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Cut my own hair

March 22nd, 2010 at 10:39 pm

I don't know why, but I've never cut my own hair before. For a guy who is supposedly frugal and has no taste er I mean personal fashion preference, I've just always gone to a barber. What I would do, though is to wait forever until I went to one.

Well, with weather warming up and co-workers and friends alike joking that I'm trying to grow a hippy ponytail, I figure it was about time that I give it a try.

Now, if I was smart, I'd post first and solicit some advice from you guys before I start. I'm sure there is plenty of experience here to tap. However, I am not that smart Big Grin so I just dove right in.

I didn't know what I was doing, so I just picked... you know those hair clipper plastic guard thingies #5 to start out. I knew at least that I would tell a barber to use "clipper #2", and they seem to know what I had meant even if I didn't. So, I figure #5 is at least a safe choice to try first.

Well, I have some good news! I didn't cut myself and bleed! Yay! The bad news is that, even after a hour of experimenting with hand positions and trying to get those darn little strands here and there, I still have no idea if my back looks fine. For all I know, I look like a serial killer who got his hair cut back by an equally unsavory convict back at the big house. I'm probably going to go buy a mirror later tonight.

You know, my oldest son already cuts his own hair like this, and I have to say that I'm mighty impressed with his result. However, I'm also pretty sure he used only one clipper guard, whereas I tried to blend two of them. Blending seems a lot more difficult than it first appears. Maybe I should have started out with only one as well.

Again, I don't know why I never thought of doing this myself, but at least I'm trying. If you guys have any helpful advice, anything at all, I would greatly appreciate it.

Edit: Good news! I just got compliments at work about the hair. One guy even jokingly said, "I would've cut your hair for free!" Big Grin

7 Responses to “Cut my own hair”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1269301302

    I was hoping for a picture when I saw your title!! It will take some practice I'm sure. I tried doing my husband's flat top and man that is hard!! No wonder the professional gals at Great Clips freak out when he wants one. Smile

  2. Petunia Says:
    1269305876

    Did you use a couple of mirrors to look in the back after you were done? I have cut my own hair (after reading about how to do it) - if you don't use clippers I think it's harder have a good looking short cut. There's probably some videos out on youtube.

  3. Single Guy Says:
    1269309923

    When I was doing my hair I used the #8 guard. The big trick is to learn to use two mirrors (one in hand and one on the wall) and the clipper without the guard to trim the bottom of your hair in the back to a smooth even cut. Once you can do that people really can't tell you did it yourself.

  4. nmboone Says:
    1269311605

    Hope it all came out well. As a girl I don't think I could ever cut my own hair, unless one day I just don't care at all about how my hair looks...

  5. pharaohsmom Says:
    1269316594

    You should have grown the ponytail.

  6. LuckyRobin Says:
    1269318921

    You definitely need the second mirror. I've been cutting the hair of my husband and son for a couple of years now, but on occasion my husband will get tired of waiting for me to do it and do it himself. For the back he angles the mirror in one hand so he can see what he's doing in the other mirror while he uses the razor with the other. Blending is a pain to try to do on your own, so I'd really recommend just going one length all over unless you have someone who can do it for you. Maybe trade haircuts with a friend or something. Although if I remember right, you don't have any frugal friends.

  7. Broken Arrow Says:
    1269347879

    CCF, I had considered taking a picture, but it's kind of embarrassing or something. Big Grin

    Petunia, I did check out a video of a guy who did it on YouTube... and then he cut himself and was bleeding in the back in two places! I was like, "This is NOT helping!" Big Grin

    Single Guy, after the fact, I had noticed that even #5 is shorter than what I need as well, especially if I can learn to cut my own hair. I'll be sure to try that next time.

    nmboone, I think frugal women are allowed to go to hair stylists. Big Grin Did that come out sounding sexist?

    pharaohsmom, I used to have long hair and sometimes in a ponytail. Like, past shoulder length. My hair is pretty thick, and it tends to stick straight out when it's short, but when it's long, it's smooth and flows down with very little work. This was a long, long time ago though, and long hair is just too much work for me.

    LuckyRobin, yeah, I'm just going to use one clipper guard from now on. Yeah, I don't have frugal friends, but we're friends enough that I'm pretty sure they'd help me if I asked. Still, I would much prefer to learn to do this on my own. I didn't pick up a mirror last night, but I'm definitely, definitely picking one up today.

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