Cheap chops: How to cut your own bangs between hair appointments

Have you ever tried to trim your own hair? C’mon. ‘Fess up. It’s time to come clean. We’ve all done this. Even a kindergartner loves to cut hair!

Avoid the rolling salon.

Hey, it happens! My daughter came home from the first day of kindergarten with a not-so-trendy new hairstyle. Although she had boarded the school bus that morning with a darling new haircut, she arrived home with a whole new asymmetrical look.

Her brand-new seatmate on the bus had clipped her locks with safety scissors, as they bounced through a subdivision.

Of course, the bus driver denied this, until I boarded the bus and found the pile of blonde hair under my daughter’s assigned seat. He apologized at length. That afternoon, the principal and superintendent telephoned me personally.

Years later, I have decided to count my blessings that no one decided to take up ear piercing or tattooing on the bouncing bus!

Don’t try this at home. (Of course you will.)

Whether procrastinating or simply trying to stretch our dollars, many of us will occasionally cheat and try to cut our own hair.

In a particularly honest moment, I admitted to my hairstylist that I had trimmed my own hair. She’s known me for over ten years, so this was no news flash. First, she groaned a bit. Then, succumbing to my stubbornness, she showed me how to trim bangs between appointments.

Here’s how to cut your own bangs.

The most important rule is this: Only trim your bangs. Leave the rest to the experts! After all, the bangs are really the most critical portion anyway. If your bangs work, the rest of your style can probably wait a week or two.

Use a comb to separate the bang section. (This usually forms an arc or triangle at the front of your crown.)  Be careful that you do not carve additional lengthy hairs into the bang section.

Fasten the rest of the hair securely out of the way, using gripper jaw clips, barrettes, or hairpins. A little spritz of water or hair gel will help to keep it back.

Comb bangs directly forward. Pinch them between your first two straightened fingers. Pull the bangs tautly down over your nose.

Using a very sharp pair of scissors, gently trim BELOW your fingers (never above them).

For the straightest line, cut from the center out, on each side. This prevents a sloping cut, from one side to another.

Don’t try to cut huge chunks of bangs in each snip. Take your time to achieve the best results.

Always leave bangs much longer than you think you want them. Drying and styling tend to shrink bang length and add lift, which makes them appear much shorter than you thought they were. It’s better to trim your bangs less, and more often, than to hack off too much and regret it!

Make an appointment for a real haircut.

Remember! Do-it-yourself bang trims are only a temporary fix. It’s best to leave feathering, layering, and other techniques to the real stylists.

Do we learn from our haircutting mistakes? Nope! Hand me those scissors, will you?

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Cheap chops: How to cut your own bangs between hair appointments

Created by this user, including public domain artwork

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