View Full Version : Off With Her Head...
....er I mean her hair :-)! After reading a thread on the MMM forums about cutting your own hair yesterday I took this photo and decided it was time to kill off Goldilocks. I am bravely manning the scissors and will post a new photo tomorrow once the deed is done. Anyone else cut their own hair here?
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1398&d=1398883344
I trim my own beard when needed, that's about it.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-d6OJ3PNJWKc/UUpKVVeoXQI/AAAAAAAAHeE/wiYpUKZZOJA/s287/Awesomized.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GgxQTTzzZBs/UUium2nzGgI/AAAAAAAAHc4/zZd4j3H4Mzw/s640/Awesomized.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Jicdrrvrrm8/UUpKA1b7YxI/AAAAAAAAHd8/rteKDguYmnY/s197/Awesomized.jpg
Spartana - if you are going to remove vast quantities of that hair, consider:
http://www.locksoflove.org/
I've been cutting DH's hair/beard for 51 years, but I don't cut my own hair. I can trim it a bit when it needs it, but I can't "cut" it, if you understand the difference. Going from longish to short, for instance -- "styled". I don't do perms ...
That's a lot of hair, Spartana. What look are you going for?
I have cut my hair in the past, but currently visit one of any local chain places - they often have a coupon for $9.99 or some such.
I cut my hubby's hair all the time, and if it counts - I do the schnauzer and malti-poo also.
Spartana, I saw that on MMM yesterday and was seriously thinking about trying the ponytail cut myself. It looks easy enough, but I am a little nervous.... I have long hair like yours and would love to be able to chop a few inches off myself successfully. I will be waiting to see how your haircut goes! :) I figure if it looks bad I can just go to one of the cheapo salons with a coupon and they can fix it. ;) LOL
I cut my own hair, with a little help from the wife who trims the neck for me. I use electric clippers with a 1/2" comb attachment and it turns out perfectly every time. Of course, under this method it's not really an art, it's more like running your lawnmower across the lawn.
Gardenarian
4-30-14, 7:09pm
I've cut my own, but now that my dd is older she does it for me. Mine is really curly so it can take a lot of abuse - you could probably cut it with hedge trimmers and it would look okay.
Looking forward to the after shot!
Wow!!!! That's a big decision!!
Blackdog Lin
4-30-14, 8:47pm
We do DH's head, exactly as Alan described above. He does it himself with his Wahl's, set to a short shear (you're right, Alan, it's exactly like mowing the lawn), then I come in and clean up above his ears and give him a neat neckline. Easy peasy.
My hair is much more problematic, and I feel that I require more of it (hair, that is) than he does. I cannot imagine either myself or DH getting it to anything I would actually like and be able to work with.
Go Spartana! Looking forward to seeing your new look.
I cut my own hair. I used to, I guess. My last three haircuts were at a salon in Walmart. The first two times were fine, but I had decided to go back to cutting it myself. A few decades of self styling gives you plenty of skills.
Then, wanting to treat myself to one, last salon cut, I did a walk-in and the woman who cut my hair did an amazing job. I still intended to cut it myself in the future, but it has been a bit over a month since that last visit and my hair still looks like I just had it done.
I always did a great job and no one could tell that it was me chopping my way to shorter hair, but I cannot express what a good cut is doing for me. I wash it, towel blot and let it dry by itself. No appliances for my half frizzy hair, no products. Amazing.
Looking forward to your finished do.
iris lilies
4-30-14, 9:55pm
I have blunt cut, shoulder length-ish hair and I've been cutting my own hair for 25 years. It's often uneven but I don't care. I wear it up in a clip, anyway.
My roommate in college had wavy hair and she had the shag cut (remember those?) where she would pull all of her hair straight up over her head and make one cut across. It fell into a perfect shag, but again, she had nice wavy hair that hid problem cuts.
