Why is it that it seems so hard to get little boys’ haircuts just right?
A few weeks ago, I took Hudson in for a trim—that quickly turned into a much more dramatic cut—and we both left feeling upset with the result. Of course he’s completely lovely no matter how long his hair, and I assured him I thought so, but I think the first thing he asked was “how long until it grows back?” I felt terrible! And I was really annoyed that my requests “leave it long on top, just trim the sides” had been ignored and that all his blonde locks were scattered to the floor. I voiced my frustration on Instagram Stories, asking for the magic words required to get it right.
I quickly learned that I wasn’t the only one having this trouble. “I’ve taken to hovering like a crazy person,” wrote one. “It turns out right 5% of the time,” said another. “Considering beauty school after our last cut.”
And many wanted to a follow up: “Ugh, every time. Let me know if you find out.” and “If you find the right words, can you please share them?? Why is a longer boys haircut so hard?!?!”
So here’s some of my favorite advice that readers shared so far…
Bring a photo. “Always bring a photo to support your words!! Or find a new barber!”
Talk it through first. “I say ‘under no circumstances do I want you to cut the top’ then they say ‘it needs thinning out a bit’ and I say ‘thin it out a single mm’ and we kind of meet in the middle by bartering in this way. Crazy.”
Have a go-to line. “My son has curly hair so I’m always terrified they’ll cut his curls. So my line is usually, ‘I basically want it to look like he didn’t get a haircut.'”
Talk with your hands. “I always say just a trim, and please less than you want. A trim, trim, trim (finger gestures for emphasis). That usually does the trick.”
Or, just go long. “We gave up and talked up long hair. Officially his choice, but I’m not complaining.”
And finally, once you find someone who gets it right, never let them go:
Stalk the hairdresser who gets it right. “The key is to find one guy who gets it right once, then tell him you’ll be using him forever… Take his cell phone number down so if he changes barber shops you can track him down.”
Do you have any suggestions to add?
P.S. I might need to go back to cutting Hudson’s hair myself. I still do it occasionally, using this tutorial.
[Image: Cover of Saturday Evening Post, “Comical Haircut,” Howard Scott, February 27, 1943]
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