Playing hairdresser
Sep. 27th, 2010 03:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urocyonI got brave, and trimmed my own hair a little while ago. It's really been needing it, since it's gone from a #4 buzz cut to shoulder length without one. (The ends just don't seem to split, even when I was abusing my hair, so it was a lot less pressing than it could have been.)
I really don't like other people messing with my head--a combo of sensory issues, feeling uncomfortable with the usual salon chattiness expectation (especially without my mom there to take up the slack!), and a lot of crying-level bad haircuts. Since I was keeping it buzzed for several years, I don't know any good stylists locally, and one fairly close salon with good reviews is nigh-impossible to get to without a car. So I'd been avoiding going, and the ends were starting to look really straggly and uneven. I also have a history of trying to cut my own hair with pretty horrific results, starting from the age of three with my Daffy Duck scissors, trying to preempt my Nana cutting it! My technique really hasn't gotten much better as an adult, not knowing what the hell I'm doing, and my last lopsided attempt prompted another buzz cut. So I've also been pretty wary of the DIY approach.
But, after a raid on Google and YouTube for some ideas on how to do this reasonably, I decided to risk it, figuring that it couldn't turn out much worse than the usual salon trip or the current straggly woolybooger look. Just trying to even up the ends some--erring on the side of not taking enough off!--seemed like the best plan, and well within my competence level. ;) Adding a little in the way of layering didn't look like a bad plan, since my bushel of really fine hair is extremely good at weighting itself down, and the curls have been sort of intertwining so the bottom of my hair has mostly been moving in one big section lately! Not ideal.
Hair a lot like mine, and not bad results. Beware the annoying music that was apparently coming in the window.
I decided to use a large bag clip instead of a hair elastic, since it's basically the same as CreaClip without the spirit level of questionable utility anyway--not to mention a lot cheaper for plastic clips! It did look like not bunching the hair up as much might work better.
I went with the front, then each side approach, and didn't even try to soften whatever layers I ended up with. I'll hunt down any weird-looking pieces and obvious same-length curls that are twining together when it's dry, as a more curly-compatible compromise.
It's still wet, but the results don't seem bad at all. I went back and cleaned up the ends on sections I could tell didn't get trimmed properly while it was clipped up, and then after the post-cut wash got the few looser curls in the back which have been hanging a lot lower and making me not want to wear my hair down. It must not be weighting itself down as much, with the shrinkage factor; the longest pieces I took off were maybe 1.5"--most closer to 0.5"--and it's a good 3" shorter while still damp. It's back up just above my shoulders. The canopy doesn't seem to be wanting to flatten out as much from getting snagged on the hair underneath, either, as I was hoping.
The verdict, at this point? I'll do it again. :)
I really don't like other people messing with my head--a combo of sensory issues, feeling uncomfortable with the usual salon chattiness expectation (especially without my mom there to take up the slack!), and a lot of crying-level bad haircuts. Since I was keeping it buzzed for several years, I don't know any good stylists locally, and one fairly close salon with good reviews is nigh-impossible to get to without a car. So I'd been avoiding going, and the ends were starting to look really straggly and uneven. I also have a history of trying to cut my own hair with pretty horrific results, starting from the age of three with my Daffy Duck scissors, trying to preempt my Nana cutting it! My technique really hasn't gotten much better as an adult, not knowing what the hell I'm doing, and my last lopsided attempt prompted another buzz cut. So I've also been pretty wary of the DIY approach.
But, after a raid on Google and YouTube for some ideas on how to do this reasonably, I decided to risk it, figuring that it couldn't turn out much worse than the usual salon trip or the current straggly woolybooger look. Just trying to even up the ends some--erring on the side of not taking enough off!--seemed like the best plan, and well within my competence level. ;) Adding a little in the way of layering didn't look like a bad plan, since my bushel of really fine hair is extremely good at weighting itself down, and the curls have been sort of intertwining so the bottom of my hair has mostly been moving in one big section lately! Not ideal.
Hair a lot like mine, and not bad results. Beware the annoying music that was apparently coming in the window.
I decided to use a large bag clip instead of a hair elastic, since it's basically the same as CreaClip without the spirit level of questionable utility anyway--not to mention a lot cheaper for plastic clips! It did look like not bunching the hair up as much might work better.
I went with the front, then each side approach, and didn't even try to soften whatever layers I ended up with. I'll hunt down any weird-looking pieces and obvious same-length curls that are twining together when it's dry, as a more curly-compatible compromise.
It's still wet, but the results don't seem bad at all. I went back and cleaned up the ends on sections I could tell didn't get trimmed properly while it was clipped up, and then after the post-cut wash got the few looser curls in the back which have been hanging a lot lower and making me not want to wear my hair down. It must not be weighting itself down as much, with the shrinkage factor; the longest pieces I took off were maybe 1.5"--most closer to 0.5"--and it's a good 3" shorter while still damp. It's back up just above my shoulders. The canopy doesn't seem to be wanting to flatten out as much from getting snagged on the hair underneath, either, as I was hoping.
The verdict, at this point? I'll do it again. :)
