of my career
11:10 to really kind of practice and hone in my technique and my ideas.
11:15 And that's what I'm doing here.
11:16 What are you looking for as you're using your scissors?
11:20 I'm looking to strengthen the baseline and remove the graduation.
11:23 And you know, nothing much.
11:24 So you shouldn't, at this point, if you're taking off tons of hair or inches of hair,
11:29 you need to think about your technique and maybe come back and practice again a second
11:32 time on the mannequin.
11:33 It really should just be small little tweaks on the hairline, small little tweaks.
11:40 And just doing that before I move on.
11:41 And also checking my balance of graduation when I pull it out, trying to feel the same
11:45 density and the same amount, combing the hair back and forth.
11:49 And you can see we're starting to get a nice graduated line.
11:53 I check it down against the skin and I also check it with movement.
11:58 My particular favorite way of wearing hair is very natural.
12:02 So I like to check hair when it's moving rather than when it's very, very compressed.
12:06 Because I think people's hair moves, moves a lot.
12:09 And really the only time I use the scissor here is on the baseline.
12:11 So here you can, let's see if we can get a good profile shot with the white background.
12:15 You can see the graduation starting to develop there.
12:18 Just the way I like it in a very kind of bustled way.
12:20 I think that's a great word for it.
12:23 And bringing out the wave.
12:25 So today we're using the Elise mannequin.
12:27 This is one of the pivot points.
12:28 Say hi, Elise.
12:29 Hi, everyone.
12:30 Elise is very pretty.
12:31 She's got, what I like about Elise for these lessons is she's got a smaller head shape.
12:35 Okay?
12:36 So I'm not overwhelmed by hair and a large head when I'm trying to practice or teach
12:40 a lesson.
12:41 Second off, I like their hair.
12:43 And most pivot point mannequins are great like this.
12:45 They have a beautiful natural texture that you can encourage and bring out the wave or
12:50 you could easily style it.
12:51 We all know that pin straight hair can be very difficult to style and manipulate.
12:56 Where we want to use these mannequins for styling, having some wave in them is great.
12:59 I want to show you some other pivot point mannequins that I've worked with this week.
13:03 This is Vanessa.
13:04 And you can see Vanessa's got a medium sized head, which is much of a fuller size head.
13:09 And her length is incredibly long.
13:10 When it starts off, it's one length down to about here.
13:13 So Vanessa is perfect for practicing long haircuts and styling.
13:18 This is a long classic razor cut, kind of worked from the front, almost like a very
13:23 classic technique called the shake, where you let the hair slide through your hands
13:27 and you're able to go from sometimes a pretty short bang or fringe all the way down to an
13:32 exaggerated length in a very oval way.
13:34 And you can see Vanessa's got pounds and pounds of beautiful, beautiful hair to work with
13:39 for cutting and styling.
13:40 And on Vanessa, I actually styled her using a large barrel curling iron.
13:45 And this is how great these mannequins style.
13:47 This was done about a week ago.
13:49 And then I needed to use her again.
13:52 And I pulled it out and it held the curl so beautifully.
13:55 I felt like it was even better after a week because, you know, I love hair to look lived
13:58 in.
13:59 So this styled super well, held the curl beautifully.
14:03 Here's another example of one of my, probably the most popular for hands-on classes.
14:07 This is the Viola.
14:08 And those of you out there that do a lot of education, taking a lot of classes, I think
14:11 you've met Viola before.
14:12 Viola's a great friend of ours.
14:14 It's a great example of how with these quality mannequins, you can even cut in a shorter
14:19 bang or fringe and it'll behave really, really well.
14:22 And then this technique here is more of a layered razor cut where I maintained a little
14:27 bit more of the long kind of bob length and then came through and did a bit of slicing
14:32 and then dried really, really naturally just using the heat from a diffuser.
14:38 And then just kind of tweaked a few curls here and there.
14:40 So you can see these mannequins behave beautifully.
14:42 Viola also has a medium-sized head.
14:44 So now you can compare to Elise.
14:46 She's got a slightly smaller head, still a great density of hair, but a great way to
14:50 work through the lesson without having to deal with too much hair, which can almost
14:55 be overwhelming when you're learning or practicing.
14:57 So Nanette was mentioning that the razor is scary for her and she has the feather razor,
15:03 which I believe she might mean the styling razor, the guarded razor.
15:06 Don't be afraid, but respect.
15:08 So working with a straight edge razor is a choice.
15:12 It's something that you don't just pick up and go into, hopefully without training.
15:17 And that's what RazorCraft is about.
15:20 For myself, I do classes pretty much once a month all over the country offering hands-on
15:25 training in how to use a straight edge razor.
