Diane Tinkle Hair Cutting Comb with Dual-Sided Design and Platinum-Coated Blades for Trimming, Layering, and Styling Hair at Home

My original review, of many years ago: "My wife keeps my hair trimmed with this economical little gadget. It's so perfect that I haven't been to a barber in over a year. Another nice feature: the regular, double-edged blades can be changed without injuring yourself." UPDATE 08.15.20: After another night of home barbering I want to weigh in again in support of this product. I wouldn't bother but for the fact that, as COVID-19 continues to ravage the U.S., barber shops and hair salons are now operating at different levels of customer safety. I have no desire to put any honest, hardworking professional out of business, but I do want to address some of the concerns and criticisms that have been made of this product. 1. "It's cheap." Well, yes. It's very economical and has been inexpensively produced in hard plastic. I'm sure the manufacturer intended that it probably be used for light trimming of bangs. However—and here's the value of the product for me—it can be used to cut a whole head of hair, male of female, IF your hair is not very long. My hair is quite thick but in length what I would call "a regular American cut": neither skinhead nor down to my shoulders. For years I have been using this product for regular haircutting—every 6–8 weeks—and it works for me. 2. "The plastic teeth break off." I've owned three, each kept in a different location. None of the teeth has yet broken off. Of course, my spouse and I treat it gently. It doesn't profess to be manufactured as an industrial-strength product and shouldn't be expected to hold up as one. 3. "It slices my fingers." No. Properly, carefully seated in the instrument, the double-edged razor blades will not cut your fingers unless you are inserting the blades hurriedly and incautiously. Then, as with a double-edged facial razor, you may well cut your fingers—but that's not a fault of this instrument's design. Slowing down and being more careful will solve that problem. 4. "My hair doesn't look as good after using it as if I had gone to a salon." Well, of course not. Just because I and others may so use it doesn't mean that the manufacturer intended such use. Some of us have opted to use it that way, and, because of my spouse's amateur skill, I've never been embarrassed by the outcome. I'm professionally employed but am not an actor, politician, or other worker in the eye of the general public, whose employment depends on expensive hairstyling. Now that I stay at home and work, like many others, I'm seen even less. Over the years I have saved literally hundreds of dollars with the regular use of a product that costs less than five bucks. I stand by my original recommendation. For simple trimming or more extensive haircutting, this is a well constructed, very economical, tool that gets the job done, saves money, and—in this dangerous season—may provide a safe alternative to those who do not yet feel comfortable returning to their neighborhood haircutter.

I'm used to cutting my own hair, which is wavy and very thick. I've tried other razor combs, but I think this one is best, because of the longer cutting edge, the two cutting sides, and the replaceable blades. The price is the best also. The main thing is to use a light stroke and angle the comb so it doesn't take too much hair at once. Requires some getting used to and some caution. Blades are very sharp, so easy on the pressure! I either do a sort of a loose, soft wedge with lots of fringe, a short pixie, or something in between. I start with the Flowbee vacuum-design DIY haircutter to get the basic shape. While it's still wet, I put in some conditioner and razor it carefully all over. Then I rinse and blow-dry my hair more-or-less straight with a paddle brush, put in a silky leave-in conditioner (lots), and flat iron the front. Once it's dry and flat, I can create the detail with the razor comb (without the mistakes that curls would cause), smoothing behind the ears and around the neck, shaping the crown, smoothing from back to front, and framing the face. Once the cut is complete, I can let it curl or flat iron it, either way, because it's a balanced cut. Just the Flowbee alone will leave the hair too chunky and unnatural, at least for thick hair. It's an essential for me, though. The Flowbee site charges less than Amazon for their product. They're based in Houston and will ship by UPS. I've repaired my boyfriend's inexpensive haircuts with this, and it works very well at taking out bumps and ridges that aren't meant to be there. I just have to be sure to put in lots of slick leave-in conditioner, so that it doesn't pull. Also need to be sure the blades are sharp. (Another good way to do this is with a comb and thinning shears--the way the barbers do it, except they use regular scissors for this. You hold the section horizontal with the comb and carefully snip at it with the shears; keep combing down and lifting/snipping until all the bumps are blended out.) Some people say it causes split ends and frizz for them. Doesn't do this for me at all. The thinning shears will make my hair look frizzy and frazzled if I'm not careful (so I rarely use them on myself), but the razor combs never do that to me. Good luck to you, and I hope this helps. It sure saves money, once you're used to it. Also, you'll notice more easily the mistakes a hairdresser makes if you know how to cut your own. You'll want to continue giving yourself that special attention that is so expensive at a salon.

I bought this to cut my hair. Not shape or style... I mean CUT my hair. This product is great because a) it's cheap, b) it takes two standard double-edged razor blades (the kind you use in any common safety razor), c) it comes apart and goes together easy, d) it's easy to clean (toss it in the dishwasher). I toss 2 blades into this, wet my hair in the shower, then go out on the patio to shave up the back & sides of my hair. I then shape the hair around the crown. It takes a bit of doing, and the sharpness of your blades makes all the difference, but you can get a very good, even, 1/16" white-wall cut with this comb very quickly and easily. For the top I just pull the hair to the distance I want and cut through it with the comb. The top may take some practice, but doing the sides and back is so easy anyone could do it. When I'm done, the blades have enough sharpness that I can use them for the next 2 weeks of shaving. So, I cut my hair short & tight and I have shaves ... for 2 weeks.... all with just 2 DE blades, a safety razor and this Tinkle Comb. One thing I will note, I originally bought this to shave our long haired dacshund. He's not a fan of loud trimmers, and he has very fine fur/hair. So, I figured a razor comb would do great, since I read other folks saying they used similar things on cats and worked out good. Well, it took fur off... but the way the razor comb works is it thins out the length of the hair so much to the part that it cuts it off at that his hair got frizzy-looking very easily. So, it didn't work out so well for that. But, worked great for my hair-cutting needs. Would buy it again.

I haven't tried this on my natural hair but I've used it for a thick wig. Cuts through perfect! Great for the price.

Just comb and it thins your hair. Good one. Be careful when using it. It takes quite a bit off if you aren't careful.

Cuts very easily and doesnt look like you just had the haircut

This product more than met my expectations.

Helps to get that edgy layered look.