Men's styles can be tough, there are only so many ways to style short hair. We wanted to offer you all a bit of inspiration when it comes to looking for that perfect men's cut to show your stylist and we knew exactly where to turn. We linked up with Jameson, an extremely talented barber from our Masonville salon in Ontario. If you haven't already, you NEED to follow his Instagram @cut_throatbarber (not quite as scary as it sounds) for some wicked men's styling ideas!
Round Graduation
Greg normally comes in every so often for his regular haircut, but like a lot of clients he doesn’t know what he wants and looks to me for some ideas that would suit him, are easy to maintain and style, but is also versatile. During a recent consultation I noticed he pushes his hair back to move the hair off his face and before he puts his hat on. So today we gave him the classic pompadour but rather than fading out the whole sides and back I used “round graduation”.
Different From The Rest
This technique is used to direct the hair back on the sides and back and horizontal sections on the top, retaining the majority of the length at the front and gradually getting shorter towards the apex of the head. I then did small “blow outs” on the nape of the neck and side burns so we didn’t have any of those harsh lines that I’m not too fond of. I really like to try and separate this style from the other pompadours that may be walking around town.
A Style That's Versatile
What I’ve found with the classic slick-back pompadour is that it’s very versatile. Unlike “the executive contour” or “combover” you can wear it either back or off to the either side giving him the ability to change up his look from time to time.
A Little Extra Length
Using the same round graduation technique as above - I just added more length. On longer haircuts you want to keep the back of the neck as natural looking as possible. You want to carve the neck line with your shears rather than etching it with clippers, this gives a more natural look to it but also cleans it up.
Side Profile
That FADE
When it comes to doing a skin fade, I believe knowing where the occipital bone is on your client's head is key (this will make blending the back easier for you). Once you establish where it is and and how it feels, you can begin to put in your first guideline. There are so many different ways to fade so rather than going into detail about that, here are some tips and tricks on how you to improve it.
Use your mirror : When you put your first guideline in be sure to do it having that side of your clients head facing the mirror, turn and face the mirror every so often to be sure that it all lines up and you have it nice and straight.
Cornering : Using the corner or your clippers is amazing! It’s going to help remove little dents and weight lines without putting more in. It allows you to clean up smaller spots that need touch ups without having to actually disrupt the rest of the cut.
Line up : Line ups are very important. That last 15% of the haircut is key to making it stand out. By removing those little blonde hairs (or baby hairs as we call them) it gives the edges of your haircut a very crisp look.
