Cutting hair at home rather than a saloon can save you money If you do not want to spend or have a tight budget. You can get a decent haircut with patience and appropriate tools.
There are 8 methods that are described in this article. You can select one according to your hair and your choice.
How to Prepare to Cut Your Own Long Hair
To start cutting your hair at your home, below are some basics that you should have.
1. A Pair of Scissors
You should purchase a pair of hair cutting scissors. You can find them in the beauty supply store or others. Their price can be from $50 to $150. Try to get around 5.5” long scissors. It is easy to control the cut if the blades are short.
Quick Tip: A common mistake is using dull tools. You should ensure that the scissors are sharpened because dull scissors will cause split ends. Another problem is not cutting hair evenly. The hairs should lay in the correct way on your head in case of layers.
2. Decide The Haircut Style
Before cutting, you should decide and choose a nice haircut. Knowing the haircut style will keep you focused and you will not make mistakes.
• To decide a haircut style, browse celebrity pictures. See hairstyle magazines, in the mirror, play with hair to see what your hairs look like at different lengths; print your photos and make different hairstyles on your face.
• There are sites and apps on which you can try on different hairstyles over your photographs.
• Do not make a decision in rush. Take some time before you decide. For example, if you want to shorten your hair then take some days before doing this. Because once your hairs are short, then you can miss your long hair possibly but now they are gone.
• If you will make some significant changes to your hairstyle, then you should consult a professional so that everything goes right.
3. Decide On a Dry or Wet Hair Cut
Before cutting, think about if you want a dry or wet haircut. Cutting wet hairs are easy to control and manage, and also it is recommended by many experts. Some experts recommend cutting the hairs dry since you can see the cut effects right away and adjust for any quirks such as curls or cowlicks.
If you will cut your wet hairs, then trim them minimum some inches longer than you want it, because your hairs will shrink and then look short once they are dry. Dry cuts can produce uneven hair.
You should have sharp sheers if you want to cut hair dry. If you will cut your dry hair with a dull blade will lead to uneven lines.
Many experts cut the hairs when they are wet and adjust or refine once they are dry. If you will do this, you can get results.
4. Prepare The Hair for Cutting
If you want to cut the hair wet, then shampoo the hairs and condition it, after that, remove excess water by wrapping the hairs in a towel and squeeze them.
Then comb the damp hair straight. If you will cut hair while they are dry then wash and dry them, part the hairs where you will part it normally, then get them close to how you will normally wear them. Straighten the hairs before cutting if you straighten the hairs normally.
Before cutting, do not put any products in the dry hairs, since they will make it difficult to evaluate the cut properly.
Method 1: Low Ponytail Hair Cut
1. Make the Hair Damp
Firstly, damp your hair. If you have washed hairs recently, then don’t wash them again. You can wet the hairs by spritzing fresh water. It will give you a straight hairstyle that can be slightly rounded from the back.
2. Part The Hair Down the Middle
Part the hairs in the middle back to your crown’s top. Comb back the hairs straight, behind this point. Be exact when you part the hairs. Use a nice comb for combing the hairs on either side of the part.
3. Pull Your Hairs Back in A Low Ponytail
Pull the hair back in a low ponytail at your neck’s nape and then Using the good quality comb. Make sure that your hairs are firm against your head when you pull them back into a tight ponytail.
Comb the hair all over to make sure that they have no bumps before you pull them in the ponytail.
Also, make sure that the ponytail is in the middle of your head’s back, and that it sits very low at your neck’s nape.
4. Put Another Ponytail Holder
Put another ponytail holder in the hairs. And this ponytail needs to be above where you will cut the hairs. It can be some inches below the other one.
5. Pinch and Pull the Ponytail Upwards
Pull your ponytail softly up towards the ceiling. Do this without loosening the hairs from your neck’s nape. At this point, you should decide where to cut the hair.
6. Use the Scissors to Cut Off the Excess Hair
Clip off excess hairs from below the second holder. Do this in incremental and small snips. Do not cut the hairs’ whole chunk in one go. You should ensure that your ponytail’s end is as even as possible.
7. Evaluate and Decide Whether You Should Cut More
Remove Ponytail Holders and then Shake the Hairs. Evaluate and then polish. Comb straight up and forward to check for hairs’ evenness. After that, adjust your haircut as you like. If your haircut is not even as you want it to be, you can put it in a ponytail and trim the hairs again. Don’t try to cut it any short but simply put them back in the ponytail, hold the hairs firmly in one hand, and clip stray hairs that are not even with the others.
