Let’s talk about DIY haircuts, shall we?
This is one of those posts I never thought I’d write (it’s definitely not very home related) but due to a surprising amount of requests, here it is. I guess anything that has to do with saving money and doing something yourself is fair game, right? I have no idea how I got into cutting people’s hair, but throughout high school and college I just played around, cutting off a guy’s mullet here and giving my BFF a super short pixie cut there (all at my “client’s” requests, of course). Why did they trust me? I have no idea. Maybe I just have a trustworthy face? I most certainly don’t have any formal training. I just sort of treat hair like I’d imagine I’d make a butter sculpture. You just remove the extra stuff so you’re left with the shape you want. Confidence inspiring, huh? But a bunch of people actually noticed my latest work of haircut art on John’s head in party pictures yesterday, so… score! Haha.
The funny thing is that we realized I’ve been cutting John’s hair for seven whole years! And I’ve probably dished out 50+ other haircuts to other friends and family members throughout the last ten years (why yes I have cut my brother in law’s hair in the backyard of John’s parents beach house). So take this post for what it is, one not-professional gal’s take on how she grooms her man. An above the neck manscaping lesson if you will.
But since it’s extremely impossible to tell you how I cut John’s hair and a lot more descriptive to just show you, we actually made a video, thanks to the help of our handy little tripod. Look at that shaggy hair John had going on in this “setting up for the video” shot:
It’s amazing what a little at-home clippage can do. How YOU doin’ hubby?
But on with the video! Let’s get up close and personal with those light brown locks, shall we? Oh yes, and I have primer/paint all over my hands from Clara’s birthday dollhouse (more on that tomorrow). You can watch it below or here on YouTube.
For anyone who can’t watch the video with the sound on (mehaps you’re at work?) it’s actually still pretty easy to understand on mute (since you just have to see what my hands are doing to get the gist). And I’ve included a few written tips in bullet form below, just to help anyone with a sucker on standby who’s ok with you experimenting on their head. I say that in the most kind and loving way, since all of my friends and family who have let me go to town on their hair are pretty darn awesome. I actually haven’t had an oopsie since college (I went a little shorter than I meant to on a gal in dorms, but she totally had the bone structure to work it). Although now that I’ve made that claim I feel like I should knock on wood. Or John should, since he’d be the most likely person to have to walk around with a potential hair snafu if it ever were to happen. Anyway, on with the tips:
- I cut hair when it’s dry or very lightly misted with water because my experience when cutting wet hair has been that it “shrinks up” and is always shorter than I mean for it to be – which can lead to profuse apologies. Also hair that’s wet might not “lay” the way it does when it’s dry (ex: a cowlick might make itself known when hair’s dry and result in an uneven effect).
- I cut John’s hair at night after Clara’s off to bed so we can get ‘er done without distractions (no toddler running through the hair pile on the floor- which Burger thankfully avoids like the plague).
- I don’t use a buzzer and just shave John’s neck for him after the haircut with a regular shaving razor. That always makes things look nice and polished, and this way we don’t have to store a big hair buzzer (or pay for one).
- I just use hair-cutting scissors that I got for like $5 from CVS. They don’t even have a brand name on them to pass along. Sorry!
- I use my fingers to keep things even. For example, when I cut John’s hair I cut it one-finger-length from his scalp, so it all stays that length. I go a little longer on top – maybe two finger lengths (see the video for more on this).
- I always try to cut hair vertically (ex: parallel to John’s spine) – except for trimming the line around his neck – since it can look dorky and block-ish if you cut things horizontally (parallel to the shoulders). It’s really hard to explain in words, but the video makes this much more clear.
- I’m not a pro, so this isn’t real hairdresser scoop. Haha. I’m just a crazy girl with a penchant for pickles and cutting hair – so this is just what works for me (and John, my sweet hair-model hubby).
Oh and here’s an after pic from the back, since that might help you guys visualize it from that angle.
