How to Cut Your Own Hair

by Miriam Lacey 38

Psst. I'm about to let you in on a little secret: you can easily cut your own hair. Last night, in fact, I lopped off about six inches and couldn't be more pleased. It's not that I don't appreciate stylists — far from it — it's just that I don't have a lot of free time to make an appointment. Plus, styling yourself is fun (and addictive).

But home cutting can definitely be a dangerous game if you don't come in with a solid understanding and reasonable expectations. If you've got questions, ask them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them. And to learn the basics I've gleaned from experience, just keep reading.

• Don't go it alone if you can. Last time I cut my hair, I had my awesome roommate even the back out for me.
• If it's your first time, don't get too fancy. Cutting in layers and angles isn't the kind of thing you want to do haphazardly, and they require technique, so keep your first couple cuts to a single length.
• Use your fingers as a guide. It's easy to accidentally angle your scissors up or down, creating weird holes and gaps in your hair. So hold the sections you're cutting parallel between your fingers to help keep your shears even.
• If you want something truly simple, this is probably the easiest way to cut hair if it's wet: Flip your head over, brush it out, and then cut in a straight line all the way across. It'll create a single-length blunt cut that's good for fine to slightly thick hair types.
• Keep the sections you're working on small, and longer than you think you'll want them — it's always better to have a little more hair you can even out later, and if your hair has even a little curl, it'll be a good deal shorter when it dries. In fact, the curlier your hair, the longer you should leave it if you're nervous about overcutting.