Believe it or not, it is possible to do your own cute, professional-looking layered haircut at home. The obvious benefit is the money it saves from an expensive visit to the salon. But it also buys more time between salon visits and keeps hair healthier (regular trims get rid of damaged hair and encourage healthy growth).
In five easy steps, this technique adds body and movement (thanks to the layers). This method is ideal for people who have long hair that is at least shoulder length.
One comment about caution: Start off with a small trim. You can always repeat this process to remove more length, but cutting off too much can’t be fixed at home. That requires a salon visit and defeats the purpose of this do-it-at-home haircut! Do this at your own discression: KCL is not responsible for any undesired results! Remember to start off with a small, conservative trim!
- Start with clean, dry hair. Brush it until it is very smooth. Make sure there are no snarls or knots.
- Bend at the waist and brush hair forward until you can gather it into a ponytail over your forehead (think about being a unicorn: Your ponytail should be where your horn would be).
- Keep brushing until hair is smooth over the scalp, then gather it into a ponytail and secure with an elastic band.
- Here’s the trickiest part: Slide the elastic band toward the end of the ponytail. It is easiest to do this while bending over. Hair will be cut at the elastic band, so to do a trim pull the elastic all the way to an inch or two from the end of the hair. Adjust the ponytail from there to reach desired length. Remember: It is better to trim a little at a time!
- Stand up, holding the elastic in place. Move carefully and avoid shifting hair and ponytail. Using sharp scissors, cut your hair just behind the ponytail (you’ll have a tiny ponytail in your hand after cutting at the elastic band).
This technique works well for straight or wavy hair. It’s even easier to cut someone else’s hair this way and is a great way to keep a little girl’s long hair trimmed without spending money at a salon. Warning: Don’t cut too close to the scalp or you’ll end up with a mullet (I know this from personal experience)!
I’ve used this technique many times with great results. The only exception? When, on a whim, I decided to do an ear-length haircut at home and then had to have a professional fix my mistakes!
This is a guest post by Shaunta from Reno, NV
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