Maths and Hairdressing
Hairdressing Concepts and Terminology that students struggle with:
Projection / Angle hair is held away from the scalp (recognising over curved surface) / Angles we use are 135, 90, 45, 22 ½, and ‘natural fall’Distribution
‘Cutting’ / Way hair is combed in relation to base parting / Perpendicular (forms ‘T’), natural fall, shifted is ‘anything not natural fall or perpendicular’
Distribution
‘Styling’ / Way hair is combed over the head / Radial, Parallel, non-parallel
Also curved and straight
Design Line / Direction and angle of finished length
Some students think the word straight means Horizontal!!! / Horizontal, Diagonal forward, diagonal back
(45, 22 ½, 10)
*We use a celestial axis to teach line and angle around head
Line / Direction the eye follows / Vertical, horizontal and diagonal.
*Problem moving line to 3D concept around the head
Line / Curved, straight, alternating directing / Fast speed and slow speed (ie movement)
Students struggle with clockwise and anti-clockwise.
Shapes/Forms of cutting / All cuts are made from 3 basic shapes / Square, round and triangle
We then refer to long square ie rectangular, long round ie oval
Ratios / 1:1, 1:2, 1:1½ / This is mixing of colour products
Tubes are generally 60gms, 75gms
BUT can be 3oz (if imported from USA)
Fractions / ¼, ½, ¾, 1/3, 2/3
*Typical colour problem: I need ½ a tube of product mixed and want 1/3 of 7/0 and 2/3 of 77/0.
We teach use of scales as well as judging amount from tubes. Tubes have markings to identify quarters / This can be:
· Mixing colour
· Proportion of cutting methods over the head
· Amount of activated and un-activated texture
Lines
We use line all the time in hairdressing. Both visible (what you can definitely see) and illusional. Where it can take your eye)
You need to understand line and the identifying terms.
Draw the following lines straight
Horizontal Vertical
Diagonal Left 22 ½ Diagonal right 45
Draw the following lines curved
Vertical Diagonal left Diagonal right
Draw the following line with alternating clockwise and anti-clockwise direction
Vertical
Lines can be parallel (like a train track)
Draw two parallel diagonal left 22 ½ lines
Lines can radiate (like spokes in a bike)
Draw a full circle of curved radiating lines
Line can be straight ie west to east (2 dimensional).
Line can also be straight BUT curve around the head (3 dimensional).
Take the piece of wool at the back of the head and hold it horizontally around the head. Were you correct?
Take the piece of wool at the crown and hold it diagonally forward at 22 ½
When we part hair for haircuts we use horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. They curve about the head at all angles AND need to be straight.
Fractions: (proportions and amounts)
Fractions in hairdressing are used for:
Mixing colours.
Used for, deciding on the proportion of different colours on a hairstyle so we have ‘Balance’ and the finish has harmony not discord.
Used for deciding the amount of activated and inactivated texture in a haircut.
Used for the proportion of cutting methods over the head.
In Hairdressing we use ¼, ½, ¾, 1/3, 2/3
Task 1 – Mixing colour (working in teams)
Take your tube of product and using a marker pen,
On one side mark in
½ =
¼ =
¾ =
On the other side mark in
1/3 =
2/3 =
Task 2 – Amount
Note the amount of product in each tube = 140 gms ???????????
Go back to the fractions above and enter in the weight per fraction of the tube. (without a calculator)
Eg ¼ = 35g
½ = 70g
¾ = 105g
Take a mixing bowl and squeeze out ¼ of the product.
Question. How much product should you have in the bowl? ……….. gms
Weigh it on the scales to see how accurate you are.
How far out were you in your calculations? ……………….. gms
Ratios
Ratios are used for mixing of colour products.
The amount of each colour needed, or the amount of product to activator.
Ratios are normally 1:1 1:2 1:1 ½
Problem: (without calculator) I need 60 gms of product mixed. I want 1/3 of 6N and 2/3 of 6R.
The ratio mix to developer is 1:2
How much of each product do I need?
6N…………….
6R…………….
Developer…………….
Projection: The angle we move the hair away from the head.
We need to project the hair from the head at varying angle to be able to achieve:
Different haircuts.
Different amounts of volume or indentation when styling and perming.
You need to be able to recognise angles as they move over a curved surface ie (THE HEAD)
The most common angles we use are:
0-10 (also referred to as Natural Fall)
22 ½
45
75
90
135 (referred to as Overdirected)
*One of the rules of cutting is that: the higher the angle the more weight removed in the haircut.
*In styling: the higher the projection angle the more volume created
Task 1
On the head shapes below draw lines that represent the angles listed (start with the lowest angle at the nape)
Task 2
On the manikin head provided, hold the wool to represent the angles listed
Use the three different pinning positions to try all the angles over the curve of the head.