Method 2: The Twist Hair Cutting Method
1. Comb Your Hair to The Top and Twist
Comb all hairs to the head’s top and twist tightly. This cut will give you a more angled haircut, as well as it is ideal if you need an inverted bob.
Keep in mind that this method will not eliminate much length from your hair, but cutting many hairs can result in heavy layering and important weight removal from your hair, which cannot make it ideal for fine or thin hair.
2. Cut Off as Much Hair as You Want
Cut off how much hair you need. Hold the hairs firmly up above the head, then cut them.
You may determine where the short layer will fall by pinching a piece of hair from the front hairline where you need the short layer to fall. Pull it back to where you’ll twist. This may act as a guide for where to cut.
3. Twist in The Opposite Direction
Allow your hair down, run a comb through it, then pull your hair up once more as well as twist your hair in the opposite direction.
4. Clean Up the Ends and Tips
Cut off any straggly hairs. Holding your twisted hair up over your head again, move across the ends of it, snipping away any hairs that stick out.
5. Review and Repeat to Cut Shorter
Let go and comb out. Allow go of your hair/comb it out, styling it as you want. You can now decide if it is short sufficient, or if you want to continue cutting, begin from step one, and review again.
Method 3: The Twist Method for Pixie Haircuts
1. Section Off Your Bangs
Section off the fringe in front of the hair. If you need a long fringe and bangs, comb out a section from the top of your hair before starting on the large haircut. If you do not need bangs, move to the next step.
How you will cut the bangs rely on your pixie cut’s style. For wispy bangs that blend with your pixie cut, cut into your fringe at a 75-degree angle through moving diagonally across your face.
For extra blunt bangs, cut straight across from ear to ear, moving across your hair in smaller sections as you go.
2. Comb Your Hair to The Top and Twist
Take a comb or work it through your hair. Comb it all the wait to the top and twist it slightly, so it’s simple to hold.
3. Start Cutting Your Hair
Cut your hair. Place your fingers near the bottom of how long you need your crop to be, as well as cut there. After you’re satisfied, comb your new short hair.
4. Cut Your Hair Vertically Up or Down
Take a thin vertical row of hair, or cut vertically up, and down it. You need to cut a straight, even line as you do so. Take as much off as you want for achieving the desired length.
5. Cut the Rest of Your Hair
Continue to cut the rest of the hair. You can utilise the previous cut section as a guide, pull some of your hair in parallel to the first section, and cut accordingly. Continue taking parallel sections, using a little piece of the last cut section as a guide. Refine the edges when you’re done so that it’s even and balanced.
Method 4: High Ponytail Haircut
1. Prepare Clean & Lightly Damp Hair
Begin with clean, damp hair. This cut will give you heavy layers on the top of your hair. If you have washed your hair, you do not want to wash it again, then you can wet them using a spray bottle and freshwater.
2. Bend Over with Hair Falling Down
With your head pointing downward, bend over at your waist. If you do not need to turn upside down for cutting your hair, you may do the high ponytail method though standing upright. Hold your high ponytail upward over the head in one of your hands as you will follow the remaining steps.
3. Comb Through and Create A Ponytail
Comb and brush your hair into a ponytail near the top of your head. Do this while you’re yet bending over at the waist, with your head pointing downward.
To make sure that your hair is as even as possible, the goal for a ponytail that’s right at the centre as well as the top of your head. Utilise a mirror to help you determine the position of the ponytail.
4. Use Elastic Bands or Hair Ties to Make A Ponytail
Secure your ponytail tightly with an elastic band. Place this first band close to your scalp so that your hair can’t slip out of it.
Place a second elastic band more down the ponytail. This second elastic band will sit below where you need to make the cut.
5. Cut Your Hair Above the Second Band
Cut your hair above the 2nd elastic band. Hold your hairs’ bottom firmly in your one hand, hold scissors in the second hand, and cut through the hairs.
Don’t try to cut through the whole ponytail of hair all at once. Make small snips unless you’re all the way through the ponytail.
6. Release Your Hair and Evaluate
Release your hair from the ponytail. Eliminate the elastic band as well as shake out your hair. Brush it and run your fingers through it.
Make most finishing touches. If it looks too blunt and uneven, flip your hair over once more, again securing it into a ponytail at the top centre of your head, then, holding the ponytail in one hand, trim any stray hairs that hang out of the end of the ponytail.
There should not be several stray hairs. If you see many of them, move the ponytail around on your head unless the hair is even when you grasp it in your hand.
For a further natural look, you can make few small, upward cuts into the ponytail. It will soften your hair’s ends so that the cut will look less blunt. It’ll give it more of a shaggy look, incorporating any unevenness into the style.
