Inspiration

Though it's true to say that the day-to-day is often a '3 back and sides',
Occasionally a spark comes out of the dark and inspires the passion inside.


We all have days where it seems like every customer in the chair wants the same haircut. It doesn't mean we don't enjoy the cut any less but personally I love to go and look at various sources every now and again to get some inspiration and to stoke my barbering flame. I wanted to share with you some of my favourite inspirational resources.


1. Hairdressers Journal (online and in print)
...specifically HJMen. http://www.hji.co.uk/blogs/mens-hairstyles/
This gets top of my list as I also subscribe to Matthew's blog feed and he posts some fantastic stuff at the cutting edge of men's hairdressing trends and fashions. Matthew has his eyes open and ears to the ground for new styles coming up and helpfully keeps Joe/Jill Soaps like you and me informed! Not only that but he is 100% top guy who is kind enough to send me on copies of the HJMen magazine (which is part of the standard HJ magazine but only gets published a couple of times a year which is a shame). His most recent post included a fantastic video of the awesome Chris Foster:

Hair By Chris Foster from Classique on Vimeo.


I love his use of concept and colour. It makes me want to go out and get a bunch of guys willing to let me do crazy things with their hair, hire a photography studio and snap away (I used to be a professional photographer so it's a double yearning for me!).


2. Jim Chapman on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/j1mmyb0bba
I've been watching this guy's videos on YouTube for a long time and what initially drew me was his reviews of products. He has now branched out into doing hairstyle reviews and a few other things too. Though the hair related videos have become somewhat diluted by clothing and other topics they are still in there and worth a look. But for genuine honest reviews on styling products check him out first. His bathroom cabinet must be overflowing!


3. Fashionising.com
http://www.fashionising.com/trends/b--mens-hairstyles-mens-haircuts-mens-hair-trends-1225.html
This website is a great resource of photos of current hair trends. They also include short articles and even a few 'how-to's which can be a rare find out there! It's also nice to see that they have a whole section dedicated to men's hairstyles. It seems most places will give a ton of womens and then you have to go searching to find the odd man in there. It's like Where's Wally!


4. BarberStyle.com
http://barberstyle.com/
This wonderful website/blog/general bag o' information posts some wonderful documentaries along with great interviews, competitions and pretty much just a mixed batch of barbering related snippets of interest. I subscribe to their feed so rarely look at the website but it's great whichever way you choose to view it.

5. Google!
Ah yes good old Google. Or to be more specific: Google Image Search. It's a fantastic way to find vintage styles, contemporary styles and everything in between. They won't tell you much about the cuts even if you go to the source page, but as eye candy for inspiration it's a virtually limitless resource. 


As for number 5? Well... that's another blog post altogether and I've gone on long enough already, so stay tuned for the grand finalé!
- BE