Is your hair getting out of control? Until you can finally get to a barbershop, it might be worth grabbing some clippers, a comb and a pair of scissors and asking a loved one or flatmate to give you a trim.
Cutting hair may seem daunting, but it’s actually not so bad if you take your time and take your lead from the experts. So give it a go. Although you may not look like you’ve stepped out of a salon, you should get a respectable enough trim for your next Zoom meet up.
You will need:
Clippers with attachments
Comb
Hair scissors
Towel – to keep the hair off your clothes
NB: Be careful! Although they have safety features, you should still take care when handling clippers. This goes double for scissors.
1. Start from the back
Make sure the hair is dry and attach a no. 2 attachment to your clippers. Start from the neck and work up the back of the head. Shave a third of the way up the head.
Switch attachment to a no. 3.5 and go up another third – this will help blend the hair.
Stop where you want to create a “ledge” that separates the shaved portion from the uncut hair on top of your head.
Blend with a comb and clippers. Push the comb down the hair and clippers moving up. This will create an even blend. Do this right across the ledge.
2. Move to the side
Now do the same process on the side of the head. Start with the no. 2 attachment, then 3.5 then onto comb/clippers whilst blending each layer.
Repeat on the other side.
Be really careful around the ears – you don’t want any cuts!
3. Scissors and comb
Moving the comb upwards against the ledge, use the scissors to do small horizontal cuts along the edge around the head – both back and sides. This blends the hair together.
Keep working up to the top where you can comfortably hold the hair in-between your fingers.
Go to the back of the head and point your fingers vertically down, pinching sections of hair and cutting up in line with your fingers. Make sure your fingers are flat to the curve of the head.
The point of this is to connect the cut sections of hair together whilst working upwards. Grab a higher section on the crown of head and do the same thing focusing only on that area. By tackling the hair in small sections, you’ll be able to slowly blend them into each other.
4. Work on the top
For this bit, you need the top of hair wet, but not dripping, and combed through.
Taking small sections start at the back of the head moving forward.
As you take a new section further forward take your fingers up half an inch higher – which means the hair keeps its length. Use a little bit of the last section to give you a guide on where to cut next.
Make sure your elbow is in line with the head. This will ensure an even cut.
5. Neaten it all up
Pull the fringe straight up and cut with roughly 3 fingers depth horizontally giving length to the fringe.
On the side of the head, make sure you neaten the curve around the ear with scissors. Ears are extremely flexible so you can pull them flat to the head without discomfort to help with seeing clearly for this part.
Dry hair and style. If you want more texture, cut small points into the long part of fringe. Either pull it forward with comb or leave it in the position you’re styling.
Finally, admire your work in the mirror!
