Cutting Your Own Hair?

[MysticWings]

Hello all!

I'm still pretty new to this site, which is why I don't have adequate photos of my hair to share - sorry!

I've been wanting to cut my hair for a while now. I'm from a Sikh family. If you're not familiar with Sikhs: we're not actually allowed to cut our hair according to our religion. My family's somewhat religious and although my mum approves me trimming the ends as long as I keep the length, my dad disapproves entirely.

I live in London; going to a hair salon here is ridiculous! They don't care how many inches I want to get rid of, they freak out when they see the length and charge extra accordingly, even if I only want an inch trimmed off the end. That's out of the question since I don't fancy paying £20 for a wee trim!

When my sister used to live with me she used to cut my hair for me from the ends! Just straight across, getting rid of an inch or two of split ends. While we used to have to do this away from the company or the rest of our family due to them not approving it really, it used to be bloody easy.

I live alone with my family now and no one wants to dare touch scissors to my hair for me, which means I have to cut my own hair! I've only ever done this twice now (I cut my fringe/bangs about every month myself. That's easy because its right in front of me!). The last two times, what I did was comb my hair out behind me, carefully gather it in my hands behind my back so that all the hair is an even length and clip it like that. Then I can bring it forward while keeping it even at the bottom and cutting straight across. This wasn't a perfect method but no one could tell really.

The problem arises now that I want to cut my hair in a nice U. I can bring my hair forward and cut it straight, but getting a nice U would be pretty difficult/impossible if I don't know where certain parts of my hair come from....

Any tips? has anyone else tried cutting their own hair into something pretty? How do you do it, and how to you propose I do it? Creative ideas welcome!

tl;dr
My hair's mid-thigh length. I need to cut it into a U-shape or something else that's interesting and nice to look at but I can only do this myself, at home with a pair of scissors. Any tips?

[krissykins]

Check out Feye's self trimming method in the Articles section. I think it's in the Hair Styling section. She has an article devoted just to the U shape.

[bumblebums]

Hi there! This is what you need:

http://community.livejournal.com/feyeselftrim/

ETA: And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Erf49Eyxc&feature=related

[MeganE]

I've been cutting my own hair for almost two years now. I'm happy with how I do it, and I don't plan on seeing a stylist anytime soon, but there's a lot of trial and errorr involved in getting it to look the way you want.

The first time I tried it, I used a technique that yields a result known as a "v-shape with layers." The basic idea is to put your hair in a ponytail on top of your head, and then cut off the top of the ponytail, when it's held straight above your head. The layers come from the curve of your head, the hairs closer to the top are shorter, and the ones towards the bottom of your head are longer.

Since your hair is very long then the layers would only span about the last eight inches or so, but you can also pull the ponytail forward and cut it from there, making the layers even deeper. I've never tried it that way, but if I had very long hair and wanted longer layers, I probably would. But I would be prepared to trim about 2 or 3 inches in a blunt cut using Feye's method (below), because the last layers can start to get very wispy looking, and would even more so if they spanned more of the hair.

There are other techniques to cutting your own layers, but I never tried them, and I have now decided to grow out most of my layers.

For trims, Feye has a couple of great articles for trimming your own hemline. Looks like some people above me have already given you the one for the U. Here's the one for a straight across cut, if you're interested in comparing.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=198

Also, I do cut my own layers in front of my hair now, even though I'm growing out the layers in the rest of my hair. I use a variation of the first technique I described, by sectioning off the hair that I want to become layers (the part in front) and putting that into a ponytail and cutting that off when I hold it straight above my head. But I usually have to trim a bit after that to make them look the way I want. I've learned that when it comes to cutting layers in front, it's not as hard as you might think.

I think that when you cut your own hair, the most important things are to 1. Study it very carefully to figure out what you want to do and 2. Take a tiny little bit off at a time, until it starts to look the way you want. It's hard to cut it and to fear that you'll ruin it, especially because it's possible that you will, but if you go slowly and plan well, I think it's more than possible to make some simple alterations that you can be happy with. It depends on how strong your aversion to a stylist is. Finding the right one would yield a better result than anyone could ever give themselves at home, I think. I've just had a lot of bad experiences and I'd rather have a home-made hair cut than to risk it again, right now.

It might very well be worth your while to do some research and find a good stylist in your area. You could just try walking into a couple of different salons and telling them what you're looking for, that you're hair is very long and you want someone who can routinely work with it, and who feels capable of that. I'm not a stylist, but there are some great ones on the site, who I'm sure have great tips about how to pick a good stylist, one who knows what they are doing. I'm sure that at least one of them will likely be chiming in on this thread at some point here... :)

[Firefox7275]

Welcome, you don't need TL-DR here! :) As a newbie myself I highly recommend exploring the Articles and Reviews sections that have clicky links at the top of the page - I didn't find them for a couple of weeks! When I lived in London I used to go to the local hairdressing college for a trim as it was super cheap. I had a couple of dodgy fringe trims but TBH I've had worse cuts from high street salons. You might want to ask for a girl with longer hair so you get one who is experienced in handling it. It's fine to ask for that as they usually take turns making phone bookings, so it's good to be as close to real life as possible. :D

[mustpannkook]

I've almost always cut my hair... I remember when I gave myself a haircut when I was 4 years old... I think Feye's method is the best (and it's also been suggested before as I can see).

