Cutting one's own hair

Drakeon

Hi all, I had a question. I seem to be going to the barber every month to 6 weeks and it's adding up. It's around $18 everytime I go after tip. I was wondering if getting my own pair of clippers is a worthwhile alternative to consider? I usually just get a very easy hair cut, having them buzz my hair with the clippers on the two settings I like. I do not have a good idea of how much a decent pair of clippers costs, nor do I know how easy/hard it would be to do myself or have my fiancee do (assuming she's willing). This is why I'm here to get the sage advice offered by you fine gentlemen (and gentleladys). Is this a good investment to save money? I'm only looking into it as a means to save myself $18 roughly every 4-6 weeks in the long run.

Elin

http://www.amazon.com/Wahl-79300-400-Color-Complete-Haircutting/dp/B000JNQSIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364061563&sr=8-1&keywords=wahl+clippers

Something like that will last forever and is easy as hell to use. I buzz my husband's hair whenever it gets too long, it takes maybe 10 minutes and saves a ton of money.

Drakeon

Elin wrote: »

http://www.amazon.com/Wahl-79300-400-Color-Complete-Haircutting/dp/B000JNQSIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364061563&sr=8-1&keywords=wahl+clippers

Something like that will last forever and is easy as hell to use. I buzz my husband's hair whenever it gets too long, it takes maybe 10 minutes and saves a ton of money.

How tough is it to cut two different lengths? When I go to the barbers, I have them do a 5 on top and 3 on the sides. I spoke to a friend and that seemed like it might be a problem. I could live with it being all the same length, I'm just curious.

Akilae

It's not *difficult*, but it takes time and practice.

Having cut my own hair for quite a few years now, I've come to one rule of thumb: The shorter and more uniform it is in length, the easier and better it will look.

flowerhoney

One of my roommates buzzed her hair while she was living in Greece, apparently it was super easy and she just had a friend do the back for her. I'm not really sure why she doesn't still do it, maybe she doesn't want to get hair all over the apartment

xraydog

I cut my own hair for the past few years but I stopped a few months ago. It definitely takes time and practice. I started going back to a barber because after years of doing it myself my haircut just wasn't as neat as I wanted. Personally, I found the different sizes on top and on the sides to be difficult to do myself.

You do save a load of money, though, no doubt about that. I might start doing it again in the future if I can get a bigger mirror.

Elin

Drakeon wrote: »

Elin wrote: »

http://www.amazon.com/Wahl-79300-400-Color-Complete-Haircutting/dp/B000JNQSIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364061563&sr=8-1&keywords=wahl+clippers

Something like that will last forever and is easy as hell to use. I buzz my husband's hair whenever it gets too long, it takes maybe 10 minutes and saves a ton of money.

How tough is it to cut two different lengths? When I go to the barbers, I have them do a 5 on top and 3 on the sides. I spoke to a friend and that seemed like it might be a problem. I could live with it being all the same length, I'm just curious.

It wasn't too terribly difficult, but my husband really prefers a 1 all over.

manji

not hard at all, i buzz mine number 2 all over, then no. 1 from the base of the skull down the back of the neck. i normally just get the wife to tidy up the neck line, though 2 mirrors and a bic will manage it in a pinch.

even a choppy crew cut isn't too tricky. clipper the sides, wet, then towel dry the hair so it sticks up. get the hair between pointer and middle fingers and start chopping anything above at a slight diagonal line, row by row. make the front slightly longer and the back and sides a bit shorter.

maybe something to practice, then buzz if it goes wrong...

Drakeon

Alright, think I'll try doing the same number all over and just go with a shorter one overall. With my Fiancee willing to help, I think that'll come out a little better than trying to do it myself too.

LewieP's Mummy

I cut LPD's hair and used to cup LewieP's hair til he moved to London. It's really easy, using the different guards makes cutting the sides and back shorter than the top really easy, and takes 10 minutes, tops. Go for it!

Pantshandshake

My wife cuts my hair with the clippers, as well. The one time I tried to do it myself, to save her some time before Thanksgiving dinner with our families, the guard fell off the clippers and I put a stripe down to the skin on the back of head.

So... yeah, it's pretty easy and quick for someone else to cut your hair, but be careful on your own.

