How Not to Complicate Your Haircut With Your Own Hands

Quarantine life and personal care are bad companions. If you’re used to maintaining your look with regular hairstyles, chances are good that things have already gone wrong. Maybe you can’t see because of the curtain of your bangs, or maybe your beard has finally gone from “charmingly scruffy” to “old sea captain”. But what can you do if you can’t sit six feet away from the stylist for an unknown amount?

Your first option is to go totally wild: shutting down the coronavirus is a great time to buy cute hats, sit down and experience the worst phases of bangs or pixie haircuts in complete privacy. If this is your strategy – and you are financially able to do it – consider paying the person who normally cares about your hair with a cut-off anyway; God knows they don’t see customers.

There are several ways to do this, according to two Portland professionals I spoke with. Geino Eotch , a hairdresser and colorist, informed me in an email that some of his clients pay him directly for three or four haircuts in advance to help him get through the stop, although no one knows when it will end. Hairdresser Adam Morehouse recommends gift cards: “[When businesses reopen] it will be a big catch-up game – for the industry, for people’s hair and for everyone financially,” he says. ” Gift cards are a great way to support business at the moment.” Morehouse also suggests asking if your stylist will sell you any styling products that you need: “Most likely they have [products] waiting to be purchased and that money goes back directly to the business or to the hairdresser himself.”

But gift cards and hair products cannot trim your split ends or fill in roots; in the end, everyone reaches the limit. Here’s everything you need to know for hair situations that simply need to be dealt with in one way or another to avoid spontaneous disaster.

First things first: ask your stylist for help.

You can and should continue to meet with your regular stylist as you complete your work – just not in person. Hair professionals are creative with their sources of income right now, and many of them are more than willing to work with clients in unconventional environments. “I’m here to support remotely if someone wants their partner or friend they’re in quarantine with to get their hair cut, or [even] if they’re adventurous enough to try to get their own haircut,” writes Äotsch. “Some of my clients have actually done it, and some are offering to pay for me to teach them on Skype or FaceTime.”

Make a detailed plan

Before doing anything yourself, write, call or FaceTime your hairdresser or stylist. Share your subtle hopes and dreams and ask their rating for help with sketching. And keep in mind that everyone has different boundaries on what they will or won’t do in video chat: “I would be uncomfortable walking with a person through cutting my own hair, but as a hairdresser I would feel comfortable walking [their]“ quaran- teammate, ”explains Morehouse. “When everything is [flipped] in the opposite direction, [doing it] leaves a lot of room for error.” Äotsch is a little more adventurous: “[It] depends on the person, honestly. Some of them might be building up courage, or taking a little step back and getting used to cutting them down a little at a time. The most difficult process would be to tackle the back of their heads – cut or color blindly or teach them to do it with a mirror. “

Once you’ve agreed on a plan, work out the logistics: can you really do it alone, or will you need to instruct a roommate or partner to handle these hard-to-reach places? Do you have everything you need close at hand? If not, where can I get them?

Get the right tools

When it comes to any DIY hair experiment, tools are everything. I cannot stress this too much. Dull household scissors will not cut your hair cleanly, and you will never get an even coverage by dyeing your hair with gloved fingers. (I speak from my experience on both counts.)

Fortunately, essentials are cheap, but while beauty stores are closed and Amazon prioritizes supplying essential supplies, getting them can take some effort. Sally Beauty offers curbside pickup in some locations – you can find it near you on their website – and you can work out a similar arrangement with your local store.

For clipping and trimming, you will need at least a set of electric clippers with plastic fences (for short haircuts and facial hair) or real hair clippers (for longer haircuts) and a fine-toothed comb. These section clips are great for long hair. If you have one, then a hand mirror will help you deal with the back of your head. To dye your hair, you will need a few more items:

• Color applicator brush
• Nitrile gloves
• Mixing bowl or bottle

If you can’t find what you are looking for from Sally or on the Internet, ask your stylist, especially if you want to dye your hair. They know exactly what shade and what brand of paint you need; they may even have some margin to use up. They may even place an order with an industry supplier on your behalf.

Watch a lot of YouTube

As anyone who has ever had to answer this favorite stylist question – “So what are we doing today?” Fortunately, you can learn how to do pretty much anything on YouTube. While there are tons of great videos out there, you need to know exactly what you are looking for: the methods for everything from haircut to roots depend not only on the style you intend to use, but also on your hair type, texture, and how. processed. As much as I would love to link the One Bang Trim Tutorial to manage them all, it doesn’t really exist. ( T his step-by-step guide to bang lining from The Cut comes pretty close, though.)

While it’s difficult to make general recommendations, both professionals I interviewed agreed that YouTube and Instagram are great sources of inspiration and research. Äotsch recommends sticking to professional channels whenever possible, especially regarding color: “I would focus on professional sites like Redken, Wella , Schwarzkopf and Toni & Guy ,” he says. “I would also look at vintage works by artists like Vidal Sassoon – now is the time for a pelvis or mullet! The easiest thing for both of them is to teach someone to cut themselves. ” Morehouse notes that self-directed ‘male’ videos are usually harder to find, but not during a pandemic: “There are many hairdressers who are posting videos onhow [now]to keep a shorter haircut ,” he says. … …

Whatever you do, there is probably a tutorial for that. Watch tons of related videos from different sources and keep track of what they have in common.

I started cutting his own hair a few years ago, because in 2002 I asked stylists to do the exact same boring hairstyle once or twice a year: “Get deadlocks and keep layers are long enough to fit all in the tail.” To the extent that versatile techniques exist even for something as individual as cutting my own hair, I’ve learned two: start with a dry haircut and, when in doubt, split it up.

Cut your hair dry – at least for a start

If this is your first time using scissors on your own hair, cutting them dry can be very helpful. Wet hair may seem easier to deal with, but it shrinks as it dries, so until you get the hang of it, you will likely end up clipping a lot more than you wanted. This is especially true for curly hair, where a slightly over-vigorous haircut can wipe out years of growth. I don’t style my curls anymore – they are incompatible with my permanent ponytail-only lifestyle – but since I have them, I need to be mindful of how much I will cut.

The stylist can give you more specific instructions, but here’s my usual routine: while my hair is dry and in desperate need of a wash, I cut it up and use scissors to nail the overall shape and length. After showering and shampooing, I go back and cut the irregularities. This way I get (more) wet cut accuracy without overdoing it.

Always work in sections

Finally, if there is one single commandment for a home hair project, it is it: Section, Section, Section. Whether you’re cutting, dyeing, or both, dividing your hair into smaller, more manageable sections is the only way to achieve equal results. (How you get there matters less: I love crocodile leather clips, but as a last resort a series of hair ties will do.) Otherwise, the best thing you can do is take your time: you can always cut more. but can`t stick your hair back on.

In an ideal world, we would know exactly when we can expect to start a business and therefore how many DIY haircuts we will have to go through until we can embrace the sweet post-quarantine freedom (and possibly our stylists). But that’s not where we are now. For Eota and his clients, a little frivolity helps them deal with all the uncertainty: “We stay positive by joking about looking like Neanderthals the next time we see each other – and finding them under all the hair they grow back.” he says Hopefully you now feel confident enough to take on your own hair care until you can return to the stylist’s chair – whenever that is.