Tim Carr 4/13/25 Tim Carr 4/13/25

Ten Year Anniversary

This July it will be ten years since I started Tim Carr Hair and I wanted to thank everyone who’s been coming to the salon because you’ve made it all possible—from the people who have only came in for one haircut all the way through the people who followed me from Alexander’s for Hair to the Sola Salon on Wilshire and Bundy, the shop I rented a chair in on Sawtelle in Culver City, to the outdoor haircuts I did in the parking lot behind that salon when I was only able to offer outdoor haircuts during covid, to the Sola Salon Studios I work at now off Jefferson. There were tough times. When I first started on my own, I would hope to get at least 36 services in a week because if I hit that number I would be making a little more than I did at Alexanders for Hair, now I usually do around 65-70 haircuts a week and if I had a week where I only did 36 I would start trying to figure out what happened. Halfway through the ten years the Covid lockdowns happened and I was unable to work do to the restrictions, and then when I was allowed to cut hair again I had to do it in the parking lot behind the salon. Even when they allowed people to start working indoors again I had to stay outside because we had to be at 25% capacity and in a four chair salon that is only one person. The woman I rented a chair from cut mostly women’s hair so she needed access to the shampoo bowls to wash hair before her haircuts and to rinse out color and other chemical services so I stayed outside since I only do men’s haircuts. At first it was fun cutting hair outside, but the novelty wore off fast, especially when it started to get hot. I never envisioned myself cutting hair in a tank top and shorts when I first got into the industry, and knew I had to be looking ragged at the end of some of those hot days because people would say things like, “Thank you for doing this” after I finished their haircuts. I ended up cutting hair outside for a full year until I could start working in the salon again and six months after that I moved across Sepulveda Blvd to where my salon is now, in the Sola Salon Studios. I’ve been working in Sola for a little over three years now and really enjoy having my own private suite and I would only consider moving if everything is perfect because it’s so easy in the shop I’m in now. Perfect would mean the salon being in the same area in Culver City, affordable price, good parking, etc. I’m not even looking, nor have I been in case anyone was getting worried. Every once a while when I’m out and about in the West LA - Culver City area I’ll see a for rent sign in an empty salon or barbershop and I’ll do some research and it doesn’t come close to being as good as where I’m cutting hair right now.

Tim Carr 12/25/17 Tim Carr 12/25/17

2017 in Hair

As 2017 comes to a close, I thought I would take a look back at the year in men's hair. I haven't had as many opportunities to blog as much as the past, but I'm out of the salon for a few days for the holiday.

At least for the guys that come in to get their hair cut by me, the undercut is still king. This is easily the most requested haircut in the salon. It's a great looking cut, has been in fashion for years now, and I think part of the reason for so many men requesting undercuts from me is that I have more pictures of that particular haircut than any other on Yelp, Instagram, and my website so my numbers my be skewed a little. I tend to fade my undercuts, because of that it makes for a good picture from the front and the side--while scissor haircuts can be pretty uninteresting from the side view. That leads to twice as many undercut pictures. I'm trying to get better about taking more pictures of the haircuts I do.

The number one haircut girlfriends have been sending guys in with pictures of is Ryan Gosling's haircut. There wasn't one picture that everyone brought in, but a few different lengths. All of them were long enough on top where the hair could be parted to the side and fall over (as opposed to spike up) and the sides were long enough to where the hair could be pushed back. This haircut looks great at a few lengths, so you could get one of the shorter versions of the cut and have it grow into how he wears it when it's longer. You could even come in for the hairline clean up service I offer ($10) and get the sideburns neatened, back tapered, and neck trimmed so your hair doesn't look sloppy as it grows out to keep your hair looking its best.

This year I've also seen classic barbering come back into style--men getting their hair cut with a shorter clipper blade and short on top as well. Some guys like the look because it's low maintenance at home. These usually get the hair cut finger length or just a little longer on top. Others just like the classic, clean look or have really thick hair on the sides and need the clippers to rid some of the bulk.

