How to Cut Your Own Hair?
» from mommyof2 on Mar '06 | 1 replies.

Judging length

To leave your hair long in the back you by and large simply leave the back alone. With this understood we need to start by judging the length of the hair already on the head. Stretch some hair out to the side away from the side of the head above the ear. Measure with your finger next to it (knuckle to knuckle is about an inch) or a ruler to determine the average length of the hair on the sides. Now when deciding the length to cut off, remember, if you leave only a half inch to an inch on your head you will have very short hair as most people’s taste would judge it. You also want to leave room for extensive additional trimming. I would leave at least an inch. Size up the length on top of the scalp in like manner. Leave at least as much there is on the sides if not a little more. It will be easier to cover up small mistakes on the sides by combing flat or using gel or both. The top will tell the most about the quality of your haircut. Even though it is free, you don’t want it to look like it should be free if you can avoid it. Leave one to two inches on top.

The first cut.

To cut the hair, draw strands of your hair out straight by squeezing them between your fingers. You want to cut off the amount that would leave the length you have decided to leave. So if you have 3 inches of hair and want to leave an inch to work with, hold out about one and a half inches of hair knowing that another half inch is being held between the fingers. This makes up the two inches you will snip. Now hold the hair out and cut along all the hair you are drawing out straight on the inside of your hand, the palm side, closest to the head. Do this repeatedly till all the hair on that side or area is about the same length. Repeat the process on the other side and top.

Stop and assess.

Stop and look your whole head over. You should be able to see all sides of your head, top, left, right and back, by using the two mirrors facing each other and the handheld mirror. Determine what you need to trim to even things up all around.

Trimming.

Trimming for the sides can be done with an electric razor to a degree. If you are careful you can even up nicely here. That the two sides be the same lengths isn’t as important as that each looks good in its own right. The top should be trimmed with scissors. Hold the handheld mirror behind your head to see areas that need trimmed. Grab the lock or locks of hair that must go with the other hand at the place the cut should occur. Now hold that lock of hair while you grab the scissors and cut on the side of your fingers nearer the head. Check with the mirror again.

Continue the process determining what others really will and won’t notice and remembering not to cut so short the scalp shows on any part of the head.

For short hair in back.

For short hair in back simply cut the back the same as the sides. The exception is that you will need to clip along the neckline for an even line across the back of the neck.

Saving a bad haircut.

Before you begin the first time you attempt this, you may also want to have a barber or stylist handy or a stocking cap, to deal with the results if they are too embarrassing.