Ask Lemmy

If you want a buzz cut (something you can do with clippers and a single length attachment), doing it yourself is really no problem at all. If you want something more complex, you probably want to see a professional.

Go for it. There's tons of Youtube videos. The difference between a bad haircut, and a good haircut? 2 weeks.

For a guy:

You're not going to do anything well yourself except a buzz. And even then, there's a learning curve.

If you're trying to keep it long, you're going to fuck it up.

For medium length, there used to be an "as seen on tv" product that was basically a shop vac that pulls hair into it, and cuts it a uniform length. I don't know if they even sell them anymore, but that would be your only option.

If you just don't care, start buzzing it. Do it often, like buzz today, and then buzz again after taking a shower. You're going to miss spots and a shower in between makes the hair stand up different and easier to make it uniform

As you get better you can start doing it every two weeks or whatever, but at first do it really often to make sure you're not leaving patches you can't see.

I started to go bald in my early twenties and started shaving it. I haven't been to a barber in decades now. Even if they came up with the perfect baldness cure, I wouldn't take it.

I was a barber and yes, if your hair is long, you can trim it without training, as long as it's not very straight it doesn't matter if it's precise. Short hair and straight hair are less forgiving.

Basically you just want to make sure the two sides left and right are the same length and there are no "points" - no sharp length changes.

I'd just look for videos with people who have hair similar to yours, showing how they cut their own hair. You can do it!

I’m doing it since Covid. No ideas about long hair but for me it’s simple:

With a hair clipper 9mm on the sides and back

12mm on the top (with the natural hair direction, not against)

Now the lower back is the hardest and it will never be amazing but gets better over time. I bought a hand mirror and use it to find where to create the border. I hold my comb in a roughly 20 degrees angle over that line and cut everything below with 3mm. This way I can’t overshoot and the angle creates a decent transition. If I want to improve it, I start another line below for a 0mm cut.

I would personally like to make an even shorter cut but my hair is pretty thin in some areas and then it looks spotty. At some point I might go full Heisenberg but there is still time.

I use a Remington QuickCut for most of my head and a Phillips 7000 series for details, beard and down under.

The only time I went to a professional since covid was for my brothers wedding.

Every time I tried I ended up with a buzzcut. Now I just give myself buzzcuts from the get-go.

Been cutting my own hair for a decade. It wasn't pretty at first, but I got better. Have done several different styles over the years, too. Now it is easy, quick, and looks good.

I've saved so much money and, more than that, time and stress. I can cut my hair first thing on a Sunday morning or late on a Monday night. No appointments, no idle chit chat, no leaving the house... just 20 minutes and a shower and I'm good for another 3000 miles.

I cut my own hair, I am bald.

Am Asian. Literally never went to a barber lol. I mean except that few times when I was a kid. My dad then learn how to do barber stuff. I think he might've worked as a barber for a short time, but not sure. Then I got older and just did haircuts myself. I keep it like very short, like the shortest trimmer guard (is that what it's called?). Idk why but hair gets veerry annoying when it gets long.

Saves a lot of money, you know... average Asian frugal tricks that parents teach you 😅. I never admitted that fact in front of classmates in the US since that's kinda embarassing. People love to poor-shame.

(For context, I'm a dude, idk how girls/women does things, but my mother also never went to a barber, not to my knowledge anyways)

Idk why, but like I think many Asians just don't really take haircuts that seriously, I remember a Malaysian-American classmate just joking about his mom doing haircuts for him... so relatable lol. I hear like white kids or black kids talk about haircuts and "hairstyles" and I'm like... 👀

[Insert awkward monkey puppet meme here]

With long hair, you have two particular easy opportunities:

• Just trim only the temples with a trimmer, and let the rest grow as it pleases. Or cut the ends to some length that makes sense. This way you can have a ponytail, or loose hair if that's your style, and look okay.

• Or, get a ‘long mohawk’: have a barber buzz the sides so that you have the back and top in a straight wide stripe, then tie a ponytail and shave the sides with a trimmer once every week or two. This is more fit for dudes, though there are photos of gals in image search too. The benefit of this style is that it's more chilly than a full head of hair, while also being low-maintenance.

I do my hair once a month because I’m lazy and I don’t care about my hair. #3 all around (cold) or #2 for summer.

I know plenty of stylists that cut their own hair. It’s just like anything you start doing, you’ll probably suck at first but you’ll get better.

I’ve been wondering this too, but out of sheer convenience. I even already have a trimmer for my beard. I like my hair short and usually describe it as “number 3|6 trimmer on the sides and back ….” And I should be able to do that.

Why do I need to use my time to find a barbershop that hasn’t shut down, go sit in a waiting room for 30-60 minutes, have to describe to someone new how I want May hair, and end up with something inconsistent anyway. I can be inconsistent on my own, thank you

Mine is 30-40 cm (man) and I do it myself with scissors. Forget all the "hacks" and just do whatever u think will look good freehand. I do recommend getting good scissors intended for cutting hair. Normal ones are not sharp enough.

Watch videos and practice on something that isn’t you if you can. It’s easy to goof up with long hair if you don’t use the right techniques. I have been clipper-cutting mine for over a decade now. Obviously that’s much simpler but it still took practice.

