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I mentioned on Facebook the other day that I’d gotten Sonia’s haircut done, and several of you reminded me that I never have posted about how I do that.
I am no professional hairstylist, to be sure, but this method works for me.
All I use are some clips and a pair of $24 Tweezerman shears.
I know it’s tempting to use cheaper shears, but a $24 pair will pay for itself in a hot minute, and they’re so much easier to use than junky shears.
Ok.
I start with a wet head of hair, because that makes things way simpler for me, especially if the kid in question has wavy hair. And I part the hair down the middle, even if a side part is the end goal.
(If I cut it with a side part, then we have to be really precise about where we part the hair after the haircut, or there will be weird long pieces hanging down on one side.)
Next, I clip up the top half of the hair, all the way around.
You don’t have to be super neat with this. You’re just trying to get some of the hair out of the way because it’s much easier to cut thinner layers of hair.
Decide how much hair you want to cut off, grab a section of hair, and using your fingers as a guide, snip off the desired amount.
Now you’ll have a section of short hair, and you can use that as your guide as you work around the head.
Once you’ve made it all the way around, you might want to check and make sure you didn’t start erring on the longer or shorter side as you made your way ’round. If you did, you can correct your mistake now, before you cut the rest of the hair.
If all is well, then let down the top layer.
Now you can use the bottom layer of hair as a guide for cutting the top layer.
And once you’ve worked your way around again, you should be done!
You may see some hairs that you missed later on, but the lovely thing about DIY haircuts is that you’ve got the tools to fix any mistakes you see.
A couple of random tips:
- When my kids were little, to keep them still, I set up shop in the living room in front of cartoons. Another option is to slowly feed them some sort of food that is a treat.
- Thicker hair is harder to cut than thin hair. If you’re dealing with a thick head of hair, you may need to divide the hair into three or four layers. Or you can do like me and eventually decide it’s worth it to pay $15 twice a year to have someone else cut the thick hair!
- You get better at this with practice, so don’t give up if you make some mistakes the first go-round.
- Gently wavy hair is pretty forgiving because uneven ends aren’t very obvious. So, if you’ve got a choice, try out your skills on a wavy-haired kid instead of a kid with perfectly straight hair.
- Don’t forget that hair gets shorter when it dries, especially if it’s at all wavy. Err on the long side, because after all, you can always cut more off, but you can’t add length!
- I use my hair scissors to trim my bangs, which means I can seriously stretch my time between haircuts. If you’ve got bangs that need trimming, a pair of scissors is totally worth buying.
Let me know if you’ve got more questions. And if you happen to be the sort who’s great at cutting hair, feel free to add helpful tips in the comments.
Gina says
I cut my daughter’s hair only a couple of times – the wavy and thick thing made it a semi-nightmare. However, I have successfully cut the boys’ and hubbys’ hair for years. I simply watched the SuperCuts lady a few times, and thought “I could so do that”. So I did. (: I must have saved a fortune over the years. $12 haircuts times 4 every 6 weeks over several years = a whole lot!
MartinH says
I have been cutting my wife’s hair for more than 30 years. The first time was on our third date, and she was tired of her waist-length hair. I said she would look wonderful with her hair cut short and I would love to crop it for her. To my surprise, she agreed, even though I had to go back to my apartment and pick up my hair cutting supplies.
We cut her hair on her back deck, and her only concern was when I turned on the clippers to clip the back and sides of her pixie. She had never had hair short before and certainly had never had her hair cut with clippers. And, she had never had a man cut her hair before either – her mother used to cut her hair, and then she went to various area salons, until she was in college and just let her hair grow.
Since I had started cutting my sister’s hair in high school and as a result had started reading on basic cutting techniques, cutting the hair of the woman who became my wife was easy – especially since she did not panic or show any concern (aside from the clippers) at having three feet of her hair tumble to the deck.
