A good haircut starts before the clippers turn on. Your barber can do almost anything with your hair, but he can't read your mind — and words like "short," "clean" or "not too much" mean something different to every person in the chair. Two minutes of clear talk at the start saves both of you a lot of guessing.
Three things to settle first
Cover the basics in this order: how much length stays on top, what happens on the sides and back (a taper, a skin fade, or just cleaned up), and the overall direction — swept back, to the side, textured and messy, or tight and neat. If you can answer those three, the rest is detail.
A reference photo is a starting point
Bring one or two photos, but tell your barber what you like about them: the softness of the fade, the texture on top, the way the hair falls. Nobody's hair is identical to the guy in the picture, and a barber who knows what you're after can translate it to your hair instead of copying a look that won't sit the same way.
Say how you live
Do you style your hair in the morning or walk out the door wet? Wear a hard hat or headphones all day? Work out five times a week? Sit in an office? Tell your barber. It changes which cut will actually look good on a Tuesday, not just when you leave the shop.
You don't need the vocabulary
You don't have to know what a "drop fade" or a "number two" is. "Nothing sticking out over the ears," "neat but not military," "I want to be able to run my hand through it" — plain descriptions like these work fine. Barbers translate feelings into technique every day.
Speak up during the cut
If something looks off halfway through, say so. It's easy to adjust a fade while it's happening and much harder to fix a cut that's already finished. No barber worth his chair minds a question.
Before your appointment at Chico's
- Book the right service: Haircut for a classic cut, Skin Fade if you want it faded to the skin, the longer option if your hair is past your shoulders.
- Bring one or two photos and know what you like about them.
- Mention what you don't want — that's often the most useful sentence.
- Say how much time you have; a shape-up and a full restyle are different appointments.
Prices and times are as listed in Chico's online booking menu; check current options when booking.
