Sunday 8 April 2012

Hair today and gone tomorrow.

Thank you for your comments about haircuts. Charlies Aunt suggested going to the college to get it done. I used to go there a few years ago. It was very cheap, but you have to make an appointment, and it takes about three hours to get it done. As I am the impatient type, I make up my mind and want it cutting asap, I hate waiting for appointments. So, today was the day I had to get my haircut. Nowhere open on Easter Sunday so I'm going to have a bash at cutting it myself. The front bit is easy. Comb it all forward and trim around the face, now how to do the back.   
I have two doors opposite each other, and conveniently they both have a nail in them at about head height. I also have two largish mirrors. Open one door slightly so it's not dead opposite the other, making a slight angle, and bingo, I can see the back of my head. No, I didn't cut my hair holding the camera, silly, ha ha. All I did was to keep combing my fingers through and lifting a clump of hair, gripping it near the ends, and chopping it off. I kept doing that all over, lifting and trimming. That's how I've seen them doing it at the hairdressers. It's dead easy once you get going.
Chop chop, lots of hair on the mat. A good all over trim.
Then I coloured it with a £4 colour from Savers the discount store. I know you are supposed to do a strand test, but I never do, and I've never had any problems in all the years I've been using them. So now I am a light beige blonde.
Rinse, condition, rinse again, and blow dry.
So there you have it, a free haircut, I'm glad I was brave enough to try this. I don't think I will ever be going to the hairdressers again. Should save about £50 a year. Great stuff.

33 comments:

  1. I'd never manage it!
    Well done, you!
    Jane x

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  2. Not bad at all - well done.
    Like the colour, not sure how true to life it is but it looks OK to me.
    I don't mind trimming my fringe but I'd never be brave enough to tackle the sides and back, that's why it's down to my waist.

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  3. Well it looks pretty good to me and the colour is really nice. I'm not going back to the hairdressers either, I never enjoyed it in the first place so its no sacrifice to me. I very occassionally make mistakes with my fringe but nothing a clip and some patience can't sort out lol. Well done! Debs x

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  4. I always think it helps to have wavy hair, as it hides any cutting errors. It looks very smart Ilona, well done.

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  5. You are so brave! You did a good job. I like the color, but I really liked your red hair. I can cut my bangs and the side. My hair is layered up the back, so I am not sure how to do that on my on. I pay $25/month for getting my hair cut--no wash, no styling. I just go in with clean, dry hair, and walk out with hair cut off and hair all over me. I cannot stand to have my hair washed. The style is never suitable. You are a brave woman.

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  6. I recently cut about 8 inches off my hair...tied it in a tail with two elastics, and cut between. Not going to win any style contests! But the nearest salon is over an hour away, and even if I am willing to spend the money for a haircut now and then, right now I'm not willing to also spend $12 in fuel and half a day of my life driving and sitting in the twirly chair ;)

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  7. I used to do my own hair using my husband's clippers. I had it very short. I used a number 5 or 6 guard around the sides and back and a number 6 or 7 on the top. Very short and spiky and so little trouble! Think Annie Lennox in the 80s and you'll get the picture!

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  8. Bravo, Ilona! That looks quite nice! Job well done, I`d say. Saved you pennies.
    I used to cut my kids hair until they were about 14. That`s when peer pressure set in and we had to have it done at the barbers or hairdressers. I wouldn`t trust myself to do my own. Looking in the mirror and cutting it cackhanded just wouldn`t do for me. I spend about £15 on a wash and cut every 6-8 weeks at my local hairdressers. The lady that does mine knows how to do a good job on it, so it only takes her 15 mins for cutting.

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  9. I always cut my son's hair until he got really sophisticated and it is also so thick it was hard to do. I cut what bit of hair my husband has, he just won't go and have it done, and I absolutely hate doing it, it's so unrewarding! Once I cut my hair from below shoulder to above shoulder not layered and it was fine.

    I really can't see how people can only go to a certain hairdresser to cut their hair, it would be spoiled etc etc. Heavens above, it is HAIR! Like grass, it grows again.

    Looks great Ilona. Like the colour. As Kath says, if it's wavy it is easier. Mine is not so wavy, only at the bottom.

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  10. I wish I was a bit braver and could have a go at my own, I hate going to the hairdressers, it's almost as bad as going to the dentist.

    I do cut my Lovely Hubbys hair with trimmers, it's like shearing a sheep, only he's ginger!! It's simply a number 4 all over the top and a number 2 for beard, moustache and eyebrows, he's offered to do mine.....but would you let him??

    Sue xx

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    Replies
    1. Can't think why not, the difference between the best haicut and the worst is only about 3 weeks.

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  11. I cut my fringe but wouldn't dare do the back. I'm looking straight at my fringe and it doesn't always end up straight, so there's not much hope for the back. Mind you, I only use nail scissors which are pretty blunt.

    I wondered what on earth you were going to do with the nails in the doors! I envisaged you stringing a wire across to use as a level for getting the bottom straight or something.

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  12. I ut my son's hair until he was twelve and insisted on a stylist. He declared he was happy. Two weeks later, he told me he only wanted me to cut his hair from now on. The girls had no problem with me cutting their hair. Ex husband begged me to cut his hair after our divorce. Said he would pay me. I did not trust myself that close to his eyes, temple, jugular with sharp scissors. I do cut other people's hair, but do not trust people who have never cut hair to mess with mine.

