If you have read the "Barber Shop Listing" here at Buzztown, you may have noticed the listing for Ziggy's Hair Studio, in Ottawa and you may have been intrigued by the mention of their "lazer-eye" flattop technique. Well here are some more details, provided by Peter at Ziggy's. The "lazer-eye" technique is not some high-tech machinery that cuts the hair by laser (what a frightening thought). It is a technique for finishing the flattop cut and monitoring customer response and maintaining customer confidence. Here's what Peter wrote about the way flattops are cut at Ziggy's.
Most importantly in the creation of the flat top is clean hair. Once shampooed, we remove most of the bulk from the sides and back, we then cut the top down to a little bit longer than the desired length.Using a little bit of gel or styling aid we proceed to blow the hair dry straight away from the head. This leaves use with a "canvas" with which we can create our masterpiece.
Next we will take the clippers and short taper the sides and back, careful not to remove too much hair in "fall line" of the hair which are the corners of our shape.
The top is next, ensure the client is sitting up straight, start in the crown area, this will be your shortest length on the top. Lay a clipper comb across from ear to ear and create a guideline to use as you work towards the front which will be the longest part of the style. Be careful not to cut the front too short or the whole shape will be ruined. I like to stop and re-blow the hair several times during the clipper cutting, this will help train the hair and give you an idea as to how things are shaping up.
Once we have cut the middle of the top we should start to have a flat shape. The next step is to remove some of the hair at the corners, this is the difficult part, leave too much hair and the style will grow out too quickly, take too much and you lose the square shape. Starting on either side of the client lay the comb from front to back, always keep your comb parallel to the floor, this is crucial to ensure the top does not "sag" at the corners. This is where our "Lazer Eye" technique come in. After years of experience we found that the only way to polish the final look was to finish the style free-hand. This is not recommended for a shakey barber on a Saturday morning.We like to use a fairly lightweight clipper, precision is key when shaping the final countours, and a large heavy clipper can be difficult to handle. The final step is to blow the hair one last time and use hair spray to hold the hair in place. This will expose any imperfections, carve away any last details and the style is complete. A final rinse is a nice added touch and it gets rid of any loose hair.
The lazer eye technique is basically free hand, but you have to be able to look your client in the eye often throughout the service. This lets you check your progress and allows you to monitor clients response. This installs confidence in your client. We cannot be afraid to look them in the eye.
Ziggy's Hair Studio is located on the 2nd Floor Unicenter, Carleton Universiy, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Their phone number is (613) 731-3555 or you can contact them by email at "[email protected]".
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page