Fixing my fade line with a trick I learned at a convention

I was doing fades for like two years and always had this weird line near the parietal ridge that just wouldn't blend right. Tried different guards, changed my clipper angle, nothing really fixed it. Then last fall at the hair expo in Chicago, I watched this older barber demo his technique on a model. He just took a regular comb, held it flat against the head, and used his trimmer to cut into the line from above instead of below. I tried it on my next three clients and the difference was night and day. The line vanished completely after just one pass and the fade looked way smoother. Has anyone else tried comb-over blending or is that just old school stuff nobody talks about anymore?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice92817d ago

The comb trick sounds cool but man, the first time I tried it I basically shaved a bald spot into the side of a guy's head. He was super nice about it though, just laughed and said he was already thinking about going shorter anyway. Now I do it with like half the pressure and it still blends way better than my old hack job method. That line near the parietal ridge is honestly the devil's haircut problem.

evan54317d ago

My buddy Marcus went to the same expo I think, different year though. He was having the exact same issue you described, that stupid line by the parietal ridge drove him crazy. He tried that comb trick on a guy he was cutting at his shop and said it was like magic, the whole fade just opened up smooth. I asked him how he held the comb and he said flat against the skin, like really pressed in there, not just floating over the hair. He warned me the first time you do it you might cut too deep if you rush, so start light and check your work under a lamp. I still haven't mastered it myself but watching him get that clean finish made me want to practice more.

lewis.brian17d ago

@evan543 hit the nail on the head with the flat comb trick, but go even lighter than you think on the pressure at first. Check it under a lamp every two passes or you'll be fixing a bald patch with a 1 guard.

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