15:29 And I think if you want to use this type of tool, you should definitely take the class.
15:33 Videos are great as an introduction and to get you excited and for you to get to know
15:38 educators that you might like to work with.
15:41 But nothing takes the place of hands-on.
15:43 You know, at the very least, get yourself one of these Pivot Point Mannequins because
15:46 we're doing this now for the next couple months where every week or two, we'll have a great
15:52 educator sharing and you can work along with us so you're getting that hands-on experience.
15:56 All right, Yvonne, you can get the doll heads at pivotpoint.com.
16:01 There's a huge range of heads.
16:04 There's an incredible range.
16:05 The reason why I chose Elise today, so number one, she's got a smaller head shape so it's
16:10 easier to get through in a way and practice and see what you need to work on.
16:15 Number two, she's one of the most cost-effective or affordable of these quality mannequins.
16:19 Her price is only about $65.
16:21 It's actually less than $65.
16:24 And it's so worth it for this beautiful head of human hair that you can kind of really
16:28 practice on.
16:29 You know, with the Vanessa that I just showed you before, it's closer to $200.
16:34 But again, it's a full head of beautiful human hair so think about the cost of extensions
16:38 and so forth.
16:39 The other thing I'd love to say about Pivot Point is that as a business, they practice
16:45 very ethical production.
16:48 They're what they call a certified SA8000 company.
16:52 So what that means is even people in China or India that work with them, they pay them
16:57 a fair living wage.
16:59 So we do have to think about that stuff as we affect the world that we work in.
17:03 So you're paying a little bit more but you're getting a better quality product that's ethically
17:07 produced.
17:08 So let's get back to the lesson here.
17:09 And again, thank you Pivot Point for sponsoring this series.
17:14 And Kel, you can see how I worked into the side now.
17:16 Now I'm going to kind of repeat that.
17:18 Just like any graduation, you build the graduation up to about the top of the occipital bone
17:22 and then you start to kind of put the roof on the graduation.
17:26 So if you're watching along and you've done a classic, let's say, scissor graduation in
17:30 the past, you'll know that at this point, things can start to get really heavy or perhaps
17:37 start to look steppy.
17:39 So this is one of the reasons why I love using the razor for this technique because even
17:43 though the hair is getting longer and more solid, that tapering or weight reduction on
17:48 the ends of the hair will allow me to not get a step or a weight line.
17:52 And that is possible with a scissor.
17:54 It's just way more difficult, especially for salon-based work.
17:57 We want to be able to do things that work out really beautiful but can be a little bit
18:04 easier to get the result that we want.
18:06 So really thoroughly combing from the roots, great tension, coming down, not much elevation,
18:12 now staying at that same point that I ended up with, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.
18:20 I can do that same thing on this side with the heel of the blade.
18:23 You'll notice how I switch.
18:24 When I go to the right, I work with the tip.
18:28 When I go to the left, I work with the heel, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.
18:34 And comb that hair back and forth to see and look to see that you're not creating a weight
18:39 line.
18:40 Very important here.
18:41 It's one of the beauties of this technique, just a nice bustle to graduation.
18:44 Now the head's in a natural position for the sides of the cut so that we don't lose the
18:48 bob line.
18:49 So again, very easily I move the tripod into a natural position, continue to over-direct,
18:55 and now start to work from 1 into 0 so that we have less graduation, especially right
19:01 above the ear.
19:02 All right.
19:03 Just want to take a minute and welcome all the new viewers.
19:07 Adnan Ansari says hello, as well as Amanda Lewis and Brannamir from Serbia.
19:12 Welcome all of you guys.
19:13 Thanks for spending your time with us.
19:14 Logan was wondering about your water bottle.
19:18 My water bottle is something I picked up on a trip to Tokyo.
19:21 It's a fun little, I like a small water bottle because I like to be able to just kind of
19:25 put it in my pocket.
19:26 Yep, that's what Logan was mentioning.
19:27 Yeah, which is great.
19:28 I picked it up in Japan.
19:29 Next time I go over there, I'm going to try to bring some more back and put them up on
19:33 the Hairbrain Pro Shop.
19:34 Tom and Amber Roberts was wondering what kind of razor you're using.
19:38 So this is something that we're working on for Hairbrained.
19:41 It's a folding razor and it's made here in the US.
19:46 It's got a beautiful wood handle and you can see it's curved so it can be very, very comfortable
19:51 on your hand.
19:53 We're working on producing some right now and we'll have them available at Hairbrain
19:56 Pro probably within the next 30 or 60 days.
20:02 Come back.
