In this episode, Assistant Editor Evan Malachosky discusses haircuts and hair care, and plenty of advice about both. After a year-plus of pandemic pause, many of us are heading back to the barber and may need a refresh on...how to do that confidently. More generally, hair is a sensitive, important topic, and getting yours to a place you're comfortable with and proud of can feel daunting. Evan's advice is widely applicable – whether you're getting a cut for the first time in a while, doing something different, or want to finally find a style that you're happy with, he shares tips and terminology that'll empower you in your search, beginning with how to talk to your barber and/or ask them for guidance.
Whether you're getting a cut for the first time in a while or want to finally find a style that you're happy with, these tips will empower you in your search.
Episode Navigation:
Featured:
Tips for Getting the Best Haircut This Summer
How to Significantly Improve Your Hair in 90 Days
Going to Cut Your Own Hair? Use These Barber-Approved Grooming Tools
The 10 Best Conditioners for Men
5 Tips for Getting by Without Your Barber
Growing out Your Hair? Here’s How to Maintain It
How to Find the Right Hair Products for Men
The Best Hair Clippers for Men
Nick Caruso:
This is the Gear Patrol podcast. In this episode, assistant editor, Evan Malachosky, who covers style and grooming, discusses haircuts and haircare and plenty of advice about both. After a year plus of pandemic pause, many of us are heading back to the barber and may need a refresh on how to do that confidently. And more generally, hair is a sensitive, important topic and getting yours to a place you're comfortable with and proud of can feel daunting.
Nick Caruso:
Evan's advice is widely applicable, whether you're getting a cut for the first time in a while, doing something different, or want to finally find a style that you're happy with. He shares tips and terminology that will empower you in your search, beginning with how to talk to your barber and/or ask them for guidance.
Nick Caruso:
Thanks for tuning in to the Gear Patrol podcast. We hope you'll subscribe and give us a five star review if you can. For now, I'm Nick Caruso, I'm glad you're here and let's get started.
Nick Caruso:
Evan, let's get right to it. Why is it so difficult for usually guys, to know what they want when they go for a haircut?
Evan Malachosky:
Well, I think that a lot of guys get caught in between routine and what they're interested in right now. They might see other men or just other people in general, rocking something interesting or rather good looking and they might think, "Oh, I want to try that," or, "I think I could pull that off." But they might be stuck with the haircut they've been wearing for maybe a couple of decades, at least one maybe. Yeah, I think it can be tough to break from that. I think each time, whether you mention it or not, you might come into your appointment with that embedded in your brain somewhere of, "I should try something new," but you don't and you, "Oh, yeah, the usual. I'll do the usual. Short on the sides, a little bit off the top."
Evan Malachosky:
It's abstract to command something new. To be like, "I don't like what you've been doing for me. I think I want to switch it up." That can also be I don't want to say an awkward conversation, but a conversation that needs started. I think everyone has expectations as to what a haircut will do for them, leaving the shop [crosstalk 00:02:32]. It's a self-esteem boost, you're a polished car now, you're fresh out of the shop. Yeah, I think a lot rides on appointments sometimes and sometimes people leave them underwhelmed or afraid to make that jump or to ask for tweaks where needed.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, for sure. I mean, in general, it's a sensitive topic. We talk about men's haircuts or men's hair, and guys just going about the stuff generally, but that's not to say this doesn't happen for women too. People going in for hair appointments, like you say, I like that idea... I don't like it necessarily, but I relate to that idea of the routine. You just get into a thing and breaking out of it can be tough because it's so sensitive. Whether you've been trained not to think about it, whether you're anxious about it, whatever.
Nick Caruso:
Okay, that lays the groundwork, but then you've done a fair amount of work recently writing up some content and sharing it with our readers about how to go about changing up that routine. Based on all that, what is the key to confidently talking to your barber and getting a great haircut and maintaining a great haircut?
Evan Malachosky:
I think the confidence part comes from, I mean, it's an understanding of what you're asking for. There are things that you can, and I hate to call it research because haircut appointments, the prep for them shouldn't be homework.
