HOW-TO: Pravana Vivids Mohawk Undercut

Kara Gora from Hobart Hair Cuttery created this style by cutting a strong undercut and an extremely over-directed bob. “For my model Sonya, I wanted to create a hair style that was wearable, yet something that could be viewed as a work of art,” says Gora. “So when I began to plan out what I was going to do with my model's hair, I looked at the symmetry and proportions of her face to her hair, and I used different colors and cuts to enhance the highlights of the her face. For Sonya, I ‘drew’ or ‘tattooed’ on the side of her head.”

According to Gora, the entire process took over a week to complete, in order to have everything look exactly the way she imagined in the photo below. “I had to apply the dark color first, to avoid staining, and pre-lightened at the same time. I then waited until a day before the photo shoot to apply the vivid colors to ensure they were at the brightest they could be. The day of the shoot I drew the design in my model's hair so it looked as crisp and clean as possible for the picture. 

TRY THE CUT:

STEP 1: Section out a diagonal "eye" shaped section. Start the section above the left eye, bringing it back across the head down to the right side of the nape. After sectioning, use clippers with a 5/6 guard to get rid of the bulk of hair.

STEP 2: After primarily cutting, part out the inner section of the "eye" parting, leaving about a ½-inch around the entire section and pre-lighten this area. Apply a Level 1 cool black to all remaining hair. Then, follow with several shampoos, and a couple of days, to ensure that any color did not remain stained on skin. 

STEP 3: After completing Step 1 and Step 2, Gora refined the cut, fading up to the longer section, and cutting the longer hair into a Mohawk, using a lot of texturizing and point cutting to give the style as much texture as possible.

TRY THE COLOR:

STEP 4: For the inner "eye" section use Pravana's violet, blue, and green vivid colors. Follow the same pattern initially used when parting out for the first color application. Use the violet on the outer section, followed by blue on the middle section, and finally green on the last, inner section. Then, put your client under a pre-heated dryer for about 25-30 minutes and rinse with very cool water. 

STEP 5: Use trimmers on the side of your client’s head to create the design shown. “This was actually the first time I had ever ‘drawn’ or ‘tattooed' on someone’s head,” says Gora. “I tried practicing on a mannequin, but found it wasn't much help, considering someone's hair growth naturally grows in many different directions. So I just went for it!”