Through the barber's eyes: Ben’s Hair! by Jasper

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This series was started a year or so ago as a series of haircuts "through the barber’s eyes" . I hadn’t written an instalment in a while but with the current influx of back to school haircuts I thought it was time for a few more stories.. through the eyes of Barber Bruce!

"Next" I called

Up stood a boy with curly brown hair and he casually strolled over to the barber chair. His hair had become pretty long and was a really thick mop of otherwise very well looked after hair that was in a great condition. The hair was covering his eyes and upon first glance I didn’t recognise the young man but as he moved closer I realised that it was an old client of mine, Ben, who I hadn’t seen in months.

"Hiya mate" I exclaimed

"Hey, long time no see!" He replied

"It’s been I while" I agreed

"Don’t think the mop’s been touched since Christmas" Ben said

"Wouldn’t be surprised based on how much it’s grown" I said

Ben was a lovely boy who’d been getting his hair done here since he was a tiny baby. I remember his mom bringing him in for his first haircut and I remember tenderly trimming his baby curls. He’d been getting his hair done by me ever since. Now he was 17, his hairstyle had obviously changed since the days of the thick fluffy birds nest but Ben’s great sense of humour and lovely personality was still the same.

"Right, you’d better take a seat" I requested as I wrapped my cape around him.

"What can I get done then" I queried

"Just the norm" he replied

As I knew him so well I knew exactly what he meant and I was excited to get going and sort Out the unruly hair that had appeared on his head. "The norm" meant I’d be taking his brown, curly hair and giving a low fade with the clippers on the side going down to the length of a #1. I’d then be giving the top a much needed shortening and thinning out.

I proceeded by using the clippers to remove the excess bulk and length of hair on the sides of his head. Once the long curly lengths had been removed and had fallen to the ground. I used the shorter clipper guard to shave the lower areas significantly shorter before blending the shorter and longer clipped areas to achieve a faded look.

Now the top. I sprayed water all over and brushed it out. Using some scissors to remove the bulk I really shortened the top and used thinning shears to remove the thick curls and some layers. Using the clippers over a comb I then blended the faded sides and the longer top.

To finish I trimmed Ben’s sideburns and I shaped his nape before styling his wonderful curls up with some gel

Hey presto! Another happy teenager and in to the next client!

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