Hey guys, I'm a neebie and am looking for some advice. First a bit of background. I've had a receding hairline as far back as age 18. It bothered me quite a bit until I got to my mid 20s, when I pretty much decided I had to accept it, as it was definitely not getting any better (it was getting worse, of course!). Now at 29, I'm somewhere in the 5/5A area on the Norwood Scale.
For years I had been keeping it quite short, with a number 2 back and sides and short on top at the barber. I was gradually getting sick of how obvious it was that I was going so thin on top (hair on back and sides is so much thicker), and thought it could look better shaved. I asked for a number 1 all over at the barber. The hairdresser suggested going for a 2 on top, and a 1 round the sides and see what I thought of that. I agreed. I was very happy with the results.
Although I could slightly notice that the sides were darker than the top (due to the thinning), it wasn't particularly obvious likely due to the number 1 on sides and 2 on top. Although I was very happy with the results, I knew I couldn't go back every 2 weeks to get this done as it would cost a fortune. My brother had some clippers that he'd been shaving his head with for years (he only has a receding hairline, none of the thinning), so I got myself some of those. I decided that, as I am not a pro hairdresser, I'd shave it down to a number 2 all over, which ought to be easier than the 1 on sides and 2 on top. I wasn't as happy with the result this time. It's much more obvious that the sides are much thicker than the top when shaving it this way.
Does anyone have any advice? I'm not confident shaving number 1 round the sides and 2 on top as I'm not sure if the hairdresser has a special technique for this that I'd mess up. Do I simply shave the thicker parts down to a number 1 (some of the thicker hair is on the top in the Norwood 5 way) while shaving the rest of the top to a number 2? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks.