As the title goes, what is your usual request to the hairdresser? Do you have a specific style you ask for? Or do you keep a set of images so that you can show them what you want?

Set the trimmer to between 0.5 and 1 cm and cut everything to that length.

I'm also my own hairdresser because doing it myself is faster than going to a hairdresser. Also it's free.

"Please don't talk."

‘Number four on back and sides, and then take about half off the top with scissors.’

The same as last time please

Dry scissors. Parallel to the ground. Armpit length.

Please don't hurt me.

I do it myself. Probably had someone else do it half a dozen times over the past 20 years, and a few of those were just letting my hairdresser friend have fun with my hair.

10 cm off.

Back when I had short hair I got the GOAT barber/hairdresser: when I said I don’t know what I want, except that somebody else decides for me they lit up and delivered the best (by far) haircut I’ve gotten before or after. And then I didn’t write down their name… Life is so much easier with long hair.

"Make it look good" wtf else am I supposed to say

I have had my hair cut so many different ways I just show them a picture of my own hair cut how I want.

ETA: if it was such a good haircut it lasted over 6 months I sometimes say "just cut it in half" to get the same thing again.

With my current stylist I also ask her to please just leave it wet, she can cut curly hair all day but cannot style it, will leave looking like a current day Robert Smith.

I ask for a scene kid haircut. Still have yet to actually get one. They always do a nice job layering my hair and I'm usually happy enough with the results. Just no one seems to get what I'm asking for. Even if i show pictures.

Asymmetrical bob with a side shave. Took a long time to settle on the haircut that feels like "me" and haven't looked back.

The same person has cut my hair my entire life. I just sit down and let her do her thing.

Interesting, same with the call girl.

I normally just ramble about how long it's been since I had it cut last, and give random conflicting instructions until they realise I don't know how I want it cut and they tune me out and just do whatever they want

I do this as well. Have tried taking pictures but it never ends up like pictures so I learned to just trust the stylist and let them do their job.

Have more the once gotten a haircut that made me feel nervous and like I might get teased only to get a bunch of compliments instead so that’s reinforced this direction for me a lot.

Short in the back with long bangs in the front? I think a lot of that hairstyle is in the styling.

1.5 inches on the top, medium fade

I show them a picture of what i looked like in a previous haircut and say, "Make me look like that."

I used to say, "I've got a hot date make me look good."

"There's a mole here and here so make sure they stay covered by longer hair."

When I was a kid, I just had a mop of hair on my head that I did nothing with except maybe comb it to untangle after a shower. I looked exactly like Bastian from The NeverEnding Story (1984). You could hold up a photo of me as a kid and that actor, Barret Oliver, and you couldn't tell which was which. Every time I went to the barber, my mother just requested they trim it a bit. Or she would do it herself at home.

Sometime in 8th grade, I requested a buzz cut, just to change things up. I requested a #2 on the sides and a #4 on top, while keeping the bangs a bit longer than the rest. It was cool to get your tips frosted when I was a kid, but I was never brave enough to do it. But I kept my bangs long in that style anyway.

When I was in the military, I usually requested a #1 on the back and sides, #2 or #4 on top, leave the front bangs area just a smidge longer than the rest, and taper the neck.

Note: In the US military, your hair can't touch your ears at all. So most military people will also have the hair trimmed away from their ears. I was fortunate in that no hair grows within a half-inch of my ears, so as long as I kept it buzzed, I didn't need to request a trim around the ears.

As long as I knew my wife, she always requested I grow my hair out. But I kept telling her I was in the military and couldn't have long hair. About 6 years into our marriage, she showed me a picture of Chris Evans in his Captain America role and said, "See? He's in the military and his hair isn't buzzed short. Grow it like this!"

Unfortunately, my hairline was already starting to recede a bit by that point and my bangs were super thin, so I couldn't grow my hair exactly like his. But I grew out the top, parted it on my right side, and sort of combed it up and back to blend my thinning hairline into the rest of my hair. Then I put a bunch of product in my hair to hold it in place.

Your hair isn't allowed to be messy in the military, and I have a problem with cowlicks when my hair is short. My hair grows straight out of my head, so it's always poofy. If it's cut short, it's not gonna sit flat against my head. So I needed lots of product to basically glue it in place while it was combed and parted.

So my new barber request was #1 on the back and sides (all the way up to the side part on the right), taper the neck, and just a light trim on top. Then put a bunch of styling cream in it to hold. I found a brand called "Mitch construction paste" (and later, I switched to a new one called "Blind Barber") that held firmly, but didn't turn my hair all crispy and hard. I could still run my fingers through my hair, and if it started to get messy, I could just wet and re-style it.

Then I retired from the military 4 years ago and decided I needed to get away from a military-style haircut. It was my last chance to enjoy longer hair before I potentially went bald.

I had a helluva hard time growing out my hair; every time it'd get shaggy, my military discipline would kick in and I'd run to the barber to clean it up, which just cut me back into a military-style haircut again.

