Had a chat with an old barber downtown that made me rethink fading

I was cutting at my chair last Tuesday and this older guy, probably 70, came in just to watch. He used to own a shop on 3rd Street back in the 80s. He watched me do a fade on a kid and then said 'you're chasing the blend too fast, slow down and let the clipper do the work.' I brushed it off at first but later that night I tried his tip on a practice head and it actually made a huge difference. He told me barbers today rely too much on guards and not enough on freehand work. Guess there's something to learning from the old heads even if their tools are outdated. Any of you guys ever get advice from retired barbers that flipped your whole approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_coleman20d agoTop Commenter

Man idk about all that lol. I mean yeah the old guy probably had some good tips but acting like freehand is some lost art is a bit much. Half the barbers I see still use freehand for tapers and stuff, it's not that deep. And saying guards are a crutch? Come on, they're tools just like anything else, it's about how you use them. Glad it worked out for you though, but let's not act like he rewrote the book on fading or something.

gibson.avery20d ago

My first barber was a guy named Sal who retired in 1999 and he taught me to hold my shears like I was holding a pencil. Problem is I have the handwriting of a third grader on a sugar rush so maybe that's why my lineups still look wobbly some days. I feel like the old guys have this zen patience thing where they take 45 minutes on one cut and I'm over here trying to beat my personal record. But slow is smooth and smooth is fast right? Until my client falls asleep in the chair and I have to wake them up to pay me.

ray_martinez8220d ago

That speed thing will mess you up every time. I do flooring not hair but same principle applies - you try to rush a cut or a tile layout and you end up spending twice as long fixing the mistakes. The old guys taking 45 minutes aren't wasting time, they're just not having to redo anything. Maybe try timing yourself on one cut where you deliberately go slow and don't look at the clock. See if the final result is cleaner. If it works, you can start speeding up from there once your hands know the motion. Just don't sacrifice the lineup for a personal best.