Hair

How I Cut My Hair

A few weeks ago, I cut about 2 inches off of my hair. I do my own cuts and trims because I don't really trust anyone else to do it. There are too many scissor-happy stylists out there who don't know the difference between a trim and a cut, so I'd much rather gauge for myself how much needs to be taken off in order for me to have clean ends and the shape that I want.

Whenever I cut my hair, I always trim my ends first. That way, I feel like I've done the necessary maintenance prior to styling and shaping. A lot of ladies have asked me how I cut my hair, particularly the back, and I've tried my best to explain it in words. I know this is something that I'll never be able to record on video simply because for one, it takes me about two hours to complete the process (From trim to cut), and secondly, I need the help of multiple mirrors in order to get it right. Since I use my Macbook to record videos, there's no way I could get the camera angles necessary to capture it all. Thus, I've put together this picture tutorial for those of you who are interested in seeing how I cut my hair.

Step 1: I always start by trimming my ends to rid them of any splits and/or prevent splits from forming. To see how I do it, watch How I Trim Split Ends.

Here are pics of my hair before (left) and after (right) the trim. I performed the trim (and the cut) on Thursday, July 2, 2009. At the time it had been 14 weeks since my last one. As always, there wasn't much difference in length, as I only trimmed off a little bit.


Step 2: To begin the cut, I always start with a part going across the occipital bone (the lower back portion of the skull). This is the first section I'll be working with.

Step 3. I then part that section into three sections -- one in the middle and one on each side, and I pull the side sections over my shoulders to move them out of the way. This is how I isolate the center section, which I'll be working with first. Since I like to shape my hair in a V or U shape, this center piece will be the longest point.

Step 4: Since I don't have eyes in the back of my head, I pull the center piece straight up in the air, stand in front of a mirror and cut it straight across.

Pull the center piece up

Cut straight across

An up-close shot of the uneven ends that I'm working to make even

Step 5. After putting the center piece down to double check that it is indeed even and neat, I then move on to the hair that's on the side. I start by taking one of the side sections and with it draped over my shoulder, I cut downwards at an angle, so that the shortest piece is near the front and the longest piece is in the back. This will give me the V-shape I'm going for.

Hair draped over shoulder

Angle cut up close

Step 6. Once I've performed step 5 on both side sections, I then take all the hair and comb it back to double check that it looks neat and even on both sides. If there is any unevenness (i.e. if one side is longer than the other, or the hair isn't flowing well with the center section), I simply work more on whichever section needs to be shorter. Remember, always cut a little bit at a time, because it's easier to touch up a section that needs more hair taken off. Yet, once it's gone, it's gone!

After I've confirmed that all is indeed well, I then take that entire section and tie an Ouchless band around it to isolate it. This way I make sure to not touch it as I move up toward other sections.

Step 7. I then create another horizontal part in my hair that is above the occipital bone, and repeat steps 3-6.

Step 8. After I've cut all the hair that falls below the part that would connect the apex of my ears, I then begin cutting the front section. To do the front, I angle my hair much like I did in my How I Cut Bangs & Face Framing Layers video. Once all is said and done, I have a nice, U or V-shape!

Before & After