This is the third tape in Scerbo Video Production's nicely presented Perfect Buzzcuts series. The Perfect Buzzcut instructional videotapes show how to cut various styles and are ideally suited for parents who want to cut their sons' hair. The styles demonstrated are short (often very short) modern styles that many kids are wearing these days. The pictures on the tapes are accompanied by classical music, with a narrative soundtrack describing what is being done and the techniques used. Five short cuts are featured on this tape.
The first segment on the videotape is a slightly different concept to other segments on these tapes. It discusses how to fix a 'botched' home haircut. The starting 'style' shows the back and sides clipped very short. The hair on top is choppy, being cut at different lengths, around one inch (or a little shorter over the crown), with quite long bangs. The hair is first wet to highlight the uneven hair length resulting from the botched haircut. Next the hair on top of the head is cut using a #4 clipper attachment. This results in a much more even cut. A #3 clipper attachment is then used on top of the head, starting a little further back than where the #4 cut started. This allows some blending between the bangs and the much shorter hair on top. This process is repeated using a #2 attachment, again starting a little further back from the bangs. A #1 is then used to blend the very short sides with the hair on the crown of the head. The bangs are cut and the hair behind the bangs is blended with the shorter hair over the crown. Different techniques for even scissor-cutting are shown. Finally, the sides are clipped to the skin, using an edger. The result of this haircut is a great looking ivy league style on top, with high and tight back and sides.
The second segment shows a longer ivy league style. The back of the head is cut as a square-back rather than tapered. This segment shows some layer cutting techniques, using scissors, for the hair at the front of the head. The crown area is cut using a #3 clipper attachment. The tape explains how to get an even blend between the bangs and the short hair on top. This is an excellent style that has been around since the 1950s. It is low maintenance being cut quite short over the back, sides, and crown, but has the advantage of having bangs which have just enough length to be styled neatly to one side.
The third cut shown is what is sometimes referred to as a 'skullcap'. In this cut, only a patch of short clipped hair is left on top of the head. The back and sides are shaved, with the shaved area extending quite high up the head. The subject in the tape starts with a buzzcut (probably around 1/4 inch). The tape shows how to make sure that the remaining area of hair is cut to an even shape. An edger is used to clip the back and sides to the skin. The edges of the remaining hair are then faded (a sharp, short taper). A shaved part is cut, and the tape explains the technique used to do this. Finally, all of the remaining hair, is cut using a #1 attachment. This is a fairly radical cut, not for the faint of heart, but one which looks really sharp.
The fourth cut shown is titled a "surfer cut with a wet look". This is a 1/8 inch all over cut, with the exception of the bangs, which are left at a little over one inch. The back, sides, and crown are cut using a #1 attachment. The end of the bangs are cut to the desired length and then the longer hair in front of the head is blended with the rest of the head.. The edger is used to tidy up the sideburns and back. Mousse is used to create the "wet look".
The final segment shows a much less conventional style. Referred to as a "major league" cut, it is a buzzcut, with a major league pattern (best described as being like an upside Christmas tree) shaved into the hair at the back and sides. The segment starts by showing the cutting of a 1/4 inch all over buzzcut. An edger is then used to shave the "major league" design above and behind the ears. Very radical cut for the young baseball player!
The Perfect Buzzcut instructional videotapes demonstrate various concepts in home haircutting that should allow you to create the styles that you want. You don't have to take a style that has been shown and follow it by the book. The narration on the tapes explains what is being done and why. By using this knowledge you should be able vary the styles (for example, by leaving the back and sides longer or shorter than is shown on the tape), while still applying the important concepts of blending, tapering, layer cutting, etc. required to produce a good looking cut.
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