Haircut in French: how to ask for one, and what your barber will say

« Une coupe » (ün KOOP). That is the word for a haircut, and it is all you need at the counter. The longer « une coupe de cheveux » means the same thing, but in a barbershop people just say « une coupe ».

How to read the sounds in this article: capitals show the syllable to stress, and in French it is usually the last one. « ü » is the French u: say « ee » with your lips pushed forward, as if you were about to whistle. Get the vowels roughly right and the numbers exactly right: a missed vowel costs you a second try, a missed number costs you a centimetre.

« Coiffeur » means any hairdresser; a « barbier » also takes care of beards. Lui Coiffeur is both, so either word brings you to the same chair. « Une coupe » is the Coupe Adulte on our price list: the barber looks at your hair and asks what you want, washes it, cuts with scissors and clippers, cleans the edges with a razor, then styles it. No product to bring.

Start with « Bonjour » (bohn-ZHOOR), to whoever looks up first. In France, every request opens with it, and the rest of the conversation is easier once it is said. Then ask if they can take you:

The answer to the first line is yes: all 3 Lui Coiffeur salons take customers without an appointment, every day. The wait depends on the time of day. If it is long, you can book a slot for later online, and come back at that time.

Once you are in the chair, the barber asks a few short questions. What they mean, and a reply that works:

Point at the spot and name it: that is the surest way to be understood. Your finger shows the barber exactly where you mean, and the word confirms it. The drawing shows the zones; the table gives each word, what it means and how it sounds.

In French	What it means	Say it
Le dessus	The top of the head, from the forehead to the crown	luh duh-SÜ
Les côtés	The sides, above and around the ears	lay koh-TAY
La nuque	The nape: the back of the neck, where the hair stops	la NÜK
Les pattes	Sideburns: the hair in front of the ears	lay PAT
Le dégradé	A fade: the sides get gradually shorter toward the neck	luh day-grah-DAY
À blanc	Down to the skin: clippers with no guard	ah BLAHN
Le sabot	The guard: the plastic comb clipped onto the clippers, which sets the length	luh sah-BOH
La raie	The parting	la REH
Le contour	The edges of the cut (temples, nape, around the ears), cleaned with a razor	luh kohn-TOOR

Say « six millimètres sur les côtés » rather than « a number two ». The barber then picks the guard that leaves that length, whatever brand of clippers he uses. Guard numbers change from one brand to another: Wahl itself warns that sizes may differ between brands (page checked on 20 October 2026).

On Wahl’s own scale, a number two leaves a quarter of an inch, about 6 mm. Some clippers sold in France have no numbers at all: the Philips HC5630 sets its length from 3 to 28 mm, in 1 mm steps. On a clipper like that, « trois » means three millimetres, about a third of a Wahl number three. The difference shows from across the street.

For a higher fade, say « mi-haut » (mee-OH) for mid or « haut » (OH) for high. Where each height stops is shown in our article on fade heights (in French), and the full guard-to-millimetre table is in the one on clipper numbers for a buzz cut.

A fade of any height is part of the Coupe Adulte, at the same price. Two requests change the service. A line shaved into the fade, « un trait » (uhn TREH), is the Coupe + Dessin, at €25. The whole head shaved smooth with a razor is the Rasage Tête, at €10.

Give a figure in centimetres for the top, and say which tool. « Trois centimètres dessus, aux ciseaux »: three centimetres left on top, cut with scissors. The barber can check three centimetres against a comb. « Pas trop court » (pah troh KOOR, not too short) is understood by everyone, but no two people mean the same length by it.

The clean edges come with the cut: the Coupe Adulte includes a razor outline at the temples, the nape and around the ears. While cutting, the barber stops every two passes to check the shape. That is a good moment to add « un peu plus court » (uhn PUH plü KOOR): a little shorter.

A photo says what a phrase can’t: how your hair sits on a good day. Show a photo of your usual cut, side and back included, as soon as you sit down, before the shampoo. On dry hair, the barber sees its real shape and can compare it with the photo. Once wet, hair lies flat and that comparison is no longer possible.

« Une taille de barbe » (ün TIE duh BARB) is a beard trim. At Lui Coiffeur it is the Taille de Barbe, 15 min for €10. The barber shapes the beard with clippers and a guard, takes bulk off the thick parts with scissors, traces the outline with a manual razor, then finishes with oil or balm.

Watch the cheek line. Moving it down the face means more shaved skin and less beard, and a line taken too low needs weeks to grow back. If you like it where it is, say so before the razor comes out. Not sure? Ask for it a little higher than you think: it can be taken lower at your next visit, not the other way round.

Hair and beard in one sitting is the Coupe + Taille de barbe, 45 min for €25: the cut first, then the beard, then one styling for both.

Put the pieces together and you get one request you can read out, or simply hand over on your phone. It follows the order the barber works in: the service, the sides, the top, then the beard. Swap any piece for the line from the tables that fits your hair.

