M: clipper, short, ethnic hair, lines at perimeter

Layering the entire head
This haircut was done on a middle aged, black male. The initial cuts started at the distribution center in the crown. They all went with the grain. Sections were measured by the width of the clipper blade. There was some over lap of the sections. The 1 1/2 replaceable blade was used in this demonstration. If you are using a clipper with a guard, you may want to start with a number 2 guard to see if the client likes the length. In this video several passes were made and all were with the grain.

After doing the top of the head, the sides are cut again. They had been cut in the first part also. The emphasis this time is to get to the perimeter without missing areas. This looks like it could easily be incorporated in the first pass.

Outline the perimeter with a trimmer
The suggestion is to start at the center top of the front hairline and work to one side. Then go back to the center and work to the other side. Blade teeth are perpendicular to the scalp. They are only placed far enough into the hair to make a line. Some clients refer to this as just touching their hairline. If you cut this line deep in the hair, the line will be bolder, but the grow in time is greatly reduced as fuzz grows outside the line. This will lead to the need for earlier maintenance work on the lines.

Work from the top side, through the temple and sideburns areas. Do both sides of the sideburns.
Then pull the ear out of the way and line around the ear. Each client will have a personal preference on how far the hair should be cut from the top of the ear. Many like the hair to be nearly touching the ear. The closer it is to the ear, the shorter the time for the grow in of the haircut before it looks overgrown. This can be helped by tapering the hair close to the top of the ear. Clipper over comb or shear over comb will work for this.

Behind the ears, straight lines connect from the top of the ear to the bottom on the hairline in the nape. The suggestion here is to start in the center and work to the side before returning to the center and working to the other side.

The placement of the line at the nape is done by client preference or by stylist choice. This is not discussed on this video. This line is generally about an inch below the ear lobe level.

Smoothing the hair top and sides
They use an 0A F/D blade for this. The blade is placed on the scalp on the heel of the blade. The teeth are not in the hair. They are set to go just above the hair level as established in the initial layering in the first step. This maneuver is to pick up any hairs sticking out of the initial layering. This will give a smooth, polished look to the surface.
The same sectioning is done as in the first step. All the sections begin at the distribution point in the crown and all follow the grain of the hair to the hair line. Care is taken to keep the blade at the same height.
If you don't have an 0A F/D blade, you can probably get away with any blade close in height. If you are using guides, you may be able to use the same guard you used for the initial layering in the first step. The most important part of the smoothing step is to keep the smoothing blade or guard out of the hair and just above the surface of the layers.