TPOB Clippers Come From Barbers, and the Beard Care Follows

Most grooming brands tell you a story about a founder in a lab. TPOB tells one about a barber in a chair. On its own site, the brand says it was founded in 2018 by barbers for barbers, and its product pages say it began because its makers were tired of the barbering industry being run by corporations and people who had never cut hair. The brand's own web address spells the initials out as The Pissed Off Barber, which tells you plenty about the attitude. What is clear is the point of view: professional tools that barbers actually want to hold, built with fades, tapers and lineups in mind. That shows up in the detail. The clippers talk about RPM, blade depth and lever clicks, the language of someone who cuts hair all day. I am not a barber, but I do cut my own hair at home. A good home haircut starts with a clipper that does not snag and a set of guards you can trust, and this first grid is where that happens. Two sets, plus a pro clipper with a boost button and a compact one.

The trimmer is the tool that makes a cut look finished, and TPOB gives it as much attention as the clippers. The Ghost X has a removable clear guard that exposes the blade, so you can see exactly where the line goes, and a zero-gapped T-blade for crisp edges. The X Digital is the brand's brushless trimmer, for when you want the same idea in a different body. The Play Barber Trimmer has a blade with oil reservoirs, meant to keep it lubricated longer, and the brand describes the motor as very quiet. Then there is the Mini Skull, a foil shaver small enough for a pocket, rated at 9000 RPM. I use a foil shaver for the last pass on a neckline, because it cleans up what a trimmer leaves behind. Tip: trim the lineup last, after the clipper work is done and the hair is dry, and work from the outside in, never back toward the middle.

The Slime 2 guards are a simple piece of equipment, plastic combs from 1.5 to 19 millimeters, but they are the difference between a fade and a mistake. Buy the set, label your favorite lengths with a dab of tape inside the case, and stop guessing. The beard care here is what I would pair with them. Jack Black was founded in Dallas in 2000 by Curran Dandurand, Jeff Dandurand and Emily Dalton, who launched with ten products and famously landed five orders at their first trade show. The Beard Lube is a transparent conditioning shave, so you can see where you are going along a goatee or sideburn, and the Beard Wash is sulfate-free and won a Men's Health Grooming Award in 2018. Tom Ford Beauty launched in 2006, and the Tobacco Vanille Beard Oil is a light blend of almond, jojoba and grapeseed oils with vitamin E. What I would skip is oiling a dripping wet beard or one that still has the day on it. Wash first, towel it almost dry, then use two or three drops.

A clipper is a tool, and tools last longer with a little habit. Men's Health spoke with barbers who all said the same thing: brush the hair off the blades after every trim, and put a few drops of oil on them, then run the motor for 10 to 20 seconds to spread it. That takes less than a minute. Put the cap back on, and keep the clipper in a drawer rather than on the wet bathroom counter. Do that and the blades stay sharper and cleaner, and the skin on your face will thank you. Then finish with the oil, comb it through, and close the case.

A clipper only does half the job, and the other half is what happens to the face and neck once the trim is done. So here is the rest of the counter. For the beard itself, I would look at the Jack Black Beard Oil, the Le Labo Beard Oil and the Aesop Shine Hair & Beard Oil, with the Barberino's Beard Balm if you want something heavier. On the shaving side, the Philips Norelco Shaver 7200 and the Laifen T1 Pro sit next to the Norelco OneBlade 360 Pro, which is built for face and body. Finish with an after shave: the Dior Sauvage lotion and the Terre d'Hermès balm are the two I would smell first. Pair a balm like the Le Labo After Shave Balm with a beard oil, and keep them separate so you know which one is doing the work.