Plain answers about cuts, color and what suits you - written by the people building the try-on.
13 min
The best children's hair cut is the one that still looks fine on day 40. Ten kids' cuts compared by age, how long each lasts, what to say in the chair, what it costs, and how to trim at home.
Men's Haircuts · 12 min
Longer men's haircuts come in three families: longer on top, longer all over and longer at the back. Here is how to pick yours, how long each takes to grow, and exactly what to say to your barber.
Men's Haircuts · 14 min
BASED makes about a dozen hair products, but you only need two: a shampoo and the one styler your haircut calls for. Clay and pomade carry the same 2 to 8 inch label, so finish, not length, decides. Here is the product for every cut, the mistakes that waste an order, and where to buy.
Women's Haircuts · 14 min
The best shoulder length haircuts stop an inch above the shoulder or fall to the collarbone. Here is where to set the length, which cut suits your hair type and face, 10 cuts to show your stylist, and the exact words to say in the chair.
Women's Haircuts · 14 min
3c hair is tight, straw-width corkscrew curls with big shrinkage. How to tell it from 3b and 4a, the wash-day routine that stops frizz, and the cuts that hold at every length.
Men's Haircuts · 16 min
Two numbers decide which braids you can actually get: your shortest hair and the braid size. Ten styles, the length each one needs, real chair time and upkeep, and exactly how to ask.
Women's Haircuts · 16 min
Every twist style is the same two-strand move with different hair added. Nine types compared on cost, install time and longevity, plus the parting size that actually decides how long they last.
Women's Haircuts · 15 min
Layers in a bob do two opposite jobs, and asking for the wrong one is why fine hair falls flat and thick hair goes triangular. Here is which layering to ask for, in plain words.
Women's Haircuts · 19 min
3a is the loosest true curl, a spiral that loops around something about an inch across. Its problem is not dryness, it is weight: load it with butters and heavy creams and the pattern drops out by lunchtime. How to tell 3a from 2c and 3b in thirty seconds, the cuts that hold at each length, what to use and what to skip, and ten 3a looks.
Women's Haircuts · 13 min
Every African braiding style belongs to one of two families, and that fork decides your hours, your wear time and your hairline. Ten styles compared, with the one number to say when you book.
Men's Haircuts · 16 min
Fluffy hair is a haircut, not a product. The length window is 3 to 4 inches on top, the sides have to be tapered rather than faded, and no mousse fixes a cut outside that. Here is the rule, the sentence to say in the chair, the 8 minute routine, and what changes for straight, wavy, curly and coily hair.
Men's Haircuts · 20 min
Every men's haircut is two decisions: how short the sides go and how much length stays on top. Here are 10 cuts laid out shortest to longest, the honest styling cost of each, which one your hair type can actually hold, and the exact sentence to say in the barber's chair.
Men's Haircuts · 15 min
Straight hair goes flat because the cut left too much weight on top, not because the sides were too long. Ten cuts that hold their shape on type 1 hair, sorted by whether yours is fine or thick, plus the exact sentence to say in the barber's chair.
Women's Haircuts · 18 min
2A is the loosest wave type there is: fine strands, flat roots, and a wide S that only starts below the ear. That also makes it the type most easily ruined by curly hair advice. Here is how to tell 2A from 2B in one air dry, the cuts that let the wave show, a six minute routine, and the products to skip.
Women's Haircuts · 18 min
Most half up half down styles slide out because the section is taken from the wrong place. Here is exactly where to stop it, plus the version that works on fine, thick, curly, coily, braided and chin length hair.
Men's Haircuts · 15 min
A taper is defined by where the short work stops, not how short it goes. Here is the difference from a fade, how high to take it, what to say in the chair, and ten tapers with ten different tops.
Women's Haircuts · 15 min
The jellyfish haircut is two haircuts on one head: a blunt bowl-shaped cap over much longer hair, with nothing joining them. Here is where to put the hemline for your face, what the cut does on curly and coily hair, the exact sentence to say in the chair, and the five mistakes that turn it into an expensive bowl cut.
Women's Haircuts · 17 min
A shag is weight removed from inside your hair, not layers added on top. The exact words to say in the chair, which shag fits your length, hair type and face shape, eight looks to screenshot, and the four ways it goes wrong.
Trends and Celebrity · 9 min
Hair tinsel is fine metallic strands you tie into your own hair for festival sparkle that lasts weeks. Here is the exact knot method, where to place strands so they actually catch light, what a kit costs versus a salon tie-in, and how to take it out without breaking your hair.
Women's Haircuts · 10 min
A plain-English guide to Black hairstyles by family: afros and twist-outs, box and knotless braids, twists and locs, silk press and puff, and short tapered cuts. Who each suits, how long it lasts, and the tension mistakes that cost you edges. Preview any look on your own selfie.
Men's Haircuts · 17 min
A mid fade stops at your temple and takes the whole side panel with it. A mid taper stops in the same place and takes a band. Here is how to tell them apart, which one your face wants, and exactly what to say in the chair.
Women's Haircuts · 16 min
How long growing out grey really takes, what the demarcation line looks like at 3, 6 and 12 months, and whether to blend it, chop it or ride it out. With real costs and ten honest examples.
Women's Haircuts · 17 min
Bubble braids contain no braiding at all. They are one ponytail, an elastic every few inches, and one pull technique that decides whether they look full or flat. Here is the six step method, ten variations from two bubbles to ten, what to do when your hair is short, and the mistakes that collapse the style by lunchtime.
Men's Haircuts · 19 min
Twelve curly cuts for men sorted by curl type and length, plus the one instruction that decides whether yours works: cut it dry. Includes exactly what to say in the chair.
