Pro tip: I stopped freehanding fades for a week and grabbed the guards instead

About six months back at my chair in Bakersfield I hit a stretch where three guys in a row asked me to fix a fade somebody else butchered, and I caught myself freehanding the blend just like the last guy did. So I made myself pick between two ways for a full week: keep freehanding it like I learned back in 2009, or go back to the numbered guards and blend up step by step. I went with the guards, felt slow and clumsy for the first few cuts, and by Friday my lines were cleaner and I had maybe 5 minutes less on each head. Funny how the old way still holds up when the pressure is on. Any of you go back and forth like that, or do you just pick one and stay loyal?

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hannah_west3910d ago

I did the same thing around 2015 after a barber buddy in Fresno told me guards were training wheels, and I ate that pride for a month straight. What sold me was the fade staying tight on the sides at the two week mark instead of going fuzzy like my freehand stuff did. The guards don't just save time, they keep your baseline the same on every head so the freehand only comes out when a head shape actually calls for it.

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