SheRah, you've got to cut those locks yourself! Since you have long hair, if it were me, I'd start cutting off 12" at a time. I am not a short hair person and I remember being freaked out when I was 11 years old and got a "pixie" cut, eeek. I like long hair even if it isn't as long as yours. The boyfriend or Sven, whoever you are seeing these days, will not like it, though. :)
I cut my hair with a razor once, lifting it, layering it and undercutting it. I actually had people ask me if I had had it professionally done. So, I guess I done good. Start small and work you way up. The other thing I do, and more often, is to divide my long hair into 4 approximately even 'hanks'. I then grab the hank and twist it up. Then just chop it. About 1/2 to 1 inch at a time. Then grab the next hank, twist and cut the same approximate amount. The twisting is the key. Because you are twisting it, no hair cuts at exactly the same length which means the approximate cut is all the same length, with each individual hair slightly different which looks 'natural'. I cut my hair this way ALL the time. No one ever says it's crooked. It's not a "style", it's just cutting off the dead ends of my long, past the shoulder, grey hair.
I have blunt cut, shoulder length-ish hair and I've been cutting my own hair for 25 years. It's often uneven but I don't care. I wear it up in a clip, anyway.
My roommate in college had wavy hair and she had the shag cut (remember those?) where she would pull all of her hair straight up over her head and make one cut across. It fell into a perfect shag, but again, she had nice wavy hair that hid problem cuts.
SheRah, you've got to cut those locks yourself! Since you have long hair, if it were me, I'd start cutting off 12" at a time. I am not a short hair person and I remember being freaked out when I was 11 years old and got a "pixie" cut, eeek. I like long hair even if it isn't as long as yours. The boyfriend or Sven, whoever you are seeing these days, will not like it, though. :) I was going to go for the shoulder length shag look myself (then will look even more like my scruffy dog then I already do!) and donate it all to Locks Of Love as Bae suggested. However I am current in wimp out mode so will have to regain my hair chopping bravery. Had long hair most of my life and it IS really easy and a shag seems kind of difficult even though I love the look. Figured at my advanced age I should cut it all off but then again...who cares really but me (and Sven be damned :-)!). Well tomorrow I'll see. Still will trim it myself a lot (at least 6 inches or more) and give it a good conditioning since it's kind of frizzy in this heat, then maybe I'll like it long again. Just kind of sick of looking at it right now. When I trim it myself I just take a 1/2 on either side of my head, pull it to the front (think pig tails) and cut. Then look in a mirror to see how even it is and it's usually pretty straight.
Whew.. I wasn't going to say anything, but after you posted the picture of your hair, I wanted to say, "are you SURE you want to do this?" but I was afraid you'd already done it. I know the rules about older women and long hair, but some women can and do pull it off. My Brazilian DIL's mother has waist-length hair and she's 59, and she looks GREAT. (She lives a clean life, no smoking, no alcohol, and she gets up at 5:30 am to do yoga and walk on the boardwalk every day).
I've got longer hair (longer than my old photo here but not nearly as long as Spartana's nor as thick) in long chunky layers that I cut myself. I've got quite a bit of curl so it's very forgiving.
I've got longer hair (longer than my old photo here but not nearly as long as Spartana's nor as thick) in long chunky layers that I cut myself. I've got quite a bit of curl so it's very forgiving. I like your haircut (in your avatar) a lot and that's kind of what I was thinking of doing. Just grabbing the scissors and chopping (thinking an older Goldie Hawn kind of longer shag to go with my long choppy bangs). But my hair is super straight (and not really that thick as it's kind of fine) so that may just lay flat on my head and look terrible. Don't want to have to "do" anything to it style-wise, just want a wash and wear thing. Right now it's very hot here (upper 90's) and just being able to put it in a bun with one pin to get it off my neck is great. Not sure I could do that with shorter layered hair. But then I AM bored staying home this week because of the weather and chopping off my hair seems like something to do when your bored :-)!
Can't wait to see the result, Spartana! I cut my own hair too. There are some great tutorials on YouTube; even easy ways to cut layers in.
Spartana, is that you: http://www.janniefunster.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/cousin-itt.jpg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=XB7st6rbzi7VXM&tbnid=AOVkoo3vn1l38M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.janniefunster.com%2F2009%2F06 %2F23%2F10-great-mysteries-of-the-universe%2F&ei=84ZiU_v1JIX4yAGwn4GACA&bvm=bv.65788261,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNG1yGz-xhk4juFfNr6EfLmOp3xtaw&ust=1399052207252035)
Whew.. I wasn't going to say anything, but after you posted the picture of your hair, I wanted to say, "are you SURE you want to do this?" but I was afraid you'd already done it. I know the rules about older women and long hair, but some women can and do pull it off. My Brazilian DIL's mother has waist-length hair and she's 59, and she looks GREAT. (She lives a clean life, no smoking, no alcohol, and she gets up at 5:30 am to do yoga and walk on the boardwalk every day).
