Had a chat with an old barber that made me rethink my fade technique

Met this guy named Sal at a shop in Boston last week while I was grabbing supplies. He said my fades looked good but my blend lines were too harsh because I wasn't softening the transition area enough. I tried his trick of going one guard size up for the middle section and it cleaned up my work way better. Anybody else gotten a random tip from a stranger that actually worked?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_gray8d ago

Sal had me for a second when he said that because I always thought going up a guard would make the fade look worse, not better. Tried it on a guy last Thursday with a 2 on the bottom and a 3 in the middle before the 4 on top, and the blend was way smoother than when I used to just jump from 2 to 4. I still keep a little half guard action in there too, but his trick definitely changed how I think about sectioning the fade.

jade6188d ago

You've got a point that the 3 in between makes it blend nicer, but to me that extra step is buying time when you could just use the half guard to knock the harsh line down. I tried the same thing Sal said a while back and ended up with more of a stacked look than a smooth gradient, especially on thicker hair. Going guard to guard without any clipper-over-comb or detail work between just doesn't hit the same in my hands.