M's cut

Absolutely kicking myself. I did my best cut to date this afternoon and completely forgot to get any photos at all.

The Client

M is a thirties-ish man working in one of the campus cafes. He came in with a group of coworkers for cuts (they said they were encouraged by P’s cut the other day!). M told me he usually requested a tight high fade: 0.5-1 guard on the sides, 2-3 guard on the top. Despite this, he repeatedly insisted that this was my practice and I could do what I wanted.

Most notably, M was extremely self-conscious about what I’d describe as very early stages of male-pattern hair loss - I’d say a 2 on the Hamilton-Norwood scale, without any bald spot in the back.

“Extremely” might be a strong way to put it. His concern about it seemed out of proportion to its effect on his appearance. He brought it up with almost no prompting (I mentioned his widow’s peak while running down the checklist of hair features; it didn’t actually occur to me that it was MPHL until he responded). He talked about the hair being quite thin and fine in a self-deprecating tone. He said that, “if possible,” he would like to hide the hairline, in a way that suggested he didn’t really think it was.

The Cut

I suspected M was a type of guy I’ve encountered a lot in my personal life: someone who finds longer hair frustrating because he doesn’t know how to style it, and who asks for a very short cut with specific guard numbers because it ensures he gets a minimally upsetting result and maximizes the amount of time before he needs to do it again. I honestly thought the haircut he came in with still looked pretty sharp, but I could see why he felt he was due for a new one: tickly hairs at the nape and ears, and limp, cowlicky fringe that was getting in his eyes.

Ultimately, I had his express permission for me to do what I wanted with my practice. I decided to complete the high fade but prioritize his concerns with his hair over the exact guards he requested.

I told him I was going to start by leaving things a bit longer to avoid taking off too much, and then work down to his ideal length. I went in with a 3 as my largest guard on the sides and back. This let me square off his face a bit more with the high fade, since I didn’t have to round in the head as much as a 2 would’ve required. With scissors, I trimmed up his fringe to get it out of his eyes and did a short uniform layer on the top so it wouldn’t get so bogged down with its own weight. I finished blending things out with scissor over comb.

I could feel M’s doubt about how long I was leaving the top, but whenever I checked in with him, he insisted again that it was my practice.

The Styling

His buddies were already finished and standing around watching me by the time I got to styling. I explained to M and our small audience that I was going to add a lot of powder and a little bit of sea salt spray. I told them powder adds grit and volume and texture to fine hair, and sea salt spray adds all the same plus flexible hold. I told them that combined together the effect is to make thin hair look thicker, and limp hair look more voluminous. I styled M’s hair off to the side, the way he said he usually did, as I explained it wouldn’t become crunchy and could be repositioned throughout the day.

M reached up and started mussing his hair to test that statement. His friends protested that he was ruining the style, not realizing that I mentioned repositionability hoping for this exact reaction. When he stopped mussing it about the hair was sticking up, staying up, it looked cool and piecey and feathery, you could still see some of the natural wave, and - crucially - his hair looked twice as thick as it did when he came in.

I’ve never seen a man so delighted and astonished by his reflection.

The Takeaway

Today was my best cut to date because it reminded me why I want to do this. M was doubtful throughout the cut because he was worried I hadn’t really listened to him. He was thrilled at the end of it because I had. Listening to a client is about more than just what styles or guard numbers they name. It’s about hearing their desires and concerns, and doing the interpretive work to apply your professional knowledge to them correctly. Sometimes that means realizing the client’s specific request won’t achieve the thing they desire most.

In retrospect, I should’ve communicated my plan to M more clearly. It would’ve been fine to say that I could hide the hairline better if he let me leave the top longer, and that we could always clipper it after if he hated it. Hell, the end result was a recognizable hairstyle. I could’ve said that a fauxhawk was a great choice for hiding hairline recessions and asked if he’d like to try one.

Part of the problem was that I didn’t plan to do a fauxhawk; I felt my way toward one as I worked out how to merge his incompatible requests. That’s something that will improve as my skills improve. But more importantly, it felt like a big deal to call out what was obviously his biggest sensitivity about his appearance with so many other people packed into the student barbershop. It’s a good reminder of why my long-term goal is to work somewhere single-chair.

Anyway, I won’t kick myself over that. I will kick myself over not getting a picture!!! UGH!!!