During your latest trip to the hair salon, you may have noticed some stylists bucking tradition by cutting hair dry. Gasp! All you’ve known is the classic wash first, then cut— forever. What exactly is going on?
Earning a huge fan base among stylists and clients alike is the dry cut. Clients love the element of surprise (or anxiety) being ditched and instead becoming part of the visual process. Stylists tout how they can better customize a cut to the client’s hair type and pattern.
When hair is wet, it’s true that it can be shaped and manipulated easily. But it also cloaks highlights, length, and density, leading to fickle results. Blow drying is usually the last step, unless it’s followed by a second trim. If you’re stuck in the middle about which technique is right for your hair, take a look at the reasons going rogue with a dry cut might be the move.
Less Anxiety, More Appreciation
Think about how many times you’ve walked into the salon with your fingers crossed, hoping the end result wasn’t a butchered mess. Stylists who do dry cuts say clients love to see their hair being shaped and brought to life as it happens. Transparency anyone? As a customer, you can keep an eye on length and style, and have an open discussion about what’s being done – as it’s being done.
They Last Longer
A haircut with a long life span? Yes, please. Stylists interviewed for InStyle Magazine note that when dry cuts grow out, they keep their shape nicely. This eliminates the need for frequent visits and trims. Dry cut devotees attest that when they converted from wet to dry, they’ve saved money by going to the salon less often.
Identify Problem Areas Easily
Your hair is more elastic and dense when it’s wet, so its looks can be deceiving in terms of shape, damage, length, color, and texture. With so many factors to consider, a dry cut can address problems when the stylist can see the hair in its natural state— the same way you see it at home.
Low Maintenance
How many times have you gotten home from the salon and tried to recreate your look? Not so easy right? Watching your stylist work with the layers and texture of your hair the same way you see it in the mirror will help you manage it more easily.
Great for Curls, Coils, and Kinks
Curly-haired gals complain that wet cuts miss spots or are just off because of their hair texture. Wet coils and curls are shaped differently than when they’re dry, creating opportunities for unpleasant surprises when they revert back to their natural shape.
If you have hair like this, then you know some curls have their own behaviors. Dry cuts help the stylist to identify curl patterns and tailor the cut for that customer’s hair type and shape.
The biggest drawback is finding a hair stylist in your area who actually does dry haircuts. Since the standard taught in schools is wet cutting, rebel shear masters can be hard to come by. Look out for salons that offer dry cuts, or that specialize in cutting curly heads. We’re not knocking the tried-and-true method of wet cutting, but if you want to try out a cut that’s more customized to you, you may like a dry cut!
Have you ever gotten a dry cut before? Are any of you curly headed with haircut challenges? Do you prefer wet or dry haircuts? Tell us in the comments!
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