I get a decent amount of guys with long hair coming in to the salon as well. For this blog, when I say "long hair" I'm talking about any hair that touches the collar or longer. While I do see a lot of guys with this length of hair, I think I would see more if I had more pictures of longer haired men. I didn't really take a lot when we first moved to Culver City--when we were in west LA I had a great spot with a neutral background inside Sola to take pictures of my haircuts, and I'd been trying to find a spot at the new salon. The best spot I could think of would be in front of the brick wall at the bank, but no one (including myself) wants to run across the street and dodge traffic on Sawtelle to get their picture taken. I settled on just taking pics at the chair in the salon after I do my detailing and get the hair styled.

Overall, it was a great 2017 at the salon. We left Sola in west LA and moved to Culver City in February. In the hair industry moving is really stressful because there is no way to tell who is going to follow you, especially with the traffic in Los Angeles. I saw a dip in the amount of haircuts I did in the first month we were at the salon, but things really picked up as I got going and I ended up having over 50% growth for the year. I'd like to thank everyone who followed me, and all of the new people I've met while working in the Culver City salon for making this year one of the best.

On to 2018!!

Tim

Tim Carr 10/4/16 Tim Carr 10/4/16

Why West LA

People often ask me why I chose to cut hair in west Los Angeles instead of a place in the valley since I live in Woodland Hills, or why I just didn't move to west LA in the first place. When I was living in Iowa and looking for an apartment, almost everyone I contacted wanted me to visit their office in person before they would rent to me. The place I live at now let me do everything through email and fax, which worked out best for me. When I first came to Los Angeles, I didn't have a job or anything. After applying and interviewing with a few different places all around LA, I chose to work at Alexander's for Hair salon because of their male clientle, since I had only been cutting men's hair for a few years at this point and felt if I wanted to start doing women's hair again that it would be best to assist for a while to bring me back to speed on the latest techniques and trends. After working there for five years, a lot of guys were concerned that I would take a job closer to where I live, but in this industry, to start cutting hair at a salon that far away from where I had been working would be basically starting over since most men wouldn't drive from the west LA area out to the valley to get a haircut. That's the reason we picked the studio we did when we moved, this is the closest one to the old salon. Traffic sucks driving all the way from Woodland Hills, but I have a few podcasts I like to listen to on the way here to pass the time and I genuinely like working in west LA, being on Wilshire with all of the different places I can walk to to grab something to eat, and I know I've been saying this for years, but eventually I'll move to the westside.

Tim Carr 7/7/16 Tim Carr 7/7/16

Men's Hair FAQs

I thought this would be a good place to answer some frequently asked questions that men have while getting their haircut in the salon. I will add more as they come up.

Does my hair grow faster in the summer?

There may be a slight shift in your hair growth do to UV exposure, but it should be marginal and mostly unnoticeable. With men who wear shorter hairstyles, I think the hot summer days make them want to get a haircut sooner, so it feels like the hair came back faster. In the summer I have some men come in to get their haircut every two to three weeks.

Do I need to use conditioner?

This really depends on your hair. If you come in to the salon often, and have a really short hairstyle, you might not have to use it because your hair is getting cut off before it becomes too damaged. The longer your hair is, the older the ends of your hair are, making a need for conditioner to put moisture, protein, and other nutrients back into your hair that get stripped out everytime you shampoo. For men having issues with dry or frizzy hair, I recommend using conditioner. I use it everytime I shampoo, and if I go to the gym on a day where I don't normally shampoo, I use conditioner instead. Experiment a little and you can figure out what makes your hair look best.

How often should I shampoo?

This is another question that really depends on your hair type. Again, if you're a guy who has a shorter hairstyle and you get your haircut often, you can get away with shampooing your hair everyday if you want. Every other day and every two days is fine too. I noticed when I started shampooing less my hair was greasy at first. This is because your hair is used to being overwashed and trying to put more natural oils back in. Over time your hair will get used to less washing. Even the most gentle professional shampoo have cleansing agents to clean your hair, which is why shampooing less is a good thing.

