Thursday, December 6, 2012

Hair-Do How-To #7: The Faux Under-cut

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1. As always, dirty hair works best for this. Decide of the placement of your part- a deep side part works best.
2. Using a fine-tooth rat-tail comb, make your part and comb the lower "shaved" section straight back against your scalp.
3. Smooth the combed section beneath the crown of your head, allowing some loose strands to fall over it.
4. Using bobby-pins, secure the combed section of hair so it lies tightly against your head.
5. Spray with hairspray (I spray my hand, then run it over my hair so it doesn't look shellacked).
6. Using a curling wand or curling iron, add curls to the loose section of hair, break apart and set with hairspray.

Optional: If you'd like a little more texture, rub some pomade or styling cream between your hands and sprunch through your hair, being sure not to run your fingers through (this will just weigh it down).

After this post, I received a number of requests for tips on creating a faux-half shave (or undercut). I've been wearing my hair like this a lot lately and, yes, this hairstyle is basically early-90s mall hair. No, I do not in the least feel self-conscious about this. I remember standing in front of my bathroom mirror as a kid, holding one half of my hair back and thinking it would just look so cool if it were shaved. I have no idea where on earth I could have seen this hairstyle back then, since I had very little access to any media or pop culture, but something, somewhere made an impression. So yeah, I'm all about the resurgence of undercuts and shaves. And, by the looks of the Tracy Reese SS13 runway show and the Rachel Antonoff SS13 presentation, the look will stick around a while (not that it matters, do what you want with your hair! Be free!). A faux-undercut is the perfect way to change up your hairstyle without the commitment of breaking out the razor.

Want more? Go here for more tutorials and tips and tricks for long hair. Have a how-to request? Let me know in the comments section!

Product details:
Hairspray: Tresemme
Curling wand c/o Missako