Most hairstyles today have lots of movement and hair falls away from the face… and that’s thanks to point cutting.
The point cutting is a method where the tips of shears are used to cut into the hair at an angle, creating texture and removing bulk. It’s not about making blunt, straight cuts, but rather about introducing subtle variations in length that result in softer, more natural lines.
Back in the day, everything was cut very blunt and precision-like. Yet, when people started picking up round brushes, stylists realized that a blunt line can’t be styled with as much fullness and volume as a softer line, so they figured out a way to cut a line and soften the interior of it with point cutting. The deeper into a section the shear tips cut, the more weight is removed, and softness created.
“Point cutting the edge of a solid line softens the edges of hair, making the cut easier to control when working with a round brush to create volume. With a softer edge, hair is also easier to pick up with a round brush and stay wrapped around it to build movement for a more blended seamless finish,” explains Sam Villa, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sam Villa and Global Artistic Ambassador for Redken – see here.
- Blunt Line = hair falls straight down due to the heaviness of the weighted straight line
- Point Cut Line = the softer edge has less weight and more bend
Credit: Photographer/Todd White; Makeup/Leticia Tapia and Tanya Ortega; Model/Christi Ho