Wednesday, March 14, 2012

How to Cut an Angled Bob Haircut

Now you have cut your bangs all by yourself...how about giving yourself an entire haircut?

I've cut my hair for almost ten years now. That has included long hair, pixie cuts, and everything in between. Some haircuts have been huge fails, but you know what? I've paid for haircuts that have been huge fails before, too, so it happens to the best of us, I guess. While I've had stints in this time where I've paid for my haircuts, these days I mainly stick to cutting my hair myself. I can make the decision for the cut at the spur of the moment, I don't have to make an appointment, and I don't have to make sure someone else can watch the boys. It's free, and if it goes horribly wrong, I can always go the salon if needed.

So, not to say you need to give up your weekly/monthly/bimonthly appointment, but if you're interested in trying out a haircut on yourself, here's a good one to try. The Angled (or Wedged) Bob haircut. It's like a bob, only it angles up at the back.

Start with wet hair and pull it straight back into a tight pony tail. The higher your pony tail, the more layers you will have.


Pull the pony tail out away from your head to desired length. (If you want a very short wedge, and don't pull it out at all, this method will probably not work for you. It will cut too much off.)

Now cut off all the hair beyond the pony tail! Exciting!

Pull the holder out and admire your work so far. The hair at the back of my neck is usually a bit thick, so I hold the hair in my fingers (which are perpendicular to the ground) and trim. This would have been a good time for a picture, but it didn't happen.



It's almost right, but I've found that it helps to then cut off another inch or so straight off the bottom. I'm grabbing my chip clip from when I clipped my bangs to do this task. Clip and cut!

The chip clip wouldn't hold some of the hair up front, so I just pull that down with my fingers and snip it off.

Here it is air dried. Crazy hair and all it's flippy-ness.

And now I've told it who's boss. The flat-iron, THAT's who's boss!

From the side (that chunk of hair over my right shoulder is a reflection in the mirror, NOT an overlook on my part!).

You can see at the nape of my neck where the hair is still a bit thick and could use a little more trimming, but I've got to head out, so this is what it is for today. I can mess with it later, or just let it grow out a bit and no one will notice. *wink*

Obviously you can personalize this to your own taste! Leave it longer in front where I decided to cut it. Pull the ponytail higher for more layers in the back, or lower for less. Or, for an overall layered look with no angle, pull the hair up directly on top of your head! That's how my mom did it in college, which is where I got the idea in the first place to try it with an angle.

Have fun with it, and let me know if you try it!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

How to Cut Bangs

Cutting bangs has always been a bit of a hassle to me. And considering I keep my bangs pretty long, I have to cut them often to keep them out of my eyes. A while back I saw an interesting idea about cutting hair using a special tool that looked a lot like a chip clip, and I thought it would be perfect for bangs! So...here it is! How to cut your bangs with a Pampered Chef chip clip.

The before:

Tools Needed: comb, sharp scissors, and a swing-arm chip clip (Pampered Chef was the first place I saw this kind, but they're at Kroger and other places now)

 Use the comb to section off the hair you want to cut. I sort of part mine in a wedge (think of the opposite of a widow's peak). Then clip your bangs with the chip clip. Slide the clip down the hair to the desired length. Clip with scissors.

Tada!