{"id":14894,"date":"2019-02-18T00:21:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T08:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/?p=14894"},"modified":"2019-02-18T00:25:54","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T08:25:54","slug":"getting-a-haircut-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/getting-a-haircut-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting a Haircut in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is gonna sound a little crazy, cuz it is. I have never gotten a professional haircut in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>I have occasionally hacked off my own dry ends and taken the clippers to my husband, he has been to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/turkish-markets-in-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Turkish<\/a> barbers for a traditional buzz and ear hair burning (more on that later), and I have carefully trimmed my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/tag\/raising-children-in-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">daughter&#8217;<\/a>s bangs a time or two. But I am an amateur and it shows.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14895\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14895\" data-attachment-id=\"14895\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/getting-a-haircut-in-germany\/mad-valentines-pic-bangs\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?fit=640%2C960&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,960\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mad Valentine&#8217;s pic bangs\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Are those bangs straight? PHOTO: Erin Porter&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?fit=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?fit=640%2C960&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14895\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?resize=640%2C960&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-Valentines-pic-bangs.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14895\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Are those bangs straight? PHOTO: Ekaterina Koroleva<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more-->After 9 years, it is more than time. We need some help.<\/p>\n<p>There is no good reason we haven&#8217;t gotten our hair cut. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/tag\/berlin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Berlin<\/a> is full of <em>Friseur<\/em> (hair stylist). There are two on my block alone.<\/p>\n<p>But aside from general worries about a bad haircut, there are other concerns about a whole new set of German vocabulary. The internet is littered with accounts of shaky German-English encounters. The popular blogger, ohgodmywifeisgerman, has a typical account of poor translation in &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/ohgodmywifeisgerman.com\/2012\/10\/15\/culture-shock-2-an-american-attempts-to-get-a-haircut-in-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An American Attempts to Get a Haircut in Germany<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to avoid that. Especially with a fussy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/pregnant-in-germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">4-year-old<\/a> with crazy long hair that she hates to brush. I know a trim is the best thing for dealing with her ever-tangled hair so I was looking for an English-speaking hairdresser with a lot of patience and experience with kids. How hard could it be?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14898\" style=\"width: 778px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14898\" data-attachment-id=\"14898\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/getting-a-haircut-in-germany\/mad-brush-hair\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?fit=1280%2C1707&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1280,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"kid brush hair\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;PHOTO: Erin Porter&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-14898\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?resize=1200%2C1600&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Mad-brush-hair.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14898\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A rare happy hair brushing photo PHOTO: Erin Porter<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Where to find a Hairstylist in Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For so many things these days, facebook groups are my go-to when looking for something in Berlin. (If you haven&#8217;t checked it out already, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GermanWay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">German-Way has a Facebook page<\/a> as well as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/156618395085549\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forum<\/a> to ask questions). Since I was looking for a specific service for kids, I went to the hive mind for all things kids in Berlin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/107498526067436\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ExpatBabies Berlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There were a variety of posts about kid-friendly hairdressers so I started messaging. I heard back from one that I saw a friend also went to and quickly booked an appointment through messenger for all three of us.<\/p>\n<p>On the appointed day we showed up at her home studio, and ran into our first problem. Her name was not on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/germans-we-dont-need-apartment-numbers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buzzers<\/a>. There was an empty slot, so we tried that one. No answer. We hopped around trying to stay warm in the frigid February air and I messaged her. No answer. For 30 minutes we waited to see if perhaps she was running behind or would get back to us. But&#8230;nothing. Epic fail. (The next day she finally got back to me that her buzzer was broken and she didn&#8217;t know it &#8211; awwww flaky Berliners).