Nick Caruso:
Homework.
Evan Malachosky:
You shouldn't have to study a Wikipedia article or whatever it is before you head to the barber. And even if you're not well versed in the terminology, I think you can simplify it to where, "Oh, I'm thinking super short on the sides, to the point of skin." When I go to the barber, my fade on the sides is really short at the bottom, so I say, "It's a skin fade into a one." That's something where I mean, a skin fade is what it sounds like. It's basically bald and then into a one, which is pretty short. But it's a conversation that doesn't need to be super difficult. Your barber knows the clipper numbers and the technical details of inches off the top or what it may not be and they'll demonstrate. If you say, "Oh, I want an inch off the top," they will demonstrate that for you prior to making a snip. If they don't, you're in the wrong shop.
Evan Malachosky:
But it's something where you don't need to be afraid to misspeak and if you have questions, just ask them. Don't be confident in the number that you want off if you don't know. I think that is true for everything you do in the barber shop. It's just simplify it. If you feel like you want to go really short, say, "Really short," and then work with them to understand what really short means.
Nick Caruso:
Right. I used to do that. I used to say like, "Let's get rid of this, all of this," and they would double check and then they would cut it not as short as I wanted and then be like, "Are you sure you want to go?" To your point, you don't actually need to know anything, aside from have an idea of what you want done and they'll help you. But, in case someone wants to do that homework, we've got a ton to go over here. A lot of this is based on a conversation you had with one of our local barbers. Can you tell us about him a little bit?
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not his patron anymore. I moved at the end of last year from New York to Pittsburgh. But Rob McMillan, the co-owner of Mildred, a shop down in the lower East side, he was the head barber at Blind Barber for a while, which is another... I mean, I'm hesitant to call them a chain now, but sort of a chain of barber shops, at least throughout New York and a couple other states. But he made the jump to running his own shop. I think it's my favorite in New York. I went to a couple before landing with Rob and I think the experience there, I mean, Rob is just super knowledgeable. A second generation barber, his dad was a barber and his first job was the shop keep in his father's barber shop. Left the profession after that first job, but returned to it periodically, all before landing at Blind Barber and opening up his own shop. But I mean, he's a great guy. I'm also hesitant to call him the quintessential barber.
Nick Caruso:
Is the haircut I'm looking at right now where he helped you get to?
Evan Malachosky:
Definitely. I had a pretty hard part to the right to begin with and we definitely worked together to achieve more of a natural... It's not necessarily slicked back, but it's closer to that, yeah.
Nick Caruso:
Listeners, you'd do yourself a favor to find a picture of Evan's hair here, it's good. The proof is in the pomade? I don't know.
Evan Malachosky:
Pomade.
Nick Caruso:
Trying to come up with stuff right now. Yeah, I can relate to that. I used to have in high school, in particular, I assume I'm somewhat older than you, I was a victim of frosted tips and a lot of gel, standing things straight up in front. Then coming out of that was just a train wreck, so this is all great advice. The timing of your chat with Rob coincides with things opening up after a pandemic, so people may be experiencing their own hair related train wrecks right now. There are several quotes from him inside your piece where he addresses that. But whether that's you and you suddenly have five extra inches of hair to do something with, whether you have given yourself, or someone you know has given you a haircut in quarantine, which I have done. Or just in general, it's summer, time to change or maybe you just need some inspiration. There's a lot to think about and a lot you can prep.
Nick Caruso:
So let's walk through some of this stuff, like terminology. You mentioned a couple terms and phrases already, but can you walk us through some things like shape and layers?
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, absolutely. I think the groundwork is the clipper guards. I mean, they run from zero, which is no guard whatsoever, to eight. Those numbers seem abstract until you realize that a one is an eighth of an inch and so on, all the way up to eight being an inch. A three is pretty standard for most men's haircuts on the sides and if you go for the buzz look, you might do that all over. But I mean, beyond that there's a taper or also known as a fade, which is the progression from shorter to longer on the sides. [crosstalk 00:10:47]
Nick Caruso:
Really, really difficult to do on your own head, [crosstalk 00:10:50].
