Hair clippers and scissors for haircut at home

For much of 2020, social media resembled a barber style book of at-home haircuts; Mostly men who attach clippers to heads, set cutting lengths, and use various guards in the hopes of achieving something approaching follicular normality. But the skillful art of shearing over combing, layering, cutting, trimming, thinning? This stuff seems to be for professionals.

Matt Mulhall, a hairdresser and dog groomer who has styled male heads for Dunhill, Hermès, Fendi and Paul Smith, disagrees. He advises caution, patience and a variety of cutting tools. “If you’re using clippers, don’t go as short as your regular hairdresser would straight away,” he advises. “Lengthen and shorten hair gradually and take your time – your new style will be looking at you in the mirror for at least four to five weeks…especially painful if all doesn’t go well.”

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When it comes to facial hair, Tom Dixon’s latest collaboration with Harry’s offers a high-quality take on the traditional razor. The men’s grooming brand’s ultra-sharp German steel razors are paired with Dixon’s sculptural handle, ergonomically designed for easy handling and made from aluminum to prevent corrosion.

A multifunctional shaving option, Braun’s newly released Series 9 uses a combination of five synchronized trimmers and skin guards to achieve a shave that ranges from smooth to trim without irritation.

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When touching up your curls, Mulhall highly recommends using scissors with straight, sharp blades, like those designed by Dentsu London, Ernest Wright and Son and Jamie McLellan for Wallpaper*, handmade in 2011. “Cut a vertical line rather than a horizontal line, this softens the edges and minimizes ugly mistakes.” Even the simplest hairdressing scissors are a match for expensive bacon scissors Kitchen drawer is preferable – the sharper, the better.

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For bathroom amateurs, “straight” scissors are easier to use than the more professional “offset scissors.” Popular with hairdressers, straight scissors have a traditional, ergonomic design with finger and thumb holes arranged in a straight, level line. Invest in a pair with a convex edge for the sharpest, clearest, smoothest cut, like those from Milan menswear brand Larusmiani. The brand’s iconic store, once filled with hundreds of brushes, nail clippers and, most importantly, scissors, is now closed, but a selection of luxury grooming tools are still available to purchase online.

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Mulhall is also a proponent of thinning scissors. “They can really help add volume to hair and even out lines and potential flaws.” Japanese brand YS Park has been making high-quality professional hairdressing tools since the 1980s and offers the perfect pair of thinning blades for anyone looking for a natural, brighter look .

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“Professional hairdressers like to cut from wet to dry hair. But for beginners, I would recommend washing your hair and then towel drying it as often as possible, i.e. just damp, combing your hair the way it is normally styled, and cutting from there… little by little .”