We have generally kept her hair short, but it has grown out to a mid-length bob at times. But we usually tire of that and she is willing to be caped and cropped back to her more common pixie. We usually let her hair grow longer in the winter, and then in the spring, I will take the clippers and buzz her quite short on the back and sides, leaving the top in longer layers.
It is a great way to save money, but more importantly for my wife, since we live in a rural area, it saves her time to have her hair cut at home rather than schedule an appointment and drive into town, some miles distant.
Valerie says
For boys cut’s by hand (when you want something slightly longer than clippers will churn out , cut all the hair at 90 degree angle from the scalp (this means holding sections exactly 90 degree from the scalp and perpnedicular). Start at the back (at the nape) with a thin section of hair and make your first cut. Then work forwards up and over the head to the forehead taking 2.5 thin sections as well as some of the previous section you just cut to use as a cutting guideline. Only take 2.5 inch sections (in width) and make them very thin for more precise cuts. With this kind of cut use the end of the cutting comb with the most teeth (fine teeth) and apply equal firm pressure to each section of hair keeping all hair very straight as you slide it through your fingers.
As you take the previous section and part of a new section the previous section can be seen clearly and gives you a straight guide. When you’ve worked from nape to front, go back to the back and start to work either side in several 2.5 inch sections. Then trim the fringe. The closer you get to the scalp with your cutting, the shorter it is. To check everything is even, you can wet it down again, and then check the cutting in the opposite direction (from ear to ear). Go all over like that checking and snipping to get any bumps out or uneven edges you see.
Valerie says
I just bobbed back to say that I’m a qualified hairdresser and trained in New Zealand. I do understand that often parents may need to save costs though from time to time having five children of my own. The technique I described earlier is very simple but will need practice. Fortunately for me I had four boys to practice on! You can find more information and perhaps diagrams on how to do the cut by doing a Google search for:
How to Cut Hair Layers Step by Step
Sorry I don’t want to link you but the first links to crop up as I don’t know the linking etiquette for this blog, but I would say there has to be a ton of quality video’s on Youtube and if your not understanding the instructions I gave above, probably seeing it done by someone else will help. I’ve never really had any objection to anyone attempting to save themselves a few bucks by cutting their children’s hair… all I will advise is, start long, and then gradually go shorter as you gain more confidence. If you lose it at least it is not too short to correct at the salon if you decide to bob along there. No loss. At least you have tried. Use decent quality hairdressing scissors as they will give you better results.
Keep those scissors only for cutting hair as they blunt very easily when cutting paper or anything else with them. Make sure to wash the hair thoroughly before cutting as sometimes greasy or slippery hair makes it difficult to get a good grip with the fingers. Be careful around your children’s ears… and make sure to flip them over and away from your scissors… believe me, I have had cut ears at the hairdressers… these things you can only learn for yourself and you will crack it in time and who knows… possibly find you love doing it so much you want to change jobs.
Aubrey says
My son has fine, straight hair like I do, and it has taken some practice to get his haircuts to look right. I don’t like the way his hair looks if I use clippers everywhere, but I’ve found that if I scissor-cut the top of his hair and it’s not quite smooth enough there is a solution. I take the comb and run it through the uneven section and pull it away from his head slightly until the comb is at the place where his hair ought to be cut. Then I run the clippers over the hair that sticks out. This cleans up any of my scissor mistakes 90% of the time.
beth@Pansgotkids says
What are your tips for cutting your own bangs? Mine usually end up disastrous and I end up pinning them back until I get a hair cut.
Kristen says
Well, I generally just start out by giving them a conservative trim, following the shape that my hairstylist left. I pull straight down and snip, following that line.
My bangs are pretty thin, though, so I don’t know…maybe that method won’t work with really thick bangs.
Ingrid says
Cut them when they’re wet. You can first trim them straight across, but then snip little notches at a 45° angle into the bottom. Fluff and see what you think. If your hair is really thick, you can also try thinning shears farther down (or would that be up?!) toward the roots. And do remember about the shrinkage, so don’t take too much off…
The thinning shears should probably be left until your bangs have dried and you want to tweak them to perfection.