Hope that helps any DIY-haircutting-hopefuls out there! Does anyone else host haircuts at their house? The craziest thing is that I just calculated that we have probably saved at least $700 in the past seven years just by me cutting John’s hair (not counting all the times that I cut my own hair or ask John to snip a straight line in the back when I need a little trim and can’t reach – which might be an additional $500 in savings over the years). That’s a lot of cheddar ceramic animals…
Sabin says
i think its hysterical that in the set up photo , john looks like he has antlers!!! And what a grooming job it is. Well done!
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny?! I love it too.
xo,
s
jk says
When I saw your post I just laughed because this afternoon I gave my 2 boys a haircut. I’ve been cutting my husband hair for 5+ yrs…ever since he came home from supercuts looking like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. What’s not to love, you’re saving some money and making your man look the way you want. P.S. My husband pays me now instead of the hairdresser.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I like that! Maybe I can get John to tip me, or at least rub my back for a second. Haha.
xo,
s
Karen says
The first thing I noticed is that you do the same thing I do when I’m cutting hair. You just dig in, shoving John’s head to and fro as you cut. LOL So funny.
You cut the same way I do. Have you ever cut your finger while you’re holding the hair so closely? I do that all the time.
John is a good sport. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes I cut my finger once a haircut. It’s par for the course. Thankfully it’s not too bad (like a papercut).
xo,
s
JulieW says
That’s the same way I cut my husbands hair. Except I cut his longer and I always grab some cut hair in with the uncut hair to use as a guideline so that it’s all even. It’s really easy and foolproof unless you cut horizontally. I had never cut anybody’s hair before including my own but late one night my hubby was trying to cut his own hair and got really frustrated and asked me to do it and I’ve been doing it since.
YoungHouseLove says
So smart to use cut hair in the next grab of the uncut hair as the guide!
xo,
s
Breanna says
LOL…when you said, “ear wiggle” I thought you said “earwig” (as in the bug). I got momentarily grossed out at the thought of you unearthing some bug from under all that hair!! I am still giggling about it :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahhhhaha, that would be baaaad.
xo,
s
Danielle says
Great job! I’m one of the clipper-wives and I think I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for the past 5 years, at least. Maybe more. The biggest bonus is that he no longer goes as long between ‘appointments’. Maybe it’s becuz it’s easier to schedule or maybe it was the expense, but I’m thrilled the Shaggy days are over!
Christa says
That is really good for not using clippers. It looks professional. My hubby cuts his own hair with clippers, sort of the John haircut but longer on top. He also cuts our son’s hair in the same style. Oh, and when we had a dog, he shaved our dog in the summer too. It is certainly a money saver.
Athena says
I’ve also been one of those people that other folk just seem to trust with their hair. I’ve cut the hair of friends and family members (even my mom several times when she didn’t want to spend the cash for a simple trim). Some of the trust comes from the fact that I myself have had just about every hair length in the book (from 2″ long to the length where I can sit on it), and loads of different styles. Watching the way the stylists cut the hair has completely helped making some guesses on how it works. I can’t say that I can give someone a really complicated hair cut, but I can definitely trim back just about any style and fix any problems.
I just started cutting my husband’s hair at home to save some monies, and his is one of the hardest because his hair is longer, and I can’t just do a simple Guy Hair Cut A for him. Haha! Thank goodness I once wore my hair in a near identical hair cut…
I’m going to pass this post onto my sister, who’s been wondering how to cut her little boy’s hair at home. Thanks for making it!
Kerrie says
My Mom was trained as a hair dresser but once my parents move she didn’t get a license in the new state, but I grew up with her always cutting my dad’s hair. So I just kind of figure that is how it works in a family. Luckily when I met my buzz cut husband it didn’t take us long to figure out I should cut his hair and save us the $ either. Seriously he feels we need to cut his hair every 2 weeks like clockwork, so we have saved bank over the years I’m sure.
meganleiann says
Such good timing! I’ve spent all yesterday and today trying to decide if I’m going to attempt my 5-year-old’s hair or just pay.
