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Locating the four corners on the top of the head helps to guide how you will cut the hair at top of the head, where the head starts to slope down the sides and back of the head; and how to adjust the hair elevation based on the changing head shape. Practice mapping the four corners on your family members’ heads, and while you’re at it, map your head too.

How to locate the four corners:

1 Place a cutting comb on each side of the head, starting at the front of the ear and straight up toward the top of the head. Repeat this action on the other side of the head. The points where the comb loses contact with the head are the front two corners.

2 Place the comb at a diagonal, going from one of the front corners to the opposite side of the back of the head. Repeat this action on the other side. The points where the comb loses contact with the head mark the back corners (see Figure 5-3).

3 Create a top section by parting out the hair using the corners as your guide. When done correctly, the section will be in the shape of a rectangle.

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; Illustration by Rashell Smith

FIGURE 5-3: The four corners of the head help to guide many aspects of individual haircut designs.

Everyone’s head shape is unique. If a person has a pronounced occipital bone, for instance, not taking that into consideration could make the hair collapse on the underside of this prominent bone. If a person has a flat occipital bone, building more hair volume in that area will create a far more pleasing shape. A person’s head shape and its key points should guide every decision you make during a haircut.

Knowing how to identify key areas of the head is also important in terms of following all haircutting directions, whether they are included in this book or elsewhere.

Thinking back to all the great salon haircuts that you’ve had in your life, you may or may not remember a stylist using a comb to map out key areas of your head. While an experienced stylist doesn’t always use a comb to do this, they still use their fingers to surreptitiously check out your head shape while going through your hair. They’ll place their hand over the entire occipital bone to get a 360-degree read on its shape; put their hand on the top of your head and lightly contract their fingers to feel where the parietal ridges begin and end; and so forth. When it’s necessary to map the four points at the top of the head, most stylists will still use a comb.

The next time you are having your hair cut by a stylist who doesn’t know your head shape, pay attention to what they’re doing. This is important because some of the not-so-great salon haircuts that you had in the past could have been caused by the stylist not analyzing your head shape.

If knowing the key points and shapes, and how to find them, is still a bit fuzzy after finishing this chapter, I promise that by the time you cut your way through this book, you’ll be able to recite and identify them in your sleep. It all starts by being a hands-on learner.