How to cut your own hair at home: Hairdressers and barbers reveal top tips while in lockdown
11 May 2020, 13:03 | Updated: 11 May 2020, 13:06
The coronavirus lockdown has left many of us desperate to see our hairdressers and barbers, but until they reopen, here's how to cut your own hair at home
Britain's coronavirus lockdown is preventing us all from going to the hairdresser or barbers for a quick cut and colour, and it's undoubtedly driving a lot of us up the wall.
It's already becoming a huge trend for men to fully shave their heads and plenty of women are cutting their own fringes due to boredom, and it's not going to plan - so how can you cut your own hair at home?
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Many experts have claimed its best not to try and cut your own tresses at all and to wait for a professional to do it, but let's be real, we're bored, stuck at home with a pair of scissors and or clippers... we're going to attempt it in some way shape or form.
So that's where we come in, we've gotten you some top tips from professional hairdressers and barbers - until they reopen of course - who've explained exactly how you should go about it if you wish to cut your own hair.
How to cut men's hair at home
Heart.co.uk spoke to Mr Denis Robinson, a barber for Ruffians who gave us his expert do's and dont's on cutting your own hair at home.
He warned: "Only attempt to cut your own hair when it is clean and dry.
"Wet hair stretches and if you cut it wet it will shrink when dry and will be shorter than you anticipated."
"Don’t hold your hair flat and cut it as that will give you a blunt edge that can be hard to camouflage.
"Don’t try and give yourself a skin fade.
"Don’t attempt to give yourself a complete restyle at this stage. In fact it might be the perfect time to grow your hair out and then invest in a restyle when we are back to normal."
"Do lift your hair away from the scalp in a 90 degree angle and snip the ends off, then allow to fall back, your scalp isn’t a flat surface so when you release the hair you will have a more feather effect on the hair.
"Do attempt to remove some bulk and give yourself a clipper tidy up by using a longer length clipper guard.
"Separate the hair in a parting from the recession point at the forehead. (The recession point is the highest point of the hairline along the forehead, we all have one although some are more pronounced than others).
"Now get your clippers and hold them at an angle pointing towards the crown (up and backwards) turn them on and start with the clipper held flat against the skin and while moving them backwards pull out, this will give you neater hair around the hairline and build top to a weightier length that will blend with the longer hair on top.
"This should be sufficient for keeping the hair sharper for the moment."
How to cut women's hair at home
We also spoke to Stephanie Ferreira at Live True London, who said: "Most people fail to cut their own hair as they are only cutting into it. No guide is followed and therefore disasters happen.
"The main part to get right is the sectioning!".
Explaining how to section, Stephanie Said: "Wash your hair in your usual way and towel dry it, section your hair first from the front and the back and then split your back sections into two new sections - the split needs to be from ear to ear.
"This is really important as you cannot just cut into the bulk in one step. As the sections are created, you will have more control over the hair as less will be held at a time, therefore it will be easier to manage.
"Make sure that you cut in clean lines and that you cut the same amount on each section. For a trim we recommend cutting 1cm to 2cm.
"This will ensure that split ends are removed and that your hair will look cleaner and fresh. A trim will let you keep our hair manageable until the salons reopen for you to be able to get a real professional haircut.
"Repeat the same section by section until you reach the top of the head.
"You then need to section the front into two new sections each and cut it one by one. Make sure that you cut again the same 1 to 2cm as you did at the back.
"When the cut is finished, style your hair fully and do a final check to see if the hair is all connected fully.
"If not, make the adjustments as needed.
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How to cut a fringe at home
Stephanie also explained how you can cut your fringe, saying: "Cut your fringe only on dry hair as otherwise it will bounce back and it will look shorter than you intended.
"Blow dry the fringe first in the way you wish the final style to look.
"For a fringe, cut only half a centimetre at the time so that you have control over the length.
"If you have a sweeping fringe, avoid blunt cutting and only cut with the tip of the scissors."