20:03 Yeah, I mean the comfort is very important and you can see what happens here is it gets
20:07 more narrow right in this area so that when you grab it and then it's got a nice counterbalance
20:12 and weight here.
20:13 Beautiful.
20:14 It's something that a few years ago I was working on helping to develop and I'm glad
20:20 that we're able to finally get some produced for Hairbrained.
20:24 So again, you can see the idea of it going from more graduation in the back or a more
20:28 open stroke and if I look through I should be able to see the hair is thinner and more
20:33 graduated and then gets thicker and more solid towards the front creating a beautiful razor
20:39 graduation.
20:40 The angle of the sections is very important because it typically for me what I found over
20:47 the years is my angle for razor graduation of my sections needs to be steeper than scissor
20:53 graduation.
20:54 The reason being that I use a lot of over direction back.
20:58 The reason for the over direction back is to create tension between the blade and the
21:02 hair but also to help with that angle.
21:07 So it helps it get that swing forward because the blade pushes the hair forward before it
21:12 cuts it.
21:13 So if it's just straight down you tend to round things off a lot at the front.
21:18 So tip little tip there.
21:20 I like to over direct more when I razor cut to counterbalance and you know, we do that
21:25 with scissor cutting too.
21:26 We have to cut the angle steeper than we want it when it's dry and with razor cutting that's
21:30 how I use over direction.
21:31 So you can see how strongly that's over directed back and again constantly looking at the line.
21:37 I've got a good groove going on this side so rather than constantly going back and forth
21:42 I'm going to stay on this side to complete it.
21:44 I've got already the baseline in on the other side.
21:48 So you can see now my sections are at the top of the head and what I like to do at this
21:52 point is I start to pivot them rather than take them parallel because if I take them
21:57 parallel I'll be working with less and less hair each time.
22:01 Now again you'll also notice that as I get down here I don't elevate much.
22:05 If I go out here and use this technique I'm going to end up with a lot more hair taken
22:10 off.
22:11 I stay very low and I still stay in that four zone.
22:13 Four, three, two, one, zero.
22:17 So your graduation comes from using your number system rather than lifting the hair.
22:21 Yes, it comes from the movement of the razor, the way that it tapers the ends of the hair.
22:26 Now if you also lift the hair you can get actually even more extreme graduation so that
22:31 would be a perfect way to practice.
22:33 You use a lease here, you practice this technique once at low elevation and then you try it
22:38 at a higher elevation.
22:39 You experiment.
22:40 I think that's a key word here.
22:42 We want to talk about being able to experiment as a hairdresser which can be a little bit
22:47 scary to do on live paying clients.
22:50 So the whole idea of this series for those of you that are just tuning in, we've partnered
22:55 with Pivot Point to do a professionals who practice series is to try out new ideas, to
23:01 experiment and to see how it's going to work out for you.
23:04 Tiffany was wondering if you're still using your, is it still the half inch sections?
23:08 Yep, absolutely.
23:10 I would say most of the time when I razor cut, especially when I razor cut graduation,
23:15 I use half inch sections so that I have a consistent density of hair because this type
23:21 of cutting is all about how you manage the density.
23:24 So if one section is thick and one section is thin, you'll get completely different effects
23:29 and the razor will feel very, very different on the actual hair.
23:32 I'm going to lower her down now that I'm getting closer.
23:35 All I have to do is lower that, turn it, lock it back in.
23:38 Now I can reach over the top of the head.
23:40 We can make sure that that side is parted off neatly.
23:43 You can see how I'm pivoting so that my section stay half an inch.
23:47 So I've gently pivoted around.
23:52 We'll get that out of the way.
23:53 Let's say there's only about one section left on this side.
23:56 Really looking at the fall of the hair and you can see there's not much to cut in the
24:02 center back anymore, but I will start there so that I can still get my idea.
24:07 Four, three, two, one.
24:11 And those are the numbers of the size of the stroke.
24:14 Now getting ones and into zeros here where we want that hair to really hold a bob line.
24:20 If it ends up a little too dense here, I can always come back and I'll show you a little
24:24 bit of tipping and slicing.
24:26 But just like any bob, we don't want this to get too thin or too weak around the face
24:30 too quickly or it won't look like anything like a bob.
24:33 Meadow was just wondering what this haircut was called.
24:36 It's called a graduated razor graduation.
24:39 It's a bob, so let's take a look at the profile.
24:41 I still got a little bit to cut there, but we've got graduation in the back and it kind
24:45 of a line, a triangular line into the front.
24:48 It's a very important haircut to learn with both the scissor and the razor creating graduation
24:54 that transitions from steeper in the center back by the occipital bone to almost one length
25:00 or what some people would refer to as blunt around the front.
