Sunday, February 26, 2012

Born to clip

As nature played out barbering was in the blood , never intended to be an barber, dad always tried to talk me out of it. But he was not successful in that, i am a barber now. So in need of a career after not being able to continue my service due to serve cuts to many of us to be exact.
So in having been born into barbering coming from a whole line of barbers it was natural for me to choose my career, what a better way to start as a barber than to have it in your blood. So having tried college first which didn’t have the mind for it ,dropped out and decided to begin a career in barbering which at the time was a great choice for me as it turned out.

Since my mother had went to Bailey Barber College in the 70’s she was one of two female barbers in Lexington at the time so that’s was a milestone for women to break into a male dominated career, So the natural choice was baileys for my training, went over to woodhill plaza where it was located at the time and signed up. Didn’t have to wait , all it took was signing up and making my school payments.

At the time was working fulltime with mentally handicapped adults and worked from 10 o’clock at night to 8 in the morning and then speed off to barber school . Sleep deprived YES! The whole 9 months felt like a zombie, but made it through ended up with 982 haircuts by the end of school which at the time the record was 950 for student barber/stylist will not use stylist in my writing.

So it was time to take state examination the fee was for 120.00 I do believe at the time. Since graduated in December had to wait almost a month to take it even was not able to cut either started in January 26,1994 took state exam January 20 made an 92% on that ,it was time to do the apprenticeship at the time you had to have 18 months apprenticeship under a master barber what a better person to have than your father as your master supervisor, but he was crazy he would stop his hair cut run over to your chair screaming “ stop what are you doing? ” which embarrassed you to no end but anyway the 18 months came to a close.

It was time to take my master barbers examination it was practical only, oh forgot to mention that the apprentice examination was written and a practical also. So the day of examination you do your haircut a taper cut and a face shave and scored an 92% again, no I had completed all state requirements for master barber in the state of Kentucky. I could of moved on and opened my own shop but dad was ready to retire in a few years and would take over an already establish 100 year old business ,what an great deal already! That’s pretty much how to became a barber.

Friday, February 10, 2012


Haircut you say! Well I know a little about that, Being a former Marine I wore this hairstyle all the way though out my time of service. Owning my own Barbershop also has a lot to do with it too. So has 19 years of barbering under my belt, I can tell you how I do my style of a Marine Horseshoe haircut. This haircut goes back to, the really Old Corps. Worn with pride for generations of Marines deemed exotic hairstyle by the Marine Corps and from time to time unacceptable to wear.
Beginning in the late 1980s, it crossed over into civilian life, being embraced first by mostly young males, then spread to like-aged men in other groups. Although "high and tight" is a term commonly used within the military and law enforcement communities, the same haircut is sometimes referred to by civilians as a "skin fade," meaning that the back and sides are shaved to the skin and the top is blended or faded into slightly longer hair.
While many variations of the style exist, the one common feature is that all of the hair on the sides and back of the head is clipped very close, usually 1/16 inch or shorter, up to a point above the temples, referring to the "high" part of its name. A sharp line delineates the boundary between the close-cut sides and back and the longer top portion, referring to the "tight" part of its name. The crown of the head is spared the closest shaving to safely accommodate the weight of a Military helmets. The length of the top portion may vary, usually being 5–10 mm (1/4 to 3/8 inch), but sometimes left long enough to comb. Sometimes the back and sides of the head are shaved completely with a razor.
I begin with My Oster 76 classic clippers, all I use are the following tools, the clipper blades OA, number 1 blade, the '000' zero, and the 5 '00000' blade.Safety razor and shaving cream. I begin cutting just above the temporal bone, just above it, holding the clippers horizontally. I cut along the crown of the head all the way to the other temporal bone, then do not change blades and move to the top front of the head hold back about half inch and begin cutting back towards crown in back of head till you run into your first around the head cutting. repeat this till top of head is even and flat with the appearance of a horseshoe shape by looking down upon the head best to look by using a mirror.
Now it is time to change blade to a number one blade, beginning at the sideburns you will run the blade up to just below where you did your first cutting at the temple and around the sides till you have tightened your cut now you will tighten it up more you will have to change now to the "000" triple zero and repeat same steps,then since you will be shaving the entire head, you'll need it closer so you will not have any visible lines. it is time to shave cover entire head all the way around up to but not past the temporal and same all the way around when you shave everything below all the way down to the nape of the neck.



Now it is time to clean it all up and make sure your flattop is flat no uneven hover hanging none blended hair at the sides or even sticking up from the top and when all that is done you have a very distinctive hair style.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

How to cut a Horseshoe high-tight
Haircut you say! Well I know a little about that, Being a former Marine I wore this hairstyle all the way though out my time of service. Owning my own Barbershop also has a lot to do with it too. So has 19 years of barbering under my belt, I can tell you how I do my style of a Marine Horseshoe haircut. This haircut goes back to, the really Old Corps. Worn with pride for generations of Marines deemed exotic hairstyle by the Marine Corps and from time to time unacceptable to wear.
Beginning in the late 1980s, it crossed over into civilian life, being embraced first by mostly young males, then spread to like-aged men in other groups. Although "high and tight" is a term commonly used within the military and law enforcement communities, the same haircut is sometimes referred to by civilians as a "skin fade," meaning that the back and sides are shaved to the skin and the top is blended or faded into slightly longer hair.
While many variations of the style exist, the one common feature is that all of the hair on the sides and back of the head is clipped very close, usually 1/16 inch or shorter, up to a point above the temples, referring to the "high" part of its name. A sharp line delineates the boundary between the close-cut sides and back and the longer top portion, referring to the "tight" part of its name. The crown of the head is spared the closest shaving to safely accommodate the weight of a Military helmets. The length of the top portion may vary, usually being 5–10 mm (1/4 to 3/8 inch), but sometimes left long enough to comb. Sometimes the back and sides of the head are shaved completely with a razor.
I begin with My Oster 76 classic clippers, all I use are the following tools, the clipper blades OA, number 1 blade, the '000' zero, and the 5 '00000' blade.Safety razor and shaving cream. I begin cutting just above the temporal bone, just above it, holding the clippers horizontally. I cut along the crown of the head all the way to the other temporal bone, then do not change blades and move to the top front of the head hold back about half inch and begin cutting back towards crown in back of head till you run into your first around the head cutting. repeat this till top of head is even and flat with the appearance of a horseshoe shape by looking down upon the head best to look by using a mirror.
Now it is time to change blade to a number one blade, beginning at the sideburns you will run the blade up to just below where you did your first cutting at the temple and around the sides till you have tightened your cut now you will tighten it up more you will have to change now to the "000" triple zero and repeat same steps,then since you will be shaving the entire head, you'll need it closer so you will not have any visible lines. it is time to shave cover entire head all the way around up to but not past the temporal and same all the way around when you shave everything below all the way down to the nape of the neck.



Now it is time to clean it all up and make sure your flattop is flat no uneven hover hanging none blended hair at the sides or even sticking up from the top and when all that is done you have a very distinctive hair style.