I’ve tried my hubby’s hair in the past with clippers, but he has so much hair that I just got lost! Maybe I’ll try your way! It looks easy enough!
I LOVE how you just move his head all over the place. So married!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh yes, I manhandle him. Watching that video back I was like “wow, Sherry, that’s not very gentle” – haha.
xo,
s
Gil says
That’s exactly what I thought when I watched the video. She’s so rough!!! I think I might have a headache after that:-) and I certainly wouldn’t pay anyone to “manhandle” me that way, but it’s free so I guess John can take it.
Teresa says
I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for our entire 34 year marriage, at first because we couldn’t afford a barber, now more for the convenience of a haircut at 1:00 in the morning, spur of the moment! My 30 year old son has never had a professional haircut and now I cut my grandchildren’s hair. Sometimes I feel ready to pass the scissors on to my daughter-in-law, but I guess I’ll keep on snipping for a while longer! I do the haircuts exactly like you do, but I cut it wet and use a comb…I’m really impressed how precise John’s style looked with just your fingers and scissors.
Kati L says
My hubby developed a major receding hairline pretty young (mid-late 20’s) and just started shaving his head. Not all the way down to the scalp, but pretty close (think Jason Statham). So every other week I use the trimmer we have and shave it for him. I’m not sure if I’d ever have been brave enough to actually cut it for him, so I’m glad I can just shave it! lol
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds awesome to me. You had me at Jason Statham. Haha.
xo,
s
Casey says
Three boys in my house and I cut them all. I have super (cute) hairy babies, and before the 3-year-old hit his first birthday he was already needing a haircut a month (can you imagine?!). After paying for around four of them I decided I had to figure it out pretty quickly and stop shelling out all that dough. My husband started asking me to do his soon after that, but it took me a couple years to work up the courage–I finally gave in about six months ago and it’s been going surprisingly well. The 1-year-old got on the once-a-month schedule in March, and we took him to a place for the first one (for the photo op, of course), but I’ve done it twice since then. It’s definitely going to be a huge money saver in the long haul!
I’m impressed you use scissors. I bought a color-coded clipper set at Target for about $20 and use that for everything except around the ears/little touch-ups… not sure I’m brave enough for the full-scissor cut. I just use the longest guard on the top and then work my way down to the bottom.
Aimee says
I cut my husband’s hair and both of our boys’ hair as well. I even bought one of those hair cutting capes (the little boys can’t stand the itchiness!) and even with the cost of the clippers and the cape, I calculated that we save over $250 in a single year on haircuts! So my equipment paid for itself about 5 times over in just a year. And when I calculate how much I save by cutting my own hair, wow! It seems silly to us now to pay someone to do something you can easily do yourself! If I ever decide to give them boys trims with scissors, now I know how- thanks, Sherry!
Mary McG says
I cut my husbands hair with clippers, but I have wanted to keep my son’s hair longer. Thank you for the tips! Now I can try them out on him. DIY haircuts are great.
Amanda says
I started cutting men’s hair in college – the basketball and baseball team members would “pay” me a box of mac & cheese per cut. That’s what I called a win-win (WAY before there ever was such a term!). Now, I cut my husband’s hair pretty much the same way you cut John’s, although my cutie doesn’t have near as much on top as yours!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahah, I love that payment method.
xo,
s
Erin @ WriteTasty says
I love this idea! My Mister and I have talked back and forth about this lots of times, but I can never seem to get up the nerve to actually go for it. Though on one occasion his sideburns were totally shaved off so I’m pretty my amateur attempts might be at least equivalent in quality to his current haircuts. Hmmm…
Anne Marie Laney says
so awesome. you completely rock! love the paint on your hands.. you are so hardcore ha.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I’m a mess.
xo,
s
Alicia says
I only watched this because I knew you guys would crack me up! (And you totally did!) I cut everyone’s hair too. 8 heads of hair counting my own! I can’t believe they trust me because I screwed up my Grandma’s when I was 10. They tell me every time I start not to do that to them!