What is _________ haircut called?

This is one I don't really get behind the chair, but I see people asking in the male hair advice subreddit. Some men on there look all over the internet to try to find the name to a particular haircut when it's easier to just bring in the picture. Even if they get the name of the haircut right, there are different lengths and versions of each haircut, but with a picture everyone's on the same page. It's even helpful to bring multiple pictures if you like different things about a couple of different haircuts. It's also helpful to have a few pictures to pick out which ones will be best for your hair thickness, texture, and your face shape.

How do I get rid of dandruff?

More than likely, what you have is dry scalp and not dandruff. Dandruff is large greasy flakes. I've only seen real dandruff a couple times in the ten years I've been cutting hair. Since dandruff is greasy flakes most dandruff shampoos are really drying. If you have dry scalp that can make the problem even worse. The first step is to figure out whether you have dandruff or dry scalp. If it's dry scalp, you may need to cut back on how much you are shampooing. If you don't already, get a good moisturizing conditioner. A leave in conditioner will work too. If that doesn't help, there are shampoos and conditioners that help promote a healthy scalp. I've had good luck with Aveda Scalp Benefits (you can order that from aveda.com) or the Eufora Complete Shampoo and Revitalizing Treatment. For more serious scalp conditions it's best to see a doctor.

I'll post more FAQs as they come up in the salon, or if you have any feel free to comment below.

Tim Carr 6/30/16 Tim Carr 6/30/16

Growing out a buzz cut

I was just reading an article on GQ about Justin Beiber (sorry) growing out his buzzcut. Regardless of how you feel about him, there were some good tips in it for not just growing out buzzcuts, but ones men can apply to any type of haircut they're trying to grow out. Instead of repeating what they said verbatim, I'll link their article at the bottom and offer more tips in addition to what they wrote here.

As they touched on in the article, one of the main issues with growing out the buzzcut is how round it gets. This is a big reason I don't like buzzcuts on most men. Since the clippers are following the shape of your head, the haircut ends up really round. As your hair grows out, it gets even rounder. When transitioning from a buzzcut to something new, you'll need to come in to the salon often to get the sides of your hair cut. If you don't quite need that much hair cut, I offer a service called a hairline and neck trim. What I do for this service is clean up your sideburns, tidy up the hair around the hairline, trim the hair on the neck, and do a taper in the back. I do not touch the hair on the sides or the top or give a shampoo with this service. Since it doesn't take me a lot of time I just charge $10. It's good for growing out any type of haircut, not just a buzzcut. It's also a quick way to keep your hair looking it's best as it grows out.

When growing out any haircut it's also a good idea to get it all cut once in a while. If you just let your hair grow without trimming it, you can get split ends which can cause breakage further down the shaft, hindering the process of getting your hair longer. One strategy I have been using over the past year as I've been growing my hair out is using a leave in conditioner. This is a conditioner made to be used outside of the shower and worn in your hair throughout the day. They don't have any hold, so if you need your hair to stay put, you might want to use a hairspray alongside it.

A few other quick tips for growing out your hair--wash your hair as little as you can get away with, be gentle with your hair when it's wet (this is when hair is its most fragile and can break), and try to avoid putting heat on your hair. I know most men don't have to worry as much about the last tip, but the things to avoid are blow dryers, flat irons, curling irons, and any other hot tool. If your hair is long enough to pull back in a pony tail or man bun, try to wait until the hair is dry before putting a band around it to help avoid breakage while the hair is wet and fragile.

