All the skills we’ve acquired since we were young developed with practice, repeating the same steps over and over until we could call themselves “skilled.” This could include changing the water pump in your car on your own, learning how to plant and grow fruits and vegetables, and musicians learning to play their instrument of choice well. Why should personal grooming be any different? Here are 16 reasons why men should cut their own hair.
We do all our grooming ourselves, like shaving, trimming the beard, exfoliating, using products designed for maximum appeal and attractiveness. Cutting your own hair is the single part of your appearance for which you surrender control to someone else. It doesn’t have to be that way. We’ll help you learn this vital skill in this article. Here are 16 amazing reasons why men should try to cut their own hair.
Before we begin, I’d like to start off by recommending my #1 favorite hair cutting clippers. I’ve been cutting my hair at home for years now, and they’ve never let me down. You can check them out HERE.
Cut Down On Your Wait Time At A Barber
Once you’ve learned how to trim and cut your own hair, you’ll see you can get it done in about 15 minutes or less. Going to a barber or the stylist can take several hours out of a busy day, for something you can do yourself in a fraction of the time.
It’s Way More Convenient To Cut Your Own Hair
Like the first reason above, you don’t have to go anywhere to get your hair cut and styled. Often when you make an appointment, the weather can be a problem, as well as traffic congestion. When you arrive at the barber or the stylist, there is usually a wait before you’re seen, even with an appointment.
You can relax in your home, and you don’t have to dress up to cut your own hair. In fact, cutting your hair should be done after you’ve just washed it in the shower, and all that you need to prepare for a hair cut is in your home. You can shower and begin grooming right away.
You’ll Learn A New Skill And Gain Confidence
Like all the skills you learned growing up or when you began your job, cutting hair is yet another skill you acquire. You’ll gain confidence in your ability to do it yourself, and the more self-reliant we are, the better we feel about ourselves.
There Are Hair Cutting Tutorials Everywhere
People born before 1970 didn’t have access to all the great “How To” videos there are today that will teach you anything you want. Cutting your own hair is no different. There are at least a down do it yourself videos about how to cut men’s hair.
My favorite tutorial is by Alpha M on YouTube.
You Can Help Train Others Once You Learn For Yourself
We live at a time when most of us are getting things done ourselves without outside help. It’s an ego boost when you acquire a lot of skills. You may be placed in a position in the future showing someone else what you’ve learned, which will become advantageous to you.
People can show appreciation in different ways. For those who insist on using a barber, you can, with your newfound skill, make some extra cash by cutting other men’s hair.
You Can Easily Make Last Minute Adjustments
Going on a date and on the way you noticed you missed a spot? When you’ve acquired hair cutting skills you can fine tune your appearance just before you arrive.
You can also give yourself a second chance to look your best for important meetings. When you look exactly the way you want to by your own efforts, you’ll be confident knowing you’re prepared for special occasions and important meetings.
You May Impress People With Your Unique Skills
Women are impressed by men who are self-confident and have skill sets that other men don’t have. It shows you’re independent and if placed in a survival situation, you’d know just what to do.
Your guy friends will be a little jealous of you because you’ve learned to take matters in your own hand. They’ll try to one up you but in the end, you’re the one who started cutting your own hair. You’re a leader and they are followers.
You Will Save A Lot of Money
Let’s say you go to the barber every three weeks or so. How much do you pay each time you go? Does it depend on whether you’re getting your hair trimmed, or a full haircut if you decide to change your look completely?
You will be astounded to know just how much you are spending at the barber every year. Just think what you could be doing with that extra cash while you skillfully cut your own hair!
The Hair Cutting Equipment Will Pay For Itself
You’ll only need a few tools to cut your hair the right way every time. A few of the items you may likely already have.
Compare the hundreds or even thousands of dollars you spend each year going to the barber, to under $100.00 for tools to cut your own hair. Within a month or so, the tools will have paid for themselves.
You Only Need A Few Tools To Cut Your Own Hair
The main tools are:
- Styling Scissors
- Comb (not a hair brush)
- 3-way mirror
- Hair clippers
- High quality shampoo and hair conditioner
- Hair thinning scissors
A car mechanic has particular tools to do his job. You have a set of tools also, listed above. Carry them in a kit that you can either order or create yourself.
You Can Switch From Cutting Your Own Hair To Using a Barber
When men cut their own hair in the beginning, they are bound to make a few mistakes. A good rule of them is to trim only the sides and the back the first few times and go to a barber the next time you need a trim. He can correct any mistakes you made.
Do it yourself the next time (third time) and try to avoid the mistakes from the first time. You can try to cut in the front, such as bangs, but be careful because it takes time to grow back. Next time go back to the barber. Repeat the DIY hair cut – barber – DIY – barber until you’ve developed your skills so that you’re an expert at hair cutting.
You Can Trim or Cut Your Hair Without an Appointment
Trimming your hair doesn’t have to be limited to once every two or three weeks. You can trim right on the spot if you see hair uneven and out of place. With the right tools and the skill set you’ll acquire from practice; you can be well groomed all the time.
You Know Your Hair Better Than Anybody Else
Men know their own head of hair and they know how they want it cut. Unfortunately, when men go to the barber, it’s hard to communicate in words exactly how we want our hair cut. When the barber is finished, we have to accept the way he cut the hair, rather than the image we had in our mind.
You Can Try Out As Many Different Style Options As You Like
You can buy a men’s hairstyle magazine and look at the different cuts and pick one. In a month or two, you can try a different style, all in the comfort of the home.