Maria H says
If you want bangs that are so slightly get longer at both sides:
Comb bangs towards middle of the forehead then cut straight across the 2-3in section using your fingers as a guide.
If you wand side swept :
Sweep over and up to the opposite side you want then cut
Beth says
I used and then we saved post to cut my own (thick) worked really well. Thr original post is below http://andthenwesaved.com/how-to-cut-your-own-hair-a-tutorial/
Valerie says
With thicker hair just use more layers. The thinner your layers the better. Always cut each layer slightly longer than the last so that it sits right over the previous layer. This way you don’t see the layers underneath. Use a very fine cutting comb and comb the hair well before cutting gives you very precise edges. Try not to place too much tension on each section as often hair springs back up so applying equal tension throughout each layer is best. Use that technique when doing very thick bangs and always use the previous section as a guide when cutting the next section. This means taking half of the previous section, and some new hair, combing straight, and then using the previous cut hair as a guide as you cut around the head.
Tina says
So if your super desperate and just want a straight cut, here’s something to try. Get to long straight magnets (I had some that were 6 inches long), slap them on the bottom of your hair, leave what you want cut off hanging below, then ask your hubby (or someone else) to just follow the line. Obviously not a perfect cut, but it satisfies the need to get rid of rough ends.
Might have to try the pony tail things, as my biggest thing is I need to be able to pull it into a pony tail after it’s cut anyway. Might even give it a try tonight…
Kristen says
Do keep us posted if you try it. I’m so curious if it works!!
MeAgain says
Ok, cutting fine/thin hair is NOT easier than thick hair. As someone with super fine and thin hair, a good haircut makes all the difference as every wrong cut shows. Since I have so little hair, a bad cut is painfully obvious. My younger son has the same problem. He once got a scissor cut, and you could see where every single cut was made. Now I clipper his hair.
Also, for those who like getting their hair cut or colored, check your area for hair modeling opportunities! This is what I do every 6 or so months. Usually there are no height/weight/age requirements…just people willing to be a dummy. I’ve received over a thousand dollars worth of services over the years by stylists I could not otherwise afford. Craig’slist under beauty services is where most are posted
Alice says
Great tips! I’ve been doing our family’s hair for years, and found a few other things that have helped me:
– if the hair you’re cutting is unpredictably wavy, you may get better results cutting dry hair. (Salon cuts always turned out weird on me, which led to my taking up the scissors – my hair changes a lot from wet to dry, and always ended up lopsided.)
– for wavier and curly hair, cutting straight across the bottom will give you ‘triangle head,’ as my elementary school friends called it. If you cut each ringlet on its own, that’ll encourage them to stay in separate curls later on. (I put in some conditioner before cutting if frizziness makes it hard to see individual curls.)
– try out new styles! Go short! But only do it when you’ve got time to run to a Supercuts before your next workday/meeting/whatever.
Fool and Her Money says
I don’t have children, but i am facing similar dilemma about my hair colour..DIY or salon? Then eventually end up going to salon..It is becoming way too expensive to get a decent colour job. This time will try something at home.
Aubrey says
I’ve done both, and the salon color does work better, meaning it doesn’t fade into wonky colors as quickly. I would say that hands down, every time you want to go lighter, you need to use the salon. But for going slightly darker Garnier is a great brand and I’ve never had a problem with that kind, although other brands have not been successful.
Wendy says
My mom’s best friend is a licensed beautician, so we get a pretty good deal on haircuts, especially for the kids (my boys are 9, 6, & 11 mos – the baby doesn’t get haircuts yet). She cuts all 3 of us for the price of 1 salon cut :). As for hubby, he just likes a “short all over” approach, so we got a set of clippers and I do his hair about once a month – when it’s only 1/8″ long, you notice growth quickly! We’ve saved HUNDREDS since getting those clippers a couple of years ago.
