Zahir begins to cut his model with her standing up.

This places her head and body in a natural position, perfect for his technique of cutting a zero tension perimeter.

"When you have tension and dry the hair, the lines you just cut shrink and you lose the natural position of the hair," he notes.

His model was seated after the perimeter was cut.

When parting the hair he observed "it is important to have hair in the right position and the parting must be dead on for perfect results."

He goes from the perimeter right to the crown to cut a guide that is "left, for security, a little longer.

Comb it first to the perimeter to measure this length, establish the desired amount of layering or graduation, lift it back up to the crown and cut it."

This takes the guess work out of the eventual length of hair in the crown, when vertical layering or graduation is applied.

Now, he cuts on the inside of sections and cuts from crown to occipital, angling out from the crown to establish graduation.

Rotate each section from center to each ear and cut no further. Zahir recommends you comb and re-cut these sections until you are satisfied with the way it falls.

Remember: you still have not cut the hair from the perimeter to the occipital and this heavy chunk of hair may look odd to we who are used to cutting from base up to crown.

He moves to the front of each ear, lifts each section and chips into it to "keep a softer blended line".

Always see the hair as if it were in space: to see the results before you cut."

After elevating each side of the head in front of the ear, Zahir does something out of the ordinary.

He goes to the opposite side of the head and chips into the hair to further soften the line.

He stands in front of the model and parts the hair in the center.

He forward directs the hair along the face and cuts into it with an upwards motion.

"Always keep the face a little longer. When dried, you can adjust the cut for length and thickness."

Zahir goes back to the nape to establish elevation from the perimeter to the previously cut occipital section.

"I want to create soft movement in this important area. Go from short to long and use a rolling motion of the razor from underneath the sectioning."

He follows this section from center to both ears. He re-cuts this section, slicing from mid-shaft to ends with the tip of the razor.

Each pass of the razor removes ever so little hair, but the effect is to push air into the line. He uses this same technique in the crown and crown to occipital sections.

"If her hair were wavy or curly, I would use scissors to create the same effect. Keep the razor or scissor tips moving while you slice downwards into these sections so you will not remove too much hair with each pass."

It is interesting to see Zahir cut with a white rubber cowl on the model's shoulders. This allows him "to see perfectly the lines I cut and to compress the collar and cape flat to the shoulders."

The cut took less than twenty minutes at this point. "You must learn to cut fast. Women are busier now days. She will get bored or agitated if you take one hour to shampoo, cut and style her hair. Thirty to forty-five minutes are the maximum times for most clients."

He dries the hair on a lower heat setting with a flat nozzle and vent brush. He scatters the hair and dries mostly at the scalp.

When the hair is a touch damp, he uses a large metal-based round brush, lifts each parting away from its growth and dries underneath for maximum lift.

After the hair is dried, he reenters the hair with texturizing shears, moving "very quick, very soft".

"Never use texturing tools at the scalp only mid-shaft to ends, or you will lose the lines of the cut."

He also applies the tips of his cutting shears to remove the random bit of weight and to further blend each section.

He stood his model up and spent fifteen minutes chipping, polishing, and slicing through the cut - each pass removing an infinitesimal amount of hair - before he was satisfied with the result.

This allows him to complete the cut in a position "as others will see the cut".

"Often, I will draw the cut out on paper before I cut it and, now, I will compare the finished cut with the drawing."

This seems to be a way to meet the expectations of a first-time or skittish client.

He wrapped up the demonstration by discussing color.

He recommended the placement of highlights "just underneath the crown and sides".

"I would want chunky caramel and blonde to peek through."

The cut and style were fast and entertaining to watch and the results were marvelous.

He took his model from long and boring to short and sophisticated and the assembled appreciated the work.

It is a reality of our current industry that, unless a stylist has his or her name attached to either a large shampoo line or a hair extension company, few newer stylists know who are the geniuses and movers of our industry.

Zahir is one of the most influential and respected artists currently working, yet his inevitable fame is just ahead of him.

If few of the Evergreen Beauty College students knew of his standing in hair before he began his discourse, they all understood it when his model was finished and standing before them.

He put all his skill and heart into his work that day in Bellevue and that attitude is a hallmark of the great ones.

Article by: Edward Paul - Capelli d'Oro ©2009
Photography by: Daniel Lassman - Capelli d'oro ©2009