ScissorBoy: Hair Shimmering With Clippers

ScissorBoy is Grant, who used to come by our salon regularly to stock us up on styling tools and sharpen our blades. He would arrive on a Segway, sporting a ponytail, another wonderful character in the extended AE family. Currently based in London, ScissorBoy has been posting hair styling related videos on his website for the past year or so. We’ve gotten into the habit of watching the weekly episodes, as it gives us a way to connect with other high end members of the styling community. Sometimes we’re lucky and catch a new trend that is emerging. Sometimes we see how another stylists works and it helps clarify our own approach.

Recently we watched an episode from Scissorboy called “Hair Shimmering With Clippers” to which we felt kinship. We’re presenting it to you, because we thought it would actually help introduce our own approach. The guest stylist in this episode is Pat Wood, based in Manchester. While there is a key difference in how we work, there are some fundamental concepts that we share. We invite you to watch the video here. Or you can view it below.

Two key concepts presented by Pat Wood in the episode are
(1) working visually
(2) working 50% on wet hair and 50% on dry hair

— Working “visually??” I don’t recall ever seeing my stylist cut with his eyes closed!
— That’s because you come to Atelier Emmanuel!

What we mean is that it is one thing to implement hair cutting techniques you’ve acquired, and quite another to take the time to visualize how to apply those to a particular person. This is what Pat Wood means when she speaks about “watching and looking all the time.” Our stylists have studied with world renowned instructors and schools like Vidal Sassoon or Tony & Guy. The techniques are not used blindly, however. We plan the cut around what we see in the hair and in the client’s features. We let go of ideas about what the cut should be and instead work with the reality of the client.

It’s a more dimensional approach. And the result, like in the video, is hair which falls naturally and can style itself.



The next common feature is that 50% of the cut happens on dried hair. Why is that? Quite simply, because you don’t walk around with wet hair! Working on dry hair allows us to better see the results of our work. Working on wet hair is a preliminary phase to build the foundation of a style. We cut the perimeter and give the main lines of your cut. Then, on dry hair, we refine the cut and tailor layers that fall naturally.

Irregular layers, by the way, seems to be another another shared approach with Pat Wood. Creating irregular layers brings more movement to hair and really helps lift up the face. Building up a cut from such layers requires skill, patience, and confidence. You have to be able to “get” each person’s hair and head shape. But the result is a cut which honors the individuality of that person, and this is how you get a cut which grows out well.

Now, the tool we use is the main difference between what you see in the video and the way we work in the salon. We don’t often work with clippers. Clippers are efficient, but we prefer the precision of scissors. And, we feel it offers a completely difference experience for both the client and the stylist. If nothing else, we’re still able to converse over the snip snip of scissors! Either clippers or scissors can give good results; but despite the fact that it takes more time, we prefer the control of scissors.

We hope you enjoy watching the video and that it helps you understand a bit more how we work at Atelier Emmanuel. We’ll leave you with a final tidbit which Emmanuel always emphasizes: that you finish a cut. This is what working visually and cutting 50/50 on wet then dry hair contribute to. They allow a stylist to create a hairstyle which fits you.