Cutting your own hair!

Amandaa5449

Hoping to get some tips and advice on cutting your own hair.

my hair is past my shoulders which I have salon trimmed every 2 months at £40 a pop each trim!
I have it professionally coloured about twice a year. The cost of the colour and a trim comes to around £100.

I’m really happy with the salon but the cost is just so expensive that I’m struggling to justify it (and mostly afford it!)
I’ve rang around other local salons and the cheapest one I found for a cut was £30 so not a huge difference.

I use to enjoy going to a local hairdressing college for my haircuts and colours - the prices were amazingly cheap!
Unfortunately the college has now moved to another town a 45 minute drive away!

During lockdown I trimmed my hair watching YouTube tutorials and despite which method/tutorial I followed I was never happy with my cut which I struggled to get straight and even.

What do other people do about pricey haircuts and colours? Any good tried and tested tutorials?
Please share with me what you do!

Thank you 

theoretica

I usually cut my own - but it might be a bit longer than yours and longer seems to be easier.  Otherwise I ask my mum or a friend - it is easier to be straight when you aren't working over your own shoulder.  One thing which is absolutely crucial is sharp scissors that have never been used to cut paper or abuse like that.

MovingForwards

I colour my own hair, that saves a fortune. Roots are done as normal, the rest I twist into sections and paint the dye on and squeeze it into the section; it gives a low-lights effect instead of single colour all over.

My hair is cut to below shoulder level and a slanted fringe put in, maybe once every 12 - 18 months. I have used mobile hairdressers, barbers who do ladies hair and also use the lowest grade (cheapest) hair stylist at the hair dressers. 
Occasionally I cut a few inches off the ends, if I'm on the verge of sitting on it before I get round to booking an appointment.
I wear it up when at work and can put a few soft waves in for home / going out.

If you're a member of FB join several local selling groups, there's often trainee hairdressers asking for volunteers and they don't charge much. People also recommend mobile hairdressers.

Also do ask in barbers, unless you've got layers or some other complex style.

I know it's not the answers you were looking for, but hints and tips may help.

Spoonie_Turtle

Barbers may be cheaper than hairdressers.

For self-cutting longer is definitely easier.  I personally favour the babushka method for a gentle U (although I haven't been able to reach the ends of my hair for a few years so now my sister trims it for me).  Unfortunately I've only found one very talky tutorial and that was for very long hair, not much use to you.  

Basically you have your hair either with your natural parting or centre parting, then part it in the middle at the back (don't worry if the two sides feel an uneven amount of hair, that's normal.  Just if you've separated it in the middle at the back it's fine).  Bring the hair forward and brush it to make sure it's all laying straight without any tangles, then secure in a ponytail under your chin and trim however much off the ends - on longer hair you tie another hairtie near the top of the ponytail and bring it carefully down in a straight line to the length you want, then snip.  I don't know how well it would work on just past shoulder length hair though, I have to be honest. 

If you have someone to help you can put it in a low ponytail at the nape of your neck, tilt your head forward slightly (only slightly, for a straight hem, look down further for more of a U) then they pull the hairtie down to the level you want and cut.  It works on longer hair by oneself too if you then carefully bring the end round to the front to snip.

Or there is the CreaClip and knockoffs; apparently the spirit level on the original ones are dodgy anyway so you'd need someone with a decent eye to make sure it's level and then cut for you.  Again that would give a slight U shape as well.


Whichever method, you definitely need sharp scissors that have never been used to cut anything else.  A decent pair of hair scissors (also called shears) can seem expensive but they will pay for themselves within a couple of cuts.  They need to be sharp so that they slice straight through hairs without crushing, otherwise that causes split ends.


Or, maybe it would be worth considering whether you really need to trim it every 2 months, whether going to the hairdressing college would still be worth the trip if you went maybe every 4 months instead.

MSE_Laura_F

Hope you don't mind if I throw my colleague's blog into the mix:

DIY haircut tips – videos from the pros and dos & don'ts from the MSE team and MoneySavers who have tried cutting their own hair

💇

Amandaa5449

MSE_Laura_F said:

Hope you don't mind if I throw my colleague's blog into the mix:

DIY haircut tips – videos from the pros and dos & don'ts from the MSE team and MoneySavers who have tried cutting their own hair

💇

Thank you so much. I’ll check it out now 😊

Kim_kim

Go on your local Facebook page & see if any hairdressers are doing it cheaper, you never know.
I get mine coloured at the salon every 2 months & probably cut every other visit.