# Getting a hair cut: Do you face the mirror or away from it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972 "2015-01-04T20:27:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/1 "2015-01-04T20:27:25Z")
Am I crazy, or did all the barbers get together about 5-10 years ago and decide they would all just start facing customers away from the mirror. Before that, I remember always facing the mirror while the barber cut my hair. Now it seems like that never happens. The barbers all turn the customers away from the mirror so he doesn’t see the finished product until the end. I don’t frequent the same barber, and I get a haircut about once a week or so. All of them turn their customers away from the mirror. I wonder if they all do this now because it cuts down on customers pointing out spots that were missed which the barber didn’t really miss but hasn’t gotten to yet. Seems like that would get annoying for a barber, so I can see why they would do this. Or maybe I’m just crazy. 1. Has anyone else noticed this change? 2. Does your barber face you away or toward the mirror? ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/2 "2015-01-04T20:31:46Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > 1. Has anyone else noticed this change? > > 2. Does your barber face you away or toward the mirror? My barber cuts my hair with me facing away from the mirror. At the end, he spins you around to face the mirror and says some canned line about looking like a new man, etc. 🙂 I feel like I’ve been in barbershops that have done it both ways…maybe whatever lets the barber face the door and the other customers more often. I’ve also been in shops with mirrors on both walls, so you can’t escape it. I’m fine with facing away from the mirror…I don’t want to stare at myself the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/3 "2015-01-04T20:48:26Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > I’m fine with facing away from the mirror…I don’t want to stare at myself the entire time. I definitely don’t mind facing away. It just strikes me as odd because it seems as if it was almost universally done the one way, and now it is always done the other. Since I go to different barbers in different shops, in different states, it should be about 50/50 or at least something a bit more random than _always_ away. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/4 "2015-01-04T20:55:27Z")
5 chairs at LBS; all face you towards the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/5 "2015-01-04T20:57:05Z")
I started cutting my own hair about three years ago. Before that, I always went to Supercuts, and they \*always \*had me sitting facing into the mirror. Only at the end, they would spin you around and give you a hand mirror so you could see the back of your head. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/6 "2015-01-04T21:20:58Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I started cutting my own hair about three years ago. Before that, I always went to Supercuts, and they \*always \*had me sitting facing into the mirror. Only at the end, they would spin you around and give you a hand mirror so you could see the back of your head. Agreed, facing the mirror seems to be very common in women’s salons and unisex places like SuperCuts. Personally, I doubt if there’s been a serious large-scale shift in the last 5-10 years on which way barbers face their customers…I think it’s probably always been a little scattered, maybe tending toward facing away (and largely depending on factors like shop layout), and the OP just happens to have seen a lot of “facing the mirror” barbers in the past and a lot of “facing away” barbers lately. But that’s just my gut feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/7 "2015-01-04T21:24:50Z")
All chairs at my barber’s shop face the mirror. I’ve never seen a barber’s shop set up otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/8 "2015-01-04T21:27:03Z")
My hair stylist also faces me toward the mirror. Don’t think I’ve had one who didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/9 "2015-01-04T21:49:34Z")
Toward the mirror, not that it matters since all I see is a big shiny blur. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/10 "2015-01-04T21:59:19Z")
I don’t believe I’ve ever had a haircut in my life where I was facing the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/11 "2015-01-04T22:13:37Z")
Same observation as the OP. Thirty years ago, the barber would seat me in front of the mirror, and I could entertain myself by watching big hunks of hair drop away. Now, they face me away from the mirror. Not just one barber shop: I’m thinking of about six. (Okay, not the most impressive statistical sample…) Maybe people were freaking out. “Hey! You just cut my bangs too short!” Now, you don’t see the damage until they whirl you about. Anybody actually asked a barber? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/12 "2015-01-04T22:59:51Z")
I go to a salon which charges $40 for a cut. If I wasn’t looking at the mirror and discussing the cut with my stylist, that would be a rip off. I’m paying for a service, not getting a crew cut to join the military. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/13 "2015-01-04T23:54:23Z")
A proper men’s barber shop has matching wall mirrors on both sides so that you get an endless you and the barber series of images. You are in the chair facing away from the sinks to the mirrors over the customers who are still waiting. Sports and the weather are allowed to be discussed among all the customers. My barber shop also adds Democratic politics because the owner “Sal” is a Democrat. I can’t imagine why he subjects the right wing loons to this, but it isn’t my shop. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/14 "2015-01-05T01:10:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t believe I’ve ever had a haircut in my life where I was facing the mirror. Me, neither. In fact I would guess most men, or at least the regular customers, prefer to face away from the mirror because it makes it easier to shoot the shit with the other customers waiting their turns. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/15 "2015-01-05T01:20:58Z")
I get my hair cut facing the mirror. I am a chick, but my stylist describes himself as a barber who figured out that cutting women’s hair was way more lucrative. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/16 "2015-01-05T02:38:40Z")
Can’t say. Since I was little I’ve always kept my eyes closed. Bad experience once with a bunch of hairs getting in my eye. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/17 "2015-01-05T02:52:58Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > …and I get a haircut about once a week or so. … Once a week, do people do this 😕 Yes I know that women are stereotyped to go to the hair salons regularly to gossip, but that is a social outing of sorts in that case. I didn’t know that men would go this often, like how much could hair grow in a week :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/18 "2015-01-05T02:54:31Z")
Yep, there really are guys who get a weekly trim. Me, I get a cut about three times a year. Whether I need it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/19 "2015-01-05T03:15:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t believe I’ve ever had a haircut in my life where I was facing the mirror. Ditto that. At many barbershops in at least 10 cities (mostly in California) over 40++ years. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Me, I get a cut about three times a year. Whether I need it or not. Ditto that too. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972/20 "2015-01-05T06:08:52Z")
I largely stopped paying someone else to cut my hair before the supposed change. Overwhelmingly I was facing away from the mirror pre-2000 when I made the change. Overwhelmingly, when I’ve paid for haircuts since, it’s been away from the mirror too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-hair-cut-do-you-face-the-mirror-or-away-from-it/708972.md?page=2)