I prefer cutting hair outside! No clean up! And my brother-in-law says the birds use the hair for their nests. You do a great job, Sherry!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- eight heads of hair = serious savings! You’re my hero. And I love the outside idea- will have to try that with John’s next one- just hope it’s not pitch dark out there once Clara’s in bed. Haha.
xo,
s
Katy M says
Haha, John: “What?!” Love it, you guys are hilarious.
Lauren says
I cut my husband’s hair too! Mostly because it’s really easy since he likes it very short. I just use clippers on the back/sides and trim the top with a similar method to your finger length approach…there’s usually some fading action between the two sections to make it blend. I like that we don’t have to spend money for his hair cuts!
lauren says
Nice – this is inspiring me to get a pair of real Hair Cutting Scissors! I just cut my partner’s hair with a pair of giant craft scissors with the orange handle (and have been for the past 7 or 8 years…) Luckily he is the least picky guy ever. He’d probably have hair down to his back if I didn’t corner him with the scissors every couple months.
Liz says
I’ve cut my brothers’ hair and my son’s hair. DH won’t let me touch his head with a buzzer LOL I used to cut my own bangs, but there was this one time that I cut them way too short…and I had little devil horns…and when you have REALLY curly hair, that’s bad. LOL
Shannon says
I cut my hubby’s, too! #2 all the way, trim and shave around the neck. I tried to get him to give mine a trim but he was nervous and shaking so I decided that wasn’t a good idea..
I love the horns coming out of John’s head in the before picture…
Jennifer Fankhauser says
My husband has never had a professional haircut in the 5 years I have known him. He cuts his own hair with a trimmer. I have helped him clean up the back along his neck but I am always super scared my hand will slip and I will give him a bald spot! haha
His hair looks almost the exact same as John’s color and texture and he usually goes back and forth between the 2 lengths you guys have in the before and after pics. I will have to show him this video and see if he trusts me to try with scissors.
Elizabeth says
I once cut my own hair with clippers. My husband said “It looks great. Now promise me you will never do it again, because you will never ever ever be that lucky again.”
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that does sound really lucky! Haha.
xo,
s
Emma says
Love this, because I cut my husband’s hair the same way! I call it a finger chop! Haha Also, John’s hairline looks very similar to my hubby’s so it was like watching myself cutting his hair – and I gotta say, it looks like we know what we’re doing girl! Ive tried clippers, but I much prefer the faded “finger chop” cuts. Thanks for sharing!
Jen says
First, I am in love with your blog. I only found it recently, but I love how down to earth and real you guys are (not to mention how adorable Clara and Burger are!) and I love all your great (and budget friendly) ideas!
I’ve always been too scared to cut my fiance’s hair even though he sometimes begs me to if we haven’t had time to go to his favorite barber. I totally rock trimming my Australian Shepherd Myles’ hair though and I suppose the future hubs would at least be a bit less wiggly… might have to try it out now that I’ve seen your DIY skills!
Gaidig says
The cut really brings out John’s handsome cheekbones and jawline. Good job Sherry.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! I think so too! Haha.
xo,
s
Sarah W. says
You’ve inspired me, Sherry! I cut my husbands hair, but like it short so usually buzz it leaving it a bit longer on top. I use to use the 1 or 2 finger length scissor cut on my Yorkie, but never thought to try it on my hubby. I may have to experiment now! :) He will appreciate having some versatility.
