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 7/7/17 Tim Carr 7/7/17

Back from Vacation

Now that I've been back from vacation for a few weeks and things have settled down a little in the salon, I thought it would be an excellent time to catch up on my blog posts and share some insights with all of you. My vacation was fantastic; it was truly nice getting out of LA for a while and having the chance to relax and recharge for a little bit. However, as the end of the trip approached, I found myself ready to return to the salon and get back to the enjoyable work of cutting hair again. Typically, I don't bring my tools home to cut hair when I’m away—most of the high-quality hair cutting tools that professional stylists use are quite expensive (especially the clippers, shears, and clipper blades), and I just don't trust checking them during travel.

The only updates I have regarding the salon at this moment are quite exciting; we’re finally getting air conditioning! Many of the guys who came in to the salon mentioned that it wasn't that bad—though perhaps they were just being polite. Regardless, working in there has been pretty warm with the hot weather we've been experiencing in Culver City lately.

Since I've been cutting hair at the Culver City location, I've noticed that they don't seem to enforce the 4-6 no parking rule on Sawtelle very consistently. This has prompted a lot of guys to ask about it while getting their haircut. Still, it's an "at your own risk" situation, so I encourage everyone to be cautious. Additionally, I wanted to share a little tip: there has been a speed trap on Sepulveda quite a lot lately. It seems like every day I observe multiple people being pulled over on Sawtelle after being caught. Fortunately, none of them were clients coming to the salon, but I thought it would be good to give everyone a heads-up. They also have several red light cameras situated right around the salon on Sepulveda, so be mindful of that if you decide to take that route to visit us.

As for my schedule, weekends have been filling up a little faster than usual. Most Friday nights, I find that I don’t have any available slots for haircuts for the upcoming Saturday, and this Friday, it's already getting late and I still have a handful of spots left. Lately, booking same-day appointments on the weekends has been challenging, especially if there are only a couple of times that work for you.

Just wanted to take a moment to check in with everybody. I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful and enjoyable 4th of July celebration. I am looking forward to seeing you in the salon soon!

Tim

Tim Carr 1/10/17 Tim Carr 1/10/17

Moving

I wanted to take a moment to write a blog post to inform everyone that we will be moving to a new location, and I will be cutting hair in a lovely salon in Culver City. I will also be sending out an email with all the details, alongside this blog post, so unless you've opted to unsubscribe from Vagaro emails, you should be receiving that important information shortly. Aside from the new location of the salon, I want to assure you that everything else will remain consistent,

There will also be some benefits on your end by the move to Culver City. I haven't been able to scout it out myself, but there's a free parking lot. No more having to use the garage, valet, or walk from Ralphs. With the extra space in the Culver City salon, we'll be able to have a waiting area and you won't have to find a bench outside of the suite while waiting for your haircut like you currently do at Sola. With the addition of a waiting area, we want to serving drinks again. I don't have a timetable of when that's going to start, Krissy is taking care of that, but we are planning on having coffee, soda, water, and beer again. The beer is something that people who have been getting their hair cut by me since the beginning have been asking for ever since my former salon got rid of it, so I'm glad to be bringing it back. We're planning on getting a bigger TV, putting it on the wall, and having the same set up for sports on it as I do now with the WatchESPN, NBA League Pass, etc.

Just as it was with the move from the last salon, I'm sure there will be some people that Culver City is more of a drive for so I'm willing to be flexible with my hours. I can't open everything up in Vagaro, but if you're looking for a hair appointment a little later than you see available in the online booker so you can miss traffic, give me a call or shoot me a text and we can try to schedule a hair appointment that will work best for you. For earlier appointments, I need to know the night before so I can plan ahead since I'm driving from Woodland Hills to Culver City.

I would just like everyone to know that this decision wasn't made lightly--but this was the best of the few options that were available to me. I looked into staying at Sola, but there are no suites opening up soon enough, and there's a waiting list (which I'm not currently on) for when one does open up. Staying in the current suite by myself would cost too much, and not even an option since I'm not on the waiting list for it. All of the other West LA salon suites are full as well. I checked with Salon Republic and Phenix. I also looked at closer hair salons to rent a chair in, but they were all very expensive, and I also wouldn't have the access I would need to work my hours six days a week. Some people at Sola offered to let me do hair out of their suite, but I would only be able to work one or two days a week doing that. I don't want anyone to think I'm just going to be bouncing around all over different salons in Los Angeles, Krissy signed a five year lease on this space, so this will be my last move until I'm able to open my own salon--which is years away at this point. With very few options, I think the salon in Culver City will work out best.

In closing, I really hope this works out and everyone is able to make it into the new space. I genuinely like cutting everyone's hair who comes in. I've had friends who don't do hair ask me how I handle difficult/rude clients and I always tell them that there's not anyone who's hair I cut that I wouldn't go out and grab a beer with. I will be sending an email when I know the exact date for the move to Culver City, which depends on how long it takes a plumber to get our shampoo bowls and sinks in. We're hoping for Feb 1st, but will know for sure after the plumber gets a chance to to look at the salon. I will send out an email as soon as I know. Stay tuned for photos or the new salon!