25:04 And it does it in an a line or triangular way.
25:08 That should be a shot that you can see from the distance.
25:11 Now again, what's great about these mannequins in this Elise, number one, I love the fact
25:16 that she's a little bit of a mixed color, so it's dark and light, which is really beautiful.
25:21 50% of a darker brown, 50% of a lighter brown.
25:25 And one of the things that that's really great for is coloring.
25:28 Obviously you have more options to play around with your color lessons, but it's also nice
25:33 just to see the shape in a different way.
25:36 So beautiful color coming through and also the density of the hair and the natural wave
25:41 because you know, for me, and it's a personal choice.
25:45 Many years ago I decided that I was going to try to encourage people to work with their
25:50 natural texture, natural wave.
25:52 I never really enjoyed really, really straight or flat hair.
25:55 So I made that my niche.
25:58 And what's great about razor craft is it goes hand in hand with that because once you master
26:03 the ability to taper the ends of the hair, you make the ends of the hair lighter than
26:08 the root.
26:09 And if the ends of the hair are lighter than the root, it encourages wave and movement.
26:13 And when you work with a great mannequin like this Elise here from Pivot Point, you can
26:17 see that in effect.
26:19 You know, if I cut it with the scissors and I cut the same shape, which is a beautiful
26:22 shape and an important lesson, it would be a little heavier on the ends and you'd see
26:28 a bit more of a solid shape.
26:29 But since I'm working with the razor, I'm really releasing the curl and the wave.
26:34 And again, you can see that here on these other mannequins that we prepared earlier
26:38 in the week.
26:39 The Vanessa, which is the long, lush hair that I naturally dried and then used a large
26:43 curling iron.
26:44 And that was curled over a week ago.
26:46 So you can see how great it holds up.
26:48 And then here the Viola, which again was very natural dried.
26:52 Cut in with a fringe this time, which again, one of the things that's great about a great
26:55 mannequin, you can actually cut bangs and shorter hairlines.
27:00 And then you can also texturize a bit more because there's enough hair to work with.
27:04 If the hair is too thin or synthetic, it doesn't respond the same.
27:08 Where this being great human hair, it's amazing for these lessons.
27:12 And this would be a great example of how to start out on any one of these mannequins.
27:16 Start with a long razor cut, then go into kind of a mid-length or bob and then layer
27:21 it a bit, create some fringe.
27:23 And then go into a shorter graduation.
27:26 Then you could go even shorter into a short round graduation or pixie.
27:29 And then you can even start to practice some of your barbering techniques.
27:32 So if you really map it out, you should really be able to get almost close to six haircuts
27:37 out of any one of these mannequins.
27:39 I have a question about the angle of your blade.
27:43 Are you consistently cutting on the bias or are you changing or rotating?
27:47 Consistently.
27:48 So the first two sections were on the edge.
27:50 And now every other section is on the bias.
27:52 So the blade comes in a diagonal, the fingers come around a little bit.
27:57 And it's a subtle thing, but you can tell when you look at it because there's what I
28:02 call taper before the line.
28:03 Here's a good example.
28:04 You see line and you see little pieces that look almost backcombed where you use the bias
28:10 blade because it scrapes a little bit before it cuts.
28:13 Now again, that could be a bad thing if you're aggressive or you work on hair that's already
28:18 naturally kind of frizzy or coarse.
28:20 You could overdo it.
28:22 So you have to learn how to have control.
28:24 And if you do it with your whole wrist, it can be aggressive.
28:27 You can use the wrist, great for long layers, for choppy bobs, but when you get into graduation,
28:32 you really have to master fingertip control.
28:35 Okay, Rebecca was wondering about the long haired girl.
28:38 I believe her name was Vanessa.
28:40 Yeah, Vanessa is beautiful.
28:43 I mean that hair, when I took it out of the box, I was like, wow.
28:46 I mean if this was extensions, I think people would have paid thousands of dollars for it.
28:51 So it makes sense that it's a $198 mannequin because the hair is just beautiful and beautiful
28:56 to work with.
28:57 And you know, all of it, this Elise even has a beautiful quality.
29:01 When you get her, the head shape is smaller and then there's, the hair is a bit shorter.
29:07 I think that the least, the longest hair on the Elise is 14 inches where the longest hair
29:12 on the Vanessa is over I believe 20 inches.
29:15 Steven was loving your razor and was wondering where he can get one.
29:18 Yeah, this will be coming out soon on Hairbrained.
29:21 It's going to be the Hairbrained Razor Craft Razor.
