At least if you’re stuck at home, nobody can see your haircut
ISpecial to The Okanagan Weekend
f at first you don’t succeed, don’t worry, it will grow back. With barbers and salons closed, the shaggy masses are beginning to wonder whether they could take a little bit off the top at home.
Nikki McCrimmon, director of MC College in Kelowna, said the biggest factor in deciding whether to risk a DIY haircut is your ability to cope with disappointment.
“Your hair is going to grow back,” she said. “As long as you can live with something for two weeks, I would say give it a try. Why not?”
MC College, which offers courses for hairstyling, esthetics and fashion, has continued operating. “We’ve had more interest because we’re doing online classes. People want to stay busy,” she said.
Students have been practising on mannequins, rather than real people during the pandemic. For those wanting to try their hand at haircutting, McCrimmon said it’s important to have to right scissors.
“If you’re going to cut somebody’s hair, don’t pick up your kitchen scissors that you open up plastic bags with because those are definitely not going to be sharp enough to do the job,” she said.
For first-timers, she recommends using texturizing shears instead of straight-edged ones. Texturing shears have one straight edge and one edge that has a different variety of length of teeth. That means you won’t cut a big chunk of hair off at once, rather a small amount at a time. “That will help decrease the amount of uneven lengths,” she said.
McCrimmon said she’s been seeing a lot of online videos of people doing haircuts with clippers, and she suggests using a guard on the sides, then taking over with shears on top. You could also use the longest guard on top and then use shorter ones on the sides.
For those who are uncomfortable with an amateur haircut, keeping hair healthy will help. One of the ways to do that is by applying hair masks.
“There are so many different hair masks that you can make with things from your kitchen, which are really great natural ways to heal your hair if you don’t have access to products,” she said, suggesting avocado, olive oil and coconut oil as ingredients.
Then style your hair in ways that don’t require heat, for example using a simple braid to keep hair from your face.
“For women, the No. 1 thing they can do is lower the amount they are using heat on their hair,” she said.
“This is a great time to give hair a break from using flat irons, curling irons, blow dryers. If you have the chance to let it dry naturally without using heat that will definitely take down the amount of damage done to your hair,” she said.
If you are daring enough to try your hand at a haircut and make a gaffe, it’s not the end of the world.
“Remember that we will be here when this is all done to help fix it if necessary. Don’t be scared. If you have the tools to do your own hair I don’t see why you shouldn’t do it or give a try. And hair grows back,” she said.
Kelowna hairstylist Ashleigh Tipper said people have been contacting her every day to do house calls.
“I just say I’m not comfortable with it yet,” she said. “I don’t want to spread anything.
I’d be mortified if I was the cause.”
She suggests men who have clippers at home trim their neck and around their ears to keep a clean look.
“For women, I would stay away from cutting your hair completely,” she said. “You’re not seeing anyone. You’re your own worst critic.”
She also advised against colouring your own hair because it can either be too dark or red, and dye is very hard to get out.
“I’m expecting to fix tons of hair when I get back at it,” she said.
Once some semblance of normalcy returns, and hairstylists are able to see clients again, Tipper said those wanting a cut and style call right away.
“We do expect that there are going to be waitlists,” she said.