Top 12 Hair Stylist Skills to Put on Your Resume
To thrive in the competitive field of hairstyling, showcasing a blend of technical proficiency and soft skills on your resume is paramount. Highlighting the top skills not only underscores your expertise but also positions you as a versatile and adaptable candidate in the eyes of potential employers.
Hair Stylist Skills
- Balayage Technique
- Precision Cutting
- Blow-Dry Styling
- Color Correction
- Keratin Treatments
- Hair Extensions
- Razor Cutting
- Texturizing Techniques
- Updo Artistry
- Olaplex Expertise
- DevaCurl Certified
- Scalp Analysis
1. Balayage Technique
Balayage is a hair coloring technique where color is hand-painted onto the hair to create a natural-looking, graduated effect with softer, less noticeable regrowth lines than traditional highlights.
Why It's Important
The Balayage technique is important for a Hair Stylist because it allows for customized, natural-looking highlights with softer, less noticeable regrowth lines, offering clients a low-maintenance, versatile color option that enhances hair dimension and texture.
How to Improve Balayage Technique Skills
To improve your Balayage technique, focus on these concise steps and resources:
Practice Sectioning: Proper sectioning ensures a seamless blend. Practice on a mannequin to perfect your technique. Balayage Basics.
Brush Mastery: Use a variety of brushes for different effects. A softer bristle for finer blends and a stiffer bristle for more saturation. Choosing the Right Brush.
Consistency Is Key: The consistency of the lightener should be neither too thick nor too thin. Aim for a texture similar to Greek yogurt. Perfecting Your Mix.
Back-Board Technique: For beginners, using a back-board beneath the sections can help ensure an even application and prevent bleeding. Back-Board Method.
Continuous Education: Enroll in advanced courses or workshops, and stay updated with the latest trends and techniques. Balayage Advanced Courses.
Remember, practice and patience are essential. Happy coloring!
How to Display Balayage Technique Skills on Your Resume
2. Precision Cutting
Precision cutting refers to a hair styling technique that involves cutting hair with exact, clean lines and angles to achieve a specific and detailed hairstyle shape or design, emphasizing accuracy and fine detail.
Why It's Important
Precision cutting is crucial for a hair stylist as it ensures accurate, clean lines and shapes, tailored to enhance the client's features and hair texture, resulting in a polished and personalized hairstyle.
How to Improve Precision Cutting Skills
Improving precision cutting for a hairstylist involves honing your skills, using the right tools, and practicing various cutting techniques. Here's a very short and concise guide:
Sharpen Your Skills: Attend advanced haircutting workshops or courses. Online platforms like MiladyPro offer various tutorials.
Use Quality Tools: Invest in high-quality scissors and maintain them well. Hikari Scissors are renowned for their precision.
Master Basic Techniques: Ensure you're proficient in fundamental cutting techniques. The American Salon provides resources and insights into various techniques.
Practice Sectioning: Proper sectioning can enhance cutting accuracy. Behindthechair.com has tutorials on effective sectioning for precision cuts.
Get Feedback: Work with a mentor or peers to get constructive feedback on your cuts. Peer reviews can offer insights into areas of improvement.
Stay Inspired: Follow leading hairstylists on platforms like Instagram for inspiration and to keep up with the latest cutting trends.
By focusing on these areas and constantly practicing, you can significantly improve your precision cutting skills as a hairstylist.
How to Display Precision Cutting Skills on Your Resume
3. Blow-Dry Styling
Blow-dry styling is a hair styling technique used by hair stylists involving the use of a blow dryer and brushes to shape and smooth hair, creating desired volume, movement, and finish.
Why It's Important
Blow-dry styling is essential for a hair stylist as it helps achieve precise hair shapes and styles, enhances hair volume and texture, and ensures a polished, professional finish that lasts.
How to Improve Blow-Dry Styling Skills
To enhance blow-dry styling, follow these concise tips:
- Prep Hair: Apply a heat protectant and a styling product suited to the hair type. This provides a smooth base and protects hair from heat damage.
- Section Hair: Divide hair into manageable sections. Smaller sections allow for more control and even drying.
- Choose the Right Brush: Use a ceramic or round brush for smoothness and volume. The size of the brush should match the length and type of hair.
- Control the Nozzle: Aim the dryer's nozzle downward from roots to ends to smooth cuticles and reduce frizz.
- Cool Shot: Finish with a blast of cold air to set the style and add shine.
Further reading and tutorials can enhance skills and introduce new techniques:
- Modern Salon for advanced blow-dry techniques.
- Behindthechair.com highlights common blow-drying mistakes and how to avoid them.
