If you scour the internet and even shopping sites for a haircutting razor and sometimes straight razors, you might see them referred to as a ‘Feather Razor’ but let’s set the record straight. Not all haircutting and straight razors are ‘Feather Razors.’ It seems that over time people have come to associate a ‘Feather Razor’ as a basic term for a haircutting razor or sometimes a straight razor. Let’s look at this deeper so that you are not confused or mistaken on what you’re actually purchasing. If you think of tissue you might generically call it Kleenex. Or if you think of a bandage, you  might call it a Band-Aid. What we forget is that Kleenex and Band-Aid are actually brands and not generic terms for the product. Afterall, there are many brands of tissue out there such as Puffs, Cushelle, Presto! and more. But if you call it Kleenex you’re actually referring to a brand and not a type of product. It just happens to be that Kleenex has become the most popular and most well-known brand for tissue in the world. It’s a registered trademark name that has become so popular people say ‘tissue’ and ‘Kleenex’ interchangeably like they are same thing. Same with bandages. There are many bandage brands out there. Nexcare, Welly and Curad are just a few. And many drug stores have their own brand of bandages like Rite-Aid, CVS and Walgreens as well. Band-Aid, however, is the most popular and well-known bandage brand so ‘Band-Aid’ is often associated with the word ‘bandage’ and used interchangeably. So now that you understand this concept we can apply it to a Feather Razor. ‘Feather’ is a brand name. It is not a generic term for all haircutting razors or straight razors. However, the Feather Razor was the FIRST guarded haircutting razor on the market and has become the most popular one in the world. And since it is the first one, it is also the one that has been around the longest. So people have come to associate a ‘Feather Razor’ as a haircutting razor. If you see a razor labeled as ‘Feather’ ask yourself if you are looking at an actual Feather branded razor or an off-brand razor but using Feather in the name. Being able to decipher between the two might not seem critical but it is important if you want the Feather quality. Feather products are made in Japan and have a reputation for high quality products where the blades are reliable, dependable and consistently sharp. Other hair brands have created their own, but they are not Feather. We cannot attest to their quality, function or usability. The misuse of ‘Feather Razor’ is recognizable on shopping sites where sellers might call their razor a Feather Razor when it’s actually a different haircutting razor. Since Feather is a registered trademark name, they can get into big legal trouble for using a brand name in the name of their razor. But the misuse has been noticed in social media as well. On sites like TikTok and Instagram where people talk about their favorite products, influencers can unknowingly misspeak when talking about products and call them the wrong name. This is detrimental to the brand as their viewers and followers may take what the influencer says as truth. So how do we navigate this situation? It starts here. First, understand what’s happening and where the problem lies. Then, make sure that you yourself don’t call all haircutting or straight razors a ‘Feather’ razor unless it really is. And thirdly, inform others nicely if they have misspoken. You might think this who situation is good for Feather because it’s getting the brand name more noticed. However, while there is some truth to this, it also creates confusion and misrepresentation and could lead to someone purchasing a razor they thought was a Feather Razor when it’s not. So there you have it…a deep explanation to set the record straight. Not all haircutting and straight razors are Feather razors. If you already knew this, then great! But if you didn’t hopefully it gave some clarity. If you’re interested in a real Feather Razor, you can check them out here. Product, Haircutting Razors, Artist Club Razors, Brand Building

Over many years as a stylist, owner and educator, I, Russell Mayes, have gotten a lot of questions about razors and razor cutting from stylists on all levels of experience.  