Method 5: Front Ponytail Haircut
1. Prepare Clean, Smooth and Dry Hair
Make sure that your hair is dry, clean, and smooth. This’s important to do before you begin cutting, particularly if you have frizzy hair. This’s a dry cut so there is no want to wash your hair until it’s dirty and oily.
This cut is better if you need more layers framing your face.
2. Bend Over, Brush Hair Down, And Create A Ponytail
Tip the head upside down. Brush hairs into a ponytail at forehead’s centre. With your head yet upside down, brush your hair forward and gather it into a good tight, secure ponytail that begins right on your hairline in the centre of your forehead.
3. Decide the Length of Your First Layer
Work out how long you need your 1st layer of hair to be. Are you going for a fringe that ends at your eyebrows as well as layers that begin at your chin? Measure the distance of where your ponytail starts on your forehead to where you need your first layer of hair to fall.
You may measure this distance with a comb.
4. Hold Your Ponytail Firmly with One Hand and Cut with The Other
Hold your ponytail firmly with one hand as well as cut it with the other. Get scissors and shear the ponytail off at the length that you have measured with the comb.
5. Snip at The End of The Ponytail
Snip into the blunt end of the ponytail. Alter your grip on the scissors now and, pointing them directly into the hair, snip into the blunt end of the ponytail unless it seems like a shaving brush: all graduated and fluffy, with no difficult lines.
You should care while leaning forward since so that you do not jab the scissors to the eyes or get bits of hair falling into the eyes.
6. Pull Off the Elastic Band and Evaluate
Pull off the hair elastic as well as shake your head so your hair falls into place. Take your time for evaluating the length and style, then decide if you want any finishing touches.
Method 6: Cutting Your Pigtails
1. Prepare Clean, Combed and Dry Hair
Begin with clean, dry, brushed hair. If it isn’t straight, you can need to straighten it as well.
This haircut cannot be suitable for people with fine or thin hair as it’ll eliminate quite a bit of weight from the bottom of your hair.
2. Part Your Hair Down the Middle
Part your hair in the middle. Using a good-toothed comb, divide your hair into 2 equal parts, using a mirror to make sure that the line down the centre of your head is straight, and that the 2 halves are even.
3. Make Low Pigtails with Your Hair
Place your hair in low pigtails. Tie the 2 halves of your hair into 2 separate ponytails (called pigtails). Make sure that they sit low on your head, behind/below your ears close to where your hair meets your neck at the sides of your head.
4. Tighten Your Pigtails
For tightening pigtail, grab the hair a few inches below the ponytail holder, split them in half so that each hand will hold one half. Then, gently pull the 2 halves away from one another so that the elastic band moves upwards, close to the base of your head.
5. Pull The Elastic Band Around Your Pigtails Down
Pull the elastic bands around your pigtails down evenly/slowly. When you got the desired length then STOP. ensure that the are even.
6. Cut Your Hair Beneath the Elastic Bands
Cut your hair beneath the elastic band. Do this for both sides. If you cut your hair straight across, it’ll seem choppy; for a further natural look, hold the scissors at a 45-degree angle as well as cut upward into your hair.
7. Remove The Elastic Bands (Ponytail Holders)
Eliminate the ponytail holders. Once you have cut every pigtail, you will notice that your hair comes to a point at the back.
If you want the V-shape at the hair’s back, move to the next step. If you do not like it, you can eliminate the point by tying your hair into a single ponytail at the nape of your neck, as well as then clipping off the point.
8. Review, Evaluate and Finish Up
Polish your cut. Trim your ends and snip any bits of hair that look longer than the rest. When point-cutting into the ends, hold the scissors at a 45-degree angle to your hair when point-cutting into the ends
Method 7: Cutting Your Long Hair Upside Down
1. Wash and Towel Dry Your Hair
Wash and towel dry your hair. There’s no want to blow-dry your hair as you will want it to yet be slightly damp for this cut.
2. Prepare A Towel Down on The Floor
Place a towel in front of you on the floor. It can catch the hair pieces when you cut them.
3. Lean Over and Brush Your Hair Downwards
Flip your head over as well as brush all of your hair in the direction of the floor.
4. Cut Small Areas from One Side to The Other
Cut in little sections, moving left to right. Cut parallel to the floor, being careful never to move your head. After every little section, run a comb through your hair to make sure that you are cutting it as evenly as possible.
Take off less than you did like, as your hair will be slightly shorter when it is dry. Remember that you can take off more hair; go slow and be conservative in your cuts.
