How To Cut Hair At Home — Catherine Browne

Apr 5

Apr 5 How To Cut Hair At Home

As we begin week 4 of quarantine, many of us will realize that someone in our household is due for a haircut. This weekend, Francisco and I set about the task of figuring out how to cut his hair at home. Neither of us has ever cut hair before. I was intimidated because while no one else will see his hair in the near future, I would notice my errors everyday until his hair grows out. I can’t say that the trim went perfectly, but I do think I did a decent job. Here are my top 5 tips and tricks for how to give someone an at home haircut:

1. Set up the space

Make sure you have all of the necessary tools on hand. I listed what we needed below for reference. We made the mistake of not laying down an old sheet, and I went searching for extra tools during the haircut. I ended up with tracking Francisco’s hair all over my apartment…

2. Start from the base of the head

After watching a few Youtube videos, we learned it was best to start from the bottom and work your way up. Francisco wanted a short cut, so I first went in with the scissors and cut a lot of hair off the back of his head. Next, I used the shaver starting at the neck and created a fade in effect towards the top of the head. This basically looked like layers that got longer towards the crown of his head, and then I blended it out using the electric clippers.

These were good resources: https://www.wikihow.com/Cut-a-Man%27s-Hair & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epmbHKJTmHY

3. Avoid taking too much off

Especially towards the top and front of the head (which would be the most noticeable), I started off more conservatively and asked for feedback along the way. You can always cut more off, but you can’t go back.

4. Don’t try to be fancy

While it would have been nifty to leave his hair longer on the top and do a cool fade-in, cutting it short was the easiest way to go. Better that than uneven hair.

5. Be patient!

At home haircuts take a surprisingly long time. It took us about 1.5 hours from start to finish, but I’m glad we had the time to figure out the best strategies.

All in all, I think it was a decent first quarantine haircut experience. While I would prefer not to do it again, the next time will be easier. Don’t put too much pressure on the end result. By the time we’re out of quarantine, everyone’s hair will grow back!

Tools we used

Scissors - I got mine at CVS but these are similar ones found on Amazon.
Clippers - Sooooo necessary.
Spray bottle - I filled an empty spray bottle with water. This helped styling and cutting his hair.
Comb - Using a comb to help cut the top would have been helpful. We forgot 😂
Mirror - This is helpful to get feedback along the way.
Towel - Wrap a towel around their neck to limit getting hair on them.
Vacuum & Mop - Make sure you have a good vacuum to clean up after!