I would like to share the top five current questions I am asked most often – and the answers. For more information, check out the new Razor Fundamentals educational video course now offered on Jatai Academy’s Education Connect. It’s your direct access to the most extensive free online video library currently available to stylists and barbers. Can you use a razor on curly hair? Yes and no. What type of hair you can use a razor on depends on the cuticle, more than if it’s curly. Some hair textures respond well while others do not. Some cuticle types tend to bristle when cut at an angle and perform better when blunt cut. Does it matter if I use a guard vs. no guard? The less of a guard you use, the more control you have when cutting. You can be more precise with your shape and texture as well. But a guarded razor will get you 90 per cent more there than a guardless razor would. Once master cutting with a guard, you may find that you want more control, so move to a razor with either less of a guard or no guard at all … the point here is that you don’t have to use one. Insider Tips: For the most guarded, I work with the Feather Styling Razor with Standard Blade. For less guard, I recommend the Feather Styling Razor R-Type Blade. For no guard, I reach for my Feather Plier Razor. How can I prevent losing my shape while razor cutting? The solidity and bluntness of the shape you cut is determined by the stroke of the blade as you are cutting your sections. The larger the stroke of the blade, the more airy and softer the shape. The tighter or smaller the stroke of the blade, the more solid your final haircut shape will be. Insider Tip: While learning how to control your razor, I suggest beginning with the Feather Styling Razor with Standard Blade. This will help you to prevent over-cutting or cutting too much when you are just getting started since it’s a safer option. Does the razor damage the hair? This depends on the cuticle texture and the sharpness of your blade, as well as your cutting action. Drier textures of hair don’t respond as well to being cut with a razor. If the blade is dull, this will only cause cuticle damage that could easily have been prevented by using a fresh blade. Also, if your cutting action isn’t positive or determined, you will partially cut strands without cutting them all the way through, which results in a less-than-solid shape.  Do I have to do the entire haircut with a razor? No, you can do as much or as little as needed, determined by your desired results. You can cut the hair blunt with scissors and then soften up the shape afterward with your razor. You can cut the entire shape with a razor, and then make the perimeter shape more blunt with scissors. Insider Tip:  To soften up the shape after scissor cutting, the Feather Texturizing Blade (fits all Feather Styling Razors) works well. It’s designed to cut hair in small sections to blend and texture hair. Blade changing is easy and safe. Product, Haircutting Razors

Nestled in the Upper East Side is an esteemed barbershop. Artisan Barber. When clients enter the barbershop they’ll find a welcoming and invigorating environment, curated by some of the best barbers in New York City.   These are barbers who know their trade like the back of their hand; from different cuts and styles to most importantly…tools. Bronx-raised Mike Singh, known as Mike Scissorhands, is one of the talented barbers that this premium barbershop in NYC gets to call their own and as someone who’s been in the game for years, he knows exactly which tools are necessary to have in a barber tool kit.   Singh named five essential tools in his tool kit, although amongst the five there is one that stands out the most. The skilled barber can always be found with a five-star shaver, straight razor, thinning shears, 8-inch shears, and most importantly the Feather Razor.   Mike holds the Feather Razor in high esteem because it allows him to put his “unique stamp on a haircut.” With the Feather Razor, Singh can texturize hair, remove weight, and sometimes even cut hair with it, ultimately giving the best men’s haircut in NYC.   “The Feather Razor is a magical tool, it‘s one of my favorite tools.” Singh shares. “Other barbers don’t use Feather Razors because it‘s not really in the barber regimen. It’s more on the stylist end of things as far as tools go.”   Singh, one of the best barbers in New York City, typically puts his favorite razor to use when handling longer hair, the aforementioned tool. The thinning shear works perfectly on short hair but doesn’t quite do the job for long hair. Feather Razors are more versatile in that they can also be used on shorter hair and still operate seamlessly.   Much like Feather Razors, there aren’t too many barbers, at least old-school ones, that use thinning shears today However, Singh is unlike other barbers which are what keeps him and tips like these ahead of the game.   Book with a barber at Artisan Barber now by visiting www.artisanbarber.com Product, Haircutting Razors

