Just like shaping your eyebrows, cutting your hair is a
beauty task best left to the professionals, but considering the toll
heat styling and the dry air has taken on your strands, we get the
nagging temptation of wanting to try your hand at a DIY trim—which is
why we asked Kenna, founder and owner
of Brooklyn's Kennaland Hair Studio, to outline exactly how without
completely messing up those layers. We're not talking about the
"trim" intended to remove an inch of your hair that ultimately resulted
in a bob, but rather a very, very minimal amount cut from your
ends. "People go to their hairdresser and ask for a trim, only to end up
with two inches off, but that's not a trim," he tells us. "A trim is
half an inch, or even just a centimeter, and I wouldn't recommend doing
more than that if you're trimming your own hair."
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First things first, you'll need to find the right pair of shears for
the job, as the plastic set you picked up from Ikea won't produce the
best results. Kenna suggests using a pair of steel scissors, which are
more precise, though even kitchen or fabric scissors will do the trick.
"I've actually used a pair of kitchen scissors on the set many times
after mine went missing or got taken at the airport," Kenna says. "As
long as they're sharp, they don't have a gap at the end, and are angled
right, you can use them."
You'll want to keep your hair dry with your natural parting in place, and use your ears as a guide to determine exactly how to section off your layers. "All the hair at the front of your ears is the front of your hair, and anything behind your ears is the back of your hair," he explains. "Never trim the back of your hair yourself as there are lines and corners your hairdresser has put in there to give the cut structure." The sides, on the other hand, don't have as many corners, and as long as you're comfortable with a pair of scissors, they should be easier to work with.
[post_ads]Separate out the front sections of your hair, and with a Drake-esque
mantra in mind, start from the bottom and work your way up using a
point-cutting method. "Angle the end of your scissors as parallel as you
can with your hair, and cut into the ends. It's a more forgiving way of
cutting," says Kenna. "Never ever cut at a blunt angle, because you'll
end up with chunky lines." Work slowly section by section until you
reach the top portion, and resist the urge to try out the DIY ponytail
trimming method you looked up on Pinterest. This has the potential to
create too many uneven angles, and since some areas of hair won't reach
the tip of the ponytail, you'll essentially be chopping at the shorter
layers. "Just be careful, cut small amounts slowly in sections, don't
cut yourself, and be mindful of the mess," Kenna advises. "Cutting your
hair makes a mess, so do it over your sink or somewhere you can clean
easily, and not over your makeup bag."
