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arr
April 17th, 2015, 06:27 PM
Hi everyone, i just wanted to share my experience in case it is helpful to anyone. Ive been reading about the compact cut method and wanted to try it because i felt my hair could use a little layering at the ends. I assumed that if i only cut around two inches it would work out. I wish i had visualized it better because what ended up happening is i had a two inch shorter chunk at the back of my hair while the rest was untouched. It looked terrible and i was very upset. Over the next few days, ive been blending it in by just dividing my hair in sections, brushing them high in the air, and trimming a little away (the way ive seen hair stylists do it)and it is much better now. I didnt lose any length and now i pretty much have what I initially wanted which was very blended layers in just the bottom few inches but no V shape at all.

I feel so stupid that i didnt realize how the compact cut works. If you only cut a little bit, it will only take hair from the top of the head. You actually have to cut a lot of hair for it to work properly, but i wasnt going for the obviously layered look. I wanted my hair to not look like it had layers but to just gradually get thinner towards the ends like naturally tapering hair, but still have a blunt hemline. ( probably sounds crazy to some, but i actually want thinner hair) So if anyone is considering the compact cut and you have in mind what i wanted for my hair, my advice is dont do it. You need a completely different method.

Im actually quite proud of how i fixed my hair disaster. I can say that my resulting layers are no worse than what i have walked out of a salon with, but the whole thing has left me kind of discouraged and now i wish i had never done it. I know that by the end of the year it will all be grown out and trimmed off so it will be okay. I tried it and now i think i dont want layers after all. Its just too stressful and hard to get them right so i will settle with bulky ends in the long run. I hope my experience helps someone else avoid a hair disaster and at least i got the desire to try the compact cut method out of my system.

(by the way i used the ponytail on top of head version)

spidermom
April 17th, 2015, 07:36 PM
I had acceptable results with the top-of-head compact cut method, the bottom 2-3 inches lightly layered. I had a stylist do my last layered cut, and I notice that my ends fall evenly blunt when I put my hair into a high ponytail at the top-back of my head.

swearnsue
April 17th, 2015, 07:48 PM
Thank you for sharing your experience. I've been reading about it and wondering if I might like to try it. I don't thinks so now.

Lyv
April 17th, 2015, 10:46 PM
I tried doing a compact cut when my hair was longer and it did not go well for me either! I definitely won't be trying it again when my hair is long lol.

Olavi
April 17th, 2015, 10:56 PM
The compact cut have been working just fine for me, and I never cut more than maybe half an inch. Granted, there's always this weird part of hair on my right side of the head, that is weirdly shorter every time, but it just means that I have to leave front part of hair alone.

But what works for one, doesn't work for all. Doesn't mean the whole method is rubbish.

KittyBird
April 18th, 2015, 01:00 AM
It didn't work for me either when I decided to chop my hair back to hip. I ended up with bcl hair with short,chunky layers at bsl. :lol: I fixed it by using faye's self-trim method and cut to around hip length. It made the layers look alright.
However, using the compact cut on sections of hair to create layers works really well. For example, section off the hair above your ears,make a ponytail on top of your head and cut off a few cm. I've done that in the past, and was very happy with the result.

pixiepaws
April 18th, 2015, 02:43 AM
Thanks for sharing this method always scared me, its amazing how holding hair at a different angle then cutting can give you such varied results. It took me three years to get rid of layers. I found that a gentle U shape works well for my hair. i kinda mucked up my hair by parting it down the middle , bringing it to bunches at the front then cutting. This resulted in a V shape. I did not realize this would happen , I thought I would get a blunt cut( I do not like a V shape on me), not only that I cut off more on the right side than the left. My husband had to cut off an inch to make it a U shape again. The good thing is my hair is so soft and no layers!

lapushka
April 18th, 2015, 04:49 AM
If you do the compact cut method (wherever you position the ponytail, forehead or top of the head), you need to indeed snip a lot off (about 6-12 inches for the former) for it to show up right. For the latter, less, I think about 6. They are "complete" layering techniques. Can still be done with half the hair, if you just want to layer the top, but not so much if you only want to layer the ends of the hair.

Why not have asked before cutting? Oh darn, I feel so bad now!

MINAKO
April 18th, 2015, 05:10 AM
I used the compact cut method for layers before and was actually very pleased with it. Nowadays i just use Feyes method cutting from the bottom again as i want to keep some of my taper just as it is. I think the key is brushing or combing very very accurately, so all the hair is alinged in a straight line towards the point where you cut. Most of the time i do it on a week old straightened hair and the apply some oil for good control.