In this video Russell Mayes, Director of Content for Jatai, demonstrates how to do a 1970 shag haircut. It’s a popular hairstyle that has stood the test of time. It’s effortlessly cool with volume, layers, and natural style. In this tutorial, the 70s shag hair is cut with a heavy fringe and created with a modern twist. The beauty of this style has kept up with trends and has shown that years later, it’s a flattering haircut in any generation. The curly shag of the 70s was also popular. The shag style complimented the natural curls and gave it nice volume. In this video, the 70s shag is demonstrated with straight hair, but it works nicely on curly hair too. 1970 Shag Haircut with Bangs Tutorial Welcome to the Jatai Academy. Today we’re going to be doing a shag with bangs, something that’s going to be solid and really full. Kind of uh 60s 70s inspired, that Stevie Nicks, Bridget Bardot kind of look. So let’s get started.   Taking a Center Section So we’re going to start in the center. We’re going to take a flat section right at the front of the hairline and then we’re going to take that all the way back to the nape. Same thing on both sides so I have a nice mohawk section going from the front hairline all the way to the back. As you see here, I’ll take my first section around the front hairline hold that up and determine how short I want my shortest layering to be and then using my Feather Styling Razor I’ll go through and cut my length off. I’m cutting it shorter around the front and longer as I go towards the back. Now one thing I want to tell you about the Feather Styling Razor is I’m using the R-Type Blade the R-Type Blade covers less of the razor and exposes more of the blade so it’s actually easier to cut. The Standard Blade actually covers more of the blade so it gives you more protection, but it’s not going to allow you to cut as thick a section of hair as the R-Type Blade. So continuing working my layering from short at the front, longer in the back, I’m going to go through and hold each section of my mohawk section at 90° until I reach the crown. After the drop crown, I’ll pull everything up to that section. So that’s going to give me an increase of length as I go down towards the nape, checking out my layering making sure everything looks even and smooth. Now we’re going to continue a parallel section to my first mohawk section and then I’m going to comb it into the center. So I’m not going to walk my guide from the middle of the head towards the perimeter. I’m pulling all the hair into the center. So what this is going to do is it not only is it going to be shorter in the front it’s also going to be shorter in the center of the head and longer as it works towards the ears and longer as it works towards the nape in the back. So I’ll continue to hold everything up at 90° from the head into the center of the head following my previously cut guide. And an important thing when you’re cutting with the razor is I want to make sure I maintain an even broad razor stroke. If I use a broad razor stroke it’s going to keep all my ends very nice and light and airy. If I take a real tight stroke where I don’t take it and move the razor a lot, I’m going to end up with a more solid shape. So I’m using a soft broad stroke here. Follow us on your favorite social media @jataifeather Now I’m continuing to work my layering going towards the back following the exact same guide that I was using before. Now we’ll continue on. I’m going to take a parallel section and sometimes this section can be a little difficult to take because you’re working a curved section on a flat part of the head which is the side. Pulling everything again directly into the center of my head. So that first mohawk section that I held everything in this haircut as far as the layering goes is being held up in that mohawk section. Holding everything up, the same broad razor stroke that I was taking and just follow through. If you approach something very very methodical it becomes easier to follow through on the pattern and you can move very very quickly. Once you get the hang of using a razor you can move through this very very quickly and get the length and the texture you want at the same time. Now we’re going to take our last section here on this side of the head. Comb everything up. Anything that hangs over I’ll cut off as you can see right there. And as I work towards the back I’m going to pivot around the ear. There we go right through there and continue to work from front to back. There’s our line. Now as we get to the back we’re not going to have a whole lot of hair to cut off. So this last section here that we’re going to work on there’s not going to be a whole lot of hair. So I’ve been cutting on the inside of my fingers the whole tim, but there’s not a lot there. So I’m just going to glide the razor across the outside of my finger and cut any of those long little pieces off that hang over. Now we’re going to go back and take my original mohawk section and the first section on the left side of the head. Finish the same thing on the other side and now we have our layering done. And I think it looks pretty nice and even all over.   