How the hell do I learn how to dress, comb my hair and stuff

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Ah, for a girl - a $20 tip for a haircut at a mid-range salon would be normal. I usually pay $50-70 for the cut, and if the stylist was good, then a $20 bill on top of the cut price. For a guy, this would probably be less.

I would say it depends how "trendy" you would like your haircut to be. Trendy costs more! Even an old-fashioned barber-shop haircut for guys seems to cost $20 now - so I'd guess at a half-decent salon you would be paying $40. For the first time you go, and if the stylist is great and does a good job, give her $20, since she's probably giving lots of advice if you're asking questions!! If you're a guy with relatively short hair, I'd say you'll be going for a trim every 6-8 weeks. The trim will probably cost less and take less time than the original style (hopefully!) so maybe settle into a routine of giving the stylist about $10 on top of the cut price.

As for clothes - I only own a few pairs of trousers - two/three jeans, two pairs of shorts, two skirts (that covers all seasons). I have a multitude of different shirts (probably twenty all told): tank tops that I use as undershirts or also just shirts in very hot weather, t-shirts, two button-up shirts, and about four sweaters. With a lot of shirts you can get away with only a few pairs of bottoms - most jeans look almost the same anyway - if you're wearing a different shirt every day, who will notice your pants?! I have one pair of sneakers for every day, an exercise pair of sneakers, boots for hiking/wet weather, and a pair of flip-flops. Oh, and a pair of high-heels, but that might not be your thing. I change my shirt every day, and my bottoms every couple days at the most - unless I spill on them or something.

As for bathing: my rule is, if you broke a sweat that day, shower. If not, shower every other day. I have mid-length hair, and I never wash it more often than every other day. But if you're using lots of styling products like wax or gel, you'll probably need to wash your hair every day (you'll WANT to - imagine all that goop on your pillow!). Oh - and brushing your teeth every morning/night and wearing deodorant are non-negotiables in my book.

Good luck!

psychedelic, I spend 20 dollars a year on a new pair of electric shears. I then shave my head every 3 weeks or so to about 1/8 inch or several millimeters.

Its clean, tidy looking, and I dont have to deal with it in the morning and even if I get dirty, a good rinse without soap keeps me clean for an extra day. On alternate days I will wash my head with shampoo, but just use a tiny glob of soap.. like a button.

So my yearly head grooming is one bottle of shampoo and 1 electric razor. Not even 30 dollars. I have to get my expenses down for razor blades though, so i may change over to a straight razor and strop. Thats a once per life expense.

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But how can I tell the difference between a mid-range salon/barber shop and the rest?

I guess brushing my teeth twice a day is ideal. I use to do it several times a day. (I don' t recommend it. The skin inside your mouth starts to peel off.)

Any shaving tips? I shave once every week or two. I use to do it more frequently but the skin on my face, especially around my mouth, got irritated.

Rules of thumb on hydration? A renal physiology professor told me (and the rest of the class) that we should just drink when we're thirsty. Despite knowing that I still drink less than I should. I think I'll drink a cup on every other meal (I eat 6 times a day).

I'm getting lots of useful advice. Thanx a bunch and please keep it coming. I hope others are finding this useful too.

we lose about 0.5 liters a day just breathing, and also 0.5 sweating, and another 0.5 peeing, I think it was a little bit more, but it seems a good amount is 2.0 liters a day, but once gets about 0.5 liters just eating, so it's more like 1.5 liters, unless you don't eat cereal (=milk) or vegetables (=water) regularly.

The easiest way to look for mid-range hair salons is the price list. Unfortunately this also varies between cities, let alone countries! I suppose there are a couple other things you can look at:
What part of town is it in? The uppity yuppy part of town, the trendy street with all the nightclubs, the hipster area with all the independent shops, the down-market road with all the scuzzy off-licenses, etc....
Look at the stylists. Do they have the kind of hair you like? Are they too conservative/too over-the-top?
Look at the decor. Is it clean, does it look well-designed (neat, kind of funky, etc)?
And my big one: Is it busy? If it's a place you walk by on the way to work, or whatever, is there usually at least a couple people in there? A good sign of a decent place would be if it's hard to get an appointment on a weekend.
You know, one thing you could do, which might be a bit odd but would work, would be to ask someone at your school/workplace who you think has a nice haircut where they get theirs done. Just saying something like, "Hey Bob - can you recommend somewhere to get a haircut? I'm looking for somewhere new, and yours always looks good." Of course, uh, this might be a more normal thing for girls to do! But then, well, you could always ask a girl who has nice hair, too!