[MysticWings]

Ah! Feye's methods look so good - Thank you so very much! I knew I should've explored harder before asking questions XD

I can't decide which one to do...

And also, the neatening trim for the straight-cut and the trim for the V-cut look oh so similar...

My hair's a mix between waves and some slight curlage. I was thinking of going for a U but the V looks awesome. My hair's pretty uneven at the moment - there was a period in time when my hair broke a lot so its much thinner near the bottom. Any suggestions on which cut would cover that up best?

Thanks in advance!

[Mesmerise]

Ah! Feye's methods look so good - Thank you so very much! I knew I should've explored harder before asking questions XD

I can't decide which one to do...

And also, the neatening trim for the straight-cut and the trim for the V-cut look oh so similar...

My hair's a mix between waves and some slight curlage. I was thinking of going for a U but the V looks awesome. My hair's pretty uneven at the moment - there was a period in time when my hair broke a lot so its much thinner near the bottom. Any suggestions on which cut would cover that up best?

Thanks in advance!

I'd start with a gentle U, especially if your hair is very thin near the bottom. I think a V would accentuate the thinness a bit! Then when your hair's thickened up a bit you can get a wee bit more experimental (but probably not too much as you need to keep that length to keep your family happy!).

[bumblebums]

Ah! Feye's methods look so good - Thank you so very much! I knew I should've explored harder before asking questions XD

I can't decide which one to do...

And also, the neatening trim for the straight-cut and the trim for the V-cut look oh so similar...

My hair's a mix between waves and some slight curlage. I was thinking of going for a U but the V looks awesome. My hair's pretty uneven at the moment - there was a period in time when my hair broke a lot so its much thinner near the bottom. Any suggestions on which cut would cover that up best?

Thanks in advance!

I think the U cut is the most flattering, even though it's also the most complicated. The self-trim method is very forgiving on wavy hair, so you should do fine even as a beginner! I was amazed at how easy it was. Just don't get carried away and cut off too much because it's so much fun! :)

[jojo]

or go to a gents barber, they are petrified of cutting too much off and it costs like £5 tops!

[MysticWings]

or go to a gents barber, they are petrified of cutting too much off and it costs like £5 tops!

Haha! Do they cut women's hair? I assumed they wouldn't XD Wouldn't want to accidentally end up with a bowl cut....

Actually, it feels sort of silly to pay someone to cut hair that's long enough to just hold in my lap and cut!

I just realised how silly it is to even fuss over how to trim my hair XD There's no much to trim (like I said, the hair at the bottom's thinned down!) AND you won't be able to see it because of the way my hair curls and waves! It actually looks like a curlywavy V at the moment... o-O

Thanks for all the help. I can't wait to try it out!

[jojo]

Haha! Do they cut women's hair? I assumed they wouldn't XD Wouldn't want to accidentally end up with a bowl cut....

Actually, it feels sort of silly to pay someone to cut hair that's long enough to just hold in my lap and cut!

I just realised how silly it is to even fuss over how to trim my hair XD There's no much to trim (like I said, the hair at the bottom's thinned down!) AND you won't be able to see it because of the way my hair curls and waves! It actually looks like a curlywavy V at the moment... o-O

Thanks for all the help. I can't wait to try it out!

well they will if you ask, they are more used to short back and side cuts, but they actually cut less than you ask for, and they cut hair dry so no shrinkage!

[RitaCeleste]

Hi there! This is what you need:

http://community.livejournal.com/feyeselftrim/

ETA: And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Erf49Eyxc&feature=related

I did the deep U method and held my head straight when I cut the hair. You can see how it turned out in my pic.

[Lollipop]

also, if you're a visual person, habiouku has a tutorial on youtube of the trimming method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Erf49Eyxc

[jackiesjottings]

I self trim and only micro trims at that. I tie mine in a low down pony tail, fasten it along its length with pony tail bands, and then just take off the teeniest tiny bit.

[darklion]

wow. this technique worked awesome for me!
thank you thank you!!!:cheese:

[MysticWings]

My hair's been growing really fast lately o__o

I didn't think the U or V would show much or even look that good with the way my hair tapers at the end, but honestly it looks great! I really love it, so thanks again for the links ^__^

[Karmi]

I would love to see more photos of self trims! :) I have yet to try it but I recently purchased some shears and will be giving it a try very soon!

[pepperminttea]

I would love to see more photos of self trims! :) I have yet to try it but I recently purchased some shears and will be giving it a try very soon!

My sig is Feye's blunt trim. :) I definitely recommend her methods, they've saved me a lot of money over the years.

[gogirlanime]

When I trim my hair I part down the middle and bring each half in front of me. I then put one side up into a pony tail so it's out of the way. Then I take a small amount of my hair at a time (like 1/2 the thickness of a pencil) and carefully eyeball (visually guess) how much 1/4 of an inch is and cut all of my hair piece by piece. I (as silly as it is) put the hair I have cut into my mouth (haha) to get it out of the way, and when I can't fit any more in there, I grab it and pin it up and then continue. If you cut very little and be careful you'll be just fine. I don't see why more people don't do this, it's SUPER easy!