Grooming Tips Black Guys Should Know

The summer is officially upon us, dudes, and with all the fun in the sun comes a few serious matters as well. Namely, summer grooming. There's a lot of good times to be had from June through September word to Jamie xx and Thugger, but there are some common mistakes guys make too. A finely-curated #SummerLook is worthless if your hair, beard and overall grooming situation is sore on the eyes. You want to prepare, adapt and stunt appropriately.

We've already provided a breakdown from the experts on general grooming tips, so this time we thought we'd tighten the focus for our loyal readership and ask an expert to weigh in on African-American grooming specifically. We hopped on the phone with Blind Barber's Nigella M. for a professional breakdown on all things summer grooming, from mistakes to helpful tips. Peep her comments below as you prep your summer stuntage, and book an appointment with her after reading if you're so inclined.

"Oh my god, I see so many. Beard trims? Oh my gosh, a lot of guys walk in with, like they come in because they're like oh my god I messed up my beard or I tried to taper it up or like clean the neck and I totally cut into it or like the back of the neck, they'll say “oh I told my girlfriend to clean my neck up and she went too high” or “I tried to do it in a double mirror and it just didn't work out” and they kind of cut into their haircut. So we have a few of those who come in and we have to fix their beard, we have to fix the back of their neck, taper it in. They try to maintain it at home but sometimes a lot of our clients, of course men, don't realize that it's way harder to maintain things, to keep your beard looking really nice or if you like it tapered in or sharp lines it's kind of hard to keep up at home so you know we have a lot of guys who come in who want us to fix their mistakes which is mostly their beard and the back of their neck."

"Guys definitely come in wanting parts. I feel, caesar or faux hawk, any type of men's haircut you have as a black man, I still feel that they always want a part somewhere you know? To design cuts aren't really that in, I feel like they're going for more like classic looks which are very simple and clean but like, I like the parts, even if it's like the back of their neck or just one part in the front, it just gives them a classic look... a touch, not too plain, a little edge. I love doing parts, I'm not a design person, I like very simple clean looks but a part is just fin, it add to the personality of someone's look. It's not for everyone, I feel like a lot of Barbers don't know how to do a part too, there's very few barbers that can personalize parts for that person. I see a lot of guys walking around with parts that are completely in the wrong place, you know what I mean?"

Like trying to do the Drake part and then totally messing it up.

"Right right, it has to fit you but when it's done right, it looks so good, it's like the final touch for that cut."

"A lot of black guys I feel come in and cut their hair off in the summer, it gets a bit too much. They'll grow out their fros, like their hair into fros or they'll do like a faux hawk and then like summer time comes they're like, just give me a Caesar. Yeah I feel more and more people are gong back to Caesars which is really cool, I grew up seeing Caesars all the time you know as I got into beauty and grooming I realized that there are so many different men's haircuts and I feel like this past fall its been like faux hawks and parts and more classic cuts and I feel like a lot of guys are going back to this like buzz you know? I haven't seen the waves action come back yet buy just like kinda just clean, a little taper on the sides, sideburns, going into like the Caesar, taper on the neck still but you could basically still call it a Caesar."

"I use [Blind Barber's] 60/90 proof on black men [as well]. I grew up using like Murray's and just natural products and you go into a black barbershop and you see so many products at their station and you're like oh my god, you don't know what to use but I feel like, you know working at Blind Barber, where a company can provide products for all hair types, it's pretty awesome because it just narrows it down to the best for all different textures and we have a lot of black guys who come into Blind Barber and I use blind Barber products on their hair even though they may not think it's for their hair but I would recommend the 90 proof for African American hair because it lays the curls down especially it you're trying to do a clean look with ways or going into a faux hawk it just works works with curls so good, especially when hair is a little but damp but that's what I personally use on all of the black guys who come into my branch at my station, my chair. I think it's the best, I've worked with so many different brands and to be honest, not a lot of brands work, but you an always stick to the old school which is Murray's, you can't go wrong with Murray's or you use some natural products that I recommend for guys who don't like to use like products, who lean towards the natural side, coconut oil, I recommend olive oil."

