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A client's quiet comment made me stop using the number 3 guard on the sides

I was doing a standard fade on a regular last week, buzzing up the sides like I always do. He's a quiet guy, but as I was switching to the number 2, he just said, 'You know, that first pass always feels a bit too short for me.' I asked what he meant. He said the jump from skin to a 3 guard was too harsh, and it made the fade look blocky instead of smooth. I'd never really thought about it. I always started with a 3. The next cut, I tried starting with a 4 guard open, then closed, then went to the 3. The blend was way softer. It adds maybe two minutes to the cut, but the result is different. Has anyone else had a client point out a small habit that actually improved your work?
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3 Comments
kai_burns73
Listen to the quiet ones, they're often paying the most attention. That's a solid tip about the guard transition. It makes me wonder how many other tiny, automatic choices we make without really seeing them. Like @the_finley learning about gel from his clients, sometimes you need that outside eye to spot the obvious thing you've been missing for years. It's not about adding time, it's about removing a blind spot.
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stella_scott96
Oh man, that's so true. I once had a friend point out I always tap my phone twice before putting it down, like a weird little ritual. You just get stuck in these tiny loops without ever noticing.
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the_finley
My own clients taught me to stop over-gelling.
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