29:25 We're working, it's being developed here in the US by a metalsmith and a woodworker in
29:30 Michigan.
29:31 So super excited about that.
29:33 And it's already in production.
29:35 Within 30 to 40 days, they'll be available on Hairbrained Pro.
29:39 The balance and the color of the wood is really, really beautiful.
29:42 And what type of blades does it hold?
29:43 It holds Feather Plie blades, which they're still the best in the game.
29:47 You know, I think Feather makes incredible tools and we've always used them and this
29:52 will be designed to hold the Feather Plie blade.
29:56 So what you can see that I'm doing now is called tipping.
29:58 This is a way of filtering through your graduation, perhaps adding a little bit more where you
30:03 need it, which is definitely more than likely behind the ear and into the sides because
30:08 I was very closed.
30:10 So I'm adding or just sketching in a little bit of graduation above the line.
30:16 Yvonne was wondering, is this how you do texturizing using the razor?
30:21 Yeah, it's one of the ways.
30:22 I mean, every time you cut with the razor, you're creating texture.
30:25 You know, even when you're cutting with a very closed, small stroke, texture means the
30:30 line is not blunt.
30:32 So even when I'm coming in and cutting with the smallest that I can, the line is still
30:37 more organic and variegated.
30:39 Now this is going in and I use this specifically to check my graduation and add a little bit
30:44 more filtering to the graduation.
30:47 So you didn't cut it any shorter.
30:49 It just put a little graduation above the line, just grabbing it with the corner of
30:53 the blade and sifting through.
30:57 I believe it's Frank Musolino over at Craft Hair Studio.
31:00 What up, Frank?
31:01 Was wondering how the razor feels in your hand.
31:03 Feels incredible.
31:04 You know, the shape, the curve here, the contour.
31:07 You know, it's something a few years ago I was involved in helping to design it and super
31:13 happy to be able to finally produce one for Hairbrained and it'll be the Hairbrained Razor
31:17 Craft razor.
31:18 It'll be available on Hairbrained Pro soon.
31:23 All made in the USA, the metal, the wood, and it takes feathered plie blades.
31:28 Beautiful razor.
31:29 So here you can see I'm just filtering or what we call tipping, using the tip of the
31:34 razor to just glide through the hair and add a tiny bit of graduation to the last two inches
31:40 of the hair or so.
31:42 If I do want to go deeper, like on this last section, this hair's coming all the way across
31:47 from a parting, pretty far across actually.
31:49 I think we need to reestablish that parting just to make sure we're in the right place.
31:53 Comb it back.
31:55 And as you're doing that, Elizabeth was wondering about how much the cost of the razor would
31:59 be.
32:00 It's going to be $225.
32:03 Handmade in the US, the wood is all handcrafted in the US, the metal is made here.
32:08 And again, much like these mannequins, by using a better practice of manufacturing,
32:17 it costs a little bit more.
32:18 There'll definitely be cheaper razors in the world, but there won't be better ones and
32:22 there won't be better partners to develop them with.
32:25 So here I'm using a little bit of slicing and that will free up the front a little.
32:30 Even though I didn't want to add graduation to the front, I want to create separation.
32:34 So the difference is back here where I was tipping, this creates more of a graduated
32:39 or beveled effect and rounds the hair in.
32:42 Here I want this to be a little bit more free form.
32:46 So separating the ends, going straight into the hair, every inch or so, and tickling through
32:51 to create separation.
32:52 And then I'll even do some deeper slicing up here by the corner of the eye, coming through
32:59 deeper to create a little separation between the bob and the hair that falls over the face,
33:05 which is still part of the bob, but in a way I want it to be a little looser and freer.
33:10 You can see I just kind of peel some of that off so that hair has a little bit more freedom
33:14 to it.
33:15 I think I've got all the razoring in that I need to do, although actually I probably
33:19 should do a little slicing on the light side of the parting too, so bear with me there.
33:23 Then I'll do a little scissor checking and then we'll talk about a beautiful natural
33:27 dry on this wonderfully textured mannequin.
33:31 So for those of you just joining us, we're here working on a Professionals Who Practice
33:36 series, which is definitely me.
33:38 When the opportunity came up from Pivot Point, I said, "Hey, we love these Facebook Lives
33:43 and all this education that you're doing.
33:46 We would love to help supply tripods and mannequins and help get the word out there about great
33:52 education."
33:53 We talked about it and it was like, for me, if it wasn't for Pivot Point and some of the
34:01 tools that they made, I think my career would have been kind of stunted in a way.
34:06 First 10 years of my career, I didn't use mannequins to practice or to try new ideas
34:12 or new techniques.
