Hey everyone, I wanted to share a milestone and experience Under much stress I decided to get my 'guy' haircut! I decided not to go to my usual stylist as I didn't want a 'feminized' version of what I wanted. I asked a friend of my spouses' at work who has a great guy cut as a woman who she goes to. She said Fantastic Sam's; she said she hasn't had much luck at straight up barber shops and since they do a lot of girl and guy cuts she has better luck there. So, with two pictures of the guy cuts I wanted, I went with the family to FS. Put my guy name on the list and waited. When the girl called out my name, it was awesome to hear it. It was a little less awesome how she kind of looked at me a little funny. I had practiced what I was going to say, so when I plopped down in the chair, I showed her the pictures and said, I want these guys' haircuts but I want them just like the guys' haircuts - faded just like them, and straight across on the side burns and the neck, just exactly like you cut a guy's hair. She asked me, are you absolutely sure??? Um, well... if you are absolutely sure... alright... you really want that? And just stared without putting the cape on me. I was getting worried she was going to refuse. And I just gave her a big smile as if it was the most natural thing in the world and said, yes absolutely sure! I have a friend that gets her hair cut at FS and said you were the folks to go to! She said, okay, it's your hair... and started giving me the cut. She only gave me a 4 on the sides when the picture was a lot lower than that, and left a lot more on the top. But she did a really good job of lining the ears, sides, and neck. She stopped halfway through to ask me, again, why are you doing this??? And again, I just smiled and said, I always wanted to try it out! And asked me, why don't you go to who normally does your hair? And I said, well, I figured she wouldn't give me the guy cut like you would because she is used to giving me girl cuts, but you're doing a great job so I'm glad I came to you. In the end it wasn't exactly what I asked for. I asked her if she would dye the highlights back to match my natural color and she was very dismissal as she said, no. You have to come back for that. So I just kept smiling and kept my cool. At the end of the appointment, I tipped her 50%. Her face got all wonkey and she repeated the tip to make sure it was right. I smiled said yep! Thanks for doing such a great job! Whew. Then we ran to the store so I could buy some off the shelf hair dye so I wouldn't look like Zak Morris and dye the blond highlights to match my brown natural color. Did that at home. Goodbye Bayside! Spouse got out the clippers at home and took me down to a 2 on the sides and used scissors to take off some of the bulk on top. Voila! Guy cut! I loved it. Shows off my cheekbones and jawbones and it's a GUY CUT. Went to bed very happy. When I woke up this morning, I found myself snuggling my head on the pillow, enjoying the sensation of the sides of my head against the pillow. I awoke and realized, OH that is the feeling of head stubble! Oh shit I cut my hair like a guy! Am I going to look in the mirror and hate what I did? What was I thinking???? I looked in the mirror. And I still love it. I don't exactly look like a guy, but it's pretty masculine and it's the right cut for my face shape (oval/heart) and this is awesome, all I have to do is use my spouses' shampoo and conditioner in one, and gel. Whoohoo! SO. Here's what I learned from my experience. If you're going to get your first guy cut, bring a picture and be prepared for the stylist to possibly give you a hard time. Either they may be afraid you'll hate it and be mad at them; or maybe they just can't understand why you want a man cut. Whatever. Remind yourself you are paying them to cut your hair the way YOU want it. Be firm. I ended up leaving without it being perfect because I knew my spouse could fade it a bit further at home, but even if I didn't have that option I still would have been pretty happy. I had to take a bunch of my anxiety meds to do this, I will admit. And I decided to kill the stylist with kindness. Even if she thinks I am a weirdo, at least I was a very nice weirdo who tipped her 50%. And I love the man cut
Congrats man! I'm so happy for you And haircut buddies I got mine cut on friday, but over here in france it was a bit different experience. I hadn't made an appointment and just sort of "balls to the wall" decided to go that afternoon. (I'd been wanting to do this for ages and was just about out of conditioner, and I wasn't about to buy a new bottle.) the first place didn't accept walk ins but the second did. They don't chat much at the french salons so I didn't have a problem. I (in french) asked if I could get my hair cut that day, and I was thinking something short for a change. Then I pulled out a reference photo, I think it helped that even though it was a masculine cut, it was on androgynous looking FtM guy. At one point she said she was going to make it look more feminine, but I didn't really feel like arguing in french, so instead just told her to keep going shorter. (I think I also avoided questions by saying I was going to donate my hair... not going to happen it wasn't cut right and I think it'd be cursed...lol, nonetheless its a surefire way to avoid questions.) I was just smiling the whole way through the cut, and at one point when clean bandit "no place I'd rather be" came on the radio and I had to force away tears of happiness to not make the stylist feel awkward/ like she was doing something wrong. The haircut really is the best feeling, and its a huge step too. Congrats again, and I'm glad you're happy with your cut (*hug*)
Hey Tardis! I am glad you took the jump! I was pacing around back and forth too, I had an appointment with the salon tomorrow that I'm not going to (obviously) because I knew my conservative elderly stylist would ask soooooo many questions and probably not give me 'the cut'. I did the same too, even though part of me was so uncomfortable with how the stylist was asking me those questions and side-eyeing me, I was grinning the whole time too And doesn't the faded/buzzed parts feel so GOOD? I keep rugging my hand on it and rubbing my head on the couch I feel like a cat or a dog wanting pets lol. I keep admiring my 'sideburns'! I hope in the future, our upkeep appointments will be easier because we already have the cut and just want it trimmed/maintained, so there will be less like, "Do you know what you are about to do?" and kind of like, okay sure just a trim. One can hope Congratulations on you taking the plunge too and on your happiness with your guy cut too (!)