How to Display Blow-Dry Styling Skills on Your Resume
4. Color Correction
Color correction in hair styling is the process of adjusting, altering, or fixing the tone, shade, or overall color of the hair to achieve a desired look, often to correct mismatched, undesired, or uneven colors resulting from previous dye jobs or natural hair color inconsistencies.
Why It's Important
Color correction is crucial for a hair stylist to ensure the desired hair color matches the client's expectations, rectify uneven tones, and maintain hair health after dyeing, leading to client satisfaction and enhanced hair appearance.
How to Improve Color Correction Skills
Improving color correction as a hair stylist involves understanding color theory, assessing the current hair condition, and choosing the right products. Here are concise steps to enhance your skills:
Assess the Starting Point: Determine the current hair color, condition, and underlying pigments. This helps in planning the correction process.
Understand Color Theory: A strong grasp of color theory is essential. Comprehend how different colors interact, and use a color wheel as a guide to neutralize unwanted tones.
Choose the Right Products: Select color correctors, toners, and hair care products suitable for the desired outcome. Use professional-grade products for the best results.
Perform Strand and Patch Tests: Always conduct these tests before applying products to the entire head to predict the outcome and avoid allergic reactions.
Proceed Gradually: If a significant color change is required, consider doing it in multiple appointments to minimize damage.
Maintain Hair Health: Use bond builders and deep conditioners to keep hair healthy. Healthy hair holds color better and looks more vibrant.
Continuing Education: Stay updated with the latest techniques and trends by attending workshops and courses. Websites like BehindTheChair.com offer valuable resources.
Practice: The more you work with different hair types and colors, the better you'll understand how to achieve desired results.
Improving in color correction is a mix of art and science, requiring both creativity and technical knowledge.
How to Display Color Correction Skills on Your Resume
5. Keratin Treatments
Keratin treatments are salon hair-smoothing services that use keratin-based formulas to temporarily smooth, straighten, and reduce frizz in hair, enhancing its manageability and shine for several weeks. Ideal for clients seeking smoother, more manageable hair.
Why It's Important
Keratin treatments are important for a hair stylist as they provide clients with smoother, frizz-free hair, enhance shine, and reduce styling time, improving overall hair manageability and customer satisfaction.
How to Improve Keratin Treatments Skills
Improving keratin treatments involves enhancing both the application process and aftercare to ensure maximum effectiveness and longevity. Here are concise tips for hair stylists:
Client Consultation: Assess the client's hair type, condition, and history to choose the appropriate keratin formula. American Board of Certified Haircolorists offers insights on hair assessment.
Proper Application: Follow the product's specific instructions for application, ensuring even distribution and optimal processing time. The Professional Beauty Association provides guidelines and best practices.
Heat Management: Use a high-quality flat iron at the recommended temperature to seal in the treatment without causing heat damage. GHD offers professional flat irons suitable for keratin treatments.
Aftercare Advice: Instruct clients on post-treatment care, emphasizing the use of sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners. The Cosmetologists Chicago website has resources on aftercare products.
Continuing Education: Stay updated on the latest keratin treatment techniques and products by attending workshops and webinars. MiladyPro offers professional development courses for hairstylists.
By focusing on these areas, hair stylists can enhance the effectiveness of keratin treatments, ensuring clients enjoy smooth, frizz-free hair for longer periods.
How to Display Keratin Treatments Skills on Your Resume
6. Hair Extensions
Hair extensions are artificial or natural hair integrations used by stylists to add length, volume, or color to a client's natural hair, enhancing their hairstyle and overall look.
Why It's Important
Hair extensions are important for a hairstylist because they offer clients versatility in hairstyle and length, provide solutions for thinning hair or hair loss, and allow for creative customization without the commitment to permanent changes. This enhances client satisfaction and widens the range of styling services offered.
How to Improve Hair Extensions Skills
Improving hair extensions involves selecting high-quality extensions, ensuring proper application, and implementing effective aftercare. Here are concise tips for hair stylists:
Quality Selection: Opt for high-quality, natural hair extensions that match the client's hair texture and color. Remy hair extensions are a top choice as they keep cuticles aligned, preventing tangling and mimicking natural hair flow. Hair Shop
Customization: Tailor the extensions by trimming and coloring them to blend seamlessly with the client's natural hair, ensuring a natural and undetectable finish. Techniques like feathering can help extensions blend better. Great Lengths
Application Expertise: Master various application methods (tape-in, sew-in, micro-link, and clip-in) to offer options that best suit the client's hair type and lifestyle. Proper tension and placement are crucial to avoid damage to the client's natural hair. Bellami Professional
Maintenance Education: Educate clients on proper extension care, including gentle brushing, using sulfate-free products, and avoiding heat styling tools without protection. Regular maintenance appointments are essential for adjustments and to prevent matting. Keratin Complex
Safe Removal: Use the correct techniques and products for safe extension removal to prevent damage to the natural hair. Offering this service ensures clients return to you for both removal and new applications. Donna Bella Hair
By focusing on these areas, hair stylists can significantly improve the quality and longevity of hair extensions, ensuring client satisfaction and repeat business.
