There’s no denying that shorter styles are becoming more popular, from shoulder grazing bobs to cute little pixie cuts. So are you ready for the demand from clients?
“I may be optimistic, but it seems the popularity of short hair has been bubbling away for the past year, especially on the catwalks and we are now beginning to see an emergence of clients asking for something different,” says HOB Academy international creative director, Akin Konizi. “Long hair has dominated the high street for the past few years, but now a growing number of clients are wanting something that is shorter, versatile, and more personal to their own tribe. For the past two years during lockdowns and working from home, it’s been easy to pull long hair into a top knot. But now the world is back open, it’s time for hair to take on a new chapter of luxurious, beautifully executed haircuts—and clients are getting ready for it, they just need a push!”
But short doesn’t have to mean cropped; replacing long layers with something more structured round the shoulder is the perfect introduction to something new and exciting. “Adding some face-framing color and a shoulder-length bob can lift the face, is modern and easy to wear and the perfect introduction to shorter hair.”
So if you haven’t cut short hair for a while, here are Akin’s top five tips to cutting the grade.
1. Firstly don’t panic. If you’ve only been cutting an inch off hair for the past two years, shorter hair means extending that to two inches, or three inches. Hair is a canvas and you are in control of what you create.
2. Do your research and see what is on the catwalk and the red carpet. There are some beautiful jaw length styles around at the moment.
3. Shorter hair doesn’t have to mean scary. You have all the skills, you just haven’t used them for a while. Practise makes perfect so enroll on a cutting course, practise on family and friends and build up your confidence.
4. When you have someone with long hair, take them to a bob, and then at the next appointment layer that bob, then their next appointment cut in a fringe. At that point, you have completely changed them from long hair and on your way to any hairstyle that you want to go from there.
5. Shorter hair doesn’t always mean precision cuts. A blunt bob can look dramatic, but so can graduated layers and a point-cut pixie.
6. Keep an eye on emerging trends — what celebrities have today, your clients will want tomorrow. The bob is already making a comeback, so be ready to offer your clients what they want. If you don’t, someone else will.
7. Don’t go from long to short in one go, it’s too dangerous for you and dramatic for the client! Get to know the hair before you take the risk of cutting it all off.
8. Do it responsibly as ultimately, you will be to blame if they don’t like it.
9. Your aim is for the client to love it, not just like it! There nothing more rewarding for you than to reinvent the client’s character into someone who feels beautiful and re-energized.
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