Ask a customer how they want their hair cut, and many, if not most, will give you a fairly good description of their preferences. There are also a large percentage of folks who will say, “Just give it a trim”. Those few words say a lot, but you need to understand the term, and probably […]

Tapered haircuts are cut so the shortest hair is around the lower sides and back, and they gradually get longer higher up. The goal is nice, smoothly tapered sides with a gradual change from skin color to the hair’s color. Here are some things that make the goal harder to achieve, and what you can […]

Job satisfaction studies has barbering ranked at, or very near, the top of the many ways people spend their working life. Here are some of the things I find enjoyable: 1. Every 10 to 20 minutes of cutting produces a positive result. A smile and some kind words says it was a job well done […]

1. Don’t suggest to a child that handling their hair (combing, brushing or cutting) will “tickle”. The notion that what you do tickles will cause the child to react by moving their head away or to raise their shoulder up toward the head in such a way as to make haircutting difficult at best, impossible […]

Perhaps the most important aid you have in achieving a precision haircut is your mirror. It’s always used for short tapered haircuts, and flattops or crewcuts will also need some mirror help. a. Use the mirror on flattops/crewcuts to see that your top cutting efforts aren’t sloping off to one side or the other. Also […]

First haircuts almost always work best if: a. The child can sit on Mom or Dad’s lap while their hair is cut. The child sits facing the parent, (who sits in the barber chair), as far out onto their knees as possible. This positioning is reassuring to the child, and it gives the barber ample […]

Dealing with this part of the haircut is always a matter of what the person wants, but there are some things to be aware of. 1. If the bottom neck hair is to be blocked, you need to ask if they want the corners–where the side of the neck hair meets the bottom hair–square (or […]

Whether a child grows up to enjoy or dread getting their hair cut can be largely determined on haircut #1. Of course what you do makes a big difference, but also what happens before their haircut can be an important help or insure failure. The helpful parent: 1. Haircare. Use a “no-tears” baby shampoo that […]