Once you are free of appointments and the creative approaches of barbers and hair stylists, you have free reign and are unencumbered, no longer sitting and watching someone cut your hair (hopefully) the way you want them to.
You Can Fix Mistakes Made By The Barber
It doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes you’ll come home from the barber and, the next time you wash your hair, you notice that one side of your head is shorter than the other.
You can also fine tune your own mistakes and get your haircut just the way you want it.
You Have Access To The Same Style Resources as Barbers and Hair Stylists
It’s easy to find hair size charts online. Haircut styles are based on the shape of one’s face. Stylists have this information and they cut hair based on the suggestion of the chart.
Now you can do the same thing. Just search for “haircut based on face shape” or something similar, such as putting the word “chart” as a search term.
How Men Should Cut Their Hair (A Tutorial)
There is the conventional haircut, and then there’s the specialty haircut, such as a fades on the sides. When starting out, cut your hair the conventional way, and try a fade the second or third time.
Just like acquiring any new skill, becoming very good at cutting your own hair takes time and practice. Keep at it and you’ll be liberated from appointments and a haircut you’re not happy about.
Make sure before you start that you have the following pieces of clothing and tools:
- A handheld mirror
- Hair clipper
- Scissors for the hair (don’t use regular household scissors; hair cutting scissors are smaller with a sharper edge and easier to work with your hair. They may cost more than regular scissors but are worth it).
- A cape to throw over your body so the cut hair doesn’t land on your clothes and body.
Step 1: Wash your hair
The easiest way to cut hair is when it’s snag free and clean. Make sure to use shampoo and conditioner.
Step 2: Run a comb through your hair
Use a regular comb rather than a hairbrush. Keep combing until all snags and snarls are gone.
Step 3: Use a chart of face shapes
These charts are available online. Different facial types and sizes are displayed, depicting the haircuts that stylists use for those different face shapes. Your face shape may be close to a couple on the chart so you can try one hair style out one week and try another the next time you need a haircut.
Step 4: Find the best place to cut your hair
When you see either a barber or a hair stylist, you will notice that there is a minimum of 3 feet between barber chairs. This is because the barber will walk around the chair you sit in while he cuts.
But when you are cutting your hair, you can cut it in the bathroom or on tile or linoleum flooring. You want to avoid cutting hair on carpet, for obvious common sense reasons. You’ll want your space to be big enough, so all the hair falls directly on the floor around you as you cut it. This makes it easier to clean up later.
Step 5: Check the functionality of your hair clippers before starting.
Make sure to c do this step, especially if it’s the first time you’re cutting your own hair. Starting out cutting hair is a learning process, so you want to make sure the clippers are in the best possible shape. If you have a detachable charger, then charge to 100% first so your arm and hand can be free to move around your head unencumbered.
Step 6: Cut the sides first
Make sure to choose a smaller guard setting before you start. Then, more the hair clippers in an upward motion, against the direction of the hair. Go slowly and keep checking the results in the mirror.
It’s best to have a three sided mirror so you can see the from the perspective of the sides and how it looks with your face in the front. But a mirror in 2 dimensional space (shat a barber uses), will work as well.
Work slowly around your ears. Moser hair clippers now come with ear guards, so you can trim near perfectly around the ears.
Step 7: Now cut the back of your head
This is where the handheld mirror becomes important. Cut in an upward motion from the base of the hair upward against the grain of your hair. Cut about two times, then take your handheld mirror and position it behind your head and look in your mirror to see who well you’re doing. Make adjustments as necessary before cutting the whole back of your head.
Step 8: Go back and cut your side fades
Switch to a shorter setting than the setting you used for your haircut. Move the hair clippers over the lower half of your hair. Lift your hair and cut the ends, moving up slowly with the clippers to ensure an even fade. Move the clippers around the ears again, making sure no stray hairs are sticking out.
Step 9: Cut the top using scissors
Put down the electric hair clippers and take the barber scissors in your hand. Establish sections on your head and always work within them before moving to the next section.
Using a comb or your second and third fingers, make the hair stand up and cut in no more than one-quarter inch sections. Go slowly and remember that any cuts you make to the top will be more noticeable than the sides. This is why ¼ inch cuts should be the maximum. You can always cut more off later if you want it shorter.
Check each section to make sure the cut is even all across. Then move to the next section, slowly cutting and making sure it’s evenly cut.
Step 10: Cut your bangs
Next, move to the front, where the bangs are located. You want your bangs to be cut as evenly as possible, so make sure you use a pair of styling scissors.
Comb your top hair down over your forehead and split the bangs (if you have them) into two sections. Cut one section completely with the styling scissors before moving to the next one.
Step 11: Finishing Touches
Take up your comb and hair clippers once again and check your job. In this step, even out the sides of your head, combing in an upward motion and making certain that the ends of your hair are even.
Next, comb through your top hair and bring it over to the sides. Your cutting shears facing upward, cut at the corners to remove any excess hair.
Step 12: Adding a taper to the neckline
The nape of the neck can have hair growing there you don’t see until you’ve shortened your hair. Use the hair clippers to shave this hair off your neck.
Use the handheld mirror again to check the back to make sure you’ve cut it all. Now, even out your hair at the neckline, moving the clippers in an upward motion.
When you are finished, rinse your hair to remove any stray cut hairs. Then, towel dry your hair and comb it or brush it in the style you normally have. If you want to make changes, take the hair clippers and scissors and cut your hair again until you have gotten it right. If you feel it is a problem you don’t feel comfortable fixing yet, go to your barber or hair stylist and ask them to trim your hair.
The best quality tools for cutting your hair can be found online. Remember, the better tools you have, the easier it will be to get a fantastic haircut.