[buzzing]
[laughing]
Sometimes the naked blade can get more detail
than a motor driven clipper.
[clapperboard clapping] Action.
I'm Faheem Alexander, Master Barber from South Philadelphia.
A.k.a. The Fade King.
I'm here to walk you through 12 fades and hairstyles
from textures to tools.
This is Faheem Alexander, let's go.
So the first one we got here is the dirk fade.
This is a taper style cut with a comb-over and a part.
We taper the bottom, you know,
either a one to a two to a three,
then go all the way up to the part.
Even though different companies have different sizes,
there's a general standard for clipper guide numbers.
Generally, the clipper guard number represents
the number of 1/8 inches of hair left on the head.
Lower number clipper guards leave less hair on the head,
while higher number clipper guards leave
more hair on the head.
The number one guard leaves 1/8 length
of the hair on the head.
The number two guard leaves 1/4 length.
The number three guard leaves 3/8 length.
The number four guard leaves 1/2 inch length
of the hair on the head.
Did you know there's a difference
between a taper and a fade?
A taper starts at short hair whereas a fade starts at skin.
Here, we have the skin drop fade.
One of my favorites.
It's real smooth and easy to do.
Start off skinning it bald.
You want to go from a zero to a one to a two
and fade it all the way up to your pomp.
So in this next photo we got here,
is a tapered fade with long hair.
This fade right here is one of my favorite fades
from the '80s.
1.5 guard, trim off a little off the top.
I think every barbershop can be a safe place for women.
Check this cut out that I'm going to do
to my friend, Arianne.
How's it going, Faheem? How are you?
Good, good. What's going on?
I love this style, love everything that you've got
going on here. Thank you.
I'm actually excited.
You'll be the first person to cut my hair
that isn't me, in five years.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So I'm being taught all over again.
[laughing] And it's quite all right.
We're all learning.
So, what do you like, what do you want?
I usually do, like, a two up to about here
and then maybe a three going out.
Okay.
And then a nice, if you wanna get that fade going
back here, that's fun.
That'd be perfect, I can nail that.
[Arianne] Yeah, cool.
So normally when clients come into the barbershop
and they want this style right here,
I always have a comb on handy
and I'm going to use my 357 clipper from Caliber.
So my comb is my best weapon.
We're just going to trim right here.
Just make it easier.
Then you comb it back down.
Go up a little bit more.
And just swipe at it.
I love this cut already.
So tell me something, do you wear any designs
or anything back here?
Or would you just wear it natural?
Well, I've done just a couple steps here
that I really like.
[Faheen] A couple parts?
[Arianne] Yeah.
Would you like to see that again?
Yeah, why not?
Let's do it.
Okay, great.
I'm going to taper it down a little bit more,
just so I can get over a bit onto the surface.
You have all types of mazes back here.
[Arianne] It takes twists and turns, right?
Yeah, that's cool though, it's neat.
You're going to like this, though.
Looks like a beautiful haircut.
Yeah?
Yeah.
I don't know where you're finding all these grey hairs.
I put some in there.
I thought so.
This looks fantastic.
It's just soft enough, it's not too hard of an edge.
It's got really great flow.
I can play with it, it's going to blend really nicely
when it's growing out.
So, Arianne, what do you think?
Very happy.
Love it, love it, love it.
So here we got our fourth fade.
One of the most common cuts that's wore today.
A one and a half on the sides, cut into a box texture.
Some people that sported this haircut in the '80s:
Kid 'n Play, Salt-N-Pepa, Cameo, Eric B. & Rakim,
and Big Daddy Kane.
Public Enemy and E.P. and D,
and my guy from my city, Will Smith,
Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Your barber would tell you he would have the keys
to success of keeping its shape.
You know, I like a little bit of spritz.
A holding spray.
A blow dryer.
Back in the day, you know, you're in the mirror
in the bathroom, you know, you patting it down
to make that square shape.
Every other week to keep it fresh,
you should buzz your sides.
So in number five, we got the temple taper fade
with the kinky hair.
That's most common today with the brothers with the beard.
You could start from your skin fade and then
blend down into your beard, which won't
make it too dark, so your beard is like a three.
It can grow and look natural.
To keep this haircut right, right here,
you maybe want to use your favorite sponge
or your favorite curly racket.
So with this style, I mean, you can shampoo it every night,
to be honest with you, if you like.
But you know, you need these steps.
Number one, you know, you want to get
your favorite shampoo and conditioner.
Number two, you want to put
your favorite pomade in the hair.
Maybe use a blow dryer and dry it.
Then your favorite curly racket or your sponge.
So number six, we got the high brook.
I'm going to cut my boy Jesse.
He wants to sport that low fade and trim on top.
Come on in, Jesse.
What's up man?
Hey, bro, how you doing man?
How you doing? All right, Victor Cruz.
When you normally go to the barbershop,
what do you ask for?
I usually say, Give me a low fade or a high brook.
So basically just get a taper,
and I get it tapered up real high.
That's the new one, to me, the high brook.
I ain't hear that one yet.
Why do they call it the high brook?
Because it has something to do with Brooklyn?
Yeah, so, you know, a lot of cats, instead of
getting a full on fade, they just want to get
the Brooklyn, which is just taper the edges a little bit.
You know, I want mine tapered but I usually want to get
a higher taper, so I call it the high brook.
That's just some different terminology right there.
Anywhere else, they just say,
Give me a temple fade, that's it.
So to make this high brook, I'm going to brush it out
where I'm going to do most of my work at.
So I got my outliner twos here,
and I'm just going to start to make a small fade.
Yeah, we do these all day long down in Philadelphia.
We just call it temple fades.
That's what they call it?
Yeah, but the high brook is funny.
That's different to me.
What I've got now, it's just my .50 Mag from Caliber.