Evan Malachosky:
Do not try to do it with two mirrors or whatever.
Nick Caruso:
Right, no. Yeah, I figured that out just over a year ago and regretted it.
Evan Malachosky:
They're tough. I mean, there's the hard versus natural part, which a natural part is just letting your hair fall where it naturally parts. A hard part is either repetitive work to get it to part a certain way, whether you're combing it every day, styling it that way every day, or literally shaving in the part. I mean, it's a classic '40s boardwalk look, but it's still popular. I mean, I had one for probably two years not too long ago. It's still floating around. I mean, there's the neckline shapes from taper, square and rounded. The taper is, like I said before with the fade, it's the progression. It isn't being shaped, it's just a progression from shorter to longer and-
Nick Caruso:
Like your natural, whatever happens back there, it just fades into it, right?
Evan Malachosky:
Absolutely. Then the square, it's a harder shave and there's a sharper and darker finish to the back of your hair because it is not necessarily how it naturally falls, I guess, towards the back. Then you can also round it so it's just the softening of the sharper edges.
Evan Malachosky:
Then you'll probably hear product, typically at the end of your appointment you're asked, "Do you want any product today? Do you use product?" That just refers to literally hairstyling products like pomades, gels, whatever it may be. That covers it for the most part.
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, if you're looking to thin hair or achieve a certain texture, you might hear a razor cut, where it's essentially just taking bulk out. You can ask for those things as necessary, if you're not happy with the volume of your hair, you feel it's too bulky or you just typically have too much. The barber can work with different tools to achieve certain things.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, if you have too much hair, definitely don't reach out to me and brag about it. I used to find that layers were a big part because I used to wear my hair maybe about the length of yours on top, several inches and when it's all one length, it just flops there like I don't know, a mop, I guess. But yeah, asking for layers is a pretty great tack, I think. That's literally where your hair's divided into layers and they are stepped so that they fall a little more nicely.
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, when I was working with Rob to transition out of the haircut that I had, a lot of that work was layer work to achieve a top layer that reached the point on my head that it looked natural, like I didn't have this flap that I was just styling back every morning. If I'm fresh out of the pool, or if I'm even fresh out of the shower, it's still closer to what I want it to be than this unsculpted mess that needs a ton of work in the morning to fix.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, and that's actually a good point that I hadn't really planned to bring up. But we're not necessarily talking about figuring out how you can get an incredibly complex haircut here. In many instances, and correct me if I'm wrong, many instances if you get a haircut that's pretty optimal, you don't have to do a ton to it unless it's something like-
Evan Malachosky:
No, you shouldn't have to.
Nick Caruso:
If you have an Afro, it needs to be teased out, or if you have like what I had in high school with the terrible gelled Caesar thing, that has to be... I don't want to tell you what it took to do that, but that's a lot of work. But not necessarily what we're talking about.
Nick Caruso:
I have a couple quotes here that we can maybe bring up throughout, but like you said, he said, "Come in and talk to your barber about things that bother you." You were talking about having too much bulk in your hair, it's just always in my face. Are those the types of things that he's talking about in terms of things that bother us about our hair?
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, the obvious ones are it's too thick, it's too long. I mean, that's why you're there in the first place. I ride a bike and I'm not happy with the insane helmet hair that I have. Is there a way to perhaps work around that? There are hyper specific things that they might not be able to fix, like if you wear a hat every day and you're not happy with your hat hair, maybe stop wearing a hat. If you feel like maybe you've been parting it to the right, but you think your natural part might be to the left, I mean, that's something that they'll identify, but not if they're your new barber. If you were coming in for the first time and you show up with it styled how you have been doing it, the assumption is to give you what you have. Or to adapt and refresh what you have.
