How to cut your own hair

Dayne Dayne (57)
0

I began cutting my own hair about a year ago. Partly because I was sick of making the time to go to a salon and partly because I'm a cheap bastard. Either way, I wanted to share my tips for anyone out there with a similar crazy idea.

Warning: this takes practice and your first haircut may not be good. It's not worth it for most people.

If that doesn't scare you off, then by all means let's get cutting!

scissors ×1
mirror ×1
clippers ×1

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Assess the situation

I only know one haircut. It is basically a crew cut with the top left slightly longer. If you want different hair, you're out of luck. I just know this one and I don't actually even know it.

Start with the sides

Using the largest number guard you think you will want for the sides, buzz all the way up to the part in your hair, basically where the sides meet the top.

I go with a 3 for this step.

Use smaller number guides

Stepping down one number at a time, make passes around the sides of your head not going any higher than a couple inches below the last level you shaved. This results in a fade.

Tricky parts

Going around the back of your head is tricky for obvious reasons. Having 2 mirrors handy helps a lot but I find that using my other hand to feel first, then act as a guide for the buzzer works very well. Doing this, I've been able to get a fairly straight and even cut around the back.

The top

With the sides all squared away, wet the top of your hair. Feel around to become familiar with the differing lengths. We are going to reproduce the same relative lengths but on a much smaller scale.

Cut with scissors

This step is best done with scissors using your fingers to guide the cut. Alternatively, you can run the clippers against your fingers but I find scissors to be much less awkward.

Generally, your hair should be longest in the front and "fade" left to right and to the back. The exception would be if you have a specific part or coif in your hair that calls for longer or shorter hair.

Use the clippers around your ears, sideburns, stray hairs near your forehead, and your neck.

Finished!

It may not look great to you, but it is shorter than it was before which makes it a successful haircut in my book!

Zach Zach (248)
2 hours

I love doing outdoorsy things with my dog and often it's dark before we return. I decided to make an LED dog vest since it allows her to wander further away while still being visible.