Carolynasaurus says
Maybe we’re totally weird, but we’ve found that there is a correlation in our house to the messiness of my husband’s hair to our level of bickering. For the sake of our marriage, I try to cut it for him every two weeks. It was a lot easier before we moved into a fixer-upper and the only non-carpeted place to do it is the bathtub…
Steph says
This is why your blog is dangerous. You guys go into such detail (which I love!) that it makes everything look easy, and now I’m ready to go out and buy hair scissors to cut my boyfriend’s hair. He would seriously never in a million years let me, but I feel like I could now! If only I had some random long haired guys to let me practice on!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, you’d be amazed how many people will let you cut their hair if you offer. I would literally be holding the scissors and saying “remember I don’t know what I’m doing” expecting people to jump up and run but they just sat there and said “eh, I trust you.” Haha. So funny!
xo,
s
Christine says
You’re doing the right thing! And apparently doing it well. I’ve been cutting hair in our house for years, and I’ll have to apply a few of your tricks. We have three boys, and cutting their hair plus my husband’s has saved so much money. I wasn’t so great at my daughter’s hair, though. Maybe I should try again, as it’s summer and no fellow schoolkids will be able to make fun of a bad Mom-made haircut? I hate to be the root of future therapy sessions.
Tara says
I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for almost 5 years now because he got tired of paying the barber. I bought a pair of clippers for less than $50 and they have totally paid for themselves over and over again. I love that you showed this video though because I have only mastered the buzz cut and keep saying I want to take a basic hair cutting class so that I can give him a “real” cut. I now consider myself educated!
Renata says
My husband shaves his head every other day so we haven’t had to deal with any haircut money from that. Except all the blades he goes through but we get those in bulk from amazon. He attempted cutting my hair once, luckily I have curly hair so if it was all messed it, it didn’t show hehe.
I have never seen my husband with hair, nothing that I can get with my fingers so once I asked him to let his hair grow just to see how he looked with hair. He attempted it for 4 days after he got that extra neck hair that got too long and asked me to shave it for him. I did but I left him all red lol I guess I just did it as I do my legs and thats too much pressure for his neck skin. After that fiasco he wouldn’t let it grow anymore, we’re back to him shaving hehe
Kerry says
I love the video! I am so inspired! I have never thought of manscaping the hubby’s head! He usually does his own but after watching your tutorial, I think I could take that on! Thank you! (I’ll let you know if he also thanks you!)
Katy says
Thanks for this tutorial! It actually looks like something I could do! I cut my own hair all through college — layers and all. I just had a sort of “whatever happens happens” mentality – hair always grows back! I’m actually my husband’s designated neck trimmer right now. Perhaps he’ll let me take the place of his hairdresser, too.
Alex says
I’m really glad to see this!
My husband had me cut his hair a few months ago, and I’d never cut short hair before, so I was a little nervous. Luckily, I only messed up a tiny bit (it was a little uneven by one ear).
He’s been asking me to do it again, and I’ve been a little nervous about it. This post really helped me get a better idea of how to cut his hair, especially since he wants a style similar to John’s.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so glad! Good luck Alex!
xo,
s
Kimberly says
I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair since right before we got married in 2006. We were traveling all over the country together and it “somehow” made sense to have me try it rather than find places to go in new cities (even though I had never done it before)! The first time I only took off a little, just in case he had to go to a professional to fix what I had done :-) I only used sissors for a long time and now I have a trimmer so the process is quicker. Still saves us a ton of money! Heck, the trimmer was paid off after the price of about one haircut!
LauraC says
Kudos to you! I think I remember you mentioning this before, so I wasn’t super surprised. Looks good! I also cut dry hair. I grew up with my mom cutting my brother’s and dad’s hair, so when I got married I wanted to cut my husband’s hair. We got a razor set and I was so nervous the first time! I had only watched 1-2 other haircuts before, was totally winging it. But, the easy thing was Josh was in the army, so I knew if I really messed up, we could just shave his head – ha! I did mess up once and it got shorter than I wanted, but that was from overconfidence because the first time went better than expected.
