Hairstylists give tips on quarantine do-it-yourself cuts and color

HOUSTON – The longer we “stay home and stay healthy” during this coronavirus pandemic, the more gray and shaggy we’ll become. If you’re past the point of needing to see your hairstylist, but the salon is still closed, you can use these tips to give yourself and your family a cut and dye job.

Trey Gillen is a stylist at Ceron Hair Studio in Uptown Park. He advised clients against attempting a change in their hairstyle, but he said you can easily give yourself, your kids and your spouse a trim when you follow these guidelines.

Use the proper tools

  • Put down those kitchen shears. For trimming split and dead ends, Gillen says you should use nail trimmers or scissors. If you make a mistake with the long kitchen scissors, your mistake is about 6 inches long. Small nail scissors make cuts no more than 3 centimeters with each clip.
  • For short hair, a simple beard trimmer you already have at home will work fine to clean up a neckline and around the ears. If your boys or husband need a bigger trim, you can buy trimmers at a CVS or Walgreens for about $30. These trimmers will come with guards labeled 0 through 6. The lower the number, the closer the trim it will give you. A 0 guard will leave almost no hair on your head. A 6 guard will leave the hair long.

Men’s and boys’ short haircuts

  • Start with a 2 guard at the back or the nape of the neck.
  • When you get to the mid-ear, switch to the 3 guard.
  • When you get up to the crown of the head, switch to your 4 guard and just go straight up.
  • Don’t go in. Pull the trimmer out as if you’re making the shape of an upside-down triangle with the smaller point of the triangle at the nape of the neck and getting wider as you get to the top of the head.

Cutting split ends

Split your hair down the middle in the back. Pull each side forward over your shoulders. Flip the ends up and trim all your split ends.

Trimming Your Bangs

  • Never cut your bangs horizontally or straight across.
  • Grab your hair from about the edge of your eyebrows, pull them into the center and cut upwards.

Cutting textured and curly hair

Straight hair is easier to cut. The more texture and curl you have, the more difficult it will be to trim.

Ebony Stroder is a stylist and the owner of Iconic Edge Beauty. She is doing virtual workshops to show clients how to style their hair at home on Facebook and Zoom, but that’s where her DIY advice stops.

“Do not pick up the scissors,” she advised. “Do not. Just do not.”

Instead, Stroder said she can make you a custom wig that’ll get you through the pandemic and all those virtual office meetings while you’re home. You don’t need to see her in person. Her website shows you how to take the measurements she needs to a wig custom fitted for your noggin.

“Being able to go from shag to chic in less than 30 seconds,” she said. “It just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Coloring your grays

  • Gillen does not recommend people try to color their own hair.
  • If you insist, he said you should select a box dye that is a shade or two lighter than your actual hair color.
  • Apply the in what he calls the “I” zone (basically across your front hairline, down your part in the middle of your scalp and another line at the back of your head) with a bottle and then rub it in.

Whatever you do, do it in moderation.


About the Author:

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.