Wave Connection's 360 Wave Reference Tool

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

 wave connection wrote:

Your crown is located in the back center area of your head.  It's exact position tends to vary from person to person.  For persons with low cuts, the crown is usually characterized by its unruliness and it must be trained/tamed in order to improve your 360 wave appearance.  Although many wavers say use a soft brush for the crown, I have developed my own theory that is based on the contrary.  More specifically, I think a hard brush is a better option for developing and maintaining a tightly waved up crown.
The first thing you should do is find the center of your crown.  This can be accomplished by using a hand held mirror that will allow you to see your crown in a wall mounted mirror or something similiar.  As you look at the center of your crown, imagine it as a traditional analog clock.  Place your hard brush parallel to the center of your crown and brush outward toward what would be 12 o'clock.  Make sure that you only brush a few inches outward.  This will concentrate your brushing action to the specific area of interest.  Do this several times, then rotate your brush 45 degrees clockwise and repeat.  If you are rotating your brush correctly, then the third rotation will place your brush perpendicular to its starting position.  Keep rotating your brush 45 degrees, while brushing outward, until you have covered your whole crown.  It is important that you start the brushing motion as close to the center of your crown as possible after you complete each brush rotation.  Your brush should rotate 8 times because 360, which is the wave pattern, divided by 45, which is the degrees of rotation, equals 8.  Although it isn't mandatory, I recommend rotating your brush clockwise, because most crowns tend to spin out to the right.  Make sure that your barber cuts your crown similiar to the way you are training it.  Also, keep in mind, that the minimum wavelength for your crown is usually less than the rest of your hair.  Therefore, it should be cut slightly higher to increase wave visibility and definition.
Finally, the reason I recommend a hard brush is because the crown has no set grain pattern.  Since you're trying to train the crown's hair in a set 360 pattern and help it develop an appropiate grain pattern/angle, a hard brush is essential.  If you use a standard nine inch hard brush, you can use a seven inch mini hard brush to increase brushing concentration accuracy.  Club and military hard brushes are also effective.

 wave connection wrote:

 As I have stated before, the crown of most 360 wavers heads, spins out clockwise. This means that most crowns grow out in a spiral towards the right. This growth pattern, also, extends out to the entire head. This means that the sides of your head represent to polarizing areas of a spiral. And, if you examine rotation and centrifugal force, the weakest area of a spiral is its starting point and the strongest area of a spiral is parallel to that area or what would be the other side of the spiral. So if you�re looking at your head from the back and see it as a traditional analog clock, the spiral would start at 12 o�clock and rotate to the right. So if you compare your head to a spiral, you can see that the spiral starts on the right side of your head and ends on the left. Since this is the case, the right side of your head is the beginning of the spiral and thus has the weakest area of potential hair grain pattern intensity and the left side of your head is the end of the spiral and thus has the stronger potential hair grain pattern intensity. This discrepancy isn�t noticed until you start trying to train these areas to wave up. The right side wants to go slightly downward and back, like its spiral pattern. Basically you hair grain on the right side needs more training to compensate for the fact that it is in a weak rotation area.  I recommend brushing the right side twice as much as the left with a medium or hard brush to compensate for this discrepancy. 
Many 360 wavers brush there right side at a more downward angle to help with these grain and rotational issues. 

 wave connection wrote:

I posted this information before, but have reintroduced it for future reference.

Your hair texture and its grain, (the natural direction of your hair growth), is not the same all over your head.  The top and back of most peoples heads have a similiar texture and a straight grain pattern.  More specifically, the hair grows straight forward on the top of the head and straight down on the back of the head. 

The sides are tricky because you are brushing the grain sideways and the texture is not always consistent.  It takes time for the hair on the sides to develop a new grain pattern.  It's kind of like the hair doesn't know where to go, lol.  The problem with side visibility is compounded by the fact that waves are seen best at an angle.  Lots of visibility is lost when people look at your sides straight on.  That is why you see most 360 wavers showing their sides at a 45 degree angle from the top.  

Also, the hair on your sides usually has a shorter length than the top and back.  You have to compensate for that fact by communicating with your barber.  He must understand how to properly cut 360 waves.  The sides may need to be cut slightly longer than the top and back to maximize the visibilty of the connection.

Finally, I brush my sides twice as much as my top and back to help maintain a good connection and reinforce the unnatural sideways grain pattern.

 wave connection wrote:

This is the unabridged version of my after haircut washing theory.  

I don't recommend washing your hair after you get a haircut.  There are two main reasons why I say this.  First, you should wash your hair before you get a cut so that it is clean and free of products.  Since you should wash your hair prior to your cut, washing it afterwards is redundant and pulls out more of your hair's natural oils that its trying to reproduce.  That's also why I don't recommend over-washing.  Second, by not washing your hair right after you get a cut, you allow your haircut and your new length wave pattern to set in.  This is especially true if you do not have a strong base wave pattern.  Even if you have a strong wave pattern, you will lose some defintion if you immediately wash your hair after a cut.  I recommend brushing off the loose hairs with a soft brush, adding a moisturizer or small amount of pomade, if desired, followed by brushing and putting on a durag or wave cap, if possible.  After a couple of days, your hair cut and its pattern should be set and then it should be okay to wash. Also, note that you should use warm to semi-hot water, but not scolding hot, to wash your hair.  The warm to semi-hot water opens your hair's pores and allows your hair follicles and attached strands to relax causing your waves to lay down better while shower brushing.  It's the same concept that spas use for opening up your face's pores when they place a warm towel on it.  After you finish shower brushing apply a small amount of cool water to your head to allow your pores to re-close.  Then apply a moisturizer or pomade, if needed, and continue brushing.
Remember:  After a haircut, be in a rush to brush, but don't prematurely wash.

 wave connection wrote:

When you cut ATG, your hair will look thinner than an identical cut WTG.  An ATG haircut makes your hair look thinner because you are cutting against the direction that your hair lays down.  These cuts usually stay fresh longer.  

When you go ATG, the clippers and guard are actually lifting your hair before it is cut.  If you go ATG, you should use a higher number guard than the one you would use for the same cut WTG.  This compensate for the difference in the way your hair's cut.  On the other hand, WTG haircuts cut your hair from the backside and will make your hair look darker.  

Edited by wave connection - January 10 2008 at 5:20pm