We Will Give You a Fair Answer on This One
Broadway Barbers is one side of this comparison, so we have a financial interest in you choosing a professional barber. We are going to be honest about it anyway, because giving you a balanced view is more useful than a self-serving argument. Home haircuts work for some things. Professional barbershop cuts are better for others. The right answer depends on what you are trying to achieve.
This guide covers the genuine pros and cons of each option, a direct comparison across the factors that matter most and a clear guide to when each one is the sensible choice.
DIY vs Professional: Pros and Cons of Each
Here is what each option actually delivers and what it costs you in terms of time, money and risk.
The DIY Haircut
- No cost beyond the initial tool purchase
- No appointment or travel required
- Can be done at any time
- Adequate for very simple styles like buzz cuts
- Useful for maintaining an existing cut between visits
- Very difficult to see the back and sides accurately
- No professional assessment of your face shape or hair type
- Fades, tapers and blending require years of practice
- Mistakes are common and often need a professional to fix
- The corrective cut can cost more than the original professional cut would have
- The cut typically grows out poorly
The Professional Cut
- Skilled execution with professional tools
- Proper consultation and face shape assessment
- Fades, tapers and scissor work done accurately
- The cut grows out cleanly between visits
- Advice on styling and maintenance included
- Consistent result you can rely on every visit
- Costs £17 for an adult cut at Broadway Barbers
- Requires booking in advance or a walk-in visit
- Takes approximately 20–30 minutes of your time
DIY vs Professional: Where Each Option Wins
Here is how the two options compare across every factor that matters to a man deciding where to get his haircut.
Book a Professional Cut at Chesham Barbers
A professional adult haircut at Broadway Barbers costs £17 for approximately 20 minutes. Book via Booksy and arrive knowing your result will be consistent, precise and properly finished at the neckline.
To book a professional cut at a fair price with an experienced team in Chesham, visit Chesham Barbers where Broadway Barbers has been delivering quality cuts on The Broadway since 2001.
When a DIY Cut Is Acceptable and When It Is Not
Here is our honest assessment of the situations where cutting your own hair is reasonable and those where it is likely to cause problems.
DIY Is Reasonable For...
A simple all-over buzz cut at a uniform length with no fading or blending. Maintaining a very short buzz between professional visits where you are simply running clippers over your head at the same guard length as your last cut. Touching up the back of the neck between visits if you have someone to help you. Growing out a longer style where no precision work is needed and you simply want to tidy the overall shape very slightly. These are the narrow circumstances where DIY produces acceptable results.
DIY Is a Poor Choice For...
Anything involving a fade, taper or blend between different lengths. Any scissor work beyond a basic trim. Beard shaping that requires clean lines and symmetry. Any cut that involves seeing the back of your own head with precision. Any style that requires professional judgment about what will suit your face shape and hair type. The vast majority of men's haircuts fall into this category, which is why the DIY approach so often produces results that require professional correction.
The True Cost of a DIY Cut Gone Wrong
A bad DIY cut that requires a professional corrective visit costs the same as a professional cut in the first place, plus the time and frustration of the failed attempt. For anything beyond a simple buzz, the financial saving is often illusory. The additional week of working with a poor haircut while waiting for the corrective visit is a real and recurring cost that does not appear in the simple calculation of "free vs £17."
The Lockdown Effect
The most widespread recent exposure most men have had to DIY haircuts was during the periods when barbershops were closed. The near-universal experience of those months produced a clear lesson: a buzz cut was manageable. Anything more complex was not. The return to barbershops when they reopened was, for most men, a relief rather than a choice between equal alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth buying professional clippers for home use?
Good quality consumer clippers are a reasonable investment if you have very short hair and maintain it with a simple buzz at a consistent length. They will not give you the precision of a professional barber's tools and technique but they are adequate for basic maintenance. For anything beyond a uniform buzz, the tools are not the limiting factor. The skill and the ability to see and work on your own head are. No consumer clipper purchase changes those constraints.
Can a YouTube tutorial teach me to cut my own hair?
YouTube tutorials can teach you the theory of a cut and give you a reasonable understanding of the techniques involved. What they cannot give you is the hand-eye coordination, the muscle memory and the spatial awareness of working on your own head that takes a professional barber years of practice to develop. The gap between understanding how a fade works and executing one accurately is large and almost entirely made up of repetition on real hair. Most men who try cuts beyond a basic buzz discover this fairly quickly.
How much can I realistically save by cutting my own hair?
An adult haircut at Broadway Barbers costs £17. If you visit every four weeks, that is approximately £221 per year. A decent set of consumer clippers costs £30 to £60. The annual saving is real but the quality of the result is also real. For most men who want anything more than a simple buzz, the saving comes with a consistent reduction in the quality and precision of the cut and the way it grows out. Whether that trade-off is worth it is a personal decision based on your priorities and the complexity of your style.
What should I do if I have already given myself a bad haircut?
Do not attempt to fix it at home with further cutting. The instinct to "even it up" almost always makes the situation worse rather than better. Visit a professional barber as soon as possible and explain what happened honestly. A skilled barber can often salvage more than you expect from a DIY cut gone wrong, particularly if you have not compounded the original mistake with further attempts to fix it. Broadway Barbers can be reached on 01494 784167 to discuss what can be done.
The Chesham Barber Hub
This guide is part of The Chesham Barber Hub, a complete resource covering haircut costs, services, booking and everything else related to your barbershop experience in Chesham.
Explore the HubFor more guides on haircut costs, what a professional barber delivers and everything else related to visiting a barbershop in Chesham, visit The Chesham Barber Hub where every guide in this series is available in one place.