Hope to see you soon!

Tim

Update 1/3-/2017

The plumbing is done and the moving day is set. I will start doing hair out of the Culver City salon on January 31st. The last day in the Sola suite will be Saturday the 28th, I won't be working in either salon that Sunday because we will be moving things between the west LA and Culver City spaces. If you didn't receive an email, you may have unsubscribed yourself from Vagaro's emails. I will update the confirmation emails when we move with instructions for getting to the new salon, parking, etc.

Tim Carr 12/27/16 Tim Carr 12/27/16

What's New in Men's Hair for 2017?

That's a good question. With 2016 almost over, I've been looking for the best answer to that on different men's fashion websites, blogs, instagram posts, and a few youtube videos. I clicked on a link that said long hair will be in and the new thing, but then when I got to the article it was all pictures of guys with fades and undercuts. I have a client who I've been giving an undercut to for a few years now, and at the beginning of 2016 he was looking for something new, checked a few websites, and found the same thing as me--that undercuts were the "new" thing for 2016. I'm not knocking the haircut, it's one of favorites to cut in the salon (and one of the best looking haircuts in my opinon, I was just using that example to make the point that men's haircuts don't change too much over time. I mean guys are still getting a haircut make popular by Julius Caesar. One thing I have noticed about the current trend for men's hair is that anything goes, which could explain why that particular haircut has lasted so long. When you can do whatever you want nothing (which exception to avant garde styles) really goes out of style. I don't know about other places, but in Los Angeles you can feel free to get that trendy undercut, grow your hair long, get a business/professional haircut, or pretty much anything you can think of. As long as it's cut properly and put together, your hair will look its best.

Tim Carr 6/20/16 Tim Carr 6/20/16

Unwanted Hair

As many of you know, Monday is the only day off, and even though I work in west LA I live out in Woodland Hills. Right now it's 110 degrees here, so I figured it would be a great time to stay inside and write another blog post.

For many men, myself include as we advance in age more and more unwanted hair keeps sprouting up. It can come in the form of back hair, ear hair, nose hair, and many guy's eyebrows can become bushy. Keeping this hair at bay can make a big difference in your overall appearance. Many men who visit me in the salon have me trim their eyebrows and ear hair, for some guys it's much easier for me to do it than to try it themselves at home. If your eyebrows are really bushy, I like to use a clipper over comb technique that will cut all of the long hairs and last until the next time you visit the salon. If you only have a couple wild hairs I use my comb and scissors to accurately cut only the few needed. Neither of these techniques will change the shape of your eyebrows or make you look effeminate. For men who have a unibrow, or starting to get one, I can wax the hair in the middle. If you're starting to get a unibrow, do not shave it! Not because of the old wives tale that shaving makes it grow back faster and thicker, but it just looks bad as the stubble starts to grow back in. I know I don't have any waxing on my service menu, but that's mainly because I don't do any eyebrow shaping. If you just want the hair in the middle removed, let me know a little in advance of your appointment so I get get the wax heated up, and we can do it at the shampoo bowl while the conditioner is on. I only charge $5 for this (mostly to cover the product costs) because it doesn't really add any time to what's already been allotted for your haircut. For ear hair, I generally clean that up as I'm finishing your haircut, most men just need a few cut off the lobes and the edge of the ear with the trimmers. I have a few hairs that come in on my ears, and I wax it off at home. This isn't a service I provide in the salon, but is't easy to do at home. You will need a wax pot, some hard wax, and some small applicator sticks. I buy all of this on Amazon, but make sure you get hard wax, the soft requires paper strips to get it off. If you're unsure which to get, you can email me and I'll send you a link. All you have to do is heat the wax up in the warmer, apply it to the hair with one of the sticks (go with the grain when you apply), wait for it to dry, and pull it off against the grain of the hair once dry. You'll have to work up a little corner with your fingernail to grip in order to pull it off. The reason I think this is best instead of just trimming the hair off is that when you rip a hair out over and over, eventually the follice will die and hair won't grow their anymore. I've been waxing my unibrow for long enough now, that even if I forget to keep up on it, mostly peach fuzz grows there now. If I hadn't been doing that for years and forgot about it, I would have something growing that would rival Anthony Davis. If you're a person that gets a lot of ingrown hairs, waxing may not me for you--also if you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to ask me the next time you're in the salon.

