Help with cutting a gent's hair

December 7, 2013 2:09 PM

Lady here, whose boyfriend wants her to cut his hair. I'm OK with this, especially since I think I can be more creative with it than the typical old barbers he goes to, but I've never done it before. Tips & tricks? Some snowflakes within.

OK, firstly. He's got a wider/rounder face than this guy, but I think this would be a nice style to try, especially since there doesn't seem to be any 'fade' action going on here. So, uh, how do I do it? It's hard to tell how long this guy's hair is on the sides (ie. has he got some of it plastered down, or is it shorter there?)

Special Considerations

-- Seems like, with current length of hair, there will be minimal work needed in the front. I'm more worried about the back and sides, that are kinda shaggy. Right now he's got a bit of a Tom Selleck-esque mullet going on, plus wisps of hair that hang over his ears. Tips for paring this down? For getting the back even?

Tools?
So, I've got two tools: a pair of very good Tweezerman scissors that I've only used for cutting (my own) hair, and a comb. Do I need another tool?

Other Tips?
Would be appreciated.

posted by Miss T.Horn to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Response by poster: P.S. This is kind of how his hair looks right now, plus a slight mullet.
posted by Miss T.Horn at 2:12 PM on December 7, 2013

The best tool is YouTube. There are hundreds of videos there that will demonstrate how to cut hair in every style.
posted by Wordwoman at 2:43 PM on December 7, 2013

If you want a "style", rather than just all one length, be prepared for it to be more difficult than you expect. He should also be OK with possibly needing to get a repair job. I say this as someone who tried to cut my friend's hair with the best intentions and it worked out TERRIBLY.
posted by Anonymous at 3:07 PM on December 7, 2013

Best answer: If it's your first time doing this, I wouldn't try to get too creative. Cutting hair isn't rocket science, but there's a reason why barbers and stylists get training before they start doing it professionally. It's pretty easy to mess up, and mistakes aren't always easy to fix. There's also a fair amount of technique involved even in a basic cut -- nothing super difficult to my knowledge, but definitely the kind of thing that requires practice before it becomes easy. Keep it simple, and if it goes well then branch out from there next time.

Also, it would probably be best if he was OK with just getting a buzzcut in the event that things go totally wrong and you end up with an irreparable mess. I'm not saying don't do this, but you should go slow and ease into it, and have a backup plan in case it doesn't work out.

That said, the style you linked doesn't look too elaborate to me. There's definitely some gel or pomade involved, but that's no big deal. You can probably find a tutorial for a similar style on YouTube and go from there. Probably best to also watch a few tutorials on the basics of haircutting technique while you're at it.
posted by Scientist at 4:37 PM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I cut my own hair and have been doing so for a few years. (I'm a woman who has very short hair and prefers masculine haircuts.) I recently tried to do something like that style (at least I think so, hard to know 100% from the picture) to my own hair, although I wasn't fully successful because my hair isn't long enough---I'm still growing out the top.)

If I were you, I'd buy clippers. If that's the haircut I think it is, the sides and back are clipper-length (under an inch.) $25 (or less) drugstore clippers come with a variety of snap-on plastic combs/guides that will make it relatively easy (at least with my hair, which is curly and coarse and perhaps doesn't show mistakes as much as others') to cut hair uniformly at lengths from about 1/8" to 1". The hardest component for me was cutting the sides where they get close to the top - where the part is, the line dividing the longer top hair from the side hair. That might just be because my top hair isn't fully long enough yet for me to easily hold it to keep it away from the clippers, but I couldn't get close enough to cut the sides short over there without worrying I'd also slice off some of the top bit that I wanted long. So the sides right up there near the part look kind of funny. You might need to do that part with scissors ad a comb, maybe?
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:32 PM on December 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

Irrelevant side point: I had a frugal girlfriend who liked doing this for me. Practically, she'd have to stand very close, as the only non-carpeted space was in the kitchen, which meant she'd get cut hair on her... which is needle-sharp, and will stick in your clothes no matter what you do.

Long story short, she opted for trimming me in her lingerie & heels, making it playfully sexy. Didn't always result in sexytimes afterward... but years later I fondly remember those haircuts.

Would have made any occasional miscut ignorable, too. ;)
posted by IAmBroom at 10:00 AM on December 9, 2013