Asian Style: Cupid Cutie

By Amanda Aaron
January 30, 2020
Asian style grooms are very popular in the grooming salon. For me, I love to use this style on dogs that come in matted or their owners want a cute little personality trim that is low maintenance. The terrific thing about Asian styles is that they are flexible and there is no real “wrong” way to do it, as long as you follow a few basic guidelines. 

Typically, a lot of Asian styles don’t follow breed conventional trims and they have short bodies with longer legs. There are a multitude of styles to choose from on the face and head but the majority of them have short chins. This style gives groomers the ability to be artistically expressive! 

On this particular dog, a 4 lb. toy Poodle with a lot of attitude, his owners wanted something that was easy to maintain but helped him to express his big personality. These trims are also fun because you can add a little pet-friendly color and glitter.

Fig 1) I am using a #4 clipper comb attachment on cordless trimmers. You can use any length you’d like, but I would like to go as short as possible without exposing the skin. I start just behind the head and clip the entire body of the dog. 
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Fig 2) When clipping the body, I usually stop just at the flank. You’ll leave this hair to trim later on.

Fig 3) using the same clipper attachment, I clip off all of the hair from the point of rump all the way down to the top of the hock. This creates a great flare and gives angulation on the back legs. 

Fig 4) When clipping the front of the dog’s body, I’ve chosen to cut off the hair on the carry to the top of the front leg.

Fig 5) once the clipper work is finished, go back over with shears to give it a great finish.

Fig 6) With the foot on the table, use your curved shears to round the hind feet. You can pick the foot up to trim, but be cautious not to cut too much or the wrong hair off. When the foot is on the table, it must have a full, flared look. 

Fig 7) using the same method as the back feet, you’ll round the front feet to create a circle around the foot with a light bevel. 

Fig 8) Making sure you have the tail out of your way, scissor a parallel line inside the back legs. 

Fig 9) Fluff up the hair on the outside of the legs. Scissor the hair at a 45 degree angle down to where you scissored on the foot. You’ll also scissor-blend the hair that you left on the flank (Fig 2) into the leg. 

Fig 10) starting at the tuck–up, you’ll scissor, at an angle, to the top of the foot. 

Fig 11) depending on how much hair your pet dog has, you’ll need to trim the hock and then down to the bottom of the foot. I’m taking off a minor amount on this dog. 

Fig 12) I’ve chosen to give this person a Terrier tail. It’s a really terrific alternative for dogs who tangle easily. When doing a Terrier tail, push the tail up to trim. You want to make sure that you leave enough hair at the base so that there’s a seamless look from the loin into the tail. 

Fig 13) continue trimming the tail by pulling it down to make sure it’s even on all sides. 

Fig 14) Scissor the shape you’d like into the front legs. I’m selecting a tighter elbow with a flared bottom. 

Fig 15) Take clippers, and very carefully and lightly trim the outside corner of the eyes. 

Fig 16) Next, very carefully trim the hair on the front of the lips. 

Fig 17) I’m using a #10 blade on cordless trimmers to trim under the throat. This sets the head besides neck. 

Fig 18) using curved shears, trim hair over the eyes. We are going for a dome shape so you don’t want to take it too short. 

Fig 19) Scissor off the hair on the side of the eyes, again, creating that really round effect.

 Fig 20) Scissor a “dome” on the top of the head. Make sure to keep the lines finely trimmed to set contrast.

Fig 21) a lot of Asian styles have short faces, so, using curved shears, I goal the shears up to the corner of the eye. I’m still maintaining that round shape, starting at the bottom of the chin to the top of the dome. When trimming the side of the face, you must have about the same amount of hair left as you do on the top of the head. 

Fig 22) continue around the top of the head to create that round shape. This can be as big or small as you’d like. I’m creating a smaller dome considering that this is a small dog, but it is a little less than half the size of the top of his head. 

Fig 23) reverse the curved shears to trim the hair that falls into the mouth. It’s best to use a fine-toothed comb to get as much hair pulled out as possible. 

Fig 24) using pet–safe hairspray, lightly put the “fan” into place. 

Fig) 25 once the fan was in place, I used curved shears to clean up the lines. 

Remember, Asian styles are very neat and refined. So feel complimentary to go back over to put a great scissor finish on everything. 

To give this person a little extra sass, I added some glitter—so now he’s really ready to strut his stuff! ✂️

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