34:14 I came from Sassoon, which is a beautiful heritage and I'm honored to have come from
34:18 there, but they didn't believe in doing any training on mannequins for lots of reasons,
34:23 I'm sure.
34:24 But as soon as I left Sassoon, and I was a well-trained, I think, great hair cutter,
34:29 especially geometric precision hair cutter, I wanted to try other things like razor cutting
34:34 and dry cutting and even try styling, which was something I never did much of, kind of
34:39 editorial styling.
34:40 And I figured, "You know what?
34:41 I'm going to have to get some mannequins and try this out."
34:44 So I remember my very first order.
34:46 This is one of my first tripods I ever ordered.
34:48 This is from 2001.
34:49 If you can see this guy here, it's one of the originals.
34:53 I was looking on the website.
34:54 I don't think Pivot Point makes this one anymore, but I've had it now for 17 years and it still
34:59 holds up.
35:00 It traveled with me many, many places.
35:03 So I ordered one of those and I started to use the Viola and I started to practice razor
35:07 cutting, practice a lot of the things that I became much more known for, dry cutting,
35:12 razor cutting, or what I tend to like to call kind of innovative cutting.
35:17 So for me, it's a personal story.
35:19 I said, "This is a great idea because practicing is what gave me the freedom to expand my career."
35:25 And I still do it all the time, all the time, practicing new ideas, trying things out, or
35:32 sometimes just to kind of almost like a little bit of a meditation.
35:35 It can be nice to cut hair without having to have any obligation.
35:38 All right, while you're putting the finishing touches on Elise here, we were wondering about
35:44 the curls on the long hair.
35:45 What did you do to get them?
35:47 Super, super simple.
35:48 I used the large barrel curling iron here and I just came through.
35:52 The hair had already been like natural dry.
35:54 When you mean large barrel.
35:55 Large barrel, I don't know what the size is.
35:56 An inch and a half?
35:57 An inch and a half.
35:58 It was about that big, pretty large.
36:00 And then I just came through with my fingers.
36:03 I took sections like you would kind of brick work.
36:06 I rolled them around the iron, fed them in in a figure eight, and let them cool for just
36:11 about 20 seconds and then started to pull them out with my fingers right away.
36:14 So again, a more loose organic finish that's just my personal style and that's kind of
36:21 what I went with there.
36:22 Ray Steele is here with us and I believe she was just in your class.
36:25 Hey, Ray.
36:26 It's great having you at Razor Craft out in Southern California in Orange County.
36:31 I hope you're having fun.
36:32 She mentioned she highly recommends it.
36:35 Don't forget the band-aids.
36:36 Yeah, I mean, the truth is once you learn the technique that I call lock and load, which
36:42 is locking and combing and holding, you can be pretty safe.
36:47 But just like anything, anyone who works with sharp objects, you can cut yourself from time
36:51 to time.
36:52 Marina was mentioning, yes, about the tripods in her class.
36:56 They're a must and the viola is now named the Erica?
36:59 No, there are two different ones, believe it or not.
37:02 The Erica is kind of a smaller version of the viola.
37:05 So the way the Elise has a smaller head shape, it's literally smaller so you can get through
37:10 the lessons a little bit more quickly.
37:11 You can teach exactly the same thing, but on a smaller head.
37:15 The viola has what they call a medium-sized head.
37:17 So Erica is like viola with a smaller head, which is great.
37:21 It's the same kind of solid form mannequin.
37:23 It's got plenty of hair to work with, but they are two different mannequins.
37:27 And the difference is the size of the head?
37:29 Size of the head.
37:30 The hair is the same?
37:31 The hair is the same and what they call the form?
37:33 If you ever have any doubt or questions, I found that the Pivot Point website was super
37:39 informational on every mannequin.
37:42 There's more.
37:43 It tells you where the hair comes from, if it's Chinese or Indian or natural hair.
37:47 It tells you the exact lengths of it, the shape of the head, and then it goes into a
37:52 lot of detail.
37:53 All right, lucky hairdresser, I get to work with all the best products because we don't
37:56 work with just one styling brand.
37:58 We work with 16 at Hairbrained.
38:00 So one of my favorites of all time is the Your Hair Assistant Blow Dry Primer.
38:05 I use it for almost everything.
38:07 And here just misting the hair down first.
38:10 And it's just kind of like a styling lotion that just has a little bit of hold and definition.
38:15 And then what I've really been loving for curly and natural diffusing is the L'Oreal
38:19 Professional Tecna Art Dual Stylers, the Bouncy and Tender.
38:23 It's a very fun name.
38:24 You just like to say that.
38:25 I love that name.
38:26 What it is, it's two things that combine in one in your hand.
