My boyfriend hates getting his hair cut; he hates the waiting around, the pointless small talk and then paying an extortionate amount for 15 minutes work. It was in the winter when he started to think about a home cutting kit as he was sick of trailing about in the cold weather. He wears it in quite a short cropped style and it does not require much skill in perfecting this simple look. He suggested buying a pair of clippers for the home so that I could clip his hair for him, which I thought was a good idea as paying £15.00 every 4 weeks as it grows so quickly was a bit silly. We shopped around for a good product and wanted one with a reputable brand name. I have quite a bit of experience with Babyliss products and have never had any serious complaints with their items. The main selling point of this kit however was that it came with everything I needed in the set including barbers scissors, comb and a nifty little storage case to keep everything in. I’m a sucker for new things so I was quite excited about having a go with the set and playing with all the bits and pieces. My boyfriend did not experience the same level of joy though and was very nervous, I’m sure he thought he was going to lose an ear! I have never had any hairdressing training but I used to shave my brother’s head for him when we were teenagers. I have been using the kit for around 5 months and it has been fairly reliable, there has been some little niggles with the product but on the whole it has performed well and has saved us a lot of money!
Price and availability
The cost of this item is £17.99, bearing in mind that a single hair cut was costing my hairy man £15.00 every four weeks, we thought was a very moderately priced item. It was reduced from £36.99 in Argos.
What’s in the box?
Box Contains • 1 x Mains clipper • 8 x Comb guides • 1 x Pen trimmer • 1 x Trimmer comb guide • 1 x Barber's comb • 1 x Moustache comb • 1 x Cape • 1 x Scissors • 1 x Cleaning brush • 1 x oil • 3 x Sectioning clips • 1 x Storage case • 1 x Information booklet
The mains clippers are light, made from a combination of plastic and stainless steel. They have a short flex lead and run off the mains supply. With hindsight, a battery operated pair would have been easier to handle but then I may have been moaning about the battery life! Sometimes the lead does pull on the shaver and you have to overcompensate when you pull away, this can lead to the shaver moving a little too fast and missing bits. An advantage to mains power though is that the speed and power of the shaver is maintained. The kit also comes with a mini trimmer for the delicate area around the ears, this is battery operated and towards the end of the battery life, the trimmer becomes temperamental and slow.
The mian shaver is designed to fit comfortably in your hand, it has a narrower section ofr you to grip comfortably and rubber plates to assist you in gripping the shaver. Afterall you do not want it to escape from your hand, this could lead to a nasty accident as the blades are very sharp.
A selling point to the shaver is that it comes with 8 different cutting guards to adjust the length of the hair. The blades are diamond cut and made from stainless steel, they are really sharp and do not bend or falter. The blades are impressively sharp but the guards let the shaver down quite a lot. The sizes of the guards are 3 mm, 6 mm, 9.5 mm, 13 mm, 16 mm, 19 mm, 22 mm and 25 mm. The instructions help you decide which length will be best although I’m more familiar with the hair cut grade system to assist you in picking the right one. The 3 mm one will give you a grade 1 military style hair cut, grade 2 is 6 mm and grade 3 is 9.5mm. A grade four is usually 12 mm so we tend to go for the 13 mm one or the 16 mm depending how he wants it. The problem with the guards are that they are quite cheaply made and hard to get on and off. They are not the same quality as the rest of the razor and let the side down. They take forever to manipulate on and off.
The mini trim is a bit frustrating really too and we do not often use it. I used it more at first for round the ears but now I am more used to the feel of the main shaver that I do not panic too much and can do it with the larger item. The mini trim is small and handy though and uses a single AAA battery. It just does not have the power you will need, it misses bits and it is really cheaply constructed it. Babyliss would have done much better if they had left this item out and just had a decent pair of clippers in there. There is no need for half the attachments in here to be honest. The mini trim comes with a guard and a click on lid and it is designed for side burns and eye brows etc. If you require a smaller item for these parts then do not rely on this and buy another piece of kit as this just misses hairs and it is not very accurate.
The other items in the kit are novelty and not relevant. Why on earth would you need 3 sectioning clips with a pair of clippers? There is no way I’d tackle long hair with this kit, I have seconded these clips and have them for myself when I blow dry my hair in sections. Also in the kit is a moustache and barbers comb in one piece. Moustache combs are not relevant either but there will be uses for the regular comb, it just means that the prongs are a bit finer. The kit comes with a pair of scissors, these are needed to tidy up the bits that the clippers miss. Sometimes the clippers do miss bits, I think this is will be common for all clippers really. It means that afterwards we just tidy up these loose hairs and trim them down to the rest of the hair length. These scissors are really poor though and made from cheap plastic, they are wobbly and you can bend and twist them. They are really poor quality and Babyliss should have ditched some of the other bits and put in a better pair of scissors. Also in the kit is a cape, this is useful as it protects my boyfriends clothes although he often just does it bare chested. The cape is useful though as the little hairs just do not want to come off!
It does not protect my floor though, alas I need to sweep it myself. Afterwards I shake the cape outside to get the rest of the hairs off. All these bits and pieces fit into a storage case. I like this as guards get lost easily and it is good to keep everything together.
In use
The overall quality of the clippers is cheap but luckily the blade of the main item is really sharp and they cut well. It is the accessories that let this piece down really as I like the feel of the clippers. They are light, powerful and really sharp. The guards do not fit the best though and more time and effort should have gone into to perfecting these. Afterall, you cannot clip hair without a guard unless you want a very uneven short do! Once set up the clippers are easy to use though, the guard although hard to get on and off remains firm and once on you can cut the hair really quickly. I tend to start down the middle of the hair, working slowly and methodically in an upward motion. I clip up the middle, sectioning the left and right side of the hair and then clip each side in turn. It is best to do it slowly, not rushing and there is no need to push on too hard, let the guard do the work and control the size of the cut. As you clip the hair, remember to blow the hair from the clippers as this will hamer performance and use the comb or your hand to get the cut hair off the scalp as this will assist you in seeing where you need to go next. As you rub your hand over the head you will be able to feel the bits you have missed so you can go back and tidy these sections up. Around the ears and neck will need the scissors or the mini trim to tidy these sections up. I have another pair of scissors I use for trimming my fringe so I use these to tidy up around the hairline.
Cleaning
After every cut you should clean the clippers thoroughly to make sure you get the most out of them. They are guaranteed for 3 years but it get the best out of them you will need to look after them. The kit comes with oil and a brush to clean them with. The oil is essential to keep the blades working and sop them rubbing against each other and overheating. I use the brush to get all the hair out of the blades and around the trimmers and then a couple of drops of oil between the blades will keep them running smoothly. You can then store them away neatly in the case.
Overall
These are good clippers for the price but the accessories really let it down. Many of items in the kit are not needed and just add to the wow factor to get you to buy it in the first place. Next time we will buy just a pair of clippers, there is no need for all these bits and pieces and the mini trim is quite pointless anyway! I am used to the clippers now though and have used them around 5 times so I feel comfortable clipping the hair. If you go slowly you will not miss bits and the clippers are accurate and sharp. It is the guards that slow you down as they do not click on and off as they should and are quite poor quality. A mixed review so I probably would think twice about recommending this kit.
cheaper than the barbers? 
Great review. E.