Let me tell you a traumatic hair memory: When I was in kindergarten, I had a playdate with my friend, and like many 6-year-old girls, we decided to cut each other’s hair. I went first and she gave me terrible bangs. Then it was my turn to give her hair a trim—and she backed out before I could snip so much as a split end. Trust issues ensued. But if you thought that this experience would teach me to leave hair scissors to the professionals, you are so, so wrong. I’ve let multiple friends give me different cuts over the years, with various degrees of success.
Patient hairstylists I humbly turn to when my mistakes become obvious have shared insight into what I’ve done wrong and how to not do it again (Their most common piece of advice: Let a professional do it! Weird.) While I can’t endorse giving yourself a major chop at home as an amateur—been there, done that, regretted it—for trims and minor cuts, I’ve gathered tips and tricks from professional stylists so that your hair can remain refreshed and not botched. From the tools you need, to the techniques you should try, read on to learn how to cut your own hair without making a mess.
My lovely friend Sara gave me a pixie cut in her bedroom once upon a time. All things considered, it actually looked good. My mom, unimpressed with my DIY haircut, brought me to a salon so they could shape it up nicely and make it look a little less like the I-Was-Sad-And-Cut-My-Hair style that it was. When the stylist looked it over, he said, “This isn’t that bad. But your friend didn’t use hair scissors, did she?”
At that point, it seemed to me that a scissor is a scissor, but when cutting hair, the exact tool makes a world of difference. Millie Morales, Garnier’s celebrity stylist, shares this important hair-cutting “don’t”: “Don’t use regular scissors. Hair cutting scissors are extra sharp and allow for additional control, making these very important.” Using dull blades means hair ends will appear frayed and unprofessional. Even if the goal is just to trim off a few split ends, using non-hair scissors will exacerbate the look of dry, brittle hair.