Stef's Salon ~ Open for Business

When my son was born with locks to make a four year old girl jealous, I knew I was in for it. I have always had a hard time getting myself in to the salon for regular haircuts (my latest gap was just over ten months), and my daughter is suffering from the same neglect. Luckily we both have thick hair, and long hair suits us. My son, on the other hand… well, lucky for him, for the first year of his life, my neighbor was a stylist and she cut his hair once a month in the comfort of our kitchen. I thought I was set… until she *gasp* moved to North Carolina!

I tried taking him to a few salons… but no one has been as fast as my neighbor was, and you have to be fast to cut a toddler’s hair, and I must admit, I am just plain lazy when it comes to driving out to get haircuts. I don’t know why, maybe something happened when I was a child. Maybe not. To make matters worse, I now find myself in a relationship with someone who is possibly worse than I am when it comes to getting a regular haircut.

So one day I find myself standing in front of the haircut kits at Target, thinking I’ll buy the cheapest one with the most accessories, and see what I can do… I mean, it’s just hair, right? It’ll grow back.


What comes with the Remington Precision Haircut Kit HC-8017

Well, the first thing I found when I opened the box, thankfully, was the instruction book, which included an actual how-to-give-a-haircut page. Everything else was neatly packaged in a hard, plastic storage case. When you take the top half of the storage box off, you find:

~ 6 different length guide combs
~ 1 left and 1 right ear guide
~ 3 sectioning clips
~ 1 styling comb
~ 1 pair of scissors
~ 1 cleaning brush
~ 1 neck brush
~ And, of course, the corded hair trimmer. It’s got some nice heft, a smooth, ergonomic design. A simple on-off switch. A lever to move the blade closer to the blade guards. The packaging boasted a noise and vibration reduction technology, as well as "Lube for Life" stainless steel blades that will never need oiling.


Playing with, I mean Using, the Haircut Kit

After the common sense set-up (sit the guinea pig, I mean boyfriend, in a chair, wrap a towel around his neck, plug in the trimmer), I tentatively began the haircut.

I began by putting the longest blade guard (1/2 inch), and did the back of his head first, starting from the nape of the neck and going up. This left us with a very admirable impression of a punk rock haircut. I was tempted to quit then, but persuaded to go on (persuaded, begged, whatever). So I moved on to the sides, still staying with the 1/2 inch guard. Finally, I played stylist. I wet the hair down, pulled on the top here and there, and cut a few inches off with the scissors. Lastly, I scrutinized for asymmetrical lengths and rogue pieces of hair.

When all was said and done, we were both pleasantly surprised… I mean, I knew I could do that good a job. All joking aside, neither of us could see a difference between the haircut I’d just given and the ones he used to pay $35 for.


Final Thoughts and Recommendations

Obviously, this was more than a story about how I gave my first haircut. The product itself, the Remington Haircut Kit HC-8017 is most impressive, especially considering the fact that it cost me less (at $12.99) than one haircut at the nearest Walk-In joint. Using it once paid for itself… Using it twice makes me frugal-gal… Three times and I’m pleading my case for a well-deserved vacation.

Today, I give this five stars and recommend it wholeheartedly…

Ask me tomorrow how I did on the toddler in the house!