“Like it is now…only shorter.”

#2 on the sides, tapered up to finger length up top. Leave me some extra in the front

I’m pretty easy, I just ask for it to be cut shorter and go with whatever they suggest.

I bring a picture of myself with the haircut I want.

Husband says tight fade, zero to very short on top and that gets him what he wants, he goes to the same barber lady all the time, she doesn’t speak English and he doesn’t speak Spanish but they still manage to communicate the haircut information.

Shave it all off

I’m bald

I do go to get my beard trimmed occasionally though, I just describe what I’m looking for- I like the length, just kind of square it up a bit and make it look neat, and fade in my sideburns.

It helps that I do a decent enough job of keeping it trimmed on my own, I just go in a handful of times a year before weddings and other fancy events when I need to look particularly nice

You need to be more specific. The last thing barbers need is having to guess what you want.

I get a 4 on the sides, a low taper to 0 on the back, and then say how much I want off top in inches. Letting them know how I comb/style my hair seems helpful as well.

You can also just google a hairstyle and show them a picture.

You think that’s hard?

Last year my dentist/denturist asked my what I wanted my teeth to look like!

It was unreal, trying to develop an aesthetic preference for teeth. It was actually quite eye-opening. I did find that I had a very strong opinion about it. I haven’t quite gotten to the end product, but I now know what I want.

I recommend photos, but also to be careful in explaining what you like about the photo. It’s easy to latch on to one aspect of a style, not realizing that an attempt to reproduce other aspects might end up completely ignoring what drew you to it in the first place.

Depends on how picky you are. For me, I don’t really care so I say “3 on the sides, trim / a little shorter-or- longer on top”.

“A #6 on the sides please, fade it to about an inch shorter than it currently is on top.”

Describe it however you want. If you have a decent barber, they should understand you fine and work with you.
I’ve been shy, straight forward, and all manners of sides when asking for a haircut and the biggest issue has only been the occasional language barrier.

Once you’re comfortable in a style it’ll be easier to use different wording, depending on how you want your style. For example: you most certainly can ask for clipper sizes, like “no. 2 on sides”, however if you don’t know what you want from the top you could just ask them “a bit short but matching the sides, if you know what I mean?”

Some styles have different options, such as skin fades (usually medium or high here, indicating the point where the fade reaches on the side and back of the head). If you’re unsure definitely do not be afraid of asking, if any barber has an issue with working with you they aren’t the barbers you want as they’re likely to rush the haircut regardless of what you say (in my experience), or only know limited styles/lack broader experience in hairdressing.

“Hello fellow human. I require a haircut. Something like this please shows picture. Thank you”

If they’re good at their job, you can ask pretty much anything and they’ll ask follow-up questions. If not they’ll infer what to do or do one of the standard haircuts.

Mines pretty simple. Clippers (#2) on the back and sides, scissors up top.

I say: make my hair beautiful/better (in the local language). I don’t really need to do anything else, it seems to work.

I usually just show a picture because I never know what the styles are called, I just know I want it on my head.