deep recession = do-it-yourself haircuts

From Mary Pilon in the WSJ...

The downturn has created a nation of cost, and hair- cutters. To help pare their budgets, more Americans are bypassing the salon and opting to lop off their own locks. The results, can be shear disaster -- clogged drains, fresh cowlicks and crooked trims.

...middle- and high-end shops are feeling the pinch, as consumers come in less frequently or go to lower-priced salons....

Sales of electric hair clippers expanded as the U.S. economy contracted....

Other self-styled stylists are turning to devices like the RoboCut and the Flowbee, which combine vacuum suction and electric scissors....

...a mini-industry has sprouted up in salons: fixing botched at-home cuts....

The WSJ provides a YouTube link to a "flowbee" haircut gone (very) bad...

Mr. Wojnowski posted the videotaped mishap on YouTube and overnight received over 25,000 views and hundreds of comments from angry Flowbee fans, he says. Most of them criticized the angle at which he approached his friend's head. Mr. Wojnowski now spends $50 a month at a San Diego salon....