The undercut or undercut haircut has been with us for over a decade. When the vintage fever exploded in the mid-2000s thanks to series such as Mad Men or the Hipster influence, it not only affected clothing, but all of our aesthetics, and that happens through hair. The polished cuts on the sides and longer on the top, typical of the beginning of the last century, became the norm again and have reached us in perfect shape with productions such as Peaky Blinders –which is collected by the aesthetic witness of Mad Men– and over the heads of actors like Brad Pitt, style icons like David Beckham or the most “conservative” footballers with their hair, like Cristiano Ronaldo.
After going through the current shaved homemade out of desperation or summer follies, it is time to return to the hairdresser to put the coconut in composure. What we do How can we be one of those perfectly groomed men? “You could say that a simple undercut, regardless of the details and particularities of each one, is a base cut that favors most people and that requires moderate care, explains Jaime Lucas, barber and barber at Lucas M36.
At first glance, the gradient haircut is aesthetic and easy to do. You may think that it is enough to pass the razor along the sides and leave the top long, although if you have ever dared to do a Do It Yourself, you will have verified that the result is not exactly the same as that of your references. How do you get the perfect undercut or undercut haircut?
The most important
“The key is to make a good blend from the nape to the top of the head, that is, without noticing any difference in length,” says Lucas. “The gradient can be marked more or less depending on the intention you want to give and always taking into account the type of hair”, but the important thing is that you do not notice any sharp cut along with the temples.
How to cut it
We know the end result we want to achieve. Also, the trick so that it is as we imagine it in our head or we see in the reference photos: blurred and without sudden cuts from the nape of the neck to the crown of the head. But how is that effect achieved? This is Jaime Lucas’s millimeter step by step to make the perfect gradient haircut:
- The first step is to separate the top from the sides and the back by drawing the line that we want to continue with our gradient. You can hold it with tweezers to facilitate the task.
- (Here comes the complicated, the perfect handling and technique of the razors) With a razor of measures and different positions (from longest at the top to shorter as we go down the temples), we are going to join the middle part of our gradient with the top, up to the partition line we made in the first step.
- With a patisserie machine, we unite the gradient we have made with the measuring razor with the perimeter of the hairline.
- Finally, with a shaving machine, we blur the perimeter of the hairline.
- We release the top, we wet it to be able to cut it and we shape it to join it to the first gradient that we have previously made with the measuring machine. The length of the top is relatively independent of the sides, although the final result will adjust to the shape of each face and must be harmonious. That is, we can choose a more or less long toupee, but it must be harmonically complemented with the lower part.
- We use the dryer to finish directing the hair to where we are going to comb it.
- We apply a little product to get the right texture.
