Is there a place in your life where you can go when you feel overwhelmed or a place where you just need comfortant and acceptance? Many of us would say our home but when your home your mom is in her office or dad is at work so you're not getting that acceptance. I'm talking about when i need somewhere to go i go to my barbershop. As a young kid in my life there were many people I thought that were very cool and wealthy. I thought in a world of violence these people could still bring people together and have a good time, this place is a barbershop. A barbershop is a place where guys go to socialize, debate, or playcard games. They socialize about sports and politics you know like most guys do. Now I'm not here to talk about a barbershop, I'm here to tell you about the workers inside it “Barbers”.  Not just cutting hair but the history behind barbering, fun facts, and more. Let's begin.

“The word “barber” comes from the Latin word “barba,” meaning “beard.” Ancient civilizations believed that spirits entered people through the hair on their heads and faces. Ideology held that only by cutting a person's hair could these evil spirits be eliminated. For this reason, barbers were held in high esteem.” This work was created by Egyptians nearly 6000 years ago. Which makes barbering one of the oldest professions in history. Ambroise Pare was a french barber surgeon when barbers didn’t only cut hair but also performed surgeries on people, he did surgeries on big name people such as Henry ll and Francis ll. “He is considered to be one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a pioneer in surgical techniques and battlefield medicine, especially in the treatment of wounds.”

Well now that you know a little bit about barbering. I’m here to tell you how to be a barber from Learning how to fade, the different types of guards, and the difference between clippers and trimmers. 

One of the main important things to know when cutting hair is knowing how to fade and the different types of fades. but really overall just knowing how to fade is the most important part. “A fade haircut is a cutting technique that tapers the hair so it eventually “fades” into the skin. “Generally, this involves keeping it longer on top and gradually shaving closer down the sides and back”. So when you start your fade you always wanna start it with the fade line.  “The fade line will determine where the hair transitions from one length to another. It will wrap all the way around the back of the head, essentially going from ear to ear. Fade lines don't have to go straight across in the back”. Once you have done that you bald it out with the shaver, which is used to get the little hairs there are left. Then you go in with the clippers no guard open, after no guard open then 1 guard open next is 2 guard open with a light flick then 1 ½ guard closed after .5 guard closed lastly no guard open lever as you go higher. After all those steps you should have a good clean fade. 

You are probably wondering what a guard is, well “a guard is a plastic attachment which snaps on to barber clippers which prevent them from cutting shorter than a certain length. THe more hair you're dealing with the higher number guard you go.” As much as these are important to barbers there's two other things that they need in order to use the guards which are trimmers and clippers.

  Trimmer is designed for edging, outlining, dry shaving and light shaping on smaller areas such as the back of the neck, around the ears, around sideburns. These are really light so you don’t use them on bulky hair but they can be used to create your guideline or fadeline. Trimmers are mostly used when finishing up a cut like doing the lining or putting a design in your clients hair. Now Clippers “ bulk hair cutting on larger areas, but do not cut extremely close to the skin. “. Clippers are the main tool you use when cutting hair; it allows you to fade, trim, or cut off bulky hair areas. These are also what you use guards on whether it's an open lever or closed lever. What does that mean, this means When the taper lever is closed it cuts more hair, and the blade is at its lowest cutting position. When the taper lever is open it cuts less hair, and the blade is at its longest cutting position. All these things are very key things you need to know about clippers, trimmers, fading, and different guards. These will all be things to know for my future barbers out there.

 In conclusion, August Billings has learned a lot while doing this research and it has helped me to become a better barber and I hope it helps you. Thank you.