KittyBird
April 18th, 2015, 05:12 AM
I cut off 14" and it still didn't turn out right. :shrug:

Nique1202
April 18th, 2015, 05:52 AM
You could compact cut with the ponytail coming right off the back lump of your head or just above the nape, to get just the bottom few inches layered. Basically, the further away from the nape, the more you have to cut off the top to line it up with the bottom, so a ponytail straight up in the air at the front hairline, that underneath/nape hair is going all that extra distance, your entire scalp length, just to meet the roots of your front hairs. That's why a front-hairline compact cut down to the nape section has such a long distance between the shortest and longest layers.

If you do a ponytail 2 inches up from the nape, then your nape hair is only going 2 inches to meet up with the front hair, and it will layer about the bottom 2 inches. This is also why Feye's blunt trim works: it's the same as a compact cut but at the nape, so the nape hair meets the front hair without going any distance and there is no layering. This can be applied to compact cutting at any point on the head: to layer the bottom # inches of hair, place the ponytail # inches above the nape.

I can totally see why you did what you did, and why it worked out the way it did, and why you're so discouraged. If you want to maintain the layers, though, I hope this experience doesn't turn you or anyone else off the technique. It just takes a little practice and some experience with math, or some advice from someone with it.

browneyedsusan
April 18th, 2015, 07:57 AM
I've used this method, and it came out fine. :shrug:
I'm really mellow, though. It takes a LOT to wind me up. :)

MINAKO
April 18th, 2015, 08:13 AM
Does anybody use an old paper towel or toilet paper roll to guide their hair while cutting? I always thought that would work really well with compact cutting as you can press it down sort of like the crea clip. But i think i got the idea from this device you can attach to a vacuum cleaner to cut short hair. Now i dont want layers anymore and cutting blunt across the bottom has become very easy for me.

arr
April 18th, 2015, 07:01 PM
I really appreciate the responses. I'm glad this method has worked for so many people and in fact, I've seen beautiful examples on the before and after pictures thread. I didn't mean to give the impression it doesn't work, more that I now know it wasn't right for the look I was going for. I think Nique1202 made some wonderful points about the math and that depending on where you want the hair to come off, that's where the position of the ponytail needs to be. I also think the points about making multiple ponytails was really good. For some reason my brain didn't realize that the ponytail could be much lower and then I'd get the bottom parts of my hair better. But for now I think I will just set those scissors aside! And Lapushka
, I'm not sure if your comment was directed towards me but please,you have nothing to feel bad about. You've been more than thorough in your description of this method and what to expect and how long your hair needs to be,etc. My hair is ok now and i actually learned a lot from this experience.

lapushka
April 19th, 2015, 05:19 AM
And Lapushka
, I'm not sure if your comment was directed towards me but please,you have nothing to feel bad about. You've been more than thorough in your description of this method and what to expect and how long your hair needs to be,etc. My hair is ok now and i actually learned a lot from this experience.

Yes I was addressing you. :o Thanks so much for saying that. I'm glad your hair is doing okay!!!

LongCurlyTress
August 4th, 2015, 04:32 PM
You could compact cut with the ponytail coming right off the back lump of your head or just above the nape, to get just the bottom few inches layered. Basically, the further away from the nape, the more you have to cut off the top to line it up with the bottom, so a ponytail straight up in the air at the front hairline, that underneath/nape hair is going all that extra distance, your entire scalp length, just to meet the roots of your front hairs. That's why a front-hairline compact cut down to the nape section has such a long distance between the shortest and longest layers.

If you do a ponytail 2 inches up from the nape, then your nape hair is only going 2 inches to meet up with the front hair, and it will layer about the bottom 2 inches. This is also why Feye's blunt trim works: it's the same as a compact cut but at the nape, so the nape hair meets the front hair without going any distance and there is no layering. This can be applied to compact cutting at any point on the head: to layer the bottom # inches of hair, place the ponytail # inches above the nape.

I can totally see why you did what you did, and why it worked out the way it did, and why you're so discouraged. If you want to maintain the layers, though, I hope this experience doesn't turn you or anyone else off the technique. It just takes a little practice and some experience with math, or some advice from someone with it.

Thanks Nique1202 -- this is a nice explanation of how/why the compact cut layering technique works. :cheer:

ravenreed
August 4th, 2015, 10:47 PM
Once you have your first compact cut done, trims only take a bit off each time to keep it up. My hair is so long that I can no longer manage the ponytail on top of my head, so I do it on my forehead. I love it.

lapushka
August 5th, 2015, 06:00 AM
If you can't manage the ponytails. Just elastic band to where you can reach, now elastic band further up the length while taking the pony down and while keeping the integrity of the ponytail - easy peasy for longer lengths. ;)