You guys! If you haven’t read my last blog post on why April is the best time to cut your hair in 2022. This blog post is testament to that. I got so caught up when I was writing it, I had to stop writing immediately, and give myself a DIY hair cut! And this time I recorded it. Introducing The Waterfall Wolf Cut!
Not my first DIY hair cut…
I’ve actually been cutting hair for over 20 years, for friends and family. I’ve been cutting my own hair for years too. My first ever Instagram Live was when I did my DIY cut for Shape & Volume. It was shortly after I got the big chop – see this blog post for before and after pictures. Malibu & Coke in one hand, a pair of scissors in the other. A mirror behind the phone and a few followers on the Live. Comment below if you were there for that! Talk about OG IG vibes ✌🏼
And that was the best hair cut I’ve ever had… until now! Even my own hairdresser of 14 years says the same. Unfortunately, that was really early in the Instagram Live days and the ability to save it was sketchy at best. So I’ve only got a few clips. So this time, when the notion took me to cut my hair again, I made sure to record the whole thing.
I literally dropped everything, set up the lights and my camera while I figured out in my head what kind of shape I wanted to create, and how to do it. Taking inspiration from some well-known cuts in the curl community, as well as trending cuts going viral on social media lately. With a few tweaks of my own, and voilá! Let me introduce you to The Waterfall Wolf Cut…
The Waterfall Wolf Cut
I’ve named it The Waterfall Wolf Cut because it’s a combination of a few different well-known cuts. With some tweaks and techniques to change the over all shape, so it’s better suited to wavy and curly hair. Especially if you want to create shape and volume, enhance definition and fullness. But without sacrificing the length, or the density. The Waterfall Wolf Cut is best suited to mid-length to long hair. You could do it on shorter, shoulder length hair but the shape will be different, much more rounded. Click the video below to watch the full tutorial!
The Waterfall Cut
The Waterfall Cut is such a beautiful cut that suits medium to long hair that’s straight, wavy or curly. The soft, rounded layers, waves and curls cascade like a waterfall. In the shape of a upside down teardrop, tapering into a softly rounded V-shape at the ends. Taking out the heavy bulk and weight of the hair, creating lots of body and movement. The Waterfall Cut can be cut wet on straight or loose wavy hair. Or dry as a curl by curl cut, such as the well-known Deva Cut. In fact, most of the curly hair cuts you see on Pinterest and social media, are Waterfall Cuts.
The Wolf Cut
The Wolf Cut has gone viral on TikTok and social media over the last few months and is a mix of a shag cut and a mullet. Creating a LOT of texture, especially on fine, straight hair. And although it’s a great cut for type 2 wavy hair if you want that kind of look. I felt like it would add a little too much texture, and made the shape a little too choppy on my type 3 curly hair. But I do like the face-framing layers and volume it gives to more textured, wavy and curly hair. It can be cut wet or dry, and is very similar to the Unicorn Cut, just with more sections.
The Unicorn Cut
The Unicorn Cut has been hugely popular in the wavy and curly community for years! It’s a super easy DIY hair cut to do, very similar to the Wolf Cut, requires minimal effort and not much technique. It creates that V-shape at the back, and face framing layers at the front. However it doesn’t give you the rounded fullness and layers throughout the back of the hair that I’m looking for. And you can end up losing a lot of fullness, especially at the front and side of the hair when the angle of the V-shape is too sharp.
The Waterfall Wolf Cut
So I took inspiration from the sectioning technique of the viral Wolf Cut. The cutting technique from the super-easy Unicorn Cut. And the shape of the Waterfall cut to add depth and layers throughout the mid lengths to create a more softer, fuller rounded shape. The baby bangs, face framing layers and soft V-shape come from the Wolf and Unicorn cuts. The rounded shape, layers and fullness come from the Waterfall cut. The volume you achieve depends on how short you go with the layers.