Evan Malachosky:
Obviously, if you have hair loss or if you have significant dryness or dandruff, those are things that you typically address with a dermatologist. But with a barber, I think almost anything is fair game. It's something that lives on top of your head. I mean it's what-
Nick Caruso:
It's part of you.
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, it's part of you and it's something that changes and it's okay to ask it to change, as well. I mean, my hair definitely does its own thing some days. But it's okay to bring up what's been going wrong, because the barber shop is a positive experience for most people and it's supposed to be that way. But it's okay to get into the nitty gritty of, "Yeah, I'm actually here to fix something," or, "to refresh something and let's definitely do that."
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, right on. It's a cross between going to a tailor and taking your car in for maintenance. You can fix stuff that's wrong and make it exactly how you want it. I'm an armchair expert over here, I'm coming up with pro tips. You said people wearing hats, you're not going to be able to parse out exactly what's going on. Maybe the reason you're wearing a hat is the thing that's annoying you about your hair. You know what I mean? Genius.
Evan Malachosky:
Prolonged hat wearing can definitely amplify or accelerate dryness or other issues. I mean, if you're purposefully suppressing it every day, it's not going to have the shape that you intended it to have for sure.
Nick Caruso:
Right. Then I don't necessarily mean to steer us down the path of choosing hairstyles to fit different facial features and shapes and all that, but that's a fair thing to bring up to a barber too, right? Is like, "I want X, Y, Z with my hair, but does that go with my face shape? And can my hair type," whether it's straight, curly, whatever, "handle it?" They should be able to figure those things out, right?
Evan Malachosky:
No, yeah, totally. It might be hard for yourself to maybe self-identify your type of hair. Sometimes it might be super oily and that could be caused by a number of things, or other times it's just insanely dry and that could be a byproduct of the products you're using or maybe it's because you were swimming in a pool last week or whatever it is. But I think that as far as curly versus straight, versus super coarse, versus super thick, whatever it may be, those things can be managed in a way that both complement your hair type. But also manage it in a way that if you have curly hair and you aren't necessarily happy with that look, there are ways around that. There are hairstyles that not diminish that or reduce that, but render it a little bit more perhaps user friendly is a strange way to put it. You can make it easier on yourself with a bit of assistance from a barber.
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, face shapes are the same way. I'm hopeful that your barber isn't going to give you something that they know will look subjectively really bad. It's hard to say that too because I mean, there are people who have been wearing mullets for a very long time. I mean, they might be doing that themselves, but if their barber is every single time like, "This looks great [crosstalk 00:21:10], here we go," that's tough. I think the face shapes that need to consider that more are the super drastic ones, like a triangular face shape or oblong face shape. Those want to avoid adding height because adding height for a triangular face shape just really emphasizes that and same with an oblong one. I mean, rounder ones, the shorter sides give the face a bit more structure and a bit more edge.
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, I'm not someone with a super sharp jawline or super high cheekbones and it's something where I've found that a shorter, which is why I go skin to one on the sides. Shorter on the sides, for me, gives me that a little bit more than... I mean, as my hair started to grow back in, it almost feels like my face is melting butter. It just progressively as the weeks pass, I'm just losing the edge that my face has when my hair is shorter. I mean, my girlfriend points out every time, it's like a star blowing moment when I come back in. I feel like there is a drastic change between my medium length haircut back to my short haircut.
Evan Malachosky:
You learn those things. I think there are very few people who have never had a haircut or who have had less than 50 of them, so I think you learn those things as you go along. Especially so when you've been with one or two or three barbers and aren't necessarily jumping around from shop to shop.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, definitely. I mean, this is part of your personal life where establishing a relationship actually does help. Maybe with your financial advisor, your landlord and your barber. A few necessities there.
Nick Caruso:
Speaking of face shapes and, I guess, cynically forcing a haircut onto a face that may not take to it well, it's pretty common that people will use a photo. They'll use a photo as a reference or want to get some photos on your phone. When I was a kid and I guess a bunch of places still now, would have physical magazines where you can slowly browse through. Or you saw someone in a move or whatever it is. Is that okay to do? I mean, it seems like literally me bringing in anyone isn't going to work. But if I had hair and I brought in a picture of Brad Pitt, I'm not going to look like Brad Pitt when I walk out of that barber shop, no matter what happens. So what's the middle ground?
