Personal Care

Barbershop clippers change hands when barbers upgrade:

and families who cut their children’s hair at home buy the same kit. A Guatemalan barbershop, whether in Zone 1 or on the main street of Jocotenango, works with a cordless clipper for the bulk of a cut, a smaller trimmer for edges and beards, and often a foil shaver to finish a skin fade. Wahl and Andis are the names most barbers work with, and the ones copies imitate. A cordless clipper of the grade barbers buy costs around Q1,200 to Q1,400 new, and a used one is priced on what is left of it. Two years of daily fades in a barbershop leave the battery and blade close to the end; a clipper that trimmed a family’s hair every few weeks has barely started, so ask which life it had. Clippers and trimmers sit in beauty tools and accessories, and dryers, straighteners and curling irons in hair styling tools.

Lotions and perfume from a relative’s suitcase:

a good part of the cosmetics resold in Guatemala comes from the United States, bought by family there or by travellers who carry back orders for others, and is advertised as bought in the States. Body lotions and mists, Korean skincare and boxed perfume are the usual cargo. The labels are in English and the sizes in fluid ounces, so convert to millilitres before you compare with a bottle bought here. Creams and sunscreen are under skin care, scents under fragrances, and lipstick, foundation and mascara under make-up.

Running a used clipper off its battery:

is the first test, so ask for a short video with the cable unplugged and ask how long a full charge lasts. A lithium battery fades slowly, and one that dies before a single haircut is finished needs replacing. Then look at a close photo of the blade: a chipped tooth, or orange rust on a blade that was never oiled, snags and pulls instead of cutting. A motor that strains, rattles or runs hot after a few minutes has been worked hard. Check that the numbered guards are all there and uncracked, and that the charger or stand is the one it came with. Copies of the well-known brands tend to feel lighter, carry a blurred logo and come with a generic charger, and an asking price that looks too good is part of the giveaway. Whatever you buy, take the blade off and disinfect it before it touches your own head.

Cosmetics are judged by the seal, the size and the trip:

only an unopened jar or bottle with its seal intact is worth paying close to the shelf price for. Once it has been opened nobody can say how it was handled, and opened lipstick or mascara is not worth buying at all. With goods brought from the States, ask where and when they were bought; a photo of the receipt or the online order is the quickest proof that they are genuine. Ask, too, how they travelled: a lotion that spent an afternoon in a hot car between La Aurora and the coast can separate, darken or change smell. Travel and sample sizes sold one by one can be genuine but are small, so work out the price per millilitre before you agree.

A clipper listing starts with the blade:

photograph the teeth up close in good light, then say how many years you used it, whether that was in a barbershop or at home, how long a full charge lasts, and which guards, oil and stand come with it. A short video of it running unplugged settles the battery question before anyone sets out to see it. For cosmetics, photograph the unopened product on the side where the size is printed, say where it was bought, and for an opened perfume say roughly how much is left. A barber coming from Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa for your old clipper will want to hear it run off the battery, not the cable, so charge it the night before.