Cutting head and hair cutting appliance

A cutting head (18) for a hair cutting appliance (10) comprises a blade set (20) including a stationary blade (36) and a cutter blade (38). The stationary blade and the cutter blade comprise at least one toothed leading edge (22,24) jointly defined by respective teeth (62,64) thereof that extend in a longitudinal direction (X). The stationary blade further comprises a front face (58), at the teeth (62) thereof, arranged to face a user's skin, when in operation. A skin protector (76) couples to a housing portion (32) of the cutting head, wherein the skin protector at least partially covers the front face (58) and is arranged to contact the skin, when in operation. The skin protector is movable between a first state and a second state with respect to the blade set (20) and includes an advanced position in the first state and a retracted position in the second state.