What makes a stylist good?

Having been in this business now for over 30 years I have seen styles come, go and then come again. Many of today's looks were popular in the 1960's and early '70's, so it seems like there is really not much new out there, just a recycling of old looks. There is nothing wrong with this except that we like to think that our techniques that create the look have advanced since the last time the style was popular. Unfortunately this is not always the case, and some older techniques like razor cutting can actually damage the hair and make it more difficult for the client to work with his or her hair at home.

In the salon we can always manage to make a hairstyle look polished, but I still propose that clients want cuts and chemical services that they can work with at home as well as when they are in the salon. When a stylist starts hacking at the hair with a razor he or she must be very careful to still work with guidelines that can be reproduced the next time the customer sits in his or her chair. This takes a lot of practice, and careful concentration on the part of the stylist. A good razor cut can be done, but usually it just creates a dis-jointed cut that is impossible to reproduce, and will not style easily at home.

A good hair cutter knows that there are certain angles that create a look, and that for the most part all angles should work together in the hair cut. When the stylist knows his or her craft, he/she can adapt the hair cut "template" to create any style desired. Today however, too often I see stylists that have not been taught basic cutting principles, and have no idea how angles work in a hair cut. They simply start cutting willy-nilly, not thinking about how the cut will work at home. Too often I have heard from clients, "I loved the cut when I was in the salon, but at home I could never reproduce it." This is because the cut itself never did work, the stylist was simply good at styling the hair. As professionals we know how to bend the hair into a shape regardless of the cut, but at home it can be difficult to do this.
So I maintain that it is still the cut that makes a style work, and without a good template, the cut will not work. These principals never change, they can be adjusted to create any look in current fashion. Techniques such as razor cutting should be used to accent a good cut, not to create the cut. Unfortunately today very few stylists are taught these principals therefore it is really difficult to find a stylist that knows cutting. Maybe there is an advantage to being older in this profession.....