Great for tapering, all tapering and trimming,
and critiquing the top.
Then I have the new Andis cordless Master
for detail work and designs.
I use this for my trimming, to make my boxes and my afros.
Then, we got the 357 from Caliber.
It's an all-around clipper that I can use all day.
So Jesse, I think I did the Brooklyn, man.
It's my first time doing it, I think I nailed it.
You tell me.
Okay.
Did I pass the test? I had to trust you, man.
You passed the test, man.
I'm rocking with it.
Yeah, you laced me man, I appreciate it.
[Faheem] Thank you, man.
I appreciate it, man.
Appreciate you coming to my shop.
That'll be about $50.
[Jesse laughing]
Did any of you guys know that the fade started
in World War Two, when African American soldiers
started wearing their hair skintight.
It resembled being that good soldier.
In the seventh fade, we have the temple fade style haircut
with the comb back.
So with these two fades, you got one up here
that's actually going to the side
with the part that's pretty smooth.
Then on this one you have the hair pulled to the back
and tapered, giving that nice temple fade on the side.
This cut right here has less in the nape area
and you can show your magic as a barber.
You can round it, you can square it.
But it's fine, either way that you do it.
Number eight, we got the mohawk, with the beard.
And it's popular in the barbershops all around the world.
It's kind of like one of my favorites,
but I wouldn't want to freak it, Philly style one day.
I mean, if you want this popular style,
it's real easy to do.
Roll your hair out, buzz the sides.
So in the ninth photo, we've got the burst fade.
My favorite burst fade is the skin burst fade,
when you start low above the ear and then
you just move up to a one, to a one and a half,
to a two, and make it pop.
The burst fade can be added to any
men's hairstyle, short or long.
You can turn it into a fro-hawk.
Pat the sides, keep a little bit on top.
If you like the burst fade, check out
the James Harden Make Me Look Like.
I'm going to bring my boy Austin out
and we going to hop right into this burst fade.
How are you man?
Very good, very good. Thanks a lot.
So you seem like a pretty cool guy, Austin.
What type of styles you rocking these days?
Something like a burst fade is usually what I go for.
Let's try a burst fade,
I think the brother would look cool in a burst fade.
Cool. Let's try it.
I'm trying to get my beard like you, man.
Oh, man.
Got to tell me how to get it like that, man.
Here in this cut right here,
I'm going to go with my Andis Supra Z's.
Open that burst up for you.
Look at that, oh.
I got a date tomorrow night, brother,
this is right on time.
Oh, you do.
Yes indeed.
[Faheen] Oh man, she's going to love you.
She's going to say, Austin, who cut your hair, Austin?
What style do you normally wear it in the back?
Round, square, faded?
[Austin] I usually do square in the back.
[Faheen] Perfect, perfect, let's do that square.
This is different from the high flat top because it's messy.
[Austin] Do you think the racket
is better than the sponge?
[Faheen] Yes, the racket is better, sanitary reasons.
Oh, okay.
I believe the sponge holds bacteria.
[Austin] Yeah, you're probably right.
[Faheen] So what you think?
Man, this is real clean, man.
One of the cleanest lines I've ever had.
[Faheen] Appreciate you, man.
Yeah, thanks so much.
Thank you, and enjoy your outing.
I will.
[ambient music]
Number 10, the feathered fade.
It's more common in barbershops nowadays
for gentlemen and women.
They just want a free flowing fade,
and this one is pretty nice.
This cut also is easy maintenance.
So now, we going to talk about some different hair textures.
Some barbers or hairstylists may ask you,
What is your natural hair texture?
At number one, we've got more of a straight hair.
Then if you want to drop all the way down to 4C,
we got a more kinky texture.
Then if you want to go between 3A and 4A,
a more curly texture.
As a professional barber,
you're supposed to have adjustable clippers
so that your clippers can move
between these different textures,
working with different ethnic groups
to get that perfect style.
So the 11th fade would be the Elvis Presley.
I never did this cut before, but I really want to try it,
so if anybody want it, they can come on down to my shop.
So in this last, but not least picture,
I got the high top fade with my friend Brandon.
So Brandon, what would you like this fade at, man?
I like a skin fade, I like it high.
Skin high fade?
Yeah, yeah.
Do you know Kid 'n Play?
Oh yeah, yeah, I get that all the time.
[Faheen] So that's the look that we're going for.
Yeah, yeah, let's do it, '90s.
[Faheen] Yes sir.
We got a nice canvas to work on.
[laughing] I desperately need it, too, man.
It's been like, a little over a month.
Well you've come to the right place.
Hey.
So to achieve this style,
I'm going to need my outliners to go zero on the side.
So what I'm doing here, he wants a high top fade.
I cut in my first guideline to make it real short
on the bottom.
I'm going to show you how to knock this guideline,
just smoothed out.
I've got the .50 Mag, with a one guard on there.
So right now here, I'm knocking out most of the bulk.
Now I'm going in to clean my guideline up.
So you take some adjustable clippers,
don't zero them, turn it all the way out as far as they go.
You see a lot of high tops coming in these days?
Yeah, stuff like that comes back,
yeah the high top is coming back.
High top fade, and on the low top.
Cutting it down, even like a low fade,
these things are coming back.
[Brandon] Yeah, I've been rocking this for
four or five years now, so.
I swear, my mentor could do this cut in 15 minutes.
Yeah, that's all he'd do was cut fades.
[instrumental hiphop music]
All right, Brandon, you ready to see this cut?
Yes I am.
There you go, buddy.
Damn, look at that line, though.
Okay, let me see the side.
So this is a high top fade, typically wore by Kid 'n Play
and Big Daddy Kane.
My brother.
Thank you. I appreciate it for real.
[Faheen] Yes sir.
[instrumental hiphop music]