    It's not a matter of being spoiled. It's a matter of wanting it done right and by someone who knows what I want. I am willing for the first three haircuts to be sort of not what I like, but after that, I hate to go away with it totally wrong. It makes me wonder about the skills and intelligence of the hairdresser. People can call me names, but ultimately, it is my hair and my money.

    Cumbrian,Since I get my hair cut every four weeks, I am not willing to have it right only 12 weeks of the year and forty weeks have it look the worst. Well, not if I am paying for it.

    I went to one hairdresser for ten years, until she died from a fire. That was my first. The last hairdresser I went to moved about 70 miles away. I went to her for twenty years!

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  13. Looks wonderful.

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  14. Hi Meanqueen - I cut my own grey locks using Wahl hair clippers. They come with standard combs that go up to a grade 8. But I've bought Grade 10 and 12 combs separately online to give a softer more lady-like cut! I've posted about it before but must do so again and add a picture. Need a haircut today!

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  15. Does your camera act as a web cam? If so, you can use it to see the back of your head the right way round (so you can work out where your hands and the scissors are),instead of mirrored.

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  16. Hi OSD. No, I dont think it does, never found it never tried it. I have a web cam to plug into the computer, spose I could set that up to show the back of my head on the screen, is that the sort of thing you mean? I wouldn't want to cut my hair in the office though. It's bad enough cleaning the hairs up off the floor outside the back door, I wouldn't want them all over the office.

    Hi lovelygrey. I have some clippers but am a bit reluctant to try them because I don't want a very short cut. I look like a fella, with short hair :o(

    Ha ha LBM. Nails to hang the mirrors on :o)

    Suecat, let him have a go, don't be scared.

    My hair is not particulary wavy, just a bit kinky. It sticks up over my ears, and both sides are different.

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  17. Great job, Ilona. I've been doing mine for years. Hairdressers have to make a living but when I see some of the cuts that my daughters have paid a lot of money for (average here in Ireland €38) I wonder what it's all about!

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  18. Yes thats the thing. With a lappy you could do it anywhere really.
    Mine doesn't have a battery but is quite easy to plug in out in the bath room with an extension cord(no socket in bathroom) and I can use the bathroom mirror for the front of hair and the web-cam for the back.
    Obviously you could use the web-cam for the front too if you didn't have a mirror.
    We have one of those old plastic table cloths (for picking up hair) which I put under the chair and then just pick it up afterwards and empty into the compost bin down the garden.

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  19. Well done, now you need never go to the hairdressers again.
    I always cut my own hair, I cut the top and Tom cuts the back. I've had so many people ask me where I get it done and they are always disappointed when I tell them I do it myself.
    It always amuses me when I watch through the window of a hairdressers to see them taking soooooo long to snip, snip tiny bit at a time, I'm sure its just to make it last and look like you are getting your money's worth. lol
    Yours looks great and the colour is lovely.
    Briony
    x

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  20. Snap. I cut my hair too today. I loath visiting the salon. So cut myself a pageboy bob. I bought proper hairdressing scissors many years ago and cut Mum's and Hubby's hair regularly.

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  21. Your cut and color look great!

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  22. Hey...it looks good!!! I'm on my way to get my hair "trimmed" and it will probably cost me $25 + tip (US $$$)!! I use to give myself haircuts when I was younger. I never had been in a salon until I was in my 20's!

    I quit colouring my hair over a year ago because I developed an allergy to the dye (that PPD is BAD stuff!!) so I've saved money on that. I have a lot more "silver" then I thought but I really like the color and I get more compliments now than when I colored my hair...go figure :)

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  23. Ilona that looks ace! I think you should do mine next! :) Do I dare do my own hair? Very tempting! I have to wear it up at work so only friends and family would ever see the mess I made, haha!

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  24. Looks really nice Ilona. Your not the only one who cuts her own hair. I have done so for years.

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  25. The new colour looks really nice.

    I started cutting my own hair when I was 17 and haven't been to the hairdressers since - that's about 12 years. Partly I objected to paying £9 for just a trim and partly, I was never happy with what they had done! I trim my fringe once a month or so and the rest when I feel like it - it's easy for me having longer hair - I simply part it down the back and bring it all forward over my shoulders then trim each side so they're roughly level. I bet it costs a fair bit more than £9 for a dry cut these days so I'm sure I make a good saving every year with my DIY haircuts!

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  26. Nicely done. Good setup with the mirrors, too.

    Renee :)

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  27. This is Leslie from New Orleans. I read this tip in a frugal newsletter. Save the bottles from dyeing your hair. Clean them out. The next time you buy a dye kit, simply empty 1/2 of each of the chemicals into the appropriate bottle. Voila, two hair colorings for the price of one. Works particularly well if you have short hair.

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  28. That's a great tip Leslie. I'll remember it when I next colour my hair.

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  29. You have made a splendid job of cutting your hair. I tried it once and had to get remedial help from the hairdresser.

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  30. It looks great and inspiring :) My grandmother did that to herself as well and I was oh so proud of her.
    I'm having a little giveaway at my blog, maybe you and some of your readers would like to take the chance to win a little present made with love. Have a nice week!

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