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Chat with an old barber changed how I do fades

Had a guy in his 70s waiting for a cut last Tuesday. He watched me work and then said 'you're rushing the blend, slow down near the ears.' I thought I knew what I was doing. Tried his advice on the next client and the fade came out way smoother. Has anyone else had some random customer drop knowledge that actually worked?
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3 Comments
foster.jordan
And that totally reminds me of this time I was learning to cook a steak from a guy at the grocery store meat counter. He just pointed at my cart and goes "you're gonna flip that thing every 30 seconds aren't you?" I was like yeah that's the secret right? He laughed and said leave it alone for three minutes each side, don't poke it or move it. First time I tried it the crust was perfect and I felt like an idiot for all those years of fussing with it. So yeah that old barber probably saved you a lot of trial and error, sometimes the old dudes just have it figured out from years of doing the same thing wrong themselves.
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the_max
the_max1mo agoTop Commenter
Saw some article online about this same thing with old mechanics. They said the same stuff about not overthinking things. @foster.jordan's steak story is spot on because it's the same idea. That old barber knew exactly what he was talking about. Sometimes we get too caught up in all the fancy techniques when the basic stuff is what really works.
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kimfisher
kimfisher1mo ago
Yeah but that article was about old mechanics, not barbers, so the comparison kinda falls apart there.
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