I bought the hair clippers so that I could cut my husband's hair as well as my two boys. I don't exactly know who's bright idea this was. As someone with no hairdressing skills it can be quite a nerve-wracking experience. I bought what is probably best described as a middle of the road set. I can't find an identical set on the Boots website but this looks like the latest version and costs £24.99.
The set comes in a storage box and contains an array of accessories as well as the clippers. There are 8 cutting guides (grades 1 - 8), left and right ear guides, a battery trimmer, comb, scissors, sectioning clips and a cape. There's also a neck brush, blade oil and blade guard. I find some of the accessories more useful than others. Using the left/right ear guides was an error as they clip to the shortest length. It was probably a good thing that I discovered this when cutting one of the boy's hair rather than my husband's! Cutting around the ears is certainly a tricky part of using these clippers and I mostly have to use the scissors and battery trimmer to get a neat outline.
The cape included in the set is very handy but it is made of a slightly brittle material and has become torn with use. The scissors are also a useful part of the set. They are nice and sharp which makes cutting the hair very easy. I often have to use these to shape the hair around the ears and the neck. I'm nervous about using the trimmer, I fear I will cut someone's skin but it is very handy for trimming small areas and fluffy hair around the neck. My husband has a beard trimmer and tends to use that for trimming his sideburns rather than the trimmer from the BaByliss set.
It's useful to have a selection of cutting guides. I have used most of them except for the very short lengths. I find the inflexible plastic that the guides are made from can make it hard to follow the shape of the head smoothly. I'm not sure that it would be any different with a more expensive set of clippers as I imagine my children's small bony heads make the job a little harder. I find the cut hairs can look a little jagged and uneven. I'd love to get a more professional looking finish on the neck but any unevenness seem to disappear when the hair has been washed and has settled a bit.
My final gripe is with charging the clippers and the fact that they can sometimes sound under-powered. There is a light that goes on when you plug them in to charge, unfortunately this light never changes colours to indicate when they are fully charged. Despite charging them for several hours, I still sometimes think they sound and perform a little like the charge is running out. I prefer not to use them plugged in as find it restricts my movement however they can be used this way.
I do wonder if I might get on better with one of the professional quality clippers. Cutting 3 heads of hair every 6 - 8 weeks does seem to take an age, I suppose it's partly because of the amount of cutting I have to do with scissors. The BaByliss set is ok, it's definitely not rubbish and comes with reasonable accessories but I'd be tempted to spend more money to get a better set of clippers next time.
I cut my husband's hair with clippers ....and they were the cheapest of cheap Boots own but I use a comb and get a very good finish - he has a traditional and some might say (me) dull short back and sides rather than say a no.1 all over... i then finesse (snort) with scissors around the ears then finally tidy and even out the neck.
ReplyDeleteDo you use a comb?
I have no training but I used to watch his hairdresser cut his hair and thought I could do that....
Hi Gigibird. I do have a comb but I don't use it with the clippers, only with the scissors. Maybe I should look and see if there's a good youtube tutorial to hone my skills? My husband definitely isn't as tricky as the two boys. They don't sit still so it's like trying to hit a moving target. LOL!
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