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Is the hair salon near me safe?

We are currently in the middle of a pandemic. It’s normal to be overly cautious about the places we visit. A salon visit may put a family member in danger of exposure to COVID 19. It would great if you can give yourself or your family a haircut without depending on the barbers near you. With a a vacuum haircutting system, you won’t need to go anywhere or need to worry about looking like a mess. You can look well put together even if your emotions are all in a mess.

What is a vacuum haircutting system?

A vacuum hair cutting systems uses suction from a vacuum to pull your hair into a blade with spacer attachments and the blade cuts your hair off. Hair is sucked into your vacuum while the blade cuts it off so there is no cleanup. I am using an old vacuum haircutting tool, the flowbee, made in the 80’s. It’s meant to easily cut short hair styles without making a mess. Supposedly, anyone can cut their own hair with absolutely no haircutting experience in the comfort of their own home.

However, from my 10 experience using the flowbee, it has some flaws that make it hard to use. I’ve addressed some major flaws my first review the flowbee for long hair in the post, Flowbee Review & Hack: How to Cut a Long Layered Haircut (2019). In this post I will address the flaws, hacks and tips for short hair. The hacks and tips that will work for the lady or gentleman haircut, girls or boys haircuts.

I have used the flowbee since 2010 and my dad used it when he was young. It’s been through two generations. Once you have it set up, your haircuts will be a breeze. I have not found anything that works better and easier than the Flowbee yet.

Flowbee flaws and DIY fixes/hacks

The flowbee, at first, is an expensive investment but will save you tons of money and time in the long run. The flowbee has a few huge flaws. First, the spacers needs to be more securely attached and the gaps needs to be reduced to maintain suction. I use tape to seal the seams to create strong suction. Second, noise level is high and annoying, you can become deaf without using ear plugs. Three, it last a long, LONG…time but the blade will become dull making it harder to cut your hair. You will have to replace the blades or the system even if it’s not broken. A bonus feature such as a self-sharpening blade would put this vacuum hair cutter to the top.

Flowbee haircut transitions, short haircuts, medium haircuts and long haircuts for newbies

Cutting short hair is not as easy as portrayed in the infomercials. Some hair like my coarse hair will not behave easily. As a self haircut newbie we don’t have any knowledge of the anatomy of your head. It’s difficult to give ourselves the short haircut we desire. It’s also hard to see and control the back of the head for good results. When growing out our hair to different lengths, it can be especially frustrating in between lengths. After about two years of cutting my hair short I came up with some tips and tricks to help you cut any short length hair styles. You can transition back to a longer hairstyle with ease. The video below will show you how you can handle and cut your hair at different stages of your hair growth.

A vacuum haircutting system is a great investment

The first thing is, you will save money in the long run. I’ve written a detailed breakdown here. You can cut hair for the whole family.

Vacuum haircut system options

A flowbee has become much needed and hard to find tool in the pandemic. The price of a Flowbee Haircutting System + Extra Rubber Vacuum Adapter) in 2014 was $99.95 has gone up to $139.95 in 2019 on Amazon. The official flowbee website has sold out as of today’s post on 1/4/2021.

If you are interested in investing in a vacuum haircutting system, definitely explore other vacum hair cutter in the market.  If you want to buy the Flowbee, I would suggest checking amazon to see if they restock and getting it on amazon for free shipping. Some people have had luck on ebay.

Since the flowbee website doesn’t allow returns during COVID 19, instead of hating what you got, a good alternative would be to try something similar instead. A vacuum haircutter very similar to the flowbee haircutting system is the AirCut – Self Hair Cutting Kit. I have not personally tried it but looking at the vacuum haircut system, the tips I’ve mentioned in the video above are still applicable. This is especially true if you’ve never cut your own hair before. You can use it to get an idea what it’s like to cut your own hair with a vacuum haircutter. If it works out, then there’s no need to buy a Flowbee. If it doesn’t work for you, you can have a peace of mind, you’ll be able to return it and not lose your hard earned money. For short hairstyles there’s a lot of other vaccum hair cutter options.

Conclusion: I love my vacuum hair trimmer

Since I’ve been using a vacuum haircutting system, I’ve learned to hack the system to cut the longest layered to the shortest layered haircut. The transition from a super short haircut to a bob cut, to a medium layered haircut, to a super layer haircut has been a wonderful learning experience. I have total control of my time and hairstyle without worrying about messing up or having a mess to clean up after. Now, I love short hair. I able to go back to long hair effortlessly. It’s been fun cutting different hairstyles by myself. Here’s other haircutting methods I have tried cutting my hairs with.