UKH

Is anyone else cutting their own hair during lockdown? I've tried with conventional electric hair clipper: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5vkAAOSwWlxcjnIe/s-l640.jpg but I find it awkward holding them to do the back of my head.

Interested to hear what anyone else uses.

Yep. Head over the sink. Number 1 back and sides. Number 4 on top. Cant go wrong....can it?

In theory, fine. But as I said I find it a pain controlling the clippers when I try to do the back.

Place guide on clippers, place guide against back of neck below hairline, move hand holding clippers upwards, repeat as necessary. 

I’ve got clippers and haven’t paid for a haircut in 15 years. Can’t do the back though, the cavalry get called in for that. My kids bought a ‘thing’ by Baybliss (?) that you simply run all over your head. Does the job, only good for short hair and good for the back area. Will find a link later. 
Found it. The Perspex thing is adjustable but it’s either short or very short. You simply run it all over your head. 

I've been cutting my own hair with electric clippers for the  past 20 years. I remember that at first it felt really awkward but now I don't even think about it.

I last had my hair cut a year ago.  I'm embracing my inner hippy.

So far, I've gone long wavy curly, of a style some might pay a hairdresser a tidy sum to achieve though they'd probably want less grey.  I'm interested to see what it will be like come spring, though if it's still around in summer and the weather's hot, it'll be off without a second thought.

T.

Thanks, that looks as if it might do the job.

Snap. Last haircut I paid for was in about 2003. 

Every now and then I miss a bit, because I've decided to do it whilst half asleep first thing in the morning, or after a few glasses of wine at night. Apart from that, dead easy and you learn a "grip" that works to allow you to start below the neckline and work up. If you do it regularly, the clearing up is minimal as there's only a little bit of hair coming off. Sink is fine, or just put a newspaper down or something. 

It gets easier for me every year, as the clippers have to travel less distance upwards...

Clippers and daughter who knows how to use them.

Back of the head, not too much problem with clippers, but at the centre of the spiral on top of my head, there are always some bastard hairs that try and survive without being clipped and I have to work out which direction to sneak up on them from (not always the same) 😁

With clippers, the shorter you go, the easier it is to get a consistent cut all over.

I usually have a number 5

Work by feel, I shaved my head 30 years ago and now do it every 2 days, the bits you can't see you feel for the stubble, on the odd occasion I have tried to grow it back I normally give up after a month and get the clippers out and find it easy to work out what has been trimmed and what hasn't before the razor comes out.

Edited to add, listen. Put the combe on for the length you want and go against the grain, keep working the same area and when you can't hear it cutting you know it's to the length of the combe. When done feel around for any tufts you may have missed. 

I get my hair cut annually. Chopped to a short bob at the start of winter, under a hat all winter and then by the time I stop wearing hats it should be able to be in a ponytail again for the rest of the year. 

This time was the second time I got my husband to do it, he is very good at straight lines! I haven't been to a hairdresser in years, and have always had friends do it for me until I convinced him to do it. 

Kitchen scissors seem to work well for it. 

Not had my hair cut for over a year. I'm going to have consider tying it back. Also not used shampoo or conditioner for four years. Hair feels great, no frizz or dandruff. I only rinse when I shower. It's never greasy or uncomfortable.

scissors, since the 1970s

I've  used the "unicorn" method. Only really works on hair that is shoulder length or below.  Lean forward and put all the hair in a ponytail at the front of the head.  Use another hair elastic around the ponytail at whatever length you want.  Cut just below this point.  Then trim the fringe if you have one. 

My GF has been doing mine since the Pandemic started. I didn't realise I had several bald patches.

I think with clippers you either need to keep practicing or get someone else to do the back if that's possible.  The very back of the neck you may find easier with a razor.  

Snip snip snip, hack away with scissors, works for me, couldn't care less

Just leave the back alone, man! Mullets are coming back.

I went for ages with a no-cut pigtail, which seemed to attract a fair amount of attention, but currently no 3 (12mm) all over on the clippers, mostly get a barber or friend to do it as they can tidy up round the back more easily, and so far have managed to sort a pre-lockdown shearing which has lasted. May have to diy or go back to the pigtail if it comes to it!

In mid December my hair had regrown to something like it used to be when I was a student, although grey rather than almost black, long enough to be in a pony tail again.

But with an interview for my carte de séjour looming I thought I better get it to look a little more like my passport so had it cut when the French 2nd lockdown ended. Unfortunately the hairdresser was a bit over ethusiastic & it ended up much shorter than I wanted - its not been this short sice I was about 5 years old. But its regrowing slowly.

Decent clipper (Babyliss) and number 3 attachment... I cut it once a week over the bath and am quite happy with it.

When trimming the back, without the attachment, I go by feel as the bathroom doesn't have enough mirrors. I work from home mostly, so no-one can see if I've made a mess, including me

I have saved the price of the clippers twice-over since lockdown.

Grow for half a year, then get the beard trimmer out!

Since March I had two DIY haircuts, with my wife cleaning up around the back of my neck.

The one good bit about Corona is that I can finally grow a longer beard, as the nasty men at my judo club are currently not allowed to try and rip it out!

