How to Cut the Sides of Curly Hair

Knowing how to cut your curly-haired client's hair can be challenging. Here's how to make sure you're cutting their hair, specifically the sides, properly in order to avoid giving them a hairstyle that resembles a console television from the 1950s.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fine-tooth comb
• Cutting shears

1. Unclip the left-front side section and section off a thin layer from the bottom that extends just past the ear. Clip the rest of the section back up on top of the client's head to keep it out of the way.

2. Comb down the newly sectioned off hair, but this time slide the comb slightly underneath the neighboring, cut, hair to pick up a small section (take the hair from along the scalp, not on top). You now have both uncut and cut hair in your comb. The cut hair is a guide for how short to cut the uncut hair.

3. Run your middle and index finger down the hair, with the hair in between the fingers. Turn your fingers towards you so that the middle finger is below the index finger.

4. Start at the right, with the cut hair. Use the cut hair as a guide for where to begin with the uncut hair. Cut to the left.

5. Let down the next thin portion of hair from the clipped section. Comb the entire unclipped section together. Again you have uncut hair mixed with cut hair, but this time it isn't necessary to take some from the neighbor section because you already have uncut hair from the front section to use as a guide.

6. Continue to let down a little hair at a time from the clipped section until it is complete. Repeat on the right-front section.