Am I the only one who spent years messing up fade lines?

I've been cutting hair for about 5 years now, but it wasn't until last month that I figured out I was starting my fades way too high. A barber named Mike over at Cut & Shave in Denver watched me do a blend and just said 'why are you starting at the temple?' Took his advice to drop it down near the ear and my transitions finally stopped looking choppy. Anybody else have a basic technique wrong for way too long before someone called them out?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_richard1mo ago

Man, I feel that so hard. For the longest time I was doing the same thing - starting my fades way up near the temple because I thought it looked cleaner. Then a buddy of mine who's been cutting since before I was born just watched me work one day and goes "you're making this way harder than it needs to be." He showed me to keep the whole thing lower and tighter to the ear, and it was like a lightbulb went off. Ever since then my blends have been way smoother and I stopped getting those weird bald spots behind the ear.

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lewis.drew1mo ago

Three months ago I would've argued with you about this. I had it in my head that a high fade looked more modern and clean, like what you see in all the Instagram barber videos. Then I let my nephew practice on me and he did it exactly the way you're describing, tight and low around the ear. I was pissed at first but after I washed the clippings off and looked in the mirror I had to admit it looked way better than anything I'd ever done on myself. The blend was smooth from the bottom up instead of looking like a weird stripe across my head. Have you noticed it makes the shape of your head look different too or is that just me?