How To Change Part Direction

Each season there’s a new must-have hair color or cut, and alongside that, plenty of new styling trends. One way to quickly switch up your style, no cut or color required, is by changing up your part. Let’s face it the side part was never really dead, but this season it’s back in a big way. If you’re looking to capitalize on this look, pair it with side saddle and butterfly fringes alongside short hybrid cuts, mid-length lobs and longer layers. It’s one of the easiest ways to be on trend this season without having to change that much. But how easy is it to change a part? Top stylist Sam Villa, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sam Villa and Global Artistic Ambassador for Redken, explains how to train hair to switch directions.

“The middle part has been popular for so long that hair will tend to want to live there now, so you have to work to change your root direction, basically alter hair at the base, for it to fall to the side now,” explains Villa.

Apply a mousse or lotion to wet hair at the base (roots).

Use the hook of a comb to neatly carve out a side part.

Use the fine teeth of the comb to smooth and reset the growth pattern by combing hair to the side while trailing with the nozzle of a blow dryer focusing heat and air at the root in the direction hair should fall. For natural textures, apply product on wet hair, comb into place and let air dry or diffuse to dry.

A comb works better than a brush because it can reach further down the hair shaft and grab hair closer to the root. The fine teeth also provide more tension for redirecting.

How long will it take to retrain hair for a solid side part? It all depends on how often hair is shampooed. Hair should stay in place if it does not get wet…and sooner or later, it will fall into the new pattern automatically.