How to Display Hair Extensions Skills on Your Resume
7. Razor Cutting
Razor cutting is a hairstyling technique where a sharp razor is used to slice and shape the hair, creating soft, textured, and layered looks, offering a more natural, feathered appearance than traditional scissor cutting.
Why It's Important
Razor cutting is important for a hair stylist as it allows for precise, soft-textured haircuts, enabling the creation of modern, customizable styles with seamless layers and increased movement in the hair.
How to Improve Razor Cutting Skills
Improving razor cutting skills requires practice, understanding hair texture, and mastering various techniques. Here are concise tips:
Understand Hair Textures: Different textures require different approaches. Learn about hair textures.
Use the Right Tools: Invest in a high-quality, sharp razor specifically designed for hair. A dull blade can lead to split ends and damage. Choosing the right razor.
Maintain Proper Tension: The way you hold the hair can affect the outcome. Practice maintaining consistent tension for uniform results. Tension techniques.
Master Different Angles: The angle at which you hold the razor can create different textures and lengths. Experiment with angles for various effects. Understanding cutting angles.
Continuous Education: Attend workshops, online courses, and watch tutorials from professionals to stay updated with the latest techniques. Online education resources.
Practice: Practice on mannequins or willing models to refine your skills and build confidence.
By integrating these strategies, hair stylists can enhance their razor cutting techniques, offering clients the latest in hair fashion and texture.
How to Display Razor Cutting Skills on Your Resume
8. Texturizing Techniques
Texturizing techniques in hair styling involve cutting or styling hair in a way that adds volume, movement, and dimension. These methods can include layering, thinning, using razors or scissors to create different lengths within the hair, or adding curls or waves. The goal is to achieve a more dynamic, natural-looking hairstyle that enhances the hair's natural texture.
Why It's Important
Texturizing techniques are crucial for a hairstylist because they enable the creation of movement, volume, and shape, making hairstyles more dynamic and tailored to individual client needs.
How to Improve Texturizing Techniques Skills
Improving texturizing techniques as a hair stylist involves mastering various cutting methods to create volume, remove weight, or add movement to the hair. Here are concise tips with resources for further learning:
Practice Shear Techniques: Learn to use thinning shears and texturizing shears effectively to blend and remove bulk without creating harsh lines. Milady offers courses and resources on advanced cutting techniques.
Razor Cutting Mastery: Razor cutting allows for softer edges and more texture. Ensure your razor is always sharp and practice on mannequins. The Hairbrained community shares tutorials and tips.
Sectioning for Success: Proper sectioning can aid in precise texturizing. Smaller sections allow for more control. Behindthechair.com offers visual guides and tutorials on effective sectioning.
Understand Hair Types: Tailor your texturizing technique to the hair's density, texture, and the desired outcome. NaturallyCurly is a great resource for understanding different hair types.
Continuing Education: Attend workshops and courses regularly. Brands like Redken offer online and in-person classes focusing on cutting and texturizing techniques.
Practice, Practice, Practice: Work on mannequin heads to hone your skills. Experiment with different tools and techniques to see the varied effects.
Seek Feedback: Collaborate with peers for constructive criticism. Social platforms like Instagram can be great for sharing work and receiving feedback.
Focusing on these areas and continually practicing will significantly improve your texturizing techniques as a hair stylist.
How to Display Texturizing Techniques Skills on Your Resume
9. Updo Artistry
Updo Artistry refers to the specialized skill and creative practice within hairstyling focused on designing and executing elaborate and styled hair arrangements that are typically pinned or secured up off the neck, such as buns, braids, twists, and other formal or decorative styles, often for special occasions or events.
Why It's Important
Updo Artistry is crucial for a Hair Stylist as it showcases their technical skill and creativity, allowing them to cater to diverse client needs for special occasions, enhancing their portfolio and marketability.
How to Improve Updo Artistry Skills
Improving your Updo Artistry as a hair stylist involves practice, education, and creativity. Here are concise steps:
Practice Regularly: Hands-on experience is crucial. Work on various hair types and lengths to adapt to any client request.
Continuing Education: Attend workshops and online courses from reputable sources like MiladyPro and Behindthechair.com for the latest techniques and trends.
Get Inspired: Follow top stylists on social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration and new ideas.
Use Quality Tools and Products: Invest in professional-grade tools and products. High-quality items can make a significant difference in the end result.
Feedback and Reflection: Seek feedback from clients and peers. Reflect on what went well and what could be improved after each updo.