CB

Short of additional assistance, the best way I've found is to sit down in front of one mirror, then position a shaving mirror that can be angled on a stool behind. That way you can look in the main mirror for the top and sides, then check you're getting the back more or less done in the reflection of the second mirror

I do my fringe with the kitchen scissors. The back just gets longer. Last haircut I actually paid for was in 1998.

Been using a clippers on minimum setting for over 20 years now: I think I last visited a barbers in 1995.

The back of my head is the most awkward and my skull is kinda gooved there (not perfectly spherical or hemi-spherical, whatever). Using two angled mirrors is difficult, with co-ordinating hand direction with the reflected image. Better to shave on feel & then get partner to assess. Last shave I almost got in all but missed a patch. No worries anyway as its cold enoguh that a hat is worn on all outoor trips.

I beat you by about 3 years.

I gave up on the clippers back in march and have since kept it shaved. I shave my face every two or three days anyway and now it's just a matter of putting foam all over my head as well and passing over with a razor.  

Pros: Much easier post-shower procedure. Easier to operate than clippers.
Cons: Sunburn. According to my son, I looked like a two flavor lollypop when I went for a sunny run with a visor instead of a hat. 
 

(o::

Funnily enough, pre Covid I'd been doing my hair myself with clippers for years, now I'm just  letting hair and beard grow out to epic proportions.

As said up thread, the shorter you go the easier to get a consistent cut. With no guard at all, it's pretty straightforward and with two mirrors you can check for any missed bits.

At the crown, just go over from every conceivable direction until the little black dot disappears.

You'll probably find a few patches behind the ears, as the shape of the skull lifts the side of the cutter off - just make lots of upwards passes at slightly different angles and positions.

At the end of the day, you don't have to look at the back so it doesn't matter anyway 😉

Yeah, twice. The first time it went splendidly, I was really surprised. The second time, which was last night, I totally screwed up at the back and I'd better wear a beanie for a few days.

I've got to the barbers a couple of times between lockdowns - quiet, out of the way one, so usually no queue and waiting around.

My M-in-L is in our bubble and she's a hairdresser, so I've got her to trim it a couple of times, but I prefer my barber. Might have to give in and employ her services again this week, as it's got annoyingly long again - I'm already nearly 2 months overdue a cut!

There a video my friend posted on our WhatsApp group the other night of him trying to revolutionise the hairdressing industry with his attempt at his partner's hair.

Do your arms bend?

What's this fringe thing, you talk about?

No.1 everywhere is de rigueur for a lockdown, I believe. *

* and I mean EVERYWHERE, boredom makes you try some weird shit.

The traditional reward for failure is the full Kojak.

Alternatively, good advice can be found here (definitely SFW):

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/05/20 (plus the next strip)

and here

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/05/14 (plus again the next one)

Like this:

Nah, No 1 is too long for your legs.

I'm contemplating getting the wax out and doing my legs.  Absolutely pointless really,  but its something to do.  

Its that or do more online training.  I think on balance leg waxing is the least painful of the 2.  

Strangely, just after the last lockdown ended, I was talking to a friend of mine about hair and she said, she'd let it all grow just about everywhere.

She's very "right on" and all for standing up for yourself and not conforming, so I said, well doesn't that show that you're shaving / waxing for others rather than for what you personally want?

I got told to f*ck off In the nicest possible way of course.

Is the future one of hairy women or will everyone quickly return to "normality".

Full disclosure, I'm a fan or the "retro-muff" as I've been told they are called and hairy armpits don't bother me either, I don't understand why it ever became an issue, for the ladies.

My legs are rapidly becoming the hairiest part of my body

I suppose the fact that I can be bothered to do it in lockdown means I do it for myself.  Sometimes I can be bothered and sometimes I can’t.  Usually I let everything grow in winter and remove in summer. I do prefer underarms hairless, I smell less.  Retro-muff is definitely healthier, quite a bit of research shows that, but I like to tidy the edges and not sport a swimming pool moustache 🤣

Most men don’t seem that bothered either way.  Other women tend to notice more.  

I'm using my beard clippers (beard now gone for masking reasons) Getting it all at the back is a pain, and for me seems to be about how I hold the clippers. plus I use masking tape to get a straight ish edge. 

I'm quite limited on mirrors, but in the end I find doing it by feel rather than trying to watch what I'm doing works best.

I also find using my "wrong" hand (right for me as I'm a leftie) seems to help malcoordination issues when doing the back of my head

If you need a hair cut nip to your local police station. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/26/cuttin...

ha ha , nice one

I have to wonder how not one of them thought that maybe this is a bad idea.  

Good photo. I like the hairstyle second from the right 

Groupthink!  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

That explains it.  

I've cut my own hair for years.  However when doing it pissed, check that you've got the right guard on, otherwise you end up being an even balder tw*t than you usually are.

For 17 years now I've been cutting my own hair with a grade 0 all over. The joys of going bald young

I used to have one of those adjustable length beard trimmers which I sometimes used on my hair.

There's nothing quite like cutting a "stripe" when you've set the length wrong (f**k, f**k, f**k) and then having to hide the cockup with further cutting 😁

How do you know you have the masking tape straight?

Kudos for ingenuity though!

I had to trim the dog's fringe earlier as he couldn't see properly any more.

It's really hard to cut someone's hair when they keep trying to bite the scissors!

Mission complete without any casualties in the end.