My daughter, a third grader with no formal cosmetic training, has found these clippers to be incredibly easy to use. “They just go through the hair smoothly, and cut very smoothly,” she said.

And one way to really mess up is to cut hair without using the right tools. For the cost of an average haircut ($25 to $60 or so), three of our picks will easily handle the job for you.

Hair clippers: use them right, and they're handy tools to keep last month's haircut looking fresh. Use them wrong, and you've got some explaining to do the next time you visit the barbers.