Many of your customers love that short “fresh” haircut look around the sides. An equal number of folks would drop you like a rock if their side hair is cut too short.
Avoiding a freshly cut look around the sides is easy with the use of longer clipper blades like the #3 1/2 and 3 3/4. It can be left even longer with the clipper (or scissors) over comb cutting method. If these longer ways of cutting the sides are given a sharp outline around the ears and neck, the haircut will still have a fairly fresh cut look.
Occasionally a customer will tell you they want their hair to look like it was cut a month ago. In this case you would give it a longer side cutting and also have extra length left on edge hairs around the ears and neck. Leaving those edge hairs, (especially on the sides of the neck), a half inch or more from the natural hairline gives the hair that “been worn a while” appearance.
ENOUGH
If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.
Lao-Tzu