Elspeth says
One of the most frugal things I can claim about my family is that my husband cuts my hair!
I was inspired because I had once gone to a student salon and I overheard the student and teacher discussing different techniques to use for my haircut. The student said “I was thinking ‘on the round'” and the teacher said “what about ‘off the round’?” and apparently she ended up cutting my hair that way. So I Googled it. I wasn’t able to find out what those terms meant, but I found this handy technique for an at home haircut that was easy to teach my husband AND gave layers. (not that he’s incompetent, but ANYONE could cut hair this way)
After your hair is wet, put it in a ponytail. (make sure to comb your hair back into the ponytail so your hair is all lying straight back into the hair tie) The height of the ponytail on your head determines the degree of the layers you will get from your haircut. The higher the ponytail, the steeper the layers. If the ponytail is at the nape of your neck, you’ll barely have any layers at all.
Then, comb the hair in the ponytail straight from your head. It needs to be pulled straight from the base of the “tail”. Then cut as much hair off as you want, making sure to cut in a straight line. Ta da!
Kristen says
Oooh, this sounds SO intriguing. I just had a haircut, but I kind of want to try it now!
Elspeth says
You totally should, when you need a haircut again.
Tell us how it goes!
Amie says
I know someone who tried to do this and boycott bad.
Maria H says
I’ve used this technique myself and a variation when I wanted more defined or stepped layers. Instead of one ponytail I did a few.
Jennifer Ott says
I cut both of my daughter’s hair in this way. One has fine, curly hair with bangs, the other has thick, slightly wavy hair. They both get compliments… It really does work, but I am not sure I would try it on myself (my mom treats me to $100 cut with her stylist).
Alysia says
As a professional hairstylist I am begging you to never do this! I cannot tell you the amount of these at-home techniques I have had to fix for people.
Sarah says
I’ve been doing this for the past year (the high ponytail one) and I honestly love it more than any haircut anybody has ever given me. I have long, fine and thin hair so I don’t know if that makes a difference or not. Every stylist I’ve gone to and asked for layers never did it the way I wanted, even with pictures. Maybe I needed to go to an expensive salon to get it right, but that is just not something I’m willing to drop the dough on.
Cheryl says
Congratulations Elspeth on saving so much money. My boyfriend cuts my hair as well and always does a great job. Better than I had ever gotten at a salon and the price is definitely right. The first time he cut my hair was about a week after we started dating. How is that for brave on my part? I mentioned I needed it cut as it was well over six months since my last haircut, but that it was not in my budget that week. He told me he could cut it for me. He set a stool in the kitchen and got out his kit. He had a cape, hair clips and a pair of really good hair shears. As I sat on the stool I started having second thoughts, was I really about to let him take scissors to my hair? But once I was caped I figured that it was too late to change my mind. He was very meticulous in combing and sectioning my hair and he took off about an inch and a half off the length, removing all the split and damaged ends, just as I had asked him to. I sat tight while he swept up the clippings in the dust pan, and then made a mad dash to the bathroom to check the results in the mirror. I was pleased with the results and told him it looked great. He trims my hair every three months and I do not miss the the hassle of making an appointment, the time driving there, waiting my turn and the expense of getting a haircut at the salon. I have saved hundreds of dollars. So I am definitely not changing stylists.
Therese Z says
And don’t take the little one outside to cut them in the breeze where the loose hair can fly away, or they will end up 1″ long bangs!
Lots of pictures of me as a tyke with teeny bangs….
Battra92 says
Good to see Colleen Moore’s influence continues to this day.
I started losing my hair in high school (I know, it was traumatic) and now my wife shaves my head with a pair of clippers. A basic haircut costs around $12 here. She shaves my head about once every two weeks. That’s about $312 saved per year. It really adds up!
