To lop my hair off myself?

[WanderWomble]

I have very long (it's hip length) thick hair. I'm getting really sick of it- would it be unreasonable for me to lop it off? Will it look terrible? (I bloody hate going to the hairdresser and last time I went she refused to cut it because 'it would be such a shame!')

www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/hair/a20987/how-to-cut-your-own-hair-video-beauty-lab/

The Mumsnet haircut - aka the Cosmo cut. I did a long version of this, keeping my hair below the shoulder blades, and it worked well. However, as many posters pointed out, it can go wrong. Invest in very good hair scissors.

Personally I hate going to the hairdressers, but for such a dramatic cut it might be worth considering.

Back to an earlier question- does anyone use Supercuts? There's one next to where I work so it would be simple just to pop in.

Do you trust anyone you know enough to do it for you? DH has long hair and I trim it for him, cutting it the same length all the way round is really easy and there are loads of videos on YouTube showing how to do it well.

I had hair a similar length to yours OP (it was long enough for me to sit on) and I lopped it all off in one go. I just took the clippers to myself though and went for a grade 1 all over. It was fabulously liberating!

Hmm, a difficult one. I'm another who hates going to the hairdressers, I mean who has the time to sit there making smalltalk to someone you don't know? As for people touching my hair... no!

I get OH to trim it with the kitchen scissors, he's even put a few layers in the last few times he's cut it! However I have very curly hair so it doesn't need to be perfect and definitely not straight across the bottom.

Could you get a friend / OH to cut yours? That might be better than you having a go yourself?

I cut my own...it's long, really really thick and wavy and looks no different if I do it myself or spend a fortune on a hairdresser. I wouldn't cut your own unless it's long, thick and has a lot of natural movement/you don't straighten.

I have donated mine in the past - for that, definitely go to a pro for that as they need to maintain as much of the length as possible over the whole thing, whilst still ending up with a useable tail of hair. That's not easy to do yourself.

I've used Supercuts twice. The first time (I just wanted a neat bob, you'd think it'd be simple) was truly terrible. The second time (different branch, I wanted something short and choppy and had already hacked off most of the length myself so it was a tricky fix-up job) it was really, really good.

Not much help, sorry!

OP I've used Supercuts always found them really good and they don't tend to talk too much either! Be prepared to queue though as they don't do appointments you just wait your turn

I've had 3 awful super cuts haircuts. I kept going back because it was a different stylist each time. But 2 were wonky. Badly wonky. And one was about 6 inches shorter than i'd asked for. When my daughter went there it was so wonky I needed to redo it myself. Not worth the saving imo. I found a small independent that was cheaper and consistently good locally.

Thanks for the feedback! :)

I've done the mn haircut as I hate the hairdressers. It's just as good as when I've paid thirty quid for it. It may not be even but the untrained eye can't tell.

I've been to Supercuts - be prepared to queue and there are no frills (which may be a good or bad thing)

I cut my hair like Caillard - low pony tail at the back, giving me a sort of graduated shoulder-length bob (longer at the front than the back) - and also get compliments. Sharp scissors are crucial

In the US there are stylists that will give you a free haircut if you are donating your hair. I would do a quick search online to see if any do it here.

Many moons ago my mum used to cut my extremely long hair by making me sit ramrod straight on a kitchen chair then putting my hair over the back of the chair and cutting along either the top or bottom struts of the chair, it was always straight and did the job...

Whatever you do, don't put all your hair into one thick braid, then cut straight through the braid. You could wind up with a third waist length, a third shoulder blade and the rest somewhere in between. Though each section might well be ruler-straight along the bottom. I speak from experience.