By focusing on these key areas, you can continuously improve your updo artistry skills.
How to Display Updo Artistry Skills on Your Resume
10. Olaplex Expertise
Olaplex Expertise refers to a hairstylist's proficiency in using Olaplex products, which are designed to repair and protect hair from damage during chemical processes like coloring, by rebuilding disulfide bonds within the hair strands.
Why It's Important
Olaplex expertise is vital for a hair stylist as it equips them with the knowledge to restore and protect clients' hair from damage during chemical processes, ensuring healthier, stronger, and more vibrant results.
How to Improve Olaplex Expertise Skills
To improve Olaplex expertise as a hairstylist, consider the following steps:
Get Certified: Enroll in the Olaplex certification program to gain official expertise and understand the science behind the product.
Attend Workshops: Look for Olaplex workshops and seminars that offer hands-on experience and advanced techniques.
Practice: Regularly use Olaplex in different hair treatments to understand its effects on various hair types.
Follow Olaplex on Social Media: Platforms like Instagram share valuable tips, success stories, and innovative uses of the product.
Join Online Forums: Participate in forums and groups dedicated to hairstyling and Olaplex discussions for peer advice and experiences.
Stay Updated: Regularly check the Olaplex official site for updates on products and techniques.
Educate Your Clients: Share your knowledge about the benefits of Olaplex with your clients, enhancing both their experience and your expertise.
How to Display Olaplex Expertise Skills on Your Resume
11. DevaCurl Certified
DevaCurl Certified refers to a hair stylist who has completed specialized training in cutting, styling, and caring for curly and wavy hair, as per DevaCurl's methodologies and product line.
Why It's Important
DevaCurl Certification is important for a Hair Stylist because it demonstrates specialized expertise in cutting, styling, and treating curly hair, ensuring tailored, high-quality services for clients with diverse curl patterns.
How to Improve DevaCurl Certified Skills
To improve as a DevaCurl Certified stylist and enhance your skills in catering to curly hair, consider the following concise steps:
Engage in Continuous Education: Regularly update your skills by attending advanced DevaCurl training programs and workshops to stay abreast of the latest techniques and products.
Practice: Consistently practice the DevaCut and Pintura highlighting techniques on different curl types to refine your skills and speed.
Join Online Communities: Participate in online forums and social media groups like the Curly Hair Artistry Facebook Group to exchange tips, techniques, and experiences with other curly hair specialists.
Follow Industry Experts: Keep up with renowned curly hair experts and stylists on platforms like Instagram for inspiration and to learn new trends. Profiles like Lorraine Massey’s Instagram can be very educational.
Solicit Feedback: Regularly ask for feedback from your clients and peers to understand areas of improvement and to tailor your services more effectively to meet the needs of individuals with curly hair.
Invest in Quality Tools and Products: Ensure you're using professional-grade tools and the latest DevaCurl products to provide the best care and styling for curly hair.
By focusing on these areas, you can significantly enhance your expertise and reputation as a DevaCurl Certified stylist, leading to greater client satisfaction and a stronger professional portfolio.
How to Display DevaCurl Certified Skills on Your Resume
12. Scalp Analysis
Scalp analysis is a process used by hair stylists to assess the condition of a client's scalp and hair. This examination helps identify issues such as dryness, oiliness, dandruff, or hair loss, enabling the stylist to recommend appropriate treatments or products.
Why It's Important
Scalp analysis is crucial for a hair stylist as it helps identify scalp conditions, hair type, and any underlying issues. This enables the stylist to customize treatments, recommend suitable products, and provide personalized advice for optimal scalp health and hair care.
How to Improve Scalp Analysis Skills
Improving scalp analysis involves a combination of understanding scalp conditions, using the right tools, and continuously updating your knowledge. Here's a concise guide:
Educate Yourself: Enroll in courses or workshops focused on trichology—the study of hair and scalp health. Websites like The Trichological Society offer resources and training.
Use Technology: Invest in diagnostic tools such as digital microscopes or scalp scanning apps. These devices help in identifying scalp issues with greater accuracy. Check out Capilliscope for advanced scalp analysis tools.
Consult Dermatologists: Collaborate with dermatologists for complex scalp conditions. This partnership can enhance your understanding and provide your clients with comprehensive care.
Attend Seminars and Webinars: Stay updated with the latest in scalp health by attending industry seminars and webinars. Platforms like Modern Salon often host educational events.
Practice Cleanliness: Always maintain a clean work environment and sterilize your tools. This prevents the spread of scalp infections and ensures accurate analysis results.
By integrating these steps, you can significantly improve your scalp analysis skills, offering more value to your clients and enhancing their overall hair health.
How to Display Scalp Analysis Skills on Your Resume
