Before I cut my own hair
So, my hair was looking pretty straggly!
My hair has been getting so heavy it’s like a torture instrument during my migraines, and I also just plain wanted a change. I really wanted layers. However, penny pinching peach that I be, I also didn’t want to pay bakoodles for a stylist, wind up with shorter hair than I want to have or any other scary scenario that was running through my stringy haired head.
I decided to research cutting my own hair into long layers.
I did some research online and became entirely overwhelmed, so made an inquiry on a homesteading site about whether anyone there had cut their own hair. I got alot of great advice, and viewed a few videos they shared. I picked the one I’ll share below that I particularly liked due to the simplicity of the method, but adapted it to be softer by taking the advice given not to pull my hair too far forward or to cut at too sharp of angles or take off too much at once to start off.
I took a risk and cut my own hair!
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I bought a pair of decent Hair Cutting Scissors
It was actually pretty easy to cut my own hair, to my surprise, even for someone who had never cut human hair before! I am rather happy with the results, too, since my hair is much lighter and has more “bounce” to it. 🙂
Here is the after photo of my new hair cut!
(Excuse the cruddy selfies, but noone over the age of 4 was around to take a before or for a few days to take a photo after.) What do you think?
- After I cut my own layers
Have you ever cut your own hair or someone else’s, without formal training?
Would you like to try? It isn’t for everyone, so please don’t blame me if you try it and wind up looking like a hairless chihuahua with those craaaaaazzzzzy sprigs sprouting off the top of your noggin! 🙂
I’m pretty artistic by nature, and can draw, cut and trim paper, fabric and other materials accurately with ease, so that made me a little more comfortable attempting my own hair cut. If I couldn’t draw a stick figure or cut in a straight line or curve at will, I would swallow my penny pinching tendencies and cough up the dough for a professional hair cut every single time. It’s not worth winding up in a book like this one full of hilarious memes of the world’s worst hair cuts!
Also, please note that on my first attempt I didn’t do anything super drastic. Keep in mind that you can always cut more hair off if your hair isn’t quite the shape you want or as short as you’d like, but you can’t just tape those locks back on. 🙂
Here’s the video I used as a sort of guideline, if anyone wants to watch it themselves.
I don’t know this person. Someone on Facebook shared the video with me, among others, and this one I liked because it was so easy to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brmQhv6Uw1g
Has anyone else went out of their comfort zone recently, whether to save money or learn a new skill? Try my strange ways to save!
I’m a wee bit proud of myself for trying this, since it was wayyyyyy outside of my comfort zone, to say the least. 🙂
Penny Pinching Peach 
March 13, 2014 at 5:58 AM
You look AMAZING!
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March 14, 2014 at 3:05 PM
Thank you so much! 🙂
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September 16, 2014 at 11:20 AM
I am the same way, I am on a tight budget and the thought of paying for salon haircuts that I cry over makes me cringe. Fortunately my boyfriend cuts my hair for me and I have even started cutting my children’s hair after they had received bad haircuts I paid for. Bad enough I had to spend so much, but to get results that people thought I had done a bad hack job on them was too much. I understand your reluctance to cut your own hair, I think it was more nervewracking cutting my children’s hair the first time, than it was having my boyfriend cut mine. Now I am saving hundreds a year with better results. I have grown out my layers as it left the ends of my braids looking too straggly. So I do not think it would be a good haircut for me to ask my boyfriend to give me.
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September 17, 2014 at 10:14 AM
I wish I could cut my family’s hair. My husband just does the military style cut, since he’s a firefighter paramedic, but he’s so picky that I don’t want to touch his hair. LOL My daughter has these crazy curls that I can’t even begin to figure out how to trim properly, but it’s rare that it needs a trim, so it’s not too bad paying for it. My husband and son are the ones that add up, since they have short styles.
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September 17, 2014 at 11:15 PM
Youtube is a great resource as well as doing a Google search on DIY haircuts. My boyfriend has been cutting my hair and as I mentioned, two bad haircuts in a row for each of my children was too much, so I asked him if he would help/tutor me if I bought the clippers. I probably watched about 5 or 6, and then a couple of the better ones twice. No just changing the comb attachments but the techniques. There are some really bad hack jobs on Youtube, as well as really good ones. My fear was cutting their hair too short and having to shave their heads and leaving them looking like melons. I start from the top with the highest number guard, and then work my way down to lower numbers as I move down on the back and sides. That way I don’t leave the tell tale lines of a bad haircut. With my older son, he wanted some legth on top, so that was scissor over comb cutting, which I am still not comfortable with, so my boyfriend has done most of that. I have gotten prety good with blending the different lengths with an upward scooping technique, and with using the trimmers to get the neckline and sideburns neatly trimmed. If you are going to cut curly hair, my boyfriend says to do it dry. Lift the sections and trim the ends. Really curly hair should be kept longer as the weight will relieve some of the kinkiness, and you won’t have the poor young lady looking like she stuck her finger in the socket. Don’t be fooled by other women who tell you she looks “so cute” with short hair in tight curls. As they walk away they are saying “Oh gawd, that child’s hair is horrible, who would give such a terrible haircut to a child?”. I have heard it before. With curls NEVER brush the hair when wet, a wide tooth comb in combination with a leave in conditioner, works much better. Starts from the ends and work towards the scalp. I have stopped using a brush altogether as a wide tooth comb is so much less damaging to my hair. I have even heard some women talking from experience say, NEVER use a brush on curly hair. My niece has curly hair and left the towel on her head for an hour after getting out of the pool. It was tangled, but by applying conditioner and using the wide tooth comb, there was no tears or tangles that were too much to handle. Her mom was surprised she didn’t fight getting her hair combed. Sad but true, so many moms are clueless in how to take care of their own hair, let alone their daughters. My mom took me to get short butch cuts as a child. I looked like a boy, it was’t until I was a teen that I learned how to take care of my from friends that were not sheared like sheep. MY mom would yank my hair and I would cry. Hope you and your daughter have a better hair relationship. And your daughter does not end up looking like Napolean Dynamite, lol 😉
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September 18, 2014 at 7:59 PM
I keep her hair long and pretty natural. I’ve learned to use little to no shampoo and lots of conditioner. I can always use pointers, though! I appreciate those! My hair is straight, and her daddy keeps his hair too short to be helpful in taking care of her pretty curls. LOL A dry cut makes sense, as it lays completely different dry than wet when it’s wildly curly. I love her hair, but it’s a different job than straight. 🙂
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