38:30 It's like something to make it smooth and something to give it a little bit of hold.
38:34 And I love this combination.
38:35 I used it a lot while I was practicing this week.
38:38 The Blow Dry Primer from Davines and then from L'Oreal Professional scrunching the Bouncy
38:44 and Tender into the ends.
38:47 And then you can either let this dry off completely naturally or you can do what I love to do,
38:52 which is use a sock or cloth diffuser over your blow dryer.
38:56 So this is the YS Park Ion Diffuser.
38:59 Slips right over the nozzle and pulls over the back like that.
39:02 And then we can turn it on and you'll see it doesn't blow the hair at all.
39:06 It's just allowing the heat flow.
39:08 Now I notice that you keep your concentrator on.
39:12 I do.
39:13 So I keep the concentrator on because it allows me to really direct the air exactly where
39:19 I want it.
39:20 So I feel like my diffusing is more precise and more in control.
39:24 And plus this way I don't lose the concentrator or the nozzle.
39:28 We all know what happens in a salon when you take the nozzle off.
39:31 You can lose it right away.
39:33 So I like to keep it on and I can direct it right where I need it.
39:36 And at the root, which is what we're trying to work on here first, what's great here is
39:41 I can emulate how I would naturally dry this.
39:43 I'm going to put her head forward, really well forward and let the hair fall naturally
39:47 forward, which would be the first thing I would do.
39:50 Why would you do that?
39:51 It allows me to get in at the roots because when the hair falls forward, I can really
39:56 get an exposure of the roots and get the heat in.
39:59 You'll notice I use just these two fingers like a pincher to lift, never pulling through
40:05 the hair, but always gently lifting and getting the heat in at the root.
40:10 Sashel Kramich and Michaela, welcome.
40:13 Thanks you guys for joining us.
40:14 Tiffany was wondering about the fabric of that attachment.
40:18 It's like a cotton.
40:20 And then this is the silver and titanium mesh.
40:23 And what happens is just heat comes out.
40:26 What I love about this 1S Quark Ion Diffuser is that it doesn't blow the hair around.
40:32 So I still do use a traditional diffuser, a big bucket with fingers, when I'm doing
40:37 spiral curls and things like that.
40:39 Or maybe really long curls.
40:41 Really long curls.
40:42 It's a different kind of drying.
40:43 I call it like hand drying.
40:45 It's to bring out that natural texture, that kind of really modern, loose, undone hair.
40:53 Which you can then go in and build on with a curling iron or so forth.
40:58 But for me, it's a great way to get a very natural, low-maintenance finish.
41:03 And what I find, all the clients that I work on, they say, "I want to do that.
41:08 That looks really easy.
41:09 I think I can do that at home.
41:10 I'd love to try it."
41:12 So we sell a lot of these to clients that I work on.
41:16 Hey, Dara Smith, thank you for your support.
41:20 And be sure to send us a picture of your mannequin.
41:25 So getting that head now, perhaps moving backward.
41:29 So forward, backward, keep the curls moving.
41:33 Keep the airflow going downward.
41:35 Very rarely will I go up.
41:38 Because that can definitely separate the curls I find and perhaps make a little more frizz than I want.
41:43 So I bring the head in different positions, perhaps to the side a little.
41:48 And always able to get that air down.
41:51 And then puffing the curls from the ends.
41:54 Typically, I want a looser root and a tighter end.
41:58 So we can even get a little bit into scrunching at the ends and just pinching at the root.
42:06 And then perhaps switching direction, going like this.
42:09 Get in here at the root.
42:11 Airflow going down.
42:14 Puffing or scrunching the ends.
42:17 And getting that root a little bit more natural.
42:20 Lupe Voss just joined and is giving you tons--
42:22 Hey, Lupe, great job last night.
42:25 Showing the world the Aveda Demis.
42:27 Amazing, as usual.
42:29 Can't wait to see you this weekend.
42:31 For those of you that are watching, we're going to be at the IBS show.
42:34 Hairbrain has a big event in conjunction or association with IBS.
42:39 We've got our Hairbrain Video Awards.
42:41 It's here in New York City on Sunday night.
42:44 There's about 35 tickets left.
42:46 So head over to Hairbrain Pro and buy your tickets for the party.
42:50 It's going to be amazing.
42:52 All right, so Tiffany, this diffuser is available at Hairbrain.pro.
42:58 It's not a salon-centric or cost-no-profit.
43:01 Head over to Hairbrain.pro. We've got it for you there.
43:05 And all the mannequin and tripod.
43:07 If you want to start practicing at home more and you want quality mannequins to work with,
43:12 head over to PivotPoint.com so you can really try them out.
