No panic, the rescue troops are on their way: this is how you cut your hair at home like a pro

This morning I got out of bed and almost tripped over my bangs. The HORROR, PANIC, HELP, the hairdressers are closed. ‘Look, I cut his hair yesterday and from now on he has a bowl cut,’ a friend texts me. Cracking up. But actually, we could cry. And then suddenly I thought: wait a minute, I have the number of one of the best hairdressers in the country in my phone. Marcha! She is co-owner at Rob Peetoom in Utrecht and you know what, I'm going to text her now. For you, for me, for everyone who is at home with hair issues.

Marcha, let me just get straight to the point: HELP. Of all the people with extremely long hair: what can we do???
‘TAKE GOOD CARE! Hang in there! Even though I understand that we are going to see dead/split ends, cutting your own hair is not necessarily the solution and whether you will be happier with it, I don't know either. We now have all the time for all those masks that we normally don't take the time for and we can also limit styling/curling our hair a bit more to date nights with our lovers at home. Let your mask sit a little longer. Choose, for example, the Length Primer from the Extreme line of Redken. Or the Extentionist line from Kérastase. Both are very good lines that are hair life savers (now 30 percent off all these products at our salon, omg!) ?.’

Is it handy to get special supplies at home for a self-cutting session? What do you recommend?
‘