How to Cut Hair – The Anatomy of the Head
It might appear quite unusual at first to talk about the anatomy of the head in hair styling, but when learning how to cut hair, these things are the knowledge’s required in order for you to perform your hair styling magic. We will try unfolding the importance of these points when hair cutting.
Knowing the correct reference to any specific area of the head and what they indicate will greatly assist you in your understanding of what is required in order for you to perform a particular style of hair cut on any given client, male or female.
Below are the following individual terms that are given to specific areas of the head that complete the make up of the head and how their directional flow will ultimately affect the hair cut.
The Top
This in itself is quite self explanatory, it is the area that is directly behind the forehead and is the uppermost portion of the scalp.
The Parietal Ridge
This is the point which describes the top of the head, the area that curves downward to become the side part of the head. The term parietal ridge actually refers to the bony ridge along the upper side part of the head. The Parietal Ridge starts approximately three finger-widths in length from above the top of the ear.
The Temple
The Temples are described as the small areas just above and slightly forward of the front of the ears on each side of the head. These are the pulse points for blood flow to the brain and flex points when contracting the facial muscles. When you clench your teeth together and touch them with your fingers, you can actually feel the temple muscles beneath the skin flexing.
The Crown
The Crown part of the head refers to the top area towards the upper back part of the skull. The Crown starts at the point where the top of the head begins to curve downwards toward the back part of the head and ends at the point which is just above the occipital bone. It is almost a semi-circular area.
The Occipital Bone
The Occipital Bone is a small bone protruding out at the base of the skull, just where the skull joins towards the neck. It can very easily be felt through the skin of the scalp at the very base centre part area of the skull.
The Nape
The Nape area refers to the areas of the head that curve away from the occipital bone towards the bottom part hairline of the neck and extends to the hairlines on each side of the head directly behind the ears.