I was going to say the same thing Spartana, You have nice hair do you really want to cut it off. Not too many woman have long hair like that any more and the ones that do are more of a free spirit, live the simple life type.
Spartana, is that you: http://www.janniefunster.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/cousin-itt.jpg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=XB7st6rbzi7VXM&tbnid=AOVkoo3vn1l38M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.janniefunster.com%2F2009%2F06 %2F23%2F10-great-mysteries-of-the-universe%2F&ei=84ZiU_v1JIX4yAGwn4GACA&bvm=bv.65788261,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNG1yGz-xhk4juFfNr6EfLmOp3xtaw&ust=1399052207252035):0!:0!:devil: Ha Ha - Yeah I can see the resemblance! Although I was hoping to go for the Morticia Adams look (or at least the "much older than me" Christie Brinkley look) with my long hair but sort of ended up Cousin Itish instead. Hey who needs cosmetic surgery when you can just cover your face with your hair!
Still haven't cut it but am happy to see so many other's here who cut their own hair in a "style" with success. Would seem to save a lot of money and time over the years. I've only been to a salon once to get a terrible 1980's crinkly perm with those funky upswept bangs, and swore I'd never go again. And haven't. Just kept it long, straight, with long bangs, and trimmed occasionally as needed. After so many years of the same basic style (or lack there of) thinking a change is good. But maybe not.
more of a free spirit, live the simple life type.I think we are just lazier then other's :-)! Rather just stick our hair in a pony tail and not think about it the rest of the day.
Shorter hair is freeing! Try it you'll like it! But, because your hair is so long, I'd have someone else cut it the first time at least, and that way you know you will have hair that can be donated..simplicity is my way, and short hair is so simple. Wash and wear. I have curly/wavy hair (depending on the weather lol) and short is the only way to go. I do believe a pro can cut your straight hair to seem thicker, if that's what you want.
If you have always had long hair, you owe it to yourself to try short hair at least once just to have some comparison. It will always grow back (says the mother of VERY adventurous kids...yet we always survived!);)
Shorter hair is freeing! Try it you'll like it! But, because your hair is so long, I'd have someone else cut it the first time at least, and that way you know you will have hair that can be donated..simplicity is my way, and short hair is so simple. Wash and wear. I have curly/wavy hair (depending on the weather lol) and short is the only way to go. I do believe a pro can cut your straight hair to seem thicker, if that's what you want.
If you have always had long hair, you owe it to yourself to try short hair at least once just to have some comparison. It will always grow back (says the mother of VERY adventurous kids...yet we always survived!);)I had really short hair before (saw "Chicago" and decided to rock my inner Roxie with a chin length bob). Even cut it myself. But I hated it. It was such a hassle. Too short for a pony tail, bun or braid, and always hanging in my face unless I put a bunch of crazy pins in it. But otherwise it looked cute in a Dutch Boy Paint kind of way - just drove me insane. And the constant upkeep of trims, etc... Nope too much. Once it grew out to shoulder length it became more easily manageable and was pretty much wash and wear. Too short for a bun though. Probably would never cut it shorter then shoulder length anyways. Gotta have my pony tail even if it's only 2 inches long :-)! I also did a Joan Jett thing once - even died it black - now THAT was scary :0! I think curly haired people always look great with short hair but fine straight haired people it doesn't work as well. Too much upkeep.
iris lilies
5-1-14, 10:02pm
agreed about short hair, I've got to be able to keep it off my neck and out of my face when I'm working outdoors and I don't trust that it will work. So I am entertaining the notion of cutting it in the fall of the year I retire to give it months to grow in for spring if it doesn't work.
Wait...The Fall of what year?