Eventually, I decided the only fix was to shave it all off and start fresh. It took me about 6 months to re-grow my hair from completely bald, but it's finally grown out and no longer looking like I'm in the military. I basically went back to the "Bastian" hairstyle, but I kept it parted on the right side and comb the bangs back and over.

Nowadays, I just ask the barber to trim my hair and taper the back. Super simple. I comb and style it myself, so I don't need anything fancy at the barber. I don't use product anymore, because I don't need to keep my hair in immaculate condition. If it's a bit messy, it just looks more like a civilian hairstyle.

But without product, my hair is extra poofy. I almost have an Einstein look going on. My dad's hair was like that at the end of his life, so I wouldn't be surprised if my hair also continues to get crazier as I age.

Little off everywhere. Then the lady just does it the same way every time.
The lack of cognitive load from worrying about how it will come out is worth paying a premium.

Number 1 back and sides and short on top

Not every style is possible with every hair type. One of my kids wanted a pixie and I told her "you can't go that short, your hair is coarse and thick like mine, it will just look bulky, it won't do what you are picturing."

She got the cut anyway and guess what? It was just bulky.

So it may be the same haircut with a different result. A bob on me is flat on top and wide like Rosanna Danna, my hair needs layers to be a nice shape. But my kids with thinner/finer hair can pixie or bob theirs with great results.

I will never be able to have bangs, hair is too curly for real bangs, not curly enough for curly bangs.

In short - there is no style possible for every head of hair, and no head of hair that can rock every possible style.

I haven’t been to a barber in decades. I just let it go. I’m male with long hair. Fuck style. This is my style.

Same again.

"crew cut with a slightly longer money maker". That being said I've been cutting my hair myself for years. I just ask my daughter to finish the back of the neck.

😭 it absolutely is too. I am still trying to figure out how a blow dryer works properly let alone a flat iron. The learning curve for hair is steep.

"the regular" is pretty decent in my experience.

"layered and trim the edges" are also good for maintenance.

Buzz cut, 6mm

Cut to 3/4 inch and trim my neck twice a year. Keeps it simple and easy but never found a barber that understood why I would cut off 6 months of hair growth all at once for what most people consider to be a non-haircut. Keeps ones hair healthy and only takes a week or two for it to grow in enough to look natural.

Do what looks nice, you know hair better than I do.

I suppose you miss the practicality of the military hair a bit? While I like my hair as is, I do miss how I used to be able to get out of shower within minutes and not having to dry them.

Looks like a lot of dyeing needs to be done from what I can find. Is that the part they are having trouble with?

4 on the top 2 on the sides is my go-to (or 3 and 1 in the summer). I'm not military, I just really like not having to fight with my hair before I leave the house.

Same concept. I'm only here for a service I don't want to have to do myself, not the conversation.

Same. They can usually figure out how it was done previously by looking at how it grew out. So I just say a cleanup. That will usually involve hair clippers along the sides and some quick trims on top.

I’ve started doing it myself since the pandemic though, so I save a couple hundred bucks a year.

"Just fuck my shit up" of course

Explanation:

• https://youtu.be/AGHMS_zh0zM?t=66
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitzer_Ebb
• !gothindustrial@lemmy.world

I do miss the convenience of the buzz cut. Quick 5-minute shower, pass over my head with a towel, and I'm dry and ready for the day. No styling required.

With long hair, I need to do a thorough shampoo scrub, towel dry as best as I can, comb it, then potentially dampen and re-comb when it starts to dry and floof in certain cowlick areas. Or just put product in my hair to hold it down.

Having longer hair has added probably 10-15 minutes to my prep time every day. Not to mention, worrying about fixing it every time there's the slightest breeze. I miss being able to open my car windows or sunroof and not have my hair get messy and tangled. And I don't like wearing hats, so I don't have that to keep my hair contained.

But... while I'm still relatively young and decent looking, I'll suffer a bit longer. My hair is thinning and the buzz cut shows off my balding areas, so growing it out helps me to cover them up a little and look more youthful. Once I get old, bald, and ugly enough, I'll probably revert back to the buzz cut for the convenience. Same reason a lot of women cut their hair short as they get older; less hair to deal with.

I will say, my hair is soft and perfectly straight, but every hair that turns white becomes rough, scraggly, and twisted. At this rate, I may end up switching back to the buzz cut soon if my hair keeps turning white.

"Same as last time please Julie"

I learned this last week - 1 back and sides, short on top.

I just want pictures on the wall to point at

Seeing as I cut my own hair, I just do a #5 all over.

I cut my own hair so: ..."Don't fuck it up. Don't fuck it up. Don't fuck it up. That's enough! Stop being pedantic."
Something like this.

...haven't looked back.

You can use two mirrors for that.

Going through the post, I didn't expect this many people to cut their own hair.

Professional, handsome, clean…but not like a cop, convict, conscript, or a creep (sometimes I use Catholic Preist here…same thing)

As short as possible while still looking good growing out so I don't have to come back for 2 years

As a former emo/scene kid. Most of us had the same problem you are describing but used razor blades to get the look.
Edit: It was not just a phase, it shaped who I am