Haircutting For Dummies
by J. Elaine Spear
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.91 You Save: $9.08 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.39 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Haircutting For Dummies
Book Review: Lots of Necessary Information for Beginners
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is not bad at all for a haircut dummy like myself. For a start, my motivation is not to be a hair cutting expert but just to cut or trim my kids' hair to save some money for our household. Although it is not the ultimate beginners' book, it still has lots of necessary information for the novices. It discussed all different kind of tools for the trade, what is recommended and what to stay away from. The different types of hairs and how to deal with them. It gives suggestion for a number of good places to study and a number useful internet links to visit on the web.
I like the style of the Dummies books. The typical insertion of some comic funnies is kinda refreshing to keep you interested when you get into parts that are kinda boring. They emphasize some of the things that you need to remember or point out things that you need to be cautious about with symbols or icons.
There are many pictures in the book but some instructions that probably more importantly need to be shown visually are not available. I would like to be shown more about how to position your hands and fingers at different angles. I did enjoy reading this book; but in the end, it still not feel as satisfying that I have read the best instructional book.
Book Review: READ HERE FOR DETAILS
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is well written and easy to understand. It will teach you the basics of cutting hair and will give plenty of tips on achieving what you have in mind. As a former cosmetology student I would recommend this book. In fact I would recommend it in addition to the Milady's Standard Textbook of Cosmetology, because it explains the basics better than the text book does.
However, the book does have one problem. For visual learners some of the techniques may be difficult to grasp. But on the same note the descriptions are pretty clear, so most of us should be able to get the idea of what to do from the text. As far as pictures go buy Miladys textbook it has plenty, but make sure to get a new edition the older ones don't have the step by step pictures. I know this because I have a 1994 editon and a 2004 edition.
Overall the book is perfect for the price. I would say it is worth more than the $14.99 amazon is selling it for. It covers womens hair mostly but also briefly touches on mens and childrens haircuts. This book will also help the reader to understand why different haircutting techniques have the results that they do.
Book Review: Disappointed
Summary: 1 Stars
I cut my husband's hair, and was looking for some good direction for cutting and blending the back of mens hair, especially neckline and around the ears. This book could have been ever so much better if there were photos of actual hair cutting...how the hands are positioned, how the scissors are positioned, how the hair is actually held, what direction to cut in, etc.
The book contains mostly drawings of cutting guides and how you should part the hair to do the cutting. I think these drawings are more beneficial for professionals. And although there are one or two drawings of the things I think would be most helpful (described above), they do not take place of photos (or series of photos) actually showing how it is done. The few photos that are included are of finished styles.
While I did get one great tip from it, this book is not that helpful for people at home cutting their family's hair. I have liked other "Dummies" books, but I feel like I wasted my money on this one.
Book Review: Not a good book for the visual learner
Summary: 2 Stars
Spear offers many helpful tips, among them: 1) wetting the hair for 90 seconds before shampooing and 2) before cutting your bangs, in order to avoid cutting them too short, first wet them and allow the hair to dry for 3 minutes to determine shrinkage.That said, the main purpose of this book is to teach ordinary people to cut hair, and I'm not sure it does this very well. I've been cutting my 3 boys' hair for many years, having learned by using common sense and by watching my stylist's technique as she cut my hair. I was hoping this book would help me finally understand how to give a good haircut. Not so.
If you are a visual learner, you will find it difficult to follow the step-by-step instructions, since there are few accompanying photos. At a minimum, the instructions for each type of haircut should be accompanied by a photo of that style, as well as head sketches or photos showing the progression of the haircut.
Book Review: I think this will be useful to me!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been trimming my daughter's and my own bangs for years.I now have an almost 2 yo son.I started trimming his hair about a yr ago w/not always perfect results.Also have been cutting my elderly father's hair for several months.My hubbie even let me cut his hair x2.First time turned out not so good;second time MUCH better.This was before ordering this book.I don't plan on doing any major, dramatic hairstyles;however,I think this book will help me get much better @ cutting simple hairstyles.It is very detailed and I think it will help my hair cuts look less like a "home jobs".Will help save lots of $$$ !!!I won't be cutting my own hair except for bangs.If only I cut groom my cat.We have her shaved every few months in hot weather.However,don't think its worth the potential bites and scatches so I'll leave that to the pet groomer!!Oh well...order this book.I don't think you'll be disappointed!!