Buying a Clipper Set

What is in a kit

A typical home set includes the clipper, a set of guard combs numbered by length, a small trimmer or edger, oil, a cleaning brush, and often a cape and scissors. The guards are the part people underestimate: a full range of sizes and guards that lock on firmly are worth more than most of the other extras. A guard that shifts mid-cut leaves a line you then have to blend out.

Home against professional

Professional clippers use stronger motors, most commonly rotary or pivot, hold their speed through thick hair, and are built to be used all day and rebuilt rather than replaced. Home clippers use lighter magnetic motors, cost far less and are perfectly adequate for a simple cut on one or two people. The point at which the upgrade makes sense is when you are cutting frequently, cutting dense or coarse hair, or doing fades, where a motor that bogs down makes clean blending impossible.

Blades

Blades are consumable. They dull, and a dull blade pulls hair rather than cutting it, which is what people mistake for a weak motor. Most quality clippers take replaceable blade sets, so buying a machine with blades that are available separately matters more than the blade it ships with. Keep them oiled, a few drops across the teeth before and after each use, and brush the cut hair out of them every time. Oiling is not optional maintenance; a dry blade wears out fast and runs hot.

Corded or cordless

Cordless is convenient and essential for detail work where a cord gets in the way, but battery clippers lose power as the charge drops, and a machine cutting at reduced power in the middle of a fade is a problem. Corded clippers run at full power indefinitely. Many people who cut regularly own both. If you are buying one, and you cut at home at a mirror, corded is the more dependable choice.

Trimmers and edgers

A clipper cuts bulk, a trimmer defines edges. Trying to line a hairline with a clipper is why home cuts look home-cut. Most kits include a small trimmer, and if yours does not, a separate T-blade trimmer is the single most worthwhile addition. All four Kelly Beauty stores carry clippers, trimmers, replacement blades and guards.