43:18 So, again, it just takes a bit of patience here.
43:20 You don't want to rush it.
43:21 You want to touch it in a gentle, deliberate way.
43:25 Or not at all.
43:26 You could allow the hair to dry completely without touching it, depending on the curl.
43:30 And what you think of it.
43:32 But at this point, I'm starting to assess the shape.
43:34 And you can see what I mean by the graduation developing nicely in the back.
43:39 Really coming around to a heavier front.
43:42 Although it's textured and light enough around the front.
43:46 So this is what I'd really be looking in the mirror, looking at my balance.
43:51 Deciding how the graduation was coming along.
43:54 You can see this Elise has a beautiful natural texture of hair.
43:58 I love it.
43:59 I wish everybody had hair like this.
44:02 So I can put a beautiful, soft shape in with my razor.
44:05 Do a little defining with the scissor.
44:08 And then encourage them to wear their hair as the natural fabric that it is.
44:12 Elise is awesome.
44:13 Just a few more questions about the diffuser.
44:15 There's a small and a large.
44:17 The small is $24.95.
44:19 The large is $29.95.
44:21 And Sasha was wondering if you prefer the small diffuser.
44:24 I do.
44:26 The only thing is the large is a little bit bigger so it covers more surface area.
44:30 I like to work a little bit more up close.
44:33 So I've never found any benefit for the larger one, personally.
44:38 So I always use the small one.
44:40 Yep, the large diffuser has a 5-inch diameter.
44:44 Where small is 3.5.
44:47 Nanette, thanks for your support and everyone as well.
44:50 We appreciate you guys spending time with us and sharing hair.
44:55 So, just want to get a little bit more air on it.
44:57 I'm really going to put her head downward and forward here.
45:00 Tighten that lock in.
45:02 And I really want to get some more air blasted through here one more time.
45:06 That's it. You just keep repeating the process here.
45:09 Forward, backward, side to side.
45:12 Keeping the airflow going down.
45:15 Now, when you're in the salon drawer, do you dry your curls the same way if this were a client?
45:20 Of course. Absolutely.
45:22 And I've developed a clientele that appreciates that.
45:26 If somebody likes their hair blown out, of course I'll talk to them and I'll do that.
45:31 But over the years as I build a relationship with them,
45:34 I definitely try to get people to come to me and trust me for my style.
45:40 That's what keeps me happy.
45:42 I love drying hair like this. I love to see my shapes come out.
45:45 And if you're happy with the work that you're doing,
45:48 you're going to be much more content behind the chair.
45:51 So yes, I would say most of the time I either use a Denman style brush and just do flat wrapping,
45:58 or I dry like this with a diffuser, a soft diffuser.
46:06 All right. I feel like we're just about 100% dry.
46:12 You see that beautiful-- I always love the looks of the 1920s, hair from the 1920s.
46:18 Again, because it's before they were doing-- they didn't really have blow dryers,
46:21 so hair was naturally dried and maybe irons were used.
46:24 And that's something I've always loved.
46:26 I'm going to come in now to finish off with the Definition Mist, another one of my favorites from Davines.
46:30 It's just basically like an oil spray to take away any of that crunch that you might have gotten
46:35 to really make that hair feel natural.
46:37 And of course, to polish any frizz or any flyaways,
46:42 this is great to get it to, again, just have that more polished but natural look.
46:48 And then I'll come back in with my hands.
46:50 Again, I don't really like crunchy hair, although sometimes curl has to be a little crunchy while you're styling it.
46:56 But then we want to get rid of the crunch.
46:59 And that's what we kind of went for here.
47:01 It's a great example of what the razor does beautifully,
47:03 this soft graduation kind of marrying into the longer, wavier bits.
47:09 Love that shape.
47:13 And get a little bit more of the oil spray here underneath.
47:17 That's the hair spray.
47:18 Grab the oil, Definition Mist.
47:25 Great.
47:26 All right, thanks, you guys, for tuning in with us.
47:29 Nanette, Sasho, yes, hopefully we'll meet you very soon over in London.
47:34 Micaela, Lupe, thanks, you guys, for your support.
47:37 Thanks, everyone.
47:38 Thank you to Pivot Point for supplying these incredible tripods and mannequins for us to practice with.
47:43 We'll be back in just a few days with some more Pivot Point lessons.
47:47 This is only number two of six, so we've got four more coming up with Lupe Voss, Ruth Roach,
47:53 and Stay Gold, Sophie Pack, who's an amazing barber.
47:56 So we'll see you guys more over the next couple weeks.
47:58 Thanks for sharing time with me.