Haircut tips

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Bend mom Cricket Kadoch doesn’t like to pay to have her two sons’ hair cut.

“Over $30 — including tip — for two kids to get their hair cut? That’s just too much money,” she said.

Kadoch cuts both her sons’ hair — Aiden, 6, and Joshua, 4 — herself. She says it’s nice that the current trend for boys is for longer hair, which means she only has to cut it every few months.

“I pretty much have been cutting their hair from when Aiden starting growing it,” she said.

She’s not alone.

Bend mom Pam Williams has paid to have someone else cut her daughter Emerson’s hair only twice.

“The first one I did at a place in town just to get the memory, with the photo and the lock of hair,” she said.

“I just can’t see spending so much money on her hair,” Williams said while adjusting a bow in the 3-year-old’s chin-length bob. “My mom used to always cut my hair as a girl.”

Williams, 30, said she spends about a half hour on each haircut. She likes to do a bit of layering, so rather than cutting straight across the bottom, she cuts small sections with scissors held more vertically. She uses clips to hold sections of the hair out of the way while she works and uses her fingers to compare strands on each side, to be sure the length is even.

Williams is also pregnant with another baby girl, and anticipates she’ll continue cutting her kids’ hair in the future, as long as her next daughter is also good about sitting for the cuts.

“In the beginning, when she was young, I used to give her a little sucker and turn cartoons on,” she said. “Now we just sit down, and if I tell her to move her head, she moves it.”

Kadoch, 40, had a novel idea for getting her energetic boys to sit still for haircuts.

Using old diaper boxes and a pizza box, she fashioned a race car frame that would fit over a chair.

“I had them paint it with me,” she said, “so it was a project we did together.”

She’s used the race car chair for a couple of years now and said, “Now they know whenever I get the chair and I put the cardboard over it, they know it’s haircut time.”

She said between the race car chair and putting on cartoons, she’s had few problems getting the boys to sit still for haircuts. Sometimes, one will even come and pretend to change the car’s oil while the other is getting a haircut.

Kadoch mostly uses scissors to cut her boys’ hair, though she does use trimmers for sideburns.

“You know, it comes out great. But usually one kid is better than the other,” she said with a laugh.

She’s a big proponent of do-it-yourself haircuts.

“I want to tell all the moms I know: No. 1, hair grows back.”

Both moms admitted they’re not sure how long their kids will want to let their moms cut their hair.

“Quite honestly, if I could get away with it, I’d do it for the whole time they’re in the house,” Kadoch said. “Maybe this will be some sort of bonding thing, maybe when they come back from college, maybe they’ll want me to cut their hair,” she said, before adding, “My husband’s totally laughing at me.”

Supplies

In Gloria Handel’s 2002 book “Cutting Your Family’s Hair,” the author outlines the basic equipment needed for at-home haircutting.

• Scissors:

You’ll want a sharp pair of scissors, 5 or 6 inches long. The blades should be narrow, “so they can get into tight places such as around the ears,” Handel writes.

Haircutting scissors can be found in stores like Bi-Mart for about $10-$40, though you can pay hundreds for professional-grade shears at beauty supply stores.

Look for a comfortable weight for your hand, and make sure they’re easy to open and close.

Handel also reminds at-home barbers to take good care of their scissors. “Dropping scissors could break the point and misalign the blades.”

• Combs and clips

According to the book “How to Cut Your Own Hair (or Anyone Else’s!),” by Marsha Heckman, Cathy Obiedo and Claudia Allin, the combs you’ll want may depend on the type of hair you’ll be cutting. For long, thick or curly hair, a wide-toothed comb will be useful. Short or fine hair will call for a fine-toothed comb. A rat-tail comb — the kind with a long, skinny handle without teeth on it — is good to have on hand for sectioning.

Combs, found at drugstores, beauty supply stores and even grocery stores, may cost less than $5. We found a rat-tail comb made from “the finest celluloid” for $20 on Bergdorfgoodman.com .

Clips — either jaw/butterfly-style plastic clips or the long, thin, often-metal hair clips sometimes referred to as “pelican clips” — can generally be found for less than $10.

• Cape or towel

Vinyl capes to keep hair clippings off clothing can be purchased for less than $10 in beauty supply stores or online. A more durable polyester or nylon version might cost around $25. The most affordable option, though, might be an old towel or sheet.

Heckman, Obiedo and Allin warn that some little kids might not like sitting under a cape. If this is the case for you, you may just have to shake and wash the kids’ clothes after the haircut.

• Spray bottle

These, too, can be found just about anywhere for only a few dollars. According to Handel, the hair should be kept wet, but not dripping, during the haircut.

• Clippers

Clippers or trimmers may come in handy for shorter cuts, and they’re essential if you prefer a simple buzz cut. Clippers may be found for as little as $25 in the same places you’ll find your other home-haircutting supplies, or more than $100 for professional-quality clippers.

Many hair clippers will come with attachments used to cut hair to different lengths, but be careful when shopping. Some clippers won’t come with attachments, and you may have to buy yours separately.

Techniques

It’s a good idea to do some research before taking scissors to hair. The books we found on the subject at the Deschutes and Jefferson County libraries both contained illustrated, step-by-step instruction for cutting dozens of different hairstyles.

Heckman, Obiedo and Allin write about simple methods for cutting bangs. In one, the bangs are sectioned from the rest of the hair, combed to the front of the face, twisted and held in front of the nose.

“Gauge the length you want to cut, and grasp your hair between your index and middle fingers, just above this line. Hold this section in front of your nose and center it, and cut just below your fingers,” they write. This technique works well for a longer, wispy bang.

Another quick haircutting method for long hair involves bending over so the head is upside down. Brush the hair into a ponytail on the crown of the head, secure it with a rubber band, then stand back up and hold the ponytail up toward the ceiling. Cut straight across to remove the end of the ponytail at the desired length.

“Remove the rubber band, shake your head, and you’ve got an instant, layered cut,” the book says.

For curly hair, “How to Cut Your Own Hair” suggests paying careful attention to the tension placed on curls. The cut will be uneven if the curls are pulled more taught on one section than another. The authors warn that it’s easy to accidentally cut curly hair too short.

“Remember, curly hair will spring back and look shorter, so cut off less hair,” they say.

Fewer shortcuts exist for short, boy’s cuts. If you want to do a layered boy’s cut, it might just take some practice to get your scissor technique down and to get your edges trimmed well with clippers.

But in the event of a mistake, there’s always the buzz cut. Heckman, Obiedo and Allin suggest starting with dry hair for a buzz cut.

After selecting the proper guard for the length you want (smaller numbers are shorter), start at the forehead and buzz back to the nape of the neck, then buzz from the neck to forehead. Widen both sides in this manner until you get to the ears. At the ears, you may want to use an attachment specifically for ears, which is shorter at the bottom and can help the cut look more clean. Fold the ears down to keep them out of the way.