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, I called it earlier this week, the copy and paste. The copying of Brad Pitt, who has great hair, onto perhaps my head, the hair just isn't going to look as good. There's the phrase of the mullet versus the man. The mullet might make the man, but it's a complex thing. It's-
Nick Caruso:
What is that? The mullet versus the man?
Evan Malachosky:
It's the mullet and the man or the mullet makes... I'm jumbling a phrase that basically means that the man and the hair are one. It is something that my face and Brad Pitt's hair just isn't going to look the same as Brad Pitt with Brad Pitt's hair. Absolutely bring a photo reference, but understand that it's going to be adapted to best fit your face. I mean, I remember times when I would prep a bunch of photos, but never necessarily present them. I would inform my what I would ask for, but it would have been much simpler if I just said, "Oh, here's my phone screen. I'm thinking of this." Instead of trying to summarize 10 different photos that I compiled into an album on my phone.
Evan Malachosky:
If it's someone like David Beckham, who has had 100 different hairstyles in his life, I mean, there are plenty to reference and I think they are a good reference. Rob encourages that and he mentioned that if your barber is adverse to taking a look at the photo, it's that that fit just might not be right. I think he called it a sad thing and it's something where it's a joint process. It's something where sure, they are an artist, working with a model, but I mean, you're left to leave with their work and it should suit you. It shouldn't be a direct copy of anyone.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, actually, this may scare people away, it may not. It shouldn't. But in a way, it's almost like a doctor, patient relationship. Even [crosstalk 00:26:56] patient because you have to read each other and really communicate. Yeah, the photos, it's inspiration and you should maybe take Brad Pitt with a grain of salt. But go in and be like, "I like this element of what's going on there. I love how it falls or the length is cool," or whatever it is.
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, there are certainly parts of a haircut that you can appreciate. I mean, when you're looking at a photo of someone styled for an editorial shoot, that's exactly what it was. They were styled perhaps for hours prior to this photo. If you like the length, point that out. If you like the color, that can be something that you can work towards, as well. But understanding that you won't have someone styling you for a couple of hours each morning before work or before wherever you're headed, is critical information, as well.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, you may be better served to pick up a tabloid, where it's just paparazzi shots of candids. Let's say our hypothetical barber goer has gone in, used this advice, whether with Rob or their own local barber and they feel pretty successful. What about maintenance? I mean, the haircut takes place in 30 minutes or an hour. Maintenance is going to take much longer. We got to talk about when to get your hair cut and what to do with it in the interim.
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when I was in New York, the logical thing when I was exiting each appointment, was to set my next one and perhaps the one after it, because I mean, Rob and I know a couple other barbers in New York are booked. I think at this point, Rob is booked through the summer. If you're seeking an appointment next month, it might be August until you're in. But for people with more flexible schedules, I mean, you can establish when you'd like to be in next. If it's, "Oh, I typically go three weeks between haircuts," or four weeks, or six weeks if you have a longer style. That's important to set just even mentally because it lays the groundwork for what maintenance you'll have to do. This is beneficial for shorter and longer windows, but over shampooing is something that will drastically increase volume because you're stripping oils and you're stripping the hair of its natural elements, which causes it to fluff, for lack of a better term.
Nick Caruso:
Frizzes up, right?
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, absolutely. Products can help you. I mean, if you have an interest in using a pomade or a gel or whatever it may be, your barber can recommend which might be best for your hairstyle, but it's something where those take maintenance as well. If you're applying a product in the morning, by the afternoon it might have softened. For some of them, they crystallize and they need to be re-moistened to get back to the shape that you intended. I know I said to not wear hats earlier, but in the morning, if you're adverse to products, wearing a hat when the hair is in between the wet and dry phase. If you style your hair and put a hat on top, it can help it retain that shape. But just removing it before you're headed wherever you're going is important.
