Said I'd never use clipper guards for fades, a guy in Boise changed my mind

I've been doing skin fades with just my clippers and a steady hand for like 6 years, and I always thought guards were for guys who couldn't taper right. Last month this older barber named Ray at a shop in Boise watched me do a fade and said 'you fight the tool the whole way, let the guard do the work.' So I tried his way, starting with a #1 guard and working down in steps instead of freehanding the whole blend. My fade lines came out cleaner in about half the time, and my wrist wasn't wrecked after a full Saturday of cuts. I still freehand the finish work around the ears, but the guards did most of the heavy lifting. Feels weird admitting it after arguing about it for so long. Any of you guys use a full guard system or do you still freehand everything?

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james67220d ago

What made you finally trust the guard method, was it just Ray's advice or seeing the cleaner lines?

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