Here is the GQ article I referenced earlier in the post.

http://www.gq.com/story/justin-bieber-buzz-cut

Tim Carr 4/8/16 Tim Carr 4/8/16

Best Hair Products for Men's Hair (in my opinion)

You may not know it from spending time in my chair, but I'm a big product guy. I've just never been a big product pusher while doing hair. If someone has questions or asks for a recommendation I've always been happy to help, but I never wanted to feel like a salesman in the salon. I did telemarketing for MCI for a while in college and was so bad at it that I would wake up in the middle of the night with MCI nightmares. My supervisor liked me but he didn't like my numbers, so he transferred me to a team to call and "sell" MCI to people who had already wrote in and said they wanted it. I do know a lot more about hair than I do about MCI's "5 cent Sundays", so I thought I would talk about some of my favorite products right now.

For my shampoo I am using Eufora's complete shampoo. It's made from quality ingredients (so I'm told), but the only reason I'm using it is for the Eufora Pro Amino Peptide Complex that creates the optimal scalp enviroment for hair growth and inhibits alpha-5 reductase, the hormone responsible for premature hair growth. I use the Eufora Revitilizing Treatment as my conditioner for the same reason. It has the Pro Amino Peptite Complex as well along with menthol and campthor to stimulate and revitilize the scalp, improving blood circulation. There was a time where my hair was getting a little see through on top and I am fighting bad genetics. That is the reason that anytime something comes out that claims to promote hair growth, or slow down hair loss, I do a little research and try it.

My hair is fairly easy to style with the length it is at now. I'm still trying to get it longer and because of that I have a couple different products I rotate to style it, both don't have much hold, one adds moisture, the other adds protein. For anyone planning on growing out their hair for an extended period of time I would recommend them because a lack or moisture or protein can cause split ends, which can travel up the hair shaft resulting in breakage, hindering hair growth. For moisture I use Eufora's Nourish Leave-In Hydration Treatment. I use it right out of the shower, putting about a nickel size amount in my hands and working it into my hair. Then I brush it through for even coverage. With my length of hair I end up looking like ESPN's Barry Melrose for the next few hours until my curl comes back. For protein I use Eufora's Leave-In Repair Treatment from their Beautifying Elixers line. It's applied different since it isn't as thick as the leave in conditioner and it comes in a spray bottle. I just spray it all over my hair and then style the same way, brushing it all back, again resulting in the Barry Melrose look until it drys.

When I had shorter hair I liked to use a few different types of pomades. My two go to are Aveda's Grooming Clay, and Eufora's Traction. Both are great products, easy to use, are made out of quality ingredients, and have a medium hold. The big difference between them is the smell. The Grooming Clay has a strong musky smell while Traction is more of a light, somewhat citrus-like smell. Both are really concentrated, so it only takes about a dime-sized amount of each and can be used with or without a blow dryer in wet or dry hair. I also like Aveda's Control Paste for shorter hair. It is used the same as the Grooming Clay and Traction and has a little more shine. The consistency of the product feels like the Grooming Clay or Traction crossed with a wax. I really like Eufora's Texture Putty as well. It's a little drier than the Grooming Clay and Traction and has a very matte finish. It's really good for guys who want a lot of hold, but don't want it to look like they have anything in their hair. One thing all of these products have in common is that there's no petroleum in them. Some of the cheaper products use petroleum as a filler because it can lubricate and seal moisture within the hair shaft. It also adds softness to the hair. And it's cheap. The downsides to petroleum based products (and the reason I stay away from them) is that it can lead to scalp problems like dandruff, sluggish hair growth, and even hairloss over time.

For most guys I wouldn't recommend hairspray alone, but if you're finding you don't get enough hold, layering your products may be a good technique for you. To layer is to put a product on top of another product. For instance, when I needed a lot of hold, I would put a liquid gel in my hair right out of the shower, blow dry it into the shape I wanted, use a pomade to piece it out/mess it up a little, and then use a little hairspray, giving me three layers of product. Most guys can probably get away with two layers. Just do your normal routine with pomade or whatever styling product you like to use, and then hit it with a little hairspray. The layering also looks more natural than if you were to use a handful of pomade or half a can of hairspray to get a similar hold.

Have fun, experiment, and find out what's best for you!