4.99 haircuts at great clips today @ tustin village

Reminds me of the commercial where a new place opens with $4.99 haircuts and the Old Timey barber down the street puts up a sign that says "We fix $4.99 haircuts - $5.99"
 
I consider myself somewhat of an expert on men's haircuts. You may be half-inclined to think that's ridiculous since I've never had short hair and am not a man. However, being in charge of 3 boys/men/man-children for quite a number of years, I've attended more men's haircuts and talked to more stylists than most men will in their entire lifetime x 2.

I recommend avoiding places like this. Too many reasons to list. But here's something to think about. Did you know that cosmetology programs do not teach stylists how to do men's haircuts? That's right, they don't. Ask the stylist if you don't believe me. I've interviewed them. You mostly have greenhorn cosmetologists cutting men's hair using places like Great Clips / Fantastic Sam's / etc. as their training ground. These shops will hire them right out of school so they can pay them low hourly wages to keep your cost down.

If you find someone who actually does a good job here - and it does happen, it happened to me at a Fantastic Sam's - two things will happen. They will become the top requested & have a super long wait at these places which are walk-in only or call ahead 15 min. And/or the person will move on to bigger & better things. Mine moved to a more upscale salon where I now pay several times the previous cost per cut. But she does a consistently good job so I followed her. I don't mind paying more because now I can actually book an appointment a week ahead of time. Plus, I can book everything via text. I've also had good stylists disappear without a trace. And it's not like the salon manager is ever going to give you their number. You then have to suddenly track them down or go be a guinea pig for someone else. It's a real pain having to go to a second salon to fix the cut. 

You might say, well, mine went to a barbering program, and is not a licensed cosmetologist. To that I say, it's not as likely as it used to be. You just don't see these programs around anymore. I got so desperate at one point to find someone who could do a good men's haircut that I decided to get resourceful. Because I'm crazy, I actually went to enroll myself in barbering programs at 2 local beauty colleges - Marinello and Advanced Beauty College, I think it was - only to find out the barbering programs were no longer being offered. My plan was to train myself how to do it because it would be time and money well spent, since I have a built-in regular rotation of male clientele under my own roof. It would be really cool to do it yourself, 24/7 to fit into your own schedule, as often as you want, plus save all that money every month.  For whatever reason, these programs are now scarce.

If you're determined to go to place like this, then I recommend a place that specializes in men's haircuts like Sport Clips. It's the same shtick as the others except the stylists get much more exposure to men's hair and therefore, gain more experience more quickly, doing a better job. The sink-or-swim weeds out the bad stylists faster. 
 
SoCal said:
I consider myself somewhat of an expert on men's haircuts. You may be half-inclined to think that's ridiculous since I've never had short hair and am not a man. However, being in charge of 3 boys/men/man-children for quite a number of years, I've attended more men's haircuts and talked to more stylists than most men will in their entire lifetime x 2.

I recommend avoiding places like this. Too many reasons to list. But here's something to think about. Did you know that cosmetology programs do not teach stylists how to do men's haircuts? That's right, they don't. Ask the stylist if you don't believe me. I've interviewed them. You mostly have greenhorn cosmetologists cutting men's hair using places like Great Clips / Fantastic Sam's / etc. as their training ground. These shops will hire them right out of school so they can pay them low hourly wages to keep your cost down.

If you find someone who actually does a good job here - and it does happen, it happened to me at a Fantastic Sam's - two things will happen. They will become the top requested & have a super long wait at these places which are walk-in only or call ahead 15 min. And/or the person will move on to bigger & better things. Mine moved to a more upscale salon where I now pay several times the previous cost per cut. But she does a consistently good job so I followed her. I don't mind paying more because now I can actually book an appointment a week ahead of time. Plus, I can book everything via text. I've also had good stylists disappear without a trace. And it's not like the salon manager is ever going to give you their number. You then have to suddenly track them down or go be a guinea pig for someone else. It's a real pain having to go to a second salon to fix the cut. 

You might say, well, mine went to a barbering program, and is not a licensed cosmetologist. To that I say, it's not as likely as it used to be. You just don't see these programs around anymore. I got so desperate at one point to find someone who could do a good men's haircut that I decided to get resourceful. Because I'm crazy, I actually went to enroll myself in barbering programs at 2 local beauty colleges - Marinello and Advanced Beauty College, I think it was - only to find out the barbering programs were no longer being offered. My plan was to train myself how to do it because it would be time and money well spent, since I have a built-in regular rotation of male clientele under my own roof. It would be really cool to do it yourself, 24/7 to fit into your own schedule, as often as you want, plus save all that money every month.  For whatever reason, these programs are now scarce.

If you're determined to go to place like this, then I recommend a place that specializes in men's haircuts like Sport Clips. It's the same shtick as the others except the stylists get much more exposure to men's hair and therefore, gain more experience more quickly, doing a better job. The sink-or-swim weeds out the bad stylists faster.
Click to expand...

Thanks ? Very educational post , the kind that makes you frequently check the TI recent posts link in case you miss something like this !

And agree on sports clips ? of all the chain barbershops , they seem to do a decent job . Another good place (boutique) is true blue in Costa Mesa but they always have a long queue for appointment bookings atleast in my experience .
 
I?ve had good and bad experiences at all of the chains. Mostly good. While they may not train for men at school it?s not that hard. I?m satisfied with 95%+ of my haircuts.
 
Grand opening was yesterday.  The place was packed.  Felt like Little Chindia.  Kind of creepy that they ask for your address and phone number when you check-in.

FYI, there are coupons for only $3.99 haircuts too.
 
WTTCHMN said:
Grand opening was yesterday.  The place was packed.  Felt like Little Chindia.  Kind of creepy that they ask for your address and phone number when you check-in.

FYI, there are coupons for only $3.99 haircuts too.
Click to expand...

Little Chindia?
 
qwerty said:
SoCal said:
qwerty said:
While they may not train for men at school it?s not that hard. I?m satisfied with 95%+ of my haircuts.
Click to expand...

^ #2 buzz cut.
Click to expand...

It?s like you and IHO have access to my dropcams.
Click to expand...

Doesn't take hacking a Dropcam to know you don't perm your hair or have tips.

We probably have the same haircut... I would do it myself since I have clippers but I hate cleaning up the mess.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I even looked into getting a Flowbee (or SuckCut):
Click to expand...

BTDT. Used once. A hundred bucks down the drain. Fixing the results turned into the world's most expensive buzz cut... #2 all over.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Did you use this one?

Still thinking about it, so I can cut my kids hair at least.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I haven't tried this one.

I question how good the suction would be since it's cordless. Also, the success will partially depend on the hairstyle you're going for. Not sure about your boy but these days, my boys like many are sporting a taper / low fade. I've tried to do this cut myself with clippers. It's hard to blend. And that's not even an undercut fade. It's easy to take it too far and end up with a Caesar cut / Kim Jong Un. lol.

If you try that Remington Vac, let me know how it goes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top