"Olive oil is like the natural thing that you can use that you can get from like a basic store, especially for black guys who have natural hair, like a little curl or a tape up or a blowout, you know what I mean? Sometimes they come in with their hair super dry which is like all men, black or white, they're very low maintenance, they don't know what to use, they kind of just lean towards what their friend recommends or what their girlfriend recommends or what they read but you know, sometimes if you can't find, I tell my black clients that if you can't find a product that actually works for your hair then you can lean towards the natural stuff which do actually work, you just have to find the right product. I try to keep them posted on like castor oil, black ash oil, the Jamaican lime product—it's like an African brand, they just created a like castor oil that has like scented rosemary or coconut or you could say lavender, because castor oil doesn't really have a good smell to it, it stinks. But castor oil is so good , it keeps you hair hydrated and at the same time moisturized and shiny, you now it's really good for black hair.

"So if they don't like the Blind Barber product, I’ll recommend something like that with a leave in. I try give as much tips to African American guys who walk into Blind Barber because it's something totally new to them, they're so used to the black culture and the black barbershop vibe and Blind just offers so much more and you know seeing a barbershop that has their own brand is something new to them and to be honest, they're probably used to using what they've seen inside a hood barbershop so I try to relate to what they're used to seeing and what we have now and try and figure out that middle ground that they can find the right product for their hair type. I try be as helpful as I can to be honest."

I like electric shave just because shaving is super sensitive to African American skin especially if they shave with razor, they have to be super careful they don't get any ingrown hairs and just around the neck period or their face is just really really sensitive because their hair's so coarse. So to be honest, all the beard trims, I only do with an outliner and a t-liner, they're the only to machines that I use right now. I'm so for using electric just because you can sanitize it, straight edge razors you can as well but at the same time you have less control over whether your hair's gonna take to that blade or your skin's gonna take to that blade so I would recommend to just be on the safe side with African American skin by just using an outliner a t-liner, you can use your masters to just kind of trim the beard so it looks really natural from the neck, when they lift their neck up it just has a natural fade as opposed to going in with a razor and giving it a sharp crispy line. The t-liner itself can give you a crispy line like if you had a razor put to your face, you just have to know how to use it as in how to angle it and make sure that it gets those little hairs that a barber would see if you're going to do the maintenance at home. It just takes a lot of practice too, I try to teach my clients how they can trim and keep it up in between the 4-6 weeks that they see me, you now what I mean?"

"I would recommend that if you're the person who knows how to take care of your beard at home and clean it up, make sure that you sanitize so your skin stays health and fresh for the summer, if you're not that person that you have a consistent barber so your line on your beard or your haircut can be always sharp, I'm very into looking crispy for the summer. I feel like the line should always look good, don't want to see hair growing in and stuff. I would recommend for guys to moisturize, use a cleanser, moisturize to keep their skin on point when they're shaving as well. Products: Bevel of course and if you like using natural products, I would recommenced Yes products, I don't know if you ever heard of Yes products, it's a natural product and I use it, I actually met a guy on the street and asked him what he used on his skin because his skin was awesome and he said Yes products and I went out and tried it ad that's what I use and I've been using for a year now and you can get a wide range of products on an natural level for all different types of skin for men and women, like a unisex products, it's not just for women.

"For hair products I would recommend for men and their hair, I would recommended for them to wash their hair pretty often just because that matters and affects their skin, because a lot of men don't like to shampoo their hair, I would recommend them to keep it hydrated for the summer, especially if your hair is summer curly, if you have a very thick texture it doesn't matter, if you're African American it should always be hydrated using natural products like I said before you can use Shea butter you can use olive oil you can use coconut oil. When it comes to a brand I love Blind Barber so of course I'm going to recommend Blind Barber because that's what I personally use for all my men that's outside of the natural realm."