7 Grooming Tips Your Barber Wants You To Know

You want to look great, especially after you drop some cash to get an amazing haircut. With these 7 Grooming Tips Your Barber Wants You to Know, your barber can deliver an ultimate cut, helping you feel and look your best.

There are a few things in life you need: a trusted mechanic, a reliable contractor, and a good barber. These people are hard to come by, but when you find one, keep them close and pray they never have to move away.

Whether it’s a rattling in your engine bay, or knowing the best haircut for your face shape, you can listen to these people and trust they are steering you in the right direction.

Jont from Milwaukee Street Barbershop in Milwaukee, WI is the kind of barber you keep close forever. Cutting men’s hair since the 90’s, he’s been around the block and knows some things when it comes to making guys look good.

With some research and his help, these grooming tips your barber wants you to know will help you get the best haircut, even if you don’t live in Milwaukee.

7 Grooming Tips Your Barber Wants You To Know

Avoid the hat

If you are a procrastinator like me, you may wait a little too long to get your haircut at times. As a result, your hair looks untidy and unkempt.

This can get embarrassing if you have to go out into public, and you may rely on a hat to cover wild hair.

Although you likely know that it’s best to get a haircut without any product in your hair, you may not know that hat hair makes it difficult to get a good haircut.

Hats can unnaturally bend and distort hair. Without knowing how hair truly lies, a barber can have a difficult time giving a quality haircut when there are a lot of abnormal bends to work around.

Even using a spray bottle and comb won’t always be effective in bringing hair back to its natural state. The only true way to come back from hat hair is to have a shampoo in the barber shop, which may or may not be an option.

So, take a shower before you go to the barber shop, and leave the hat at home!

Keep your head still

If your barber moves your head a certain direction, or asks that you move your head, it’s for a reason.

This is to ensure an accurate and precise cut.

We have a tendency to lose focus, especially if we get caught up in small talk. This can result in wobbly heads and unbalanced cuts.

If you want the best haircut possible, sit like a statue in that exact position when the barber moves your head.

Don’t worry about the small talk

Some people hate silence when others are around, feeling the need to fill it up with small talk.

Barbers are masters at small talk, but they will pick up on your cues. If you want to sit quietly, they won’t bug you. If you want to talk, they will talk.

However, truly getting into the “zone” is usually done without talking. Think back to the last time you were in the zone while working on something important, chances are you weren’t talking to someone.

You want your barber to be in the zone while they are cutting your hair, so don’t worry about filling up silence with small talk.

You’ll end up with a better cut this way.

Avoid bumps with alcohol

We are in an era of tapers and bald fades, where clippers and shavers come into close contact with the skin.

I used to always get bumps and pimples at the back of my head following a bald fade. I didn’t know if it was the chicken or the egg scenario. In other words, was the haircut itself causing the pimples, or was me putting my hand back there constantly feeling for bumps, causing bumps? Maybe both.

A good barber like Jont will apply alcohol to the back of your head before going in for the bald fade and once more after he’s finished.

Applying alcohol will help stop oil and dirt from clogging pores, which can cause ingrown hairs, pimples, and bumps.

Show up on time

Ben Franklin said, “take time for all things: great haste makes great waste”.

So, when we are strapped for time, detail can get lost and things can go to the wayside.

If you don’t show up on time, your barber will have less time to devote to you and your haircut.

This can result in a passable haircut, but had the time been there from the beginning, it could have been a great haircut.

Plus, showing up on time shows that you respect your barber and their time!

Keep the phone away

By now, you’ve probably learned that our smartphones can give us a dopamine rush, just like cocaine and slot machines.

We, as humans, naturally crave successful social interactions. So, with every text ring, Instagram alert, or Facebook ping, we receive positive reinforcement and a little dose of feel good dopamine.

It can be tempting to check your phone instantly when these alerts go off.

Instead, enjoy the moment, close your eyes and let your barber work their magic. Your phone can wait.

Have an idea

Your barber isn’t a mind reader, and there are a thousand hairstyles out there.

Give them something to go from with a description of what you’re looking for. Better yet, have a few photos ready to show on your phone.

Setting expectations up front will make you and your barber happier in the end.

Just remember to follow #6 above and put your phone away after you’re done showing pictures!

Getting a haircut is an enjoyable experience. These 7 grooming tips your barber wants you to know will help you get the most out of it each time and ensure you’ll be happy with the results!