Whew.. I wasn't going to say anything, but after you posted the picture of your hair, I wanted to say, "are you SURE you want to do this?" but I was afraid you'd already done it. I know the rules about older women and long hair, but some women can and do pull it off. My Brazilian DIL's mother has waist-length hair and she's 59, and she looks GREAT. (She lives a clean life, no smoking, no alcohol, and she gets up at 5:30 am to do yoga and walk on the boardwalk every day).
Wait. There are RULES???
Wait...The Fall of what year?
I edited it to make sense :)
Wait. There are RULES???
Don't you know? Us ladies of a "certain age" (which is I think anyone over 40 or 50 - you know, the elderly :-)!) must never have long hair. It's unseemly and goes poorly with our white gloves and hats ;-)! But seriously. I've heard about the "you must cut your hair" thing since I was 30 and never really understood it. Is it social convention or just a looks thing? Personally I DO think I'd look younger (or at least better) with shorter hair but you can do a lot of different things with long hair and are pretty limited with short. Maybe I'll do this instead. I did condition it so it's all sleek and shiney now. Maybe add some pink stripes too. And a sophisticated up-do!
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1399&d=1399009681 http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1400&d=1399012197
Woo hoo - The deed is done! Chopped off 12 inchs or a bit more to donate to Locks of Love and it's still pretty long - to my bra strap - so could have done a bit more. Now will have to try to make it even and sort of styled (some shaggy layers around the front of my face but mainly leave it longer in back...maybe just below my shoulders. Kept the bangs long. Will post a photo once it's all fixed up. First time I've had shorter hair in a long time. Next it will be my sister's turn who's hair is even longer than mine...was :) Thanks for the hair advice. Shouldn't be a big deal but ya know how it is... Now if I can actually do a proper shag myself I'll look like my scruffy little dog!
The women in my family tend to have long hair and wear it in pulled up, but I have seen some older women with lovely long gray hair worn loose. Rules shmules.
Spartana, could you explain how you cut your hair?
The women in my family tend to have long hair and wear it in pulled up, but I have seen some older women with lovely long gray hair worn loose. Rules shmules.
Spartana, could you explain how you cut your hair?I just made 2 pig tails in the front, measured them to make sure I was cutting off at least 12 inchs to donate it, and loped them off about an inch above the rubber bands. Then I just sort of evened it up in a blunt cut. But it's still long so am going to try to take off several more inches (maybe 8)until it's shoulder length. Probably have to get my sister to trim it for me once I'm done as the shorter it gets, the harder it is to cut straight. Looks good though even though it's a bit crazy now, and I like it. As Peggy said, it is pretty freeing. And since it'll still be long enough to put in a pony tail even once I cut another 8 inches off, it'll be easy too. It's shorter but it ain't Purdy - lots more go but from waist length to chest length is a start. If I want to go really short I can maybe even get another 12 inches (That's what she said :devil: - sorry too many "Office" re-runs lately) to donate.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1401&d=1399070910
That look like the perfect amount to lop off and Sven may not even notice.
gimmethesimplelife
5-2-14, 10:54pm
Spartana - if you are going to remove vast quantities of that hair, consider:
http://www.locksoflove.org//Great advice, Bae, thanks for posting this! Rob
gimmethesimplelife
5-2-14, 10:56pm
I cut my own hair, with a little help from the wife who trims the neck for me. I use electric clippers with a 1/2" comb attachment and it turns out perfectly every time. Of course, under this method it's not really an art, it's more like running your lawnmower across the lawn.Same here but I use a 1/4 inch attachment. Saves time and money and I like being able to just run the clippers through whenever I want so I can keep my hair looking sharp and neat. Rob
That look like the perfect amount to lop off and Sven may not even notice.Well I cut off a few more inches to even it up but did end up leaving it pretty long in a blunt cut as that was easiest to do. Loped off a total of about 20 inches to donate but it's still long enough to put in a bun. It's both easier to wear at this length and also easier to cut. I think I would have problems with cutting it myself if I went any shorter then a few inches below my shoulders. As it gets shorter, it gets thicker and makes it hard to cut it evenly. How do people with shorter hair (not counting you shaved-headed guys :-)!) cut it shorter yourselves? Seem hard to do - unless maybe you have curly hair so having it even doesn't matter as much.
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