Cutting Technique
How you hold your hair, how you hold the scissors and the cutting technique matters. For the first section, once you’ve secured your hair with two hair ties. Hold the hair between your index finger and middle finger horizontally. And with the other hand, hold the scissors horizontally and cut however much you want to take off the over all length of the hair.
PLEASE REMEMBER: You can always cut more off, so take your time. Only cut a small amount off at a time, and check off the first section so you’re happy with the length.
Once you’ve cut horizontally, still holding the hair horizontally and securely with your index and middle finger. Turn the scissors vertically, and cut vertically all along the new cut or edge you just created. This technique is called point cutting and will soften the cut, so you’re not left with a harsh, blunt finish.
For the next two or three sections, once you’ve secured your hair with two hair ties again. You’re going to hold the hair between your index and middle finger again, but this time vertically. And you’re going to cut at a 45 degree angle, with the scissors pointing up and away from you.
To make sure that you’ve got the angle right, you want the tip of your scissors to meet the top tip of the hair section you’re about to cut. It’s this particular step and cutting technique that ensures that the layers are connected. Creating the Waterfall layers and giving the hair that fullness and rounded, soft shape.
Where to Section
1st section:
Take all of the hair, brush and smooth it forwards. Tie it securely right at the front of your head. The nearer to the hairline you tie it, the more face framing layers and sharp V-shape you’ll have. And the shorter those face-framing layers, and sharper the V-shape will be.
2nd section:
Section the hair at or just above the ear, all the way up and back to the crown of the head. Tie in the same position you tied the first Unicorn cut. This section is creating mid-length layers, from the chin downwards – depending on your curl pattern and how much your curls are going to bounce up.
The difference between this sectioning technique and the triple Unicorn technique, is this Wolf cut technique is sectioning the hair in half. The triple Unicorn technique is still cutting all the hair at once, you’re just moving the placement of where you tie it. Along the middle of the head, at the front, the crown and the back or nape of the neck. But this can create disconnected, chunky layers – no matter how much point cutting you do after each section!
3rd section:
Section the hair at from the corner of the eye, towards the tail of the brow and up to the middle of the top, flat part of your head. Tie in the same position you tied the first Unicorn cut. This section is creating those baby bangs, the shorter face-framing layers that are going to fall somewhere around your cheekbone or ear.
4th section:
This one is optional and only do this last section if you want bangs – aka a full on fringe! Section the hair at the top of the arch of the brow, and create a triangle shape to the top and front of the head for short bangs. OR: section the hair a little further in from the last section, just inside the tail of the brow. Same technique, hold and cut vertically, at an angle. With the scissors lined up to the top corner of that section to connect the layers.
Wavy, Curly or Straight
The Waterfall Wolf Cut suits all hair types, wavy, curly or straight. I’ve worn it naturally curly, a bouncy blow out and a boho beach wave and it has looked great all three ways! The reason why The Waterfall Wolf Cut looks just as good on straight hair as it does on naturally curly hair, is because of the vertical cutting technique at the angle. This ensures all the layers are connected throughout. Giving that soft rounded fullness and shape to the hair.
Up or Down
The sign of a really good hair cut is what it looks like when you wear it in a ponytail. You don’t want too much bulk either at the top of the ponytail, or at the ends. A really great cut will give you a beautiful upside down tear drop shape that softly tapers towards the end. The baby bangs and soft face framing pieces that fall out of a low ponytail is effortlessly Parisian chic and very on trend right now.
So there we go! That’s my new DIY hair cut, The Waterfall Wolf Cut. I’ve done it on my daughter’s hair too and I’m just as happy and impressed with the results. It’s really enhanced the definition of her hair too. Check out the video on YouTube, I’ve linked all the things you need for this cut in the description box there.
PLEASE let me know how you get on if you decide to give it a go. I feel so confident and happy with this new cut, I feel like I’m never going to go to the hairdressers for a cut ever again! Although I’ll probably go back to my hairdresser Kerrie just to see what she makes of this cut.
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