Living with Less: Cutting Your Own Hair

So, I'm completely paranoid when it comes to my hair.

Since the age of 12, I have had exactly 5 people style/cut my hair.  Two of those were in college, when my hair reached my butt and it was taking 2 days for it to dry.   A couple other times it was a big-day hairstyle kind of thing ... and then there is my beloved Lolo -- my hairdresser since before puberty (weirrrrd.)

Why this level of paranoia you ask me?  Well, I have had too many hair disasters to talk about.  PLENTY before the age of 12 (remember, I was an 80's child) ... then, let's see ... one of the aforementioned not-Lolo hairdressers cut my hair so disastrously and so crookedly that I had to go home and try to even it out myself and then wear my hair up a lot ... then there was the woman who just kept making exasperated noises at my head, as if it was all some strange, frustrating mystery to her (and left me looking pretty much exactly how I had come in) ... the one who swore I'd be out of there in an hour and 3 hours later she just kept saying, it's just that you have so much hair ...

I think what stumps them is that I have very "ethnic" hair.  And when I say "ethnic" I mean that I have like a frigging United Nations on my head.  I have 3 distinct textures of hair (very smooth, kinda rough, and a-wee-bit-brillo-pad-like); I also have almost-straight hair, wavy hair and curly hair.  And I have A LOT of hair.  Like a sh*t-ton of hair.  And it's thick and rebellious.

Lolo understands all this, and although he has to eat his Wheaties before I come in, he's never failed to tame my mane. (Rhyme!)

But as the trip to South African started to become a real possibility (and along with a million other worries) I began to think ... what the hell am I gonna do with my hair?  I knew I couldn't bring Lolo with me in my bags (though he is super skinny and probably could have fit!)

So what to do?  What's a super-paranoid girl to do?  What's a wants-to-be-self-sufficient-and-save-money girl to do?

She goes trawling on the internet for a solution, that's what she does!

And here's what she comes up with:

ALL HAIL THE CREA CLIP!

Oh yeah!  These 2, ingeniously designed clips allow you to cut your own hair without fear of looking like you took scissors to your own head whilst high on crack.  Built-in little levels let you know when a cut is straight; the blue one is smaller and is useful for bangs and the white one is quite big and allows you to cut the rest of your hair.

You can either cut it straight across your back (you'll need someone else to help), or do like I do:

This results in instant layers.  

This was just a trim -- I only cut an inch or so off:

The Crea Clip website explains it all better than I can (plus they have tons of instructional videos, which despite the infomercial feel are actually very helpful) ... but let me just say that I really love these two little clips.  It makes cutting my hair super easy (like 15 minutes and I'm done) and I've used them for trims like this, but I also used them once to cut 11 inches of hair off.  (I donated it to The Little Princess Trust, a UK charity that makes wigs for kids with cancer -- I couldn't donate it to Locks of Love in the US because my hair was highlighted and they don't accept highlighted hair, whereas The Little Princess Trust does.)

Now, you might ask what the heck does it look like, does it look awful, home-done?

All I can go by is my own experience, and I do get nice compliments about my hair ... so it can't be too bad right?  Of course my hair is curly, so it might hide imperfections more than straight hair, but then again, here it is straight:

Can you see the layers? Sorry I'm wearing black, but it wasn't meant to be a hair shot.

All in all, I can say that these clips are awesome.  And in the past year (or more, now that I think about it) I know I've saved a good chunk of money on my hair ... and although I'll always love my Lolo (seriously, he's amazing, he's at West Side Hair Care in St. Paul -- look him up!) I like knowing that I can always cut my own hair ... where ever I may be.

PS:  I recommend curly-headed girls like me straighten their hair before using the Crea Clip, it will result in a much nicer cut.  Oh, and sorry for the lack of pictures, but while it's easy to cut your hair on your own, it's not so easy to cut your hair on your own and take pictures at the same time! :o)