Evan Malachosky:
Then we talked about the self-grooming. It's fine to trim your sideburns or to reshape the edge around your ear. But I mean, don't try to redo your fade or if you [crosstalk 00:31:15] think that you can trim some off the top on your own and save yourself a week or two in between, I think it's just a far better bet to just book an appointment and head in.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, right on. I'm going to have to paraphrase this, but one of the things Rob said was basically, consider your future maintenance first if you're getting a new look, a new cut because you're not always going to look the way you do when you leave the barber shop, right? You've got weeks you've got to be able to do this again and again. Doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a ton of work, but you need to know how to do it.
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah, and haircuts change. I mean, you might leave the shop with it styled and cut exactly how you want it to be, I mean, as that experience should result in. I mean, it's rare that one side of your haircut will grow faster than the other, but it's not abnormal to notice, perhaps a difference. It's something where all of a sudden you're not necessarily getting it to sit the way you wanted it to and knowing that I mean, it's obviously going to grow and it's important to know that it might not regrow, but it will continue to grow.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, I mean, that's always been one of the annoying things about haircuts for me, is that you go in... I should back up. It's annoying to me on one level, but it's amazing to me in terms of what barbers and stylists do because they have to anticipate where your hair will be in however long. I remember I would get my hair cut and then a week later it would look perfect for four days and then I would have to go in a couple weeks later and go through the cycle again. But a good hair artist will be able to anticipate that.
Nick Caruso:
While we're telling stories like that, I just want to shout out or call out maybe, our colleague, Will Price, who swears that he just lets his hair air dry every morning, but it's always perfect. I am dubious, but I also resent that. I just want to put that out there in the world.
Evan Malachosky:
That's impressive. I think if I let my hair air dry, I don't think I would turn my camera on in meetings.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, a good excuse.
Evan Malachosky:
Just know, if I don't have my camera on next week, that's why.
Nick Caruso:
Got it. Let's move on to the final here. We can't recommend a product necessarily in terms of getting a haircut, but we can talk about specific haircuts. If someone wants to change up their stuff right now, let's say it's a guy with guy hair and wants to go for something trendy, what might they go after? And along with that, what's a tried and true, timeless look they could also consider?
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, Rob mentions this in the story, that there's this new era of he calls it freeness and self-expression. I mean, a lot of us were left with more hair after the pandemic then we intended to have this time of year. I mean, some of them have taken that with a grain of salt and used it to their advantage. There is a guy named Cole McBride, he's the founder of a clothing brand called Bare Knuckles and he's rocking a Keith Richards-ish shag, almost a mullet. I mean, it sounds like a lot. I had something pretty close in middle school, but I don't know if I would necessarily replicate it nowadays. But it is impressive and it's something where it's the length where you can tuck it behind the ears too and you can slick it back if you wanted to. There's versatility in how you style it. It's not the Joe Dirt mullet that some listeners might be expecting. I mean, it's a good one.
Evan Malachosky:
I think that that progression happened for even some celebrities. I know Trevor Noah was a good example and on his show he was documenting his hair growth. It went from a pretty tight cut to closer to an Afro now. I mean, Brad Pitt did the... We'll bring up Brad Pitt again, but he did the [crosstalk 00:36:38] long hair transition, as well. Justin Bieber was doing it for a little bit until he decided he needed dreadlocks. But I mean, it's been happening. I mean, Arnold Schwarzenegger grew a pretty hefty beard and had some mid length hair, as opposed to his pretty tight fade. I think it's across the board everyone's just loosening up a bit and experimenting with what was there.
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, my hair reached a length that I never intended it to reach and it was high school the last time it was that long. I didn't necessarily style it into a shag, but I took a stab at bleaching it. I mean, almost shoulder length, bleached hair was very dry and I recommend-
Nick Caruso:
Your hair was shoulder length during the pandemic?
Evan Malachosky:
Yeah. It was long headed into it and I want to say I had an appointment scheduled the week lockdown settled in. I was then months behind on an appointment.
