[.ca] Haircutting For Dummies (ISBN 076455428X)

Very helpful:
Between watching my son's barber and using this book, I am getting pretty good at cutting his hair. The book's instructions are very clear. In general, it is hard to learn how to cut hair from just reading a book by itself. But, I think this is as good as any haircutting book can be. With some patience and practice you can save alot of money.

Not an easy book to follow:
I feel bad giving this author 1 star because I can only imagine how difficult it is to write a book. And I'm sure she's a good stylist. But I'm a guy who wants to cut his own hair and I couldn't find any easy-to-follow instructions in this book. I truly am a haircutting 'dummy' so I need a book that will treat me like a dummy- and this isn't it. There were terms I didn't understand 100% but no glossary to explain them and the index was little help. Since the book is over 300 pages, I wasn't about to flip through the pages to find answers. I would suggest that the next edition have far less talk and have far more photos with step-by-step instructions. As the old saying goes, a photo is worth a thousand words, but a drawing of hair is only worth about ten or twenty. Something like that...

Not a good book for the visual learner:
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.

Haircutting for Dummies:
This book has saved me a lot of money and grief while cutting my family's hair. Having a whole book's worth of professional haircutting tips is priceless. I recommend Haircutting For Dummies to everyone who wants to cut their children's, husband's, wife's or friends' hair. I agree that Ms. Spear does promote haircutting as a career, but that's fine with me. I like getting insider tips about how to make my family look their best.

Good for the home stylist:
This is not a professional stylist's manual, it's for HOME use. I think that she does spend a wee bit too much time trying to convince the reader to go off to cosmetology school, but then again, that is her field, and her interest. If you want a professional manual giving tips on how to do the hottest, newest styles, go to cosmetology school. If you want the basics of hair cutting, to trim your family's, or your own hair, this book is an ideal tool. As a mother who has been cutting the hair of a husband and 4 sons, I have found corrections to problems that I have been having as an amateur stylist. The first time that I skimmed this book I saw a few tips well worth the price of the book to polish the cuts that I have been giving, and to prevent errors in the future. At about the cost of one decent haircut, this book is a frugal investment.