Cutting my own hair?!

[ThisBlueGoose]

So, I have pretty long hair, and quite frankly I'm sick of it! I like the look, but don't like the hassle. It's thick as well, so it's a lot to wash and dry and keep untangled. Also, I'd love to go swimming more, but I do it less than I'd like because of having to wash it every time.

But, I don't really like going to the hairdresser's! Part of the reason it's gotten so long. It's expensive, I find it awkward, and often haven't even liked the cut. And I want it really quite short, so would have to go often to keep it short. So I'm considering just doing it myself, buying some clippers and using the longest comb length thingy round the back and sides and keeping it longer on top. Am I crazy to do this?! Does anyone else do it, or know anyone who does?

I would brave the hairdresser to get them to do the initial short cut and then attempt to keep short myself.

I cut my own hair and have done for 30+ years but it is curly which is easy to maintain

I understand that the expense of going to a hairdresser can be considerable, but unless you know what you are doing I wouldn’t use clippers. A friend of mine goes to a Turkish barber, that might be cheaper but I agree, short hair needs to be cut regularly. Could you just have a decent amount chopped off? It would leave you with long enough hair to put up in a ponytail, but wouldn’t feel so heavy.

I say give it a go - I cut my own hair fairly short during lockdown and had many compliments on the cut (!) and a few asked where I'd had it done.

I watched quite a few youTube videos on haircutting, and had also bought 'professional' hairdressing scissors. Not sure about clippers - as that does seem pretty radical . But hey - hair grows back.

Short hair is a lot more bother to maintain than long because you have to keep it in shape.

Is it the quality of your hair? Left naturally my hair can get a bit woolly so I straighten it once a week after a wash and that keeps it manageable.

Do you have a hairdressing school or college nearby where you could get a trainee?

A bad cut can make you feel miserable so I’d avoid the clippers unless you really don’t care how it looks.

I cut my own hair as it is long, thick and curly and mostly pinned up when I am out and about. I bought some hair dressers scissors specifically for the job.
I let my hair fall into its natural strands a few days after a wash and cut a finger length off each one, then wash it and let it dry naturally and may have a few more snips here and there if I don't think it's right.
Works perfectly fine for me as I never straighten it and if I do wear it down I have the top half in a clip or bobble.
If I was arsed about styling my hair in different ways I'd use the hairdresser instead but I don't tend to as I could never maintain what they used to do in the salon.
I personally don't use them, but my friend (who also cuts her own hair) got herself some thinning shears as she didn't like having thicker hair..so she keeps the length but not the risk of getting it tangled.
Are you describing getting an undercut when you mention clippers? I worked with a lady who had an undercut which she loved in summer but growing it out again was hard for her as she felt it looked terrible until it reached the same length.

I cut my own hair in a long cut. I even do layers sometimes. It’s incredibly easy with a good pair of scissors plus some thinning shears.

The simplest way is to section hair with bands and then cut each section. There are other techniques if you want to do more than just a blunt cut.

If You want to diy, consider if just having a shorter, but still long cut that you can trim and maintain yourself might be an easier approach. It’s more forgiving than what you are suggesting.

My hair is short and I cut it myself occasionally.

It is much much easier to cut yourself when the previous cut was done by a hairdresser and you’re just following their lines.

Thanks all for your replies.
I suppose what I really want is to go to a barbers, but that also feels a bit daunting, surely most don't really welcome women?!
I've had my hair really short before, but didn't keep it up as I went back the same hairdresser that did the big chop for a trim but it was still £50+ (can't remember now how much) for 5-10 minutes and I just felt a bit ripped off so gave up on hairdressers.

Here's a video of what I'm thinking

Cool! Love that haircut - she makes it look easy in the video.

you can do a buzz cut pixie type hybrid yourself with clippers and scissors. I did it for years. You can buy extra long clip-on hair guides (combs) for the clippers from places like WAHL. If I remember correctly, I had one which was 2 1/2 inches long, which was about 8cm, so the clippers cut short, but not buzz cut short. I'd clipper the back and sides, keep the top longer, about 20cm, and then trim the top with scissors and use thinning scissors on the very ends to give it a shattered, textured effect. Add a bit of texturizing wax at the end, to style, and you're good to go. It's as simple as that. I have very fine, straight hair.