I don't spend much at the salon. I'll go to a place where a shampoo and a cut (no blowdry or styling as that cost extra - and I can dry it myself) will cost between $15 - 30. The past few times, I've gone to Fantastic Sam's.

http://www.fantasticsams.com/FantasticS ... salon.aspx

As far as tipping, the rule of thumb is to tip 15% on top of what you actually paid. So for a $20 haircut, tip between $3 and $4.

As far as frequency, I'd suggest getting a trim every 6-8 weeks.

Hygiene is very important. If your hair tends to get greasy quickly, wash it everyday. In fact, shower everyday. For men, especially with hair under their arms, I would suggest scrubbing the armpits with your fingers thoroughly with soap while in the shower and applying fragrance free deodorant afterwards. DO NOT use deodorant to mask not showering as the combination of unwashed body + fresh deodorant smells awful.

Wear a pair of fresh clean socks daily and fresh clean boxers or briefs daily.

Always make sure your breath does not offend. Brush your teeth at least twice a day, morning and before bedtime. Use a mouthwash. Don't neglect to brush your tongue as our tongues harbor lots of bacteria that contribute to bad breath. If regular brushing bores you, invest on an electronic toothbrush like Sonicare or Oral-B. At work, keep sugar free chewing gum handy in your desk drawer or in your pocket to keep the saliva flowing and help relieve dry mouth or post-lunch breath.

If skin dryness after daily showers becomes an issue, moisturize with lotion. The same thing applies to our faces. We must keep our faces moisturized. I like Clinique. Check this out:

http://www.clinique.com/templates/produ ... ns-_-3step

They even have a Post-Shave Healer to help with shaving irritation:

http://www.clinique.com/templates/produ ... -_-shaving

Hope this helps.

Look for a local shop that isn't part of a nationwide chain... avoid fantastic sams like the plague... the reason is because they will hire people straight out of beauty school who have very little experience...

Avoid places in the mall or in expensive looking buildings... a small shop in a strip mall that's been in business for awhile is your best bet, they usually won't be very expensive and will have experienced staff who know what they're doing...

a 15% tip is ok if you want normal decent service. A $20 tip every time on a $20 haircut practically guarantees that your hairdresser will go above and beyond the call of duty to make you look good... that's what you're looking for... it's worth the extra money, because you're really asking for more service than a basic haircut.

If you want be clean shaven - you need to do this do a wet shave with a good razor blade. It takes some time to learn to handle this without injuring yourself, but it is very efficient (so don't forget to buy also a styptic pencil).

I personally do not care a lot about this and I am mostly unshaven, except I know that I had to make the "big show" with suite, tie and the other decoration.

I can't speak for a woman, but a man does not need more than the following items for his hygiene (the rest I consider as a waste of time, money and effort):

- curd soap (cheap and for the skin far less irritation than other types with perfume and other substances)
- shampoo (keeping the hair short save a lot of effort here too - 0.5 - 1.5 cm are socially accepted and practical too)
- Soap for the razor

I hardly spend more the £3 a month for this.

My mum used to tell me off for not brushing my hair, saying, "You can't go out with it looking like rats' tails." I didn't care what it looked like, but she did.

I don't like going to the hairdressers. The women there never do what you tell them and they talk to you all the time. I can't take that, so I don't go anymore. I get my sister to cut it, so it's free too, which is a bonus.

I don't bother with make up or anything day to day, but if I am going out on the night (it does happen a few times a year) I will put some on.

I think you can try the minimum grooming that has been mentioned and it will appear perfectly fine. A little bit of effort can go a long way and if you can get it into your routine, that makes things so much easier.