Old barber told me to stop overcombing and it finally clicked

I had this guy named Sal come into my chair last week, he's been cutting hair for 40 years. He watched me work for a minute and said 'you're combing that section four times when once would do.' I was using my fine tooth comb on every pass and it was messing up my blend. Since then I've cut my combing by half and my fades are way cleaner. Anyone else ever catch themselves doing extra steps that just slow you down?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.drew27d ago

You ever notice how we do that in pretty much everything, not just haircuts? I catch myself re-reading the same sentence three times when once would do... or checking my pockets for my phone when I'm already holding it. It's like our brains get stuck in a loop and we just keep doing the same move over and over out of habit. Stripping away all that extra motion is a hard lesson but it makes everything smoother once you figure it out. Real clean fades come from trusting your first moves instead of second guessing yourself.

dakota_patel9827d ago

Hold on @scott.drew, I get what you're saying but I think we might be overthinking this a bit. Is re-reading a sentence really the same as messing up a haircut? I mean, sometimes your brain just needs a second pass to make sure you didn't miss something important, you know? Not every extra move is a bad habit, sometimes it's just being careful. I've seen guys try to simplify their work too much and end up cutting corners that matter. Trusting your first moves is fine, but only if your first moves are actually good. Your mileage may vary, but I think there's a middle ground here where you dont have to strip everything down to the bone.

the_hayden20d ago

My friend @dakota_patel98 kept re-trimming his beard so many times he ended up with a chin strap, poor guy.