Trim Your Hair Yourself

"Just trim the ends," I said naively. I left the hair salon quite upset that day. The lady took off 2 inches in some places and 3 in others, randomly chopping as she went. A trim, I think not! That, my friend, was disorganized butchery.

My experience, unfortunately, is a very common experience with hairstylists and is an even more common experience for women with natural curly hair. Very often, stylists also seems to forget that our hair is curly and sometimes don’t consider the shrinkage factor, cutting off much more than intended. If your hair is very damaged at the ends, you may need to go to a salon but, if you only have a few knots at the end, you can easily take care of this yourself. What can you do about this problem? D.I.Y. Yes, you can do it yourself. It is really easy. Just try a little…

DUSTING
(Tools: A sharp scissor used for hair only and a comb.)
Dusting is by far the easiest and fastest way to trim your hair and is ideal for women who want to retain length. It’s called dusting because you take just a little bit off the ends of the hair and are left with just a little (fine dust) that was taken off. Dusting is easiest when hair is in plaits or twists. You can also do this with loose hair, taking one small section at a time.

Thoroughly detangle your hair. Strings that are left hanging or those fine harsh bulbs on the ends of your hair need to go. Carefully cut them off at an angle... just a little now. You don’t want it to be a blunt cut because it will be harder for the ends of your twists or plaits to stay in and not become loose if the hair is too even.

BLOW-DRY & CUT
This may be for the braver ones of you who need a good cut. This method is not recommended for people who have very damaged/dry hair.

First, gently/lightly blow-dry or flat-iron your hair because natural hair is easier to manage in a semi-straightened state. I part my hair in four sections and then take away smaller sections and simply cut off the bad ends. Be careful not to cut one side shorter than the other… This is also a little tricky. Try snipping a small amount off at a time. Also, as mentioned above, you don’t want your hair to be too even or blunt because then your plaits will start to unloosen so you don't need to be very exact.

SEARCH & DESTROY
This method is used by many women who simply want to remove a few knots from their hair ends. Just take your hair ends in small sections and snip off the single strands that have split ends or knots.

See this video below for some inspiration for a bigger trim or cut. This is particularly good for you long-term transitioners from relaxed to natural hair who want to maintain their hair at home. Please remember that you hair does not need to be bone straight in order to have a good trim. You do not want to have any permanent damage to your curls from the heat of a curling iron or hot comb. A good blow-dry and light flat-iron is all you may need to get it straight enough for this type of cut.



Good Luck and Keep It Kinky!