5. Stand Upright, Review and Evaluate
Stand upright and evaluate. Once you are done, you should have trimmed hair with most longer layers in it.
Method 8: Cutting the Long Hair Back to Front
1. Prepare Clean and Damp Hair
You should make sure that your hairs are damp and clean. If you have washed the hairs recently and don’t want to do it again, spray the hair down with fresh water.
2. Stand in Front of a Mirror So that You Can See Yourself
Stand in front of a large mirror if possible, with a mirror that is placed behind you in a way, you can see yourself that what you are doing from both sides.
3. Comb Hairs
Comb your hairs along required part lines. Do it while you hold the head in a neutral position — not too far back or forward and not tilted to one side or the other.
4. Split Hairs into Sections
Split your hairs into 8 sections as:
- Bangs
- top-front (left and right)
- Top-back (left and right)
- Sides (left and right),
- One section at your neck’s nape.
Twirl every section of your hairs around your finger before you will clip it up and out of the way. Leave the section at the neck’s nape out and it is the section from where you will start with because cutting the hairs from back-front is easy than front-back.
If your hairs are thick, you should divide hairs into more sections, especially at the top-back and top-front of your head, and the neck’s nape.
5. Hold Your Scissors appropriately
You should hold the scissors in a different way relying on the haircut type that you want.
If a blunt (straight across) cut is required, then you should hold the scissors horizontally when you cut straight across the hairs.
If a soft, natural, and layered look is required, then you should turn the scissors at a 45-degree angle and cut the hairs upward, making small diagonal cuts.
For a wispier edge (like for bangs), first cut the hair to the required length, then, make a vertical angle with scissors, cut upward in a quick move into the hair. Do this only some these per section of hair, otherwise, it will look as wispy as well as sparse.
6. Begin Cutting the Hair
Start cutting the hair section at the neck’s nape. Bring your hair in front of the shoulders. Comb hairs section out. Take a firm grip of them between your pointer and middle fingers, and comb through the hairs section again.
Slide the fingers down the section while pulling the hair taut unless they are above where you will cut, then use scissors to cut under the fingers.
7. Continue Cutting Through every Section
Keep cutting the rest of the hair. Once you are contented with the section at the neck’s nape, let down your hairs’ top-back right section and cut that.
Then let down your hairs’ top-back left section and cut it so that this is even with the top-back right as well as nape sections.
Work from your back to front, section to section, until all hairs are even.
Comb every section before cutting.
If your sections begin to dry, spray them with water before combing and cutting.
8. How to Add Layers
After cutting your all hair evenly to one length, then you can add layers. For a natural look, you should cut small sections of hair at random.
During creating layers on long hair, you should create varying mid-length layers for a professional look.
9. Shampoo Wash and Dry Hairs
Wash your hairs with shampoo and then dry them. Condition, and rinse the hairs. Then dry your hairs a blow-dryer or towel.
10. Review, Evaluate and Finish
Clean uneven bits if there is any. Once the hairs are dry and clean, see them again to ensure that everything is even and that any layers are well-blended.
You may possibly find more uneven bits when time will pass on. Do not get worried and fix them when you find them.
FAQ: Common Questions about Cutting Long Hair
Question: I part the hair on the side, should I part the hairs still in the middle as these methods suggest? Will these make my hair uneven when I will wear it on the side?
Answer: You can try this, as the best thing about hairs is that you can do experiments with them. If it does not work, you can change it always.
Question: I want the hairs as straight, but it does not work if I cut. What should I do?
Answer: Try to straighten your hairs and put hairspray on them. Do this daily. If it will help, then ask from a hairstylist.
Question: My hairs are shoulder length. I want to short them and layered. How can I do this myself?
Answer: If you want to short your hairs than current length, you can do layers by cutting your hairs in sections and inches by using your fingers. However, women with your present hairstyle can find it difficult to place layers in, so a good option is to go for a bob cut since you can put in a slight layer and shape your hairs to go short for a classy look.
Question: Any ideas to cut waist-length hair to the shoulders?
Answer: Tie a rubber band on your hairs tightly where you cut the hairs. Cut the hairs in a straight line. It will cut evenly.
Question: Which method I can follow for a drastic V-cut?
Answer: Use the ponytail method mentioned above, but do not cut horizontally, cut facing upward like a "V."
Question: my hairs are naturally curly that can be frizzy and dry. They are long, and I want to cut them in a long shag style. Is it a good style for my hair?
Answer: It will possibly not work if your hair is dry and frizzy. One best option can be to layer them so they will appear thick with more volume. As a style, as your hairs are, you should shorten them more to shoulder length.
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