Tim Carr 5/5/16 Tim Carr 5/5/16

Dealing With Hair Loss

In my last blog about products I touched on hair loss/thinning when talking about my hair care regiment. Some of this will be repeat of what I mentioned in that blog along with some new information. Unless asked, I really don't like to mention how thin someone's hair is getting if they haven't brought it up in the conversation. About a year ago, I had a client who I had been seeing for years talk about how he was losing his hair. I didn't know he was talking about his slightly receding hairline and thought he was talking about how he was getting pretty thin in the crown. When we figured we were both talking about different areas, he said, "Wait a minute.... I'm thinning in the back too?". I showed him the spot I was talking about with a hand mirror, he told me I had ruined his day, and I never saw him again. I didn't show him that he was thinning in that area to be like, "Ha ha, you're going bald.", I showed him because I wanted to let him know how he could slow the thinning down and possibly grow some hair back. It would have been the perfect time to try to fight the thinning, it hadn't gotten that bad yet, and once it's all the way gone, it's too late.

When you first notice thinning, there's a couple things you can do right off the bat that are easy and have no cost to you. Don't wash your hair in hot water, and you don't want to traumatize your hair, so when you get out of the shower, just dab it dry. Since growth hormone levels shoot up at night, try to get at least seven hours of sleep a night.

For shampoo and styling products, only use professional products that don't have any silicone or petroleum in them. Both of these ingredients can clog the follicle and eventually suffocate the hair. Some of the drugs store shampoos create a waxy build up which can make the hair look more shiny, but the same build up occurs on your scalp which can hinder hair growth. Right now I am using the Eufora Complete Shampoo and Revitalizing Treatment for my shampoo and conditioner. Nioxin has a good system too, but after the shampoo and conditioner there is a third step where you put a product on your scalp and I'm afraid that will interfere with the Rogaine I use so I go with Eufora instead.

As for Rogaine, it is only FDA approved to say it works on the crown (that back circle where you see guys get a bald spot), some people have told me they've seen results using it all over, but it's kind of a greasy mousse type product that I don't want to have all over my entire head if I'm not going to see a benefit. It's not bad having it in that circle in the back, especially with how long I have my hair now. The active ingredient in Rogaine is minoxidil, if you can find a generic version with the same percentage of minoxidil it will work the same. I buy Target's brand, and it costs me about $25 for a three month supply. When you first start using the product there will be some shedding, if that happens, don't worry--it just means it's working. If you don't see growth right away, don't get discouraged, it takes a while to work. I think it took about six months for me. I was about ready to give up on it when a friend caught a glimpse of the back of my head and made a comment about how my hair had really grew back, and that he noticed how bald I was getting back there and didn't want to say anything because he didn't think there was anything I could do about it. Before I started taking it, whenever I could go to a bar or club I would make sure I wasn't sitting directly under a light because if I was people would be able to see through my hair in the back.

If you're thinning in other places besides the crown, Propecia may be for you. Propecia does require a prescription, and as with Rogaine, there are some generic versions that will save you some money. Propecia inhibits dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is responsible for miniaturising hair follicles, eventually leading to them falling out. You take one pill every day, and your hair loss should stall, then you may eventually see some new growth. There is also shedding with Propecia, I had so much that the girl who cuts my hair commented on it, and I was ready to quit until a client told me that he didn't get the shedding and it didn't regrow any hair either, but his friend who had shedding kept taking it and it "changed his life". There are side effects with Propecia for a very small percentage of the men who take it, I won't go into the numbers here, but at the bottom I'll link the post of a Redditor who did a lot of research about it before he started taking it.

There are some natural products that people claim slow down hair loss like flax seed and saw palmetto. There hasn't been a lot of research on saw palmetto, but what they have done seems promising. Saw palmetto extract may block 5 alpha-reductase, an enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. Not only does DHT cause hair loss, but it's bad for your prostate, so some of these drugs and natural remedies for hair loss help maintain a healthy prostate as well

If you're in the advanced stages of thinning, a hair transplant may be the best option for you. This is where a doctor extracts hair from the back of your head and places it where you are thinning on the top. Granted, this depends on the level of thinning, but to get a decent look, they need to transplant around 25,000 hairs. They can only do around 8,000 in a sessions, so expect a few visits. Transplanted hairs aren't subject to male pattern baldness, so they're there to stay, but your old ones that are there naturally still can, so you'll need to continue or start some type of regiment to keep them as long as possible. There are also several different brands of hair building fibers that can make your hair appear thicker and fuller that it really is. I haven't used them myself, but have seen clients who use them, and it does make the hair appear thicker. You do have to have some hair to work with though, you can't just shake them on a bald head.

Right now my hair loss regiment is Eufora Complete Shampoo and Revitalizing Treatment in the shower, Rogaine on my thin spot in the back right out of the shower, I take a generic form of Propecia at night, and put Rogaine on the crown again before I go to bed. I've found this is what works for me, what your hair responds to may be different, but there are many options to slow down or stop your hair loss on the market today. I've had people ask me if I really want to do all that for the rest of my life, but the way I look at, I'm just doing it to hang on to my hair until they come out with something better or a full on cure, and it seems like they're getting closer to that everyday.