Haircutting and Styling
The vocabulary that questions test
Every haircut is built from four decisions: sectioning, elevation (angle), distribution, and tension. Elevation is the angle at which hair is held away from the head - 0°, 45°, 90°, 180°. Distribution is the direction hair is combed relative to its natural fall: natural fall, perpendicular, or shifted (overdirected). Tension is the amount of pull; use less on fine or damaged hair, more on coarse hair.
Guidelines and the shapes they create
A stationary guide stays in one place and produces a blunt, one-length or graduated form. A traveling (mobile) guide moves with each section and produces layered forms. Match the elevation to the shape: 0° = blunt/one length; 45° = graduation (wedge, stacked nape); 90° = uniform layers; 180° = long layers. Clipper-over-comb and shear-over-comb build fades and tapers; point cutting, notching, and slicing remove weight without changing length.
Traps
Questions love to swap elevation with distribution, or to describe a traveling guide as creating a one-length cut. Another classic: texturizing shears used at the perimeter, which creates holes and a ragged line. Also remember: cut wet hair for control, dry hair to check the finished line, and always cut the guide before the subsection that follows it.
Rule of thumb
Angle tells the story. If the stem reads “held at 90°,” the answer is uniform layers. If it reads “held at 45°,” the answer is graduation. If it reads “held at 0°,” the answer is one length.