Look, I know it's tempting — yes, I've looked up trimming shears on Amazon, too. But celebrity hairstylist Michelle Cleveland is here to talk you off the ledge. She's got us all covered with some seriously good advice on why you shouldn't cut your own hair (no, not even a tiny trim), and what you should be doing instead.
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What are your top tips for trimming bangs at home?
"My number one tip for trimming bangs at home is... DON'T!" cautions Cleveland. "But if you insist on not listening, then I will say this: CUT YOUR BANGS DRY, not wet. Hair shrinks when it dries, so if you cut them too short when they are wet... well, you better put your seatbelt on as they dry!"
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What's your advice for maintaining layers at home?
"REFER TO MY PREVIOUS WARNING FIRST," half-jokes Cleveland. However, knowing that not everyone will heed her warning she explains, "Cutting your own layers is extremely tricky. For a professional stylist, it's about tension, overdirection and elevation of the hair." (Read: fancy hairstyling concepts that laypeople like you and me know nothing about.) "All these things are difficult if not impossible to do on ourselves, most especially on the back of our own heads," she says.
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Is there anything we can do if we make a mistake whilst trimming?
"Honestly, once it's gone... it's gone," says Cleveland. "There's no magical fix to this problem, so if you find yourself in this predicament, your best line of defense is to hide it until it grows back." "For bangs, I would suggest pinning them back with clips, barrettes and headbands. For any other really bad botch jobs, look into hats, scarves and buns/ponytails," suggests Cleveland. "No one will ever know what's hiding underneath!"
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But what do we do with our split ends?
"As a professional, I would always recommend treatments over at-home haircuts," says Cleveland. "However, one of the biggest misconceptions is that there's some magical elixir out there that will repair split ends. The truth of the matter is, once the ends of your hair split, there is no way to bring them back together permanently (imagine peeling a banana)."
Turns out, treatments are more for preventing/disguising split ends rather than fixing them: "Masks and treatments will merely hold split ends together temporarily. Ultimately, the only way to remove them is to cut them off!" (Which, reminder, you probably shouldn't do, unless you're willing to rock a hat until your next salon visit.)
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