How to Cut a Shag

Move over lob, there’s a new 'do in town and it epitomizes the effortless style women want. “This new shag is just as layer heavy and laid back as the shag of the past, but it has a much softer approach and can be adapted to more hair lengths,” says Andrew Carruthers, education director for Sam Villa.  

The modern shag is full of movement, strong-structured modern lines and a disheveled silhouette. Working with short interior layers and textured crowns creates that natural movement and organic texture that women feel comfortable wearing and confident styling.

HOW-TO:

  • Apply Redken Anti-Snap leave-in treatment all over to damp hair as a cutting lotion
  • Section diagonally from the mid crown to the back of the ear on both sides
  • Take a pie-shaped/radial section in center back from mid crown to nape
  • Elevate just above 90° from the shape of the crown, mirror that elevation throughout the section, and use the Sam Villa Artist Series Slide Cutting shear to slide cut the lengths away working shorter at the crown to longer at perimeter
  • Use a small piece of the section as a traveling guide and continue with the next pie shaped section
  • Maintain the same elevation (using the crown area to set elevation) and no over direction.  Cut with a slide cutting technique to follow the guide *** don’t worry about a perfect match as the look is highly textured
  • Continue to either side until reaching the first section from crown to back of the ear
  • Past this line, notice that the elevation will continue to get higher and higher because the elevation is set by the shape of the crown
  • Continue with the same method to finish both sides
  • Take a triangle section in the fringe area over the right eye
  • Over direct the outsides of the section to the center of the triangle creating a “triangular pinch”, elevate 90 degrees horizontal (parallel to the floor) and point cut with the slide cutting shear for softness
  • Apply A LOT of Redken Guts 10 at the base of the hair and rough dry in all directions to create natural movement
  • Use the Sam Villa Artist Series Polishing Paddle Brush to wrap dry the fringe area for control and then use the same brush to polish just the ends of the rest of the head leaving the fullness at the base
  • Now detail the perimeter, again, use the slide cutting shear to maintain a wispy texture
  • For more texture, mist Redken Iron Shape 11 throughout and add random bends to the hair by wrapping the hair around the wand of the Sam Villa Artist Series 2-in-1 Marcel Curling Iron and Wand 1”