Everyone’s Buzzing Their Hair—Here’s How to Do It Right

While we continue to social distance in stark separation, our shared experience is finding uncanny expressions: the urge to bake banana bread, the yen to dance together virtually, the inability to turn away from the television while a woman in a flower crown rides her bike around her legally-questionable tiger “sanctuary.” And, yes, the siren call of buzzing our heads.

The tremors were first felt during the Fall 2020 fashion week, when politically directional shows like Vivienne Westwood’s demonstration on behalf of Julian Assange featured more than one closely-cropped model, and Demna Gvasalia’s biblically apocalyptic Balenciaga runway—featuring models with hair either slicked or Bic’d—proposed a radical look for a radical world.

By March 12th, the day I began my own self-quarantine, Willow Smith was caught on camera by her mother in a seeming state of ecstasy as her boyfriend, Tyler Cole, clipped off her hair. Days later, the San Francisco Bay Area was ordered to shelter in place. Within the month, as cities across the country issued their own Stay Home policies, musicians (Vagabon’s Laetitia Tamko), sports heroes (Cristiano Ronaldo), beauty impresarios (Nick Axelrod) and editors (Phillip Picardi) began to share their newly revealed scalps on Instagram.

It wasn’t a celebrity bubble. Men and women from every corner of my social feed showed more of their occipital bones than I had ever seen. The impulse may be more deeply rooted than remedying a bad hair day: who could ignore the need to assert control over at least one visually measurable thing when so much else in our lives is beyond our command?

But it may go deeper still. At least that’s what came to mind on Tuesday, when a freshly shorn Bruce Willis cemented the buzz cut as the first official quarantine beauty trend when he expertly ran a set of clippers over his daughter, Tallulah’s head, turning her into a latter-day G.I. Jane. Traditionally, armed forces required those telltale induction cuts to not only reduce the spread of disease between their closely quartered recruits, but to also shed the ego of individuality in the spirit of supporting a stronger sense of team.

In my own three-room universe, my boyfriend, Andrew, has been asking whether or not he should buzz his head the way women ask whether or not they should get bangs. “It’s the perfect time to do it,” says hairstylist Joey Silvestera, owner of New York City’s Blackstones salon whose name is on speed-dial for every well-tressed downtown New Yorker from Chloe Sevigny to Alexander Wang. “This is the haircut to get right now,” he explains, because while a buzz cut is relatively simple to achieve at home, the grow-out period can be surprisingly difficult. “With certain textures, it will get big before you’re able to re-shape it. The eight-week mark is where it’s ready to be touched again.” As it stands, we have plenty of time to get through an awkward phase.

And so we’re in. We set up a FaceTime appointment with Silvestera, who walks us through a step by step guide of how to achieve the perfect buzz cut. If you’re going to do it, too there are a few precepts you will need to follow:

Another Person

Ideally, if you’re doing this for the first time, you’re not doing it alone. “You can do it yourself if you have mirrors, but I would recommend having someone else do it for you because having a 360-degree perspective will give you a much better outcome.”

A Multi-Tasking Tool

At the most basic level, a set of clippers should have multiple guard attachments, says Silvestera. “This gives you the ability to start long and to work your way down to your desired length. It also allows you to make adjustments at the perimeter of the hairline.” For home buzz cuts, he recommends the Wahl Color Pro Hair Clipper, which is useful in a pinch but won’t last a lifetime, he warns. Beyond that, a cordless tool will go a long way in providing a less dangerous experience.

Clean, Dry Hair

Especially when using a cheaper tool, clean hair is an easier canvas for clippers to glide through. Residual oil and hair product will only slow down your machine.

The Right Chair

“Chair height is important,” says Silvestera. For the person holding the clippers, arm fatigue and vantage points can make or break a haircut. “You want to be able to work all sides of the head without raising your arms up. Looking down and having your arms and shoulders at a comfortable stance is key.” In other words, choose a dining chair over a bar stool.

A Makeshift Cape and a Small Towel

From an old t-shirt to a towel or a bedsheet, wrapping something around the person who is getting their hair cut avoids future irritation brought on by the inevitable dusting of tiny, fine hairs. A small hand or kitchen towel can be used to wipe off hair from your subject’s head and face while you work.

A Clear Setup

To avoid injury or a heinous hairline, make sure your clipper cord has enough slack that it won’t pull out of your hands at even the furthest point of the cut. Also clear any obstacles that it might catch on for the same precautions (beware of chair and table corners). “You want to have free space to move the machine around. This is where injuries can happen.”

Start Big and at the Back

First apply a bigger clipper attachment to remove the bulk and weight off of the hair, then work your way down to the desired length. “For a good buzz cut, there’s always going to be 2-3 passes to get the length you’re looking for and an even cut throughout your whole head.” Make your first pass at the center of the back, from the nape of the neck, straight up to the occipital bone. “That’s where you get to practice and see what the tool can do.” Move the tool from the bottom of the hairline up to the ear-line in straight, parallel lines, one next to another, with slight overlap as if you were mowing a lawn. “You will get the best performance from your clippers when you go against the grain.”

On Top, Move Front to Back

Starting at the very center of the forehead, move the clippers from the hairline straight back to the occipital bone. Continue to pass the clippers through the hair in parallel lines moving out from the center.

Clean Up the Ears

Using your free hand’s forefinger to fold the ear down, carefully pass the clippers around the ear line, moving in small upward strokes starting behind the ear and going forward to the sideburns.

Reconsider Length

Now that you’ve finished your first pass, you’ve gotten through the initial shock of revealing your head shape and can decide how much shorter you want to go. Silvestera recommends aiming for some fuzz. “I like a tennis ball. It’s soft, it looks good, and it fills in perfectly with most hair densities,” he says. With your chosen clip attachment, take another complete pass around the whole head, finishing with diagonal passes to catch any errant hairs.

Make a Clean Edge

This is what sets a great buzz cut apart from an okay buzz cut, says Silvestera. “Take a smaller clipper blade and go around the hair perimeter” moving in small, upward motions only about a half inch into the hairline, and only at the back of the head, behind the ears, and in the sideburns. Do not do this to the front of the hair. “It’s like polishing wood with different grades of sandpaper. There are areas in a crew cut that start to fall apart once it grows out.” Cleaning up your edges will get ahead of the mess and set the shape for a better grow-out.

Phone Your Hairdresser

Set up a virtual appointment with your go-to stylist. Even if you think you can do it alone, you’ll not only feel more confident with their guidance, you will help ensure the people you love will be in business when we’re on the other side of this. For his part, Silvestera’s entire Blackstones team is offering virtual tutorials on everything from hiding your roots to trimming your ends via Instagram, FaceTime, and more.

Silvestera is a patient and encouraging guide throughout the process. Within 30 minutes, Andrew has a beautiful, well-shaped buzz. I don’t think either of us expected it to turn out so well. We laugh with Silvestera, my hairdresser of 10 years, and for the first time I meet his family, who I have heard so much about. I run my hand over my boyfriend’s new velvety texture. “For a moment, all of this feels nice,” he says.