Removing Weight from the Top So now we’re going to section out around the front because I feel like the layering on top is too heavy. So we’re going to take some Jatai Blade Glide, spray that vigorously across the entire section of the hair that we’re about to cut because the Blade Glide makes the razor slide across the hair much more smoothly and evenly and gives me a much cleaner cut without the razor trying to snag any hair. Now we’re going to go through and channel some weight out of each section of hair that we started with in the beginning. So we’re going to channel it out. Where it’s thinner we’re not going to take a whole lot. Where it’s thicker you’re going to see me take more hair out because I felt like this mannequin head it was thicker on the top and thinner underneath which most of these are. And sometimes you have clients that are like that as well or thicker in one area of the head maybe in the nape, less in the front. So I’m going to apply my channel texturizing exactly where it needs to be applied. So I’m really paying attention to how much hair I take out with each section. It’s not just some haphazardly just willy-nilly throw the razor through the hair. I want to apply it with forethought and with technique so I can make sure that the shape flows exactly like I want. After I got the first section done I’m going to go through and continue working all the way towards the back. So each section I’ll take out as much hair as need be so that I get a nice even amount of weight distributed all the way across the top. Give us a thumbs up, click subscribe and the notification bell to be notified of future Jatai Academy content. Now we’re continuing on. Now you’ll see right there that piece of hair did not have a whole lot of weight in it so I just completely removed it. Thin out the hair on top of it. Texturize it so I have a nice even amount of weight distribution. Cut anything that hangs over around the front off that I don’t like. Now here’s my last section right in the nape and I’m going to use the exact same methodology I was using around the front, removing as much hair as I feel is needed. After we do that we’ve got everything smooth.   Addressing the 1970 Shag Haircut Bangs Now let’s section out our bang section. Let’s section out our bang. We’re going to take that triangle right in the front and I’m going to cut it in half. Now after I’ve cut it in half I’m going to take my center section right there in front of her eyes and I want to cut this longer than I think it needs to be. And I’m going to take a broad razor stroke and cut that off and then look at it and see where it’s hitting, seeing how it’s flowing. And now I’m going to cut everything evenly across the front. So I’m not building up any length towards the edges. I want everything evenly across the front so that way I have a little bit of bang that hangs underneath. I’ll cut it a little shorter in the middle but I don’t want to cut an angle into it. I want the texturizing to be what allows me to push the hair out of the eyes. So on this section I’m not cutting an angle into it. I may cut it a little shorter right on the nose, but I want to keep that fairly even across and the texture was what’s going to give me movement to it. Now as I finish this I get this even on both sides I like that straight across no problem. Now this section I am going to cut shorter in the middle, longer towards the edges. So I have that hair underneath that’s going to be disconnected from this section right here. You see how it’s getting longer towards the edges so that underneath hair allows the longer hair to be pushed up out of the way and gives me an illusion of the hair being longer than it really is because I have that top layer that’s a little longer and the underneath layer keeps it out of the eyes so it has that that movement to it without me having to curtain the entire front. So it’s a schizophrenic bag. Underneath is hanging straight and the top is hanging over to the side. And then I’ll just fine-tune it to where I get everything exactly like I want. I like it. I think the bangs look really good. I think we really hit the bangs perfectly today and we got a lot of layering throughout the whole shape which I think is important for this type of shag but still not overly stringy or overly wispy. It still has a solid shape and I think that that works well especially when you want to get some fullness and some height on the top and have a heavy bang. I think if it’s not full all around in a solid shape with a heavy bang it doesn’t really fit but that’s just my personal opinion and she’s ready to go to a Hollywood bungalow. She looks good. She’s ready to go. Check out Jatai Academy. There’s all kinds of great information on there that will make you a better hairstylist and barber. Let us know what you’d like to see in the future and we will see you next time. Thank you so much!   Final Look of the 1970 Shag Haircut   Tutorial