I Cut My Curly Hair in Layers...BY MYSELF!
When the shutdown first happened, I saw post after post from hair stylists urging women NOT to cut their own hair...so naturally I did the opposite of that.
The next step was to try DIY rice water treatments (which are amazing and you can read all about my experience HERE ). That helped quite a bit but I still wasn't happy, so I YouTubed how to cut my hair in layers, but all of the videos were either for straight hair, or for curlies who just wanted to trim their bangs. I was looking for massive change here...and so I improvised.
Let me give you a little backstory...
At the start of Spring Break, I was already due for a trim. I cancelled my appointment because I was feeling lazy and figured I'd just reschedule. Little did I know that rescheduling wouldn't be an option...and that I'd run out of all of my styling products and not be able to find them A-NY-WHERE!
I don't know how much y'all know about type 3B curls but they do not behave when they aren't tamed by a generous (read: massive) amount of products. So I committed the deadliest Curly Girl sin...I straightened my hair...for two weeks straight. Y'all...the damage that resulted made me want to cry. (I should insert a side note here that my relationship with my hair, like many women with textured locks, has been a complicated roller coaster. I've invested YEARS into learning to love it and care for it properly, so the idea of having irreversible damage really was a gut-punch). To try to fix it, I decided to give myself bangs and trim off the stick-straight pieces. The result was...not great (insert face smack here).
The next step was to try DIY rice water treatments (which are amazing and you can read all about my experience HERE ). That helped quite a bit but I still wasn't happy, so I YouTubed how to cut my hair in layers, but all of the videos were either for straight hair, or for curlies who just wanted to trim their bangs. I was looking for massive change here...and so I improvised. DIY Layered Curly Hair Cut
What I ended up doing was a combination of what I'd seen on YouTube and what I remembered from years of hair cuts.
Before you do ANYTHING, make sure that you have a good pair of cutting sheers. I used a pair that I got from Sally's. Tweezerman Stainless 2000 is another good option (get it HERE). It's important to use scissors that are meant to cut hair, and not just any old pair you have lying around because if you use scissors that aren't sharp enough, you risk leaving your ends wide open, which defeats the whole purpose of a trim.
Also, make sure that your hair is dry and styled the way you normally style it. Cutting curls is more like bush-trimming than hair cutting, so you want to cut it the way that you would wear it (read: don't cut it wet!)
Alright, here we go...
Grab the section that you want to style and tie it with an elastic. The positioning is important. The closer you tie the section to your hair line, the shorter the layers will be. I positioned mine at my crown because I wanted longer layers.
If you have bangs, leave them out
Before you do ANYTHING, make sure that you have a good pair of cutting sheers. I used a pair that I got from Sally's. Tweezerman Stainless 2000 is another good option (get it HERE). It's important to use scissors that are meant to cut hair, and not just any old pair you have lying around because if you use scissors that aren't sharp enough, you risk leaving your ends wide open, which defeats the whole purpose of a trim.
Also, make sure that your hair is dry and styled the way you normally style it. Cutting curls is more like bush-trimming than hair cutting, so you want to cut it the way that you would wear it (read: don't cut it wet!)
Alright, here we go...
Step One: Divide your hair
Start with the top of your head.
If you have bangs, leave them out
Step Two: Cut everything beyond your fingers
After you've secured your hair with an elastic, pull it straight up and hold it in between your pointer and middle fingers. Cut everything above your fingers, and make sure to cut straight across.
Don't try to get fancy and cut into the hair like you see your stylist do. Your stylist is a professional. You're an amateur and you will either hurt yourself (like I did the first time) or end up cutting off more than you intend to.
I recommend that you start by cutting off just what seems uneven, or as little as possible. You can always cut more if you need to, but you can't fix it if you cut off too much, so don't get scissor happy!
Step Three: Cut your bangs
This part is tricky because, as I'm sure you know if you're a curly yourself, curly bangs aren't like regular bangs. My bangs may look short, but they are really chin-length. The shrinkage is SERIOUS with my curl pattern. If you know exactly how your hair will behave once you've washed and styled it, then pull your bangs down to where you'd like to cut. Otherwise, let your hair fall in front of your face and cut exactly where you'd like your bangs to land. Keep in mind that your hair will get new life once it's been cut, so you may experience more shrinkage than normal when you first cut it.
Step Four: Cut your length
To cut the rest of your hair, you repeat the first to steps: divide it and cut anything beyond your fingers. The difference is that you'll pull your hair from the back to the front, and cut where you'd like it to stop along your collarbone. I only trimmed my length because I want my hair to look long (which is not an easy thing to do with my curl type) so I only cut off what looked uneven.
And that's it!
It goes without saying but, just to be safe, I'm going to say it: I'm not a professional. Nowhere close. I've always gotten my hair professionally cut, but have never been happy with the results. I walk out of the salon $80-100 poorer and looking like Diana Ross. Now that I've learned how to do this myself, I doubt I'll ever go back to paying someone to do it.
I'll leave you with my Before/After pic so that you can see for yourself.
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