I shave mine. Typical a 3mm guide over the blade. I’ve been doing that for about 20 years.

I learned that I can do a great anime-protagonist haircut, but now that I'm not in my early 20s anymore that's not really my style anymore.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you just trim the tips off of your perpetual ponytail/braid, that's easy too.

Everything in between needs practice, and ideally the ability to look at the back of your head.

Best advice I can give you is to take your time with it no need to rush, and also be prepared to except a bad haircut from time to time. I’ve been cutting my own hair for years and I’m about 70-30 for giving myself a good haircut.

If you’re going to try the scissor route, I recommend you aim for messed up. Like anime style, lots of different lengths going lots of directions. Then you might actually do something nifty. If you try to do anything even or any fades, you’ll have a very hard time.

I shave my head daily in the shower. It feels good, requires no mirror, and always looks consistent. Have been doing it for years.

Similar situation for me here.

I’ve cut my hair a few times before and from what I can discern, a hairstylist or someone particularly interested in hair/beauty will notice if you’ve cut it yourself. Whether that matters to you is another thing.

I’ve noticed if you have long hair (past the shoulders) and there is a lot of it then you can hide any mistakes easier. Curly hair is also better at hiding mistakes. If it’s straight, short and more sparse then any cuts made will be more noticeable and thus any mistakes will be more obvious. If you go very short and have to use a shaver to get closer to the skin then it can be tricky to keep everything even.

The more you do it the better you will get of course. At this point I feel fairly comfortable trimming my length but the first few times did not look very good. If your situation is such that appearances aren’t scrutinized severely then I don’t see the harm in trying to do it yourself.

Just make sure you cut your hair a little longer than you might want, that way if it looks really bad then you can go to a hairstylist and they have some length to work with.

Oh and something to note, my hairstylist knows about my sensory issues and they’re very accommodating. I was rather upfront about it, telling them something along the lines of “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I have some sensory issues with haircuts. Is it possible we can address them before we get started?” I ended up sticking with the hairstylist that was the most understanding. It took a few tries but they’re great! We use unscented hair products, no heat styling (blow dryer or hair iron), tv’s are turned off, and we only really talk when it’s about the haircut.

The only reason I don’t see them that often anymore is the cost of services in general.

Well, if you have a lot of hair to play around with, you can just try it without much risk. I cut my own hair (male, short hair) but I find it really difficult to manipulate scissors or clippers while looking in the mirror. I also can't really do the back of my head so I have to get someone to help me.

Just be ready to clean up, because hair will fly all over the place if you aren't careful.

Also autistic and did this for a few years. For a basic dude-cut, you can use buzz everything however short you want, then every few weeks after buzz the sides and back but let the top grow until it looks like it's time to buzz your whole head again or you decide to let it keep growing back out for a bit. Pretty easy and low maintenance. Takes practice and follow the other person's advice to shower and go back over your head to make sure you get everything, it's harder than it seems like it should be. And you'll need someone to help get your neckline at some point.

This cut might start out a lot shorter than you had in mind when you asked the question, or maybe not. When it comes to wielding scissors, that's not something I can really attack my hair with, so I don't have ideas that would be helpful in that regard.

I have been cutting my own hair since covid.

It isn't that hard. A pair of scissors, some hair rubbers and a hair trimmer if you want it short.

The hardest part os, of course, the back of the head. But with time you can get a pretty decent result.

I tend to prefer a "messy" hair style which helps hiding my mess ups.

I buzz cut when I messed up practicing, but I keep my hair only just long enough to style slightly and only use powered trimmers really with a small pair of touch up scissors.

Buying a 360 degree mirror is my recommendation. It's basically a swivel arm attached to three adjustable mirrors. Takes the blind guess work out of the equation and you can clean your neck up better.

I cut my own hair during lockdown. I did it outdoors, using regular scissors and a mirror. It came out not too bad, from the front anyway. Not sure what the back looked like - it felt ok. That's shortish hair, I'm sure long hair would be easier.

I think that's largely going to depend on what kind of hair cut you want. I do a semi layered cut. I bend forward, brush all my hair towards my forehead, put it in a pony tail, and cut it whenever I want.

I will note if you're cutting it close to your forehead, maybe take some front pieces out or you'll have really really short bangs. After I do all that I double check it in the mirror, make sure both sides are even, trim if they're not, trim my bangs how I want them, and I'm good for another month or two.

Is it in style? Idk. I'm pushing 40, I don't really give a shit anymore. But it sure beats the hell out of going to the salon.

I started cutting it myself during Covid. Then moved to a forwign country. I have always had anxiety about the salon experience so it was a huge relief when it was just me in my bathroom with some scissors. No one to blame but me if I mess up and I don’t get poorer about it. I’ll probably never go to a salon again. I am 44 and have never loved my hair so it doesn’t matter much to me how it comes shorter. I keep it between my chin and shoulder blades, and use brad mondo tutorials.

For many years it started with a Mohawk in college when I started getting that Jean Renu, then it started connecting leaving me with a solitary tuft so I just started shaving it.