Kristen says
Had to do a google search there! I didn’t cut Sonia’s hair QUITE as short as Miss Moore’s, and I didn’t do bangs, because Sonia’s wavy hair would make for terrible bangs. The bangs look awesome on Colleen Moore, though.
Maria H says
“Even if you pay $30, though, you’ll be money ahead after two haircuts.”
One of my best childhood friends, told me about 10yrs years ago after about 10yrs salon experience, that I should spend about $30 for a nice pair of scissors at Sally’s Beauty.
Obviously , those won’t be high salon quality, but a great compromise between cheap and expensive.
Stephanie says
my advice to add to this would be for straight thick hair (where it will definitely show if you’re uneven) to trim it all around like you’ve shown and then go back and ‘point cut’ it slightly. It doesn’t take much extra time and it really improves the result of this cut.
also, for cutting longer hair, make sure you cut the front/side sections with the hair laying on the sides – if you cut it with it all combed to the back you’ll end up with front laying longer than you intend rather than a nice line all the way around.
Amanda says
I can’t imagine paying someone to cut my two year old’s hair. My hair cuts don’t look as good as a salon, but I’m getting better and I’m sure he will appreciate my frugal ways when he graduates from college debt-free.
Battra92 says
Yeah, I don’t understand the need to have a barber cut a little boy’s hair. Of course, I don’t like how some think every boy needs to have a crew cut or shaved.
Kristen says
I always felt that toddlers were sort of good to practice on, because it’s not like they have to go to the office with a bad haircut.
MeAgain says
My now almost 5 year old started getting his haircut by professionals around 18 months. He has surfer-esque hair, so it requires some skill to make it look right with all the layering. I tried it once, and it turned out like a horrible bowl cut. Back to the salon, we go now! It’s so worth the $12 to have his hair look nice!
Maggie says
Does anyone have any tips for a men’s low fade? You have to get a haircut once a week in the military and my husband’s haircuts are bleeding us dry!
Rebecca says
check you tube. its a very easy cut, just invest in a quality clippers and guards, a good set can be had for $50 or so online or at a beauty supply store. I cut my kids in a similar fashion.
Maria H says
I agree with getting a good set of clippers and watching a few videos. The attachments are numbered making it easier to get a gradual fade. Not sure how long he likes the top since in the military, but if prefers it slightly longer you use your fingers as a guide. There’s a great video for this technique too which also shows how to hold the hair at the correct angle.
Jacqueline Powers says
Just to let you know Maggie from what I remember when my husband was in you can get reimbursed for the weekly haircuts I can’t remember if it was through the Corps or through taxes at the end of the year, same with all the dry cleaning he used to have to do.
Tina says
I’ve been cutting my husbands hair for about 9 years (he’s military as well). I just watched how the girls cut it at the salons for a few trips then gave it a go! I would suggest the first time you cut it be right before a vacation or long weekend so if it doesn’t come out perfect, it has a chance to grow out a bit.
We’ve replaced out clippers once in the 9 years I’ve been cutting his hair, and that may have just been because I wasn’t taking proper care of them. So yeah, $50 for clippers will save you BIG in the long run.
Lindsey C. says
Nice!
Ever since I was a kid through now, I always get one annual cut around my birthday.
Now with youtube, I have started trimming my own hair and it works out cause I’ve been keeping it long-ish so it’s easy to cut layers and not have it be completely even.
(the pull all your hair over your head and cut it in front of you method)
She looks cute and summer ready!
Michelle says
I love this post! I started cutting my husband’s hair about a year ago. I watched some youtube tutorials and then got to it with the scissors that came in his beard trimming kit. Considering he used to pay $45 per cut at a salon, we’re saving serious money now. I still go to a salon, but luckily we have an Aveda school right down the street, and womens cuts are $15.
Tammy says
I recently cut my daughter’s hair and I didn’t even think about pinning some of it up! I had a hard time getting it straight! Next time…