Nick Caruso:
That's [inaudible 00:37:51].
Evan Malachosky:
But I think that a classic look, it's been something that I've been now considering on the opposite end of the spectrum, is a buzz cut. I mean, there are good and bad buzz cuts. I've had a bad buzz cut and I've had what I felt like was a good one. I think it is still an impressive statement. It's not necessarily working if you have a ton of hair, maybe try something that emphasizes that. But I think that the buzz cut, I mean, it's a statement, to put it simply.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, I mean, I'm glad this conversation ended with something I can really speak to.
Evan Malachosky:
You're ahead of the curve.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, right. Well, it's the curve on top that everyone can see that made me take this leap a couple years ago. I've been giving myself a buzz cut and I've learned a lot of stuff about self-haircut. Even when it seems very simple like this, still isn't going to give you the same kind of quality that you'd get from somewhere else. It pains me on an existential level to pay someone maybe $40, $45 to give me a buzz cut, but the best I can do is the same length all the way around. Which means if it grows out, I look like a chimpanzee, these fuzzy little things.
Nick Caruso:
Cool. Well, Evan, what about let's wrap it up with a final thought here? Separate from Rob's advice or maybe doubling down on some of it, whatever. Maybe it's a product, maybe it's a technique, something like that. What's your best hair tip?
Evan Malachosky:
I mean, we touched upon this, that every time I get into the barber seat I set my short point and I always want to take it one step further. There was a time where I would be hesitant to say, "Skin into an one," and I would say, "A one fade on the sides and then a little bit taken off the top," and then going in depth as needed. But then I realized that every time I left I was like, "I wish it was a tiny bit shorter." When it's all one length, I feel like my hair loses a bit of what I envision it looking like. The excitement of it is fading when I don't actually ask for what I want. I mean, you learn those things. I mean, you can start short, but you necessarily can't go longer, so if you are hesitant about going that short, maybe work your way towards it. But if you have had experiences where you wished it were something, just ask for that.
Evan Malachosky:
As far as product goes, I mean, I've been testing tons, which isn't necessarily great for your hair. I mean, sticking to one, it can grow used to what you're using. There's a company called Bravo Sierra that makes a great grooming paste. It's pretty natural, it doesn't leave this aggressive or stark shape to your hair and it loosens as the day goes on without really losing the structure that you established in the morning. If you re-wet it, it is back to where it was right away. It's something that I have been using pretty religiously in between testing other things.
Nick Caruso:
Right on. That's the whole spectrum of advice right there in a nutshell. Well, thank you, Evan. This has been a chat dense with information, suggestions and just me reminiscing about chemically treating my hair in the '90s. Everybody listening, anything we talked about with Evan today is going to be linked in the show notes or on the site. Hopefully, you can find all sorts of inspiration there and some guidance there from both Evan and Rob's insights. Pretty soon, hopefully have that feeling of walking out of a barber shop and wondering why not everyone in your vicinity is staring at your beautiful new haircut, which is a great experience.
Evan Malachosky:
The experience can't be beat.
Nick Caruso:
No, it's great just walking out. I look like Brad Pitt right now, is the feeling.
Evan Malachosky:
Exactly.
Nick Caruso:
If you do have more questions or comments, you want to share hair tips, hair routine, if you're a barber, if you, I don't know, have hair, you can write us on social media. You can find us, our handles are gearpatrol, it's all one word. You can comment on Gear Patrol articles on the website, including the ones linked below that Evan has provided. You can email me at podcast@gearpatrol.com. I hope you are subscribed to the podcast wherever you listen to them. And if you are, please consider giving us a five star review because it helps more people get in on the action. And the more people who get in on this, the better, the greater hair good will be. So get on it.
Nick Caruso:
Evan, thank you for joining me today. Hopefully we'll get you [crosstalk 00:44:07] back on for some more... Yes, more advice soon. Everybody else, thanks for tuning in. I'm Nick Caruso and until next time, take care.
Nick Caruso:
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