First Cuts: MODERN's February Issue

Think back to beauty school and remember your first post mannequin haircut—if you’re lucky, a friend or family member stood in as your courageous model. My brave volunteer was my sister, Dana. She requested “just a trim” on her long, layered hair—my knees were knocking out of fear.

Though I had years of amateur color experience throughout my teens on poor victims in my makeshift salon in my bathroom (much to my mother’s chagrin—thank goodness for Scrubbing Bubbles and Clorox for those postservice cleanups!) cutting was a world of permanence I was terrified to enter.

I brought down the first subsection of hair and took off an inch. It was even—success! “Hooray!” I thought. “This isn’t so bad.” But when I brought down my next section, it fell about 3 inches past what I had cut! I didn’t realize her nape had breakage from ponytail wear and tear and being too aggressive with a brush. Yikes.

Though I’m certainly not a natural (with a shear, razor or clipper), and struggled throughout the entire “hair sculpture” focus of cosmetology school, I loved learning about the versatility and creative possibilities cutting offers. Whether going from long to short or fashion-forward to practical, haircutting can transform your clients in just one appointment.

In the February issue of MODERN, we take a look at texture and balance, weight removal and feature emphasis, tried-and-true, and trendy—and shine a light on the tools to take you there.

In Product Spotlight, we’ve rounded up some of the industry’s top-performing shears and razors to help create the looks your clients crave.

As 2014 was the year of the pixie, we asked design master Sam Villa to demonstrate how one grows out the short silhouette while still being on-trend. He delivers impactful results in the Dual Identity step-by-step.
And hair transformations don’t stop at the head—eyelash extensions can make your clients peepers’ really pop! Learn how to get involved in becoming an extensionist in Face and Body.

If you made boosting retail sales part of your New Year’s resolution, be sure to turn to page 86 to read about co-washing, cleansing conditioner product category that your clients will soon be asking you about.

As always, we want to see what looks you’re loving—and creating!—in your salon every day. Upload images of your work on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and tag #modernsalon. Who knows—you could be our next featured artist!