Best DIY layering techniques

[riphair]

Hi everyone! I have thick hair that needs some weight off the ends for a little balance, so I usually like to have some longer layers in my hair. I have cut my hair for 12 years, as hairdressers are my worst nightmare and can't be trusted, but now my hair is a bit shorter than I'm used to, and I can't seem to find a good technique for creating long, subtle layers! I always used the ponytail method, but the last time I tried it, it came out rather choppy. I'm very interested in hearing how you guys manage to cut your own layers!

[lapushka]

Hi everyone! I have thick hair that needs some weight off the ends for a little balance, so I usually like to have some longer layers in my hair. I have cut my hair for 12 years, as hairdressers are my worst nightmare and can't be trusted, but now my hair is a bit shorter than I'm used to, and I can't seem to find a good technique for creating long, subtle layers! I always used the ponytail method, but the last time I tried it, it came out rather choppy. I'm very interested in hearing how you guys manage to cut your own layers!

There's the "compact cut" method that is talked about on this site a lot. It is from the book "Haircutting for dummies".

You basically make a ponytail and snip a bit of hair off.

You either make the ponytail on top of your head, or on your forehead, and snip a bit off.

If you do it on top of your head (you can elastic band until you can reach, then continue the banding by bringing the pony down to get to the point where you want to snip). This gives you even layers throughout.

You can also do this on top of your forehead. Same thing. This gives you short to long layers. I use this method, and I have TBL hair. My shortest layer is just about APL, I think.

DO NOT use this method for hair shorter than BSL. Even waist cuts it close, IMMHO. Or you'll have really short layers.

[riphair]

There's the "compact cut" method that is talked about on this site a lot. It is from the book "Haircutting for dummies".

You basically make a ponytail and snip a bit of hair off.

You either make the ponytail on top of your head, or on your forehead, and snip a bit off.

If you do it on top of your head (you can elastic band until you can reach, then continue the banding by bringing the pony down to get to the point where you want to snip). This gives you even layers throughout.

You can also do this on top of your forehead. Same thing. This gives you short to long layers. I use this method, and I have TBL hair. My shortest layer is just about APL, I think.

DO NOT use this method for hair shorter than BSL. Even waist cuts it close, IMMHO. Or you'll have really short layers.

Yes, this is the method I've been using for years! My hair is currently top WL, and I even leave a thick bottom layer out to keep length and have fuller ends, so I guess my hair isn't long enough to get good results with this cut. My shortest layer apart from the hideous bangs I'm growing out is collarbone length, so it's not super short, but it just doesn't look right!

[lapushka]

WL is not that bad for it. But remember for the latter method, I'm TBL, and my shortest layer is about APL, so when you go 2 milestones shorter (TBL > hip > WL), so does the shortest layer.

[Nique1202]

(Insert casual reminder here that talking in milestones isn't all that helpful because we have folks here whose waist length is 25 inches (I'm not exaggerating, mine's only 27) all the way down to more like 30-35 inches from the front hairline, and that's a LOT of variance in the viability of a haircutting technique.)

With that said, though, the compact cut or its variations are the most practical methods of getting layers into your own hair. Unless you have the training to cut layers the manual section-by-section method evenly, the compact cut is going to be among the easiest, most accessible, and most effective methods. I have found that you can get a really nice cut with a shorter total length of layered hair by moving the ponytail.

I've done the compact cut at the crown before and while the front ends up a little bit longer than the shortest layers in the back, the longest layers in the back aren't affected (so long as you measure the cut to those hairs) and there's less total distance between the shortest and longest layers, if that's something you want. It may take some practice. You might want to use some method of marking the hair in a test run to see how much would come off each section (for example, make a second ponytail right above where you would cut the hair, and dip everything below that in water, so that the dry sections are what hair you'll still have). You can also play with moving the ponytail around this way, to find the way that will look best to you. Anywhere along a straight line from above the bridge of your nose to your spine should work.

The alternative would be to look into something like the CreaClip, which can apparently help folks to do some decent layering techniques with a little practice. I have a tiny one I used when I still had a fringe, and it's pretty straightforward to use, you'd just have to look up tutorials on the type of layers you want your hair to look like.

[lapushka]

(Insert casual reminder here that talking in milestones isn't all that helpful because we have folks here whose waist length is 25 inches (I'm not exaggerating, mine's only 27) all the way down to more like 30-35 inches from the front hairline, and that's a LOT of variance in the viability of a haircutting technique.)

With that said, though, the compact cut or its variations are the most practical methods of getting layers into your own hair. Unless you have the training to cut layers the manual section-by-section method evenly, the compact cut is going to be among the easiest, most accessible, and most effective methods. I have found that you can get a really nice cut with a shorter total length of layered hair by moving the ponytail.

I've done the compact cut at the crown before and while the front ends up a little bit longer than the shortest layers in the back, the longest layers in the back aren't affected (so long as you measure the cut to those hairs) and there's less total distance between the shortest and longest layers, if that's something you want. It may take some practice. You might want to use some method of marking the hair in a test run to see how much would come off each section (for example, make a second ponytail right above where you would cut the hair, and dip everything below that in water, so that the dry sections are what hair you'll still have). You can also play with moving the ponytail around this way, to find the way that will look best to you. Anywhere along a straight line from above the bridge of your nose to your spine should work.

The alternative would be to look into something like the CreaClip, which can apparently help folks to do some decent layering techniques with a little practice. I have a tiny one I used when I still had a fringe, and it's pretty straightforward to use, you'd just have to look up tutorials on the type of layers you want your hair to look like.


That is a really good tip! :thumbsup:

[spidermom]

I always liked the results of putting the ponytail right on the center top of my head or slightly to the back. Then the layers were only in the bottom few inches and even.

[riphair]

(Insert casual reminder here that talking in milestones isn't all that helpful because we have folks here whose waist length is 25 inches (I'm not exaggerating, mine's only 27) all the way down to more like 30-35 inches from the front hairline, and that's a LOT of variance in the viability of a haircutting technique.)

With that said, though, the compact cut or its variations are the most practical methods of getting layers into your own hair. Unless you have the training to cut layers the manual section-by-section method evenly, the compact cut is going to be among the easiest, most accessible, and most effective methods. I have found that you can get a really nice cut with a shorter total length of layered hair by moving the ponytail.

I've done the compact cut at the crown before and while the front ends up a little bit longer than the shortest layers in the back, the longest layers in the back aren't affected (so long as you measure the cut to those hairs) and there's less total distance between the shortest and longest layers, if that's something you want. It may take some practice. You might want to use some method of marking the hair in a test run to see how much would come off each section (for example, make a second ponytail right above where you would cut the hair, and dip everything below that in water, so that the dry sections are what hair you'll still have). You can also play with moving the ponytail around this way, to find the way that will look best to you. Anywhere along a straight line from above the bridge of your nose to your spine should work.

The alternative would be to look into something like the CreaClip, which can apparently help folks to do some decent layering techniques with a little practice. I have a tiny one I used when I still had a fringe, and it's pretty straightforward to use, you'd just have to look up tutorials on the type of layers you want your hair to look like.

OoOoh, I have to check out the CreaClip! I usually put my ponytail at crown, then separate my hair into a separate front section and cut face framing layers by putting the ponytail in the center of my hairline. :)

[riphair]

I always liked the results of putting the ponytail right on the center top of my head or slightly to the back. Then the layers were only in the bottom few inches and even.

Yes, I like that too! Long and subtle layers.