Or you'll ruin Thanksgiving, just like I did.

Entriech

I shave with a #1 guard, and do it myself. It isn't that hard, and I just pop by my wife when I'm done to make sure the back's even. Takes maybe 10 to 20 minutes total. I do find I have to cut slightly more often, as my hair will start to look scruffy a few weeks sooner than if I'd gone to a barber, but still, I usually get three or four weeks out of it.

ceres

Pantshandshake wrote: »

My wife cuts my hair with the clippers, as well. The one time I tried to do it myself, to save her some time before Thanksgiving dinner with our families, the guard fell off the clippers and I put a stripe down to the skin on the back of head.

So... yeah, it's pretty easy and quick for someone else to cut your hair, but be careful on your own.

Or you'll ruin Thanksgiving, just like I did.

Ruined it, or made it better for everyone else?

Pantshandshake

Ruined it for my wife, at any rate. I think everyone there made fun of me, and by extension her. But, I'm a big boy, I kind of stopped caring what other people think some years back.

RocketSauce

I've been cutting my own hair for roughly 10 years. I use clippers and start with a 2 around the sideburns and back/sides of my head, and move up 1 size gradually, blending until I reach the top where I use an 8. The blending part is important unless you want to look like one of those kids growing up whose mom cut their hair and used a bowl.

The thing I love about doing it myself is I don't have to explain how I want it to anyone, and personally, I think I can cut my own hair better than any stylist. It also means that after a couple of weeks, or if you have a spot giving you trouble, you will have the skills to give yourself a trim to keep it looking neat.

It's hair. It will grow back. I've only ever given myself 1 bad haircut, and it grew enough in about a week that I was able to get it better.

Colt45

I bought a pair of clippers in like the seventh grade, and I would buzz my head whenever it got to be bothersome. Now I prefer a more professional look that would probably require a lot more finesse and I'm way too much of a chicken to attempt a quote unquote real haircut myself. I still buzz the back of my neck and sideburns and trim around my ears between visits to the barber to extend my dollar a bit more though, and that's incredibly easy.

Start by coming your hair straight down, decide where you want your sideburns to end and then pick a notable corresponding landmark on your face(top of your ear hole, corner of your eye, edge of your eyebrow) it coincides with and do it relative to that on both sides. Then take a pair of scissors and CAREFULLY cut the hair around the top of your ear so that your ear is not touching your hair even when it's combed flat against your head. Third and last I take the clippers again and stand with my back facing my bathroom mirror and looking into a small handheld mirror(you get more of a view this way than vice versa) and just cut a straight line across the back of my neck, don't go across, go down with the clippers, then go down again next to it until you've done it all. If you're feeling fancy you can take the square corners off by taking a right triangle off of each side. And there you have it, a touch up that will prolong the life of your haircut by a few weeks or more, you have, depending on the style you wear.

Colt45

that's "by a few weeks or more, depending on the style you wear." it seems I'm not a great proofreader.

Chakotay

I think it's better if you cut your own hair. Saves you a lot of money from your constant trips to the barber. If you have someone to help you the better.

djmitchella

If you're just switching between 5/8ths and 3/8ths, those are both "short" and it shouldn't matter too much about getting the exact details right with clippers; if things come out a bit uneven, it won't be very noticeable. If you're trying to get a straight fringe with scissors, that's a whole other matter..

As for actually doing the cutting, the only thing to watch for is stray hairs that get missed -- if someone else is cutting your hair they can see them, but when you're doing it yourself make sure to check that you don't have unexpected tufts at the back; I typically keep on moving the clippers back and forth in as many different directions as I can reach until they stop making the "cutting" sound, and then double-check with two mirrors to make sure it came out okay.

Trimming the back of your neck can be fiddly -- if you just want the hair completely gone, what I do is have my left hand holding the back of my neck, thumb pointing own on the left hand side of my neck and index finger under my right ear, and clippers in right hand with no guard, trim off all the extra hair until the blade hits my left hand (it won't hurt, the blades aren't sharp that way). Then swap hands around to trim the other side. Any time you have no guard on the clippers, things can go wrong, so I use my other hand as a stopper to make sure I don't accidentally go too far.

Nija

I do a 3/8ths clipper every two weeks on my entire head. Same for the beard.