Once you've moved out of your house, either to go to college or to work and live on your own dime, you'll notice things that cost money but that you never really thought about before—like haircuts. If you don't cut your hair, not only will it constantly annoy you, but it can make you look shaggy and unkempt, and a lack of trimming can lead to more and more split ends that damage your hair's health and its overall appearance. If you really don't have the money for a haircut, or if you don't have the time or transportation to get a haircut done, it's easiest if you learn to trim your hair yourself so you can keep your hair trimmed for as long as you can put off going to a proper hair stylist. If you're looking for tips and tricks on trimming your hair by yourself, then here's what you need to know.
Start Off Simple
Cutting the front-bottom of your hair is a snap: find the length you want it cut at and draw a mental line across your shirt or against the background reflected in the mirror. If you really want to make things easier, wearing a shirt with horizontal stripes will give you a good guide (assuming you've got long hair). Pinch your hair above the line you want between your pointer and middle fingers, keeping them parallel to the floor, and slide down to the point you want to cut at. Making sure to keep your head absolutely straight during this process, and then take a pair of scissors (hair scissors work best) and cut the hair underneath your fingers in small strokes.
Watch Your Back
When it comes to the hair you can't see, your best bet is to get a friend, roommate, or coworker to help you; it's always easier to cut someone else's hair than your own, after all. If you don't have anyone to ask, stand sideways to your mirror and look straight ahead. Using your peripheral vision, bend your arm behind your back and follow the pinch-and-cut procedure above.
Polish Up Bangs
Just trimming off an inch or two of your hair is relatively simple and gets easier the more you do it, but your bangs (whether side-swept or blunt) can be a little trickier. The key here is to cut a little and then look. If you just cut and cut without stepping back, it'll be like trying to pluck your eyebrows blind and ending up with a needle-thin line of hair.
Blunt bangs are relatively intuitive—pinch the hair between two fingers parallel to the floor, snip off the hair under it, and repeat this in a line all the way across. For side bangs, comb them so that they're on the opposite side of your face, and then slide two fingers down (parallel to the floor once again) the length of your bangs at the angle you want them at. Then snip underneath your fingers, cutting with the scissors pointing nearly straight up to avoid too blunt of a line.
If you're looking for more than a trim or don't want to risk messing up your hair, check out a hair-styling place such as Styled Salon.
