How-To: Change Hair Part Direction

The side part was never really dead, but it’s back in a big way. 

Side saddle and butterfly fringes are great compliments to 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 do 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, in order for it to fall to the side now,” explains Villa. 

How-To Change Part Direction: Learn how to shift hair to a side part with this tutorial from Sam Villa.Hair/Sam Villa; Creative Director and Photographer/Teresa Romero; Model: Irena Kukh.

• 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.