I had a new client come to the shop yesterday with his mom. He was about 12 years old and his mom was very frustrated about several of the last barber shops where her son got cut. Mom told me that she moved to the area 8 years ago and she has never been happy with the haircuts her son received. Before the haircut even started, she asked me if I could do a good taper because the last barber messed up her son's hairline. Now, I hear that a lot and its usually a hairline that's easy to fix. However, when I looked at this hairline, it was obvious that the last barber that cut it was 1) not licensed, 2) did not have barber experience, and 3) had no business working in a barber shop. The last barber had pushed the right corner back about 1 1/2 inches, and the left corner was also pushed back about an inch. The front of the hairline was also crooked. You could tell, from the length of the client's hair, that mom waited at least 3 weeks in order to let the mistakes grow out. The bad thing about it, you could still see the mistakes. After the hair diagnostics, I gave the client a clean, tight close fade with a 2 1/2 on top. Even though the cut looked 100% better, you could still see the last barbers hairline mistake. I told mom that I could either 1)push the hairline back like the last barber in order to make it look good for a few days or use my Bigen technique to cover up the pushed-in corner. She told me to repair it and I used technique I utilize for clients with receding hairlines and/or light corners. I covered up the bad corner while also allowing it to grow back in a few weeks. I should have took a before/after pic now that I think about it. Mom and her son loved the cut. It was normally a 15 minute cut but it took about 50 minutes. You could tell that they were extremely happy to find a good barber and I got the impression that they will be my clients for a long time. I didn't even charge for the Bigen. I was more satisfied about making someone happy; someone who had been looking for a good barber for years. Cuts and client/barber experiences like that are the main reason why I do this. Believe it or not, money is secondary...