Now that we’ve added a toddler’s haircut to the mix it gets interesting. I’ve tried scissors and razor, but find the razor is more forgiving with his constant movements. I’ve already cut his hair at least four times and he just turned two! In contrast, our daughter is a couple months shy of five, and has only had two haircuts in her life (but not by me . . . ).
Felicity @ ourlittlebeehive says
Ha! It takes me so long to cut S’s hair and be comfortable to send him out in public that I’ve decided it’s just not worth the $10 saved. Even after a poorly placed zip of the clippers last time, he still asks me all the time to do it for him!
Missy G. says
Same here! Hubby’s hair is super short, so we invested in a good clippers set over a year ago and I’ve been cutting his hair ever since! I’ve never added up how much we must have saved over this time, but the clippers certainly paid for themselves after just a couple of months.
Laura says
i’m so glad you shared this! i’ve been cutting my boyfriend’s hair for at least 4 or 5 years (we even use those same scissors, though now we also have a buzzer) and have never felt like i knew what i was doing…and it always took me forever! a lot of times people gave compliments, but i think i inadventently gave him many of those “three stooges” haircuts because most of the time i cut his hair horizontally…oops :( and i knew it could look better, so this past time i made him promise to go to a barber, which he did. and it looked much better, and it saved me a lot of time. now that i’ve seen your video, though, maybe i’ll give it another shot and hopefully it’ll take less time! thanks!
Latoya says
For cutting your own hair, search “u shape” cutting method on YouTube. It is very easy.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Ellen says
I’d love to try and cut my husband’s hair, but he LOVES his barber – who has been cutting hair since like 1956 (and who cut my father in law’s hair too!) and the old-fashioned barbershop where they give you a little neck massage with a warm towel afterwards – that I doubt he’d ever want to give that experience up to let me!
Lindsay says
My husband cuts his own hair with clippers every other week! I tried cutting it for him a few times but he quickly realized I was too afraid to mess up and he could be much faster and more efficient. Now, he only needs me to check the back to make sure there’s no long pieces he missed and I’ll define his neckline with a razor, but that’s the extent of my involvement! If only I trusted him to cut my long, curly hair!
Jenny says
I have “buzzed” my 18 year old son’s hair with a 2 guard on the clippers since he was 6. And with him doing JROTC and how fast his hair grows he needed a trim every 2 to 3 weeks. I can’t imagine how much doing it myself has saved over the last 4 years alone!
I have yet to tackled my 13 year old’s hair since he has cowlicks but I know it’s coming since he’ll start JROTC in the fall and will need more frequent hair cuts. Perhaps this summer is a good time to practice…um, I mean start giving him haircuts at home (with the help of your video of course!).
Staci @ My Friend Staci says
I’ve given my husband three haircuts over the years. First, it was with scissors (wish I’d had this video to guide me back then), but his hair had been SHOULDER LENGTH so… anything was an improvement ;) That looked OK but I have since “graduated” to clippers since his hair is wavy and kind of hard to work with. Here’s my latest result (“one” around the sides and back and “two” on top)! https://twitter.com/#!/myfriendstaci/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Finstagr.am%2Fp%2FJ8oF7lkqn9%2F
YoungHouseLove says
Looks great!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
How informational!!! also its so sweet that you do that :)
jenn says
nice work! i used to always cut my husband’s hair, from the time we started dating until just a few years ago. i didn’t stop due to some tragic haircutting mishap, though – he just changed up his hairstyle and we decided it wasn’t worth risking our marriage over. ;) when we started dating he had the luscious flowing locks of a 21 yr old in the late 90s, and now he has the more manageable short hair cut of a dad in the insurance industry. it was so easy to trim his long hair! just trimmed the split ends off the back out on the porch. these days i have to satisfy myself with cutting my daughter’s bangs. they don’t always look great, but they don’t always look great when she goes to a salon, either. she inherited my hair-line cowlick and can’t sit still. a couple years ago i cut my own bangs, and that was pretty fun. i really have no problem with dramatic hair cut mistakes – it’s just hair! it grows back!