How to Do a Bald Fade

Cutting your own hair is a great way to save some money. The thought of doing your own hair cut may be intimidating at first, but some styles are quite easy to accomplish. One popular clean-cut hairstyle for men is the "bald fade," where the hair is cut extremely close to the head from the bottom of the hairline, half way up to the crown of the head. The steps below explain how to create your own bald fade.

Things You'll Need

• Electric clippers Hairbrush Liner clippers Fine-tooth comb

Instructions

1. Comb or brush the hair outward from the crown in its natural pattern. Set electric clippers on the highest setting, where the blade is furthest from the tip of the guard.

2. Find the middle of the forehead from top to bottom and draw an invisible line around the head. This is your guard line.

3. Set the clipper flat against your face and move it upward. Begin at the bottom of the sideburn or the area right in front of one ear. Cut up to---but not past---your guard line.

4. Continue to cut around the head in this manner, making sure that the hair is cut cleanly and evenly. Repeat until you get to the front of the opposite ear. When you are done, you should have hair on top of your head and the sides should be bald. It should look like somebody put a bowl over your head and cut off all the exposed hair.

5. Cut the hair on top of the head at this point, still keeping the guard on your clipper at its highest setting. Be sure to keep the clipper lying flat against the head and cut in the direction the hair grows. Clip evenly and cleanly so that there are no blotches or thick pieces of hair still on the head. At this point, you should have hair on top of your head down to the guard line and a bald head below the guard line.

6. Using a rocking upward wrist motion, blend the hair right at your guard line. Start clipping just beneath the guard line with the tip of the clipper blade against the head, rocking the blade away from the head as you move the clippers up over the guard line. As you pull the clipper up and away from the head, the area where you started cutting is shorter than where you pull the clipper away from the head at the end. This creates a blended effect.

7. Continue to cut in this manner from in front of one ear, all the way around the back of the head to the other ear. When you are done, the guard line should have disappeared and there with be a smooth blend between the top of the head and the sides. If the guard line is still visible, repeat steps 6 and 7 as many times as necessary.

8. Take your liner clippers and line up the front hairline once you get the blend right. Line up the hair by taking the liner clipper, holding them so the blade is pointing down, and placing them where the hairline starts.

9. In a downward motion, brush the clipper straight down. This should make a small straight line. Continue that straight line all the way across the head. The line should be perfectly straight across.