In English: a low fade down to the skin at the bottom, 6 mm on the sides, 3 cm on top cut with scissors, parting on the left; the beard keeps its length, outline only, and the cheek line stays where it is.

Just a haircut? Start with « Une coupe, s’il vous plaît » and stop after « raie à gauche ».

You can book online, and you don’t need an account. Open a salon’s booking page, choose the service by its name on our list (Coupe Adulte for a haircut, Coupe + Taille de barbe for hair and beard), pick a time, then leave your name, phone number and email. You get an email with a link: one click, and your appointment is booked.

The booking pages are in French. The words you will meet:

Booking pages: Fréjus, Sainte-Maxime and Draguignan. Plans change? « Annuler » means cancel: you can cancel online on the page luicoiffeur.fr/annuler-rendez-vous, or call the salon.

Whatever language is spoken in the chair, a photo works. Show the cut you want, from the side and from the back, then point at your own head: that covers most of a request on its own.

All three salons are open every day, and they are a short drive from the places visitors stay. Times below are by car on a clear road, from the town hall or the named place to the salon door, measured with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data on 20 October 2026.

Fréjus: 1074, Av. de Lattre de Tassigny, 83600 Fréjus, phone 09 51 67 73 04.

• From the old port of Saint-Raphaël: about 3 minutes (1.9 km). Leave the harbour along cours Jean Bart, follow rue du Maréchal Gallieni into Fréjus, then take avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny and its string of roundabouts: the salon is on the avenue.
• From Port-Fréjus: about 3 minutes (1.8 km), up avenue de Provence and rue de l’Avelan to the same avenue.
• From Saint-Aygulf: about 10 minutes (7.8 km) along the sea, on avenue de la Corniche d’Azur (the D559), then avenue de Provence.
• Parking: an open-air car park about 60 m from the door, and a free public one about 120 m away, by the supermarket (OpenStreetMap, distances as the crow flies).

Directions on Google Maps: from Saint-Raphaël, from Port-Fréjus, from Saint-Aygulf.

Sainte-Maxime: 15 Rue Pierre Curie, 83120 Sainte-Maxime, in the town centre, a few streets from the port. Phone 09 53 33 81 41.

• From Port Grimaud (car park at the entrance): about 10 minutes (7.6 km) on the coast road, the D559, past the pines of Beauvallon, then boulevard Jean Moulin and avenue Saint-Exupéry into the centre.
• From Saint-Tropez: about 20 minutes (14.3 km): out of town on the D98, then the same D559 around the gulf.
• Parking (tap a name to open Google Maps directions from where you are): Parking Louis Blanc, about 3 minutes on foot; place Claude Caranta, about 5 minutes; Parking du Port, about 10 minutes along the seafront.

Directions on Google Maps: from Port Grimaud, from Saint-Tropez.

Draguignan: 46, Bd Georges Clemenceau, 83300 Draguignan, opposite the tourist office. Phone 09 70 98 71 12.

• From Les Arcs-Draguignan railway station: about 14 minutes (10.7 km). Take the D555 north, then route de Draguignan (the D1555) and avenue Lazare Carnot into the town centre, by the tourist office.
• From Lorgues: about 16 minutes (14 km), on the D562, then avenue de Tuttlingen (the D557) into town.
• Parking (tap a name to open Google Maps directions from where you are): the Victoire and Louis-Go car parks on rue Marx-Dormoy, 1 to 2 minutes on foot, first hour free; the Marché car park (ex-Bontemps), free with no time limit, about 4 minutes (town of Draguignan parking page, checked on 20 October 2026).

Directions on Google Maps: from Les Arcs-Draguignan station, from Lorgues.

Car parks mapped on OpenStreetMap, walking times to the salon computed on 20 October 2026.

Calling from a foreign phone? Drop the first 0 of the number and dial +33 instead. Each salon also has a page in English: Fréjus, Sainte-Maxime and Draguignan.

At the end, the barber holds a hand mirror behind your head so you can see the back. Three short lines cover every answer:

• « Un peu plus court derrière », uhn PUH plü KOOR dehr-YEHR: a little shorter at the back.
• « C’est très bien, merci », say treh BYAN, mehr-SEE: that’s fine as it is.
• « Sans produit, merci », sahn proh-DWEE: no styling product, thanks. Otherwise the cut ends with wax, paste or pomade.

At the till, you pay the price on the list. Service is included in French prices, so a tip is up to you: our article on tipping a barber in France explains the rule. To ask about paying by card: « Je peux payer par carte ? » (zhuh puh peh-YAY par KART).

What happens between « bonjour » and the mirror, step by step, is in our guide to what to expect at a French barbershop. Then « Merci, au revoir » (mehr-SEE, oh ruh-VWAHR), and you are done. By your second visit, how many of these lines will you still read off your phone?