It was haircut day at our house a couple weeks ago and since the boys have gotten lots of compliments on their do’s since we started giving them an actual hairstyle (as a posed to their usual buzz cuts), I thought I’d put a tutorial together. Husband reminds me often how much money we save between his handyman and barber skills and it’s true! So if you get an itch to save some dollars and a trip to the barber keep-on-scrollin’.
Here’s how we do this cute and totally doable — business on the sides, party on the top — haircut officially called an undercut.
1.) Get the top part of the hair damp.
2.) Comb up the hair that is in the “horse-shoe” shape on the top of their head. I’m always a little conservative with this part and comb up too much hair, but it’s easy to adjust or trim later.
3.) Put a #2 guard on your clippers and shave the sides and back, blending the hair that is closer to the long hair on top.
4.) Next, put a #1 guard on and clean up the hair around the neck, sideburns and ears.
(a towel over their shoulders and hair duster thingy :) helps! I forgot about the towel this time, poor Espen!)
5.) Using your fingers and hair scissors, do some rough trimming to add texture and shape and your done! Espen’s hair had gotten a bit too long so we trimmed off some length and then added long layers.
A little hair product helps when styling… I just grab whatever is handy if we have time before leaving the house but would love to find something that is light and meant for boy hair. If you have any suggestions, please share in the comments!
Then repeat on the next little dude.
Griffin loves having uneven bangs and getting his hairs cut.
Not.
It looks like he’s smiling a little but he is actually squealing and flinching and driving his daddy bonkers. We almost always need to fix parts of his hair a day or two later when he has calmed down.
Lollipops work as a bribe and a tubbie afterwards helps to clean off all the hairs!
We are by no means hairstylists and don’t exactly know what we are doing but it works for us and I think they look pretty cool :)
What about you… Do you DIY haircuts? What’s your favorite boy hairstyle?
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments too!
XOXO, Rae
It’s so funny that you posted this because I was curious if I was doing like other people are doing it. We are DIY barbers in our house too! We have done this cut the last two times while growing out the top. The growing out is difficult when the hair in the crown of the head sticks straight up! It’s been interesting. :) Thanks for posting!
So great Debra! You’ll have to let me know if you do anything different! XO
I’ve been doing DIY haircuts on all of the boys in our house (including my husband) for years! It’s saved us so much money and time. The few times the boys beg to go to sports clips or something, we end up having a 40 minute wait for a 10 minute cut. It takes just a few minutes at home and we save so much money!
Our 14 (almost) 15 year old is always asking to go to sports clips… wonder why they don’t take appointments!? :)
I gave the boys haircuts tonight! We have visited salons and given hair cuts at home. I suppose it depends on the stage of “squirminess” … both of the boys can sit pretty still now! :)
I love this post :-)
I have only recently been brave enough to start trimming my little girl’s hair at home, but it went well, so maybe I’ll be brave enough to attempt my boy’s after reading this! Thanks, Rae.
Get a good cape, actually a couple. One smaller for the kids and an adult size one. We use the neck strips, but toilet tissue will also work as well to keep itchy loose hairs from getting down the neck and back. Kids sit still longer and the recipient will have a more comfortable haircut, without squirming. In warmer weather, we do the haircuts outside on the patio. Leaf blower cleanup afterwards. In the colder weather, we use a drop cloth and vacuum up the clippings. I started out doing the boys haircuts with my guy’s help, but the boys prefer him to give the haircuts each month because they say he does a better job. I’m ok with that as it saves me money and I have very happy with the haircuts he gives me ever other month. Mine are scissors only on my long locks, no clippers for me. I figure between the cost of the haircuts, tip, and transportation I am saving nearly a thousand a year. With him coloring my hair with henna, that is hundreds more a year. And frankly it is a pain to schedule a trip to the salon, the waiting, irritating gossip, and a stylist that does what he/she wants versus what I ask for, let along the cost. Visits to the barber aren’t any better. So I totally agree that doing everyone’s (girls and moms as well) is worth it.
so helpful cheryl!!!! not sure i would trust the husband with my hair, lol. plus i love my hairstylist and the hour i get to spend with her twice a year. saving money is always a good idea tho too! good job mama! XO
I can understand the apprehension, the first time I had him cut my hair was when we first started dating, I hadn’t had mine cut in nearly a year and I went on a rant about how I hated going to the Alton, but that I needed a haircut. My budget was tight so when he offered to cut it for me, it seemed like a great idea. As he was getting his shears (good hair shears, not kitchen shears) and other stuff set up, I told him I have always wanted to let my hair grow really long, down to my hips. Mine was about to my collar bone at the time. He told me he could help me grow it out. I had a fair amount of damage from the salon haircut where the stylist used a razor on my hair after I asked him not to twice. My guy trimmed off about an inch. He pinned it up in sections and was very meticulous. When he was done, there was a very minimal amount of hair on the floor. He told me he could dust the ends and get the splits for me so it could grow out. A great deal for me, no more paying for bad haircuts and my hair would grow out. My hair is now just past my elbows, the thought of anyone but him near my hair with shears is out of the question. I have been salon free for over four years now and I don’t miss it. My guy wasn’t wild about becoming my colorist as well, but after he saw how gorgeous the color was after he did the henna for me, he agreed that it wasn’t so bad coloring my hair. I also get a glass of wine set out for me, a back, neck and scalp massage before he capes me and trims my hair. So I think I get very special pampering by my stylist
Sounds fantastic Cheryl… Like a date night!
I do enjoy the pampering. And I do like the way he does my hair. I have gotten him to braid my hair for me as well. It started off just before we went on the motorcycle and then I would hand him the comb and a hair tie and ask him to braid me. And I showed him a few different ones and watched you tube videos with him so he could do the French, Dutch, fishtail and a couple other braids. He does a great job and I have gotten him to braid my hair at friends homes and even at the baseball stadium. It’s my way of getting the extra pampering between trims. I never thought of it like a date night, but it is a special bonding time between us.