<\/p>\n<p>So I am back at it again and have tried another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theenglishhairdresserinberlin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hair stylist from Facebook<\/a> (am I nuts? We will see). He at least lists a phone number so we have a back-up if need be. Hopefully this week these mangy heads will be transformed.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14900\" style=\"width: 850px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14900\" data-attachment-id=\"14900\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/getting-a-haircut-in-germany\/berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?fit=1696%2C1264&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1696,1264\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Berlin family in need of a haircut\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Berlin family in need of a haircut PHOTO: Ian Porter&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?fit=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?fit=1024%2C763&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-14900\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?resize=840%2C626&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"840\" height=\"626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?resize=1024%2C763&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?resize=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?resize=768%2C572&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?resize=1200%2C894&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.german-way.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Berlin-family-in-need-of-a-haircut.jpg?w=1696&amp;ssl=1 1696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14900\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berlin family in need of a haircut PHOTO: Ian Porter<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Besides the social media route, there is an array of ways to find a <em>Friseur<\/em> in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>Places like Kaufhof and Fast Cuts often offer cheap, easy, haircuts if you are into no thrills. Prices for a men&#8217;s cut can be as low as 8 euro.<\/p>\n<p>The website, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.berlinforallthefamily.com\/misc-info\/childrenshaircutberlin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">berlinforallthefamily<\/a>, has a list of child approved hairdressers in the city.<\/p>\n<p>Another option is at a hair school like the L&#8217;Or\u00e9al Academy in bigger cities. They are frequently looking for models (aka guinea pigs) as they perfect their craft.<\/p>\n<p>Turkish barbers are plentiful in places like Berlin and have cheap offers for men, women, and children. My husband has been a few times for a basic shave and has even enjoyed getting cleaned up fire-style. Check out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=F3z6_kz_wOU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a> of the process where they singe off excess hair from your nose, ears, and borders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>German Vocabulary for Getting a Haircut<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even if you don&#8217;t speak a word of German, there is no reason to fear the hairdresser. Many stylists speak another language and when in doubt, just bring a picture. That transcends any language barrier.<\/p>\n<p>Note that measurements are generally in mm and if they are using clippers, they are usually in units of 3 (3, 6, 9 or 12) rather than a 1-4 blade.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>die Haare &#8211; <\/em>hair<\/li>\n<li><em>die Frisur (m)\/Die Friseurin (f)<\/em> or <em>Fris\u00f6r<\/em> &#8211; hairstylist<\/li>\n<li><em>der Termin<\/em> &#8211; appointment<\/li>\n<li><em>ein bisschen<\/em> &#8211; a little bit<\/li>\n<li><em>Waschen und Schneiden<\/em> &#8211; wash and cut<\/li>\n<li><em>Schneiden und F\u00f6hnen<\/em> &#8211; cut and blow dry<\/li>\n<li><em>kurze Haare<\/em> &#8211; short hair<\/li>\n<li><em>lange Haare<\/em> &#8211; long hair<\/li>\n<li><em>Glatt<\/em> &#8211; straight<\/li>\n<li><em>Lockig<\/em> &#8211; curly<\/li>\n<li><em>Der Pony<\/em> &#8211; bangs<\/li>\n<li><em>Der Pferdeschwanz<\/em> &#8211; ponytail<\/li>\n<li><em>Der Pagenkopf<\/em> &#8211; bob<\/li>\n<li><em>stufig<\/em> &#8211; cut in layers<\/li>\n<li><em>VoKuHiLa<\/em> &#8211; mullet<\/li>\n<li><em>Farben<\/em> &#8211; Colors<\/li>\n<li><em>braun<\/em> &#8211; brown<\/li>\n<li><em>blond<\/em> &#8211; blonde<\/li>\n<li><em>schwarz<\/em> &#8211; black<\/li>\n<li><em>rot<\/em> &#8211; red<\/li>\n<li><em>grau<\/em> &#8211; grey<\/li>\n<li><em>Der Haarspliss<\/em> &#8211; split ends<\/li>\n<li><em>Die Str\u00e4hnchen<\/em> &#8211; highlights<\/li>\n<li><em>Das Haarband<\/em> &#8211; hair tie<\/li>\n<li><em>Der F\u00f6hn<\/em> &#8211; hairdryer<\/li>\n<li><em>Der Lockenstab<\/em> -curling iron<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tipping for a Haircut in Germany<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tipping is lower than in places like North America, but still much appreciated. Generally, tip around 10%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is gonna sound a little crazy, cuz it is. I have never gotten a professional haircut in Germany. I have occasionally hacked off my own dry ends and taken the clippers to my husband, he has been to the Turkish barbers for a traditional buzz and ear hair burning (more on that later), and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":720,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,3,4,5,12],"tags":[99,1493,1933,731],"class_list":["post-14894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-life-expat-issues","category-expat-issues","category-german-language","category-german-vocabulary","category-tips-advice-suggestions","tag-berlin","tag-german-vocabulary","tag-hair","tag-raising-children-in-germany"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14894"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14908,"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14894\/revisions\/14908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.german-way.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}