Freehand haircutting is behind all of your favourite TikTok hair trends
Get in, we’re going freehand.
I knew something was up when my colleague showed up to work sporting a new hairstyle I can only describe as having a half-mullet, half raven’s nest kind of look about it. “Did you do something new to your hair?” I asked, like a clueless male movie character trying to figure out if their girlfriend had changed their appearance in some way.
She told me she had just gone to the salon, with nothing but some mullet reference photos, and asked her hairdresser to cut her locks as they were: natural, dry, and lived in. As it turns out, in the hair world this is called ‘freehand haircutting’, and my friend swears she’s never turning back.
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While the technique has been around for some time – and I’m sure we’ve all attempted an at-home kitchen-scissor style botch job – it’s behind some of the recent viral hair trends circulating TikTok. Think multi-layered mullet-shags, wispy wolf cuts and chopped-up jellyfish cuts.
But it’s not easy to use dishevelment and chaos as the guiding principles for creating bloody cool hair. To gain some insight into the trend, I spoke with Sydney-based hairstylist Laura Spinney and hairdresser Chris Welch of Melbourne salon Donna Sheridan to demystify the haircuts that warrant a double take.
What is freehand haircutting?
As the name suggests, freehand haircutting involves cutting hair without the restriction of a guiding tool, such as a comb, and in the hair’s everyday state (although, most salons will ask that you wash your hair before your appointment).
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Typically, hair is cut dry as your stylist works intuitively with your hair type, its texture and the way it naturally falls. In its essence, it’s a layering technique that creates coarse and messy textures to accentuate certain shapes in the hair.
“When I was starting out, practice and intuition came hand in hand, but as I became a bit more confident, it’s purely intuition,” Laura explains. So while the technique may appear to defy what’s deemed a ‘professional cut’, it’s actually a method that allows the client and stylist to both be more creative with hair.
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Who can try a freehand haircut?
Well, anyone really. No hair type is too good for the freehand treatment. Chris emphasises, though, that for those opting for low-maintenance hair, a freehand chop is one to try.
Chris tells me it’s a common misconception that freehand hair cutting is “kind of a fad that involves just random slicing”. Instead, it’s a considered method that allows the stylist to work with the natural features of the client’s hair and face shape to create a flattering hairstyle that’s designed to be low maintenance.
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Laura acknowledges the technique is widely used on curly hair because it allows stylists “to work with the curl, not against the curl”. For some hairstylists, embracing freehand hair cutting has been liberating.
It’s part of a wider shift that’s seen some stylists and salons reject outdated teaching practices that have typically used straight, White hair as the blueprint for hairdressers in training. “I made it my mission to learn how to freehand cut [curly hair] instead of trying to treat it like straight hair,” she says, which is part and parcel of her salon’s welcoming and progressive ethos.
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Laura also believes the popularisation of the technique is connected to a change in recent years where hair, like fashion, is being used as an extension of one’s gender identity. “It’s not really about status, and it’s not really about money anymore. It’s more about gender fluidity and gender expression,” she tells me. By bending conventional hair rules, freehand hair cutting has opened up a space to challenge rigid binaries and to normalise styles that better fit the times.
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What should I expect when I get my hair cut freehand?
For first-timers, expect a cut that’s potentially less polished, but with more personality. For those wanting a mullet, shag, or any other TikTok-related haircut, there’ll be dynamic layering that allows the haircut’s shape to work with your natural features. Whether or not you sit on the subtle or extreme side of the freehand fence, you’ll leave the salon with a cut that is completely personal.
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Chris says it’s important to conduct some research about the stylist and hair salon you’re going to see as “Hairdressers like to do all sorts of different things”, so it’s important to shop around to find what’s right for you. If you’re in Melbourne or Sydney, we’ve curated a list of our favourite hair salons which you can take a look at here and here respectively.
If you’re still mystified by the whole freehand trend, Laura says organising a consultation with a stylist is the way to go. There you’ll be able to bounce ideas off one another, show them some photos, and explore potential routes that your hair could go down. Typically, most salons will charge a consultation fee, but if you follow through with the chop the cost will be taken out of the haircut’s final price.
For tips on styling curly hair, head here.
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