With the renewing of the Barber in our industry it is very important that the classic stylist or cosmo becomes very proficient with one’s clippers and ability to fade, taper, and blend a hard line or do a bald fade. In a sense we are in competition with the classic barber, but what I do like about competition is that it keeps us razor sharp and on our toe’s. Clipper cutting is an art, a skill set that honestly not all can be taught or master. We as stylists get lazy or laid back and want to just throw a clipper guard on and get the cut over with. One question though, if you can use guards can’t your clients? This is why we as stylist have to stay up on our trends and realize that its an art form and skill that we have to constantly keep up on. We use clipper over comb along with shear over comb for those great looking fades and tapers. We use the blending shear when we need to remove unwanted bulk or blend hard lines and soften length. True clipper cutting is never leaving that subtle yet hard line, never throwing a #2 or #3 or whatever guard on and just getting through the cut. Its about recognizing the blend, the flow of a great looking fade or taper. People will often ask us what sets us apart from other Schools or programs in the nation and I will always come back with “time behind the chair” and the “ability to do a true clipper over comb fade or taper”. We teach our students to learn the clipper, understand the shape of the head and move along that shape and compliment every part of the cut. We use clippers day in and day out. We taper, fade and blend everyday at our programs. Our students leave our program with the understanding that they have four licenses and they can be proficient with all four of them. They are the Barber, the Cosmotologist, the Esthetician, and the Nail tech. So next time you see that great blend recognize it and appreciate it, because someone out there has a really bad fade or taper and nobody will tell them.