

“There are different motor types and blade configurations, but all the tools do the same job: reduce the length of your hair along the comb line.” There’s a moving blade in clippers that can be adjusted and adding attachments allows you to choose the length to cut down to, Butler said. How clippers workĪ clipper uses “an electric motor that makes the blades oscillate from side to side at a high pace,” Davis described. Clippers were initially intended to help hairdressers cut quicker compared to a comb and scissors, Davis described.

You can use them to trim hair before using a trimmer or shaver - and a clipper’s blade usually does the “length-reducing job” better than the average trimmer, Davis said.
CLIPPER BLADES SKIN
Using clippers to shave can also scratch your skin and cause follicle inflammation, she added.Ĭlippers are for shaving down in a sense - a head shaver can get a closer shave, especially for those sporting a bald head. “It’s not recommended to shave your hair with an average hair clipper as it may lead to skin irritation,” advised Monica Davis, a hairstylist who founded hair care blog MyStraightener. If you’re tempted to use clippers to shave your head, you might want to think again. “A clipper is intended for handling hair that is longer and more abundant cutting on larger areas, but does not cut extremely close to the skin leaving a bit of stubble,” said Steve Waldman, the technical training director at hair salon chain Hair Cuttery. But they actually aren’t meant for shaving - instead, they’re intended for shearing off hair.
CLIPPER BLADES HOW TO
Shopping How to choose the right shampoo for your hair What a clipper can and can’t doĬlippers are sometimes seen as synonymous with shaving tools, like razors and trimmers.

To help you find the right clippers, we spoke to hair professionals about what clippers can do and their recommendations are for the best clippers to use at home, along with a few other top-rated options. Whether you’ve already buzzed off your locks or are thinking about getting a buzz cut, clippers could be worth including in your hair care routine. It is the ultimate way to start over with a fresh look that can also be maintained at home,” Butler mentioned. “They bought a clipper kit and found that they could maintain the look for themselves or their family or friends since options were limited.”īeyond ease and much less maintenance, a buzz cut can represent a “‘reset’ for many people who are looking for a bold new look. A popular option was to turn to the buzz cut,” explained Patrick Butler, Floyd’s 99 Barbershop’s technical director of education. “With barbershops and salons closed for extended periods, men, women and families found a way to cope with their growing hair. But there’s some significance in why it came back now. While the buzz cut has become popular over the past year, it has a long history - from soldiers of the Roman Empire to Britney Spears, as Dazed traced in 2020.

SKIP AHEAD Best clippers to consider this year Clipper company Wahl told Vanity Fair it saw a spike in sales not seen since the Great Recession in the late 2000s. As many chose to cut their own hair at home, sales for clippers surged. Publications like Vogue and The New York Times ran their own how-tos last year while Harper’s Bazaar talked to those who mowed down their manes earlier this year. Last April, searches for “phrase” were at an all-time high, Google Trends tweeted out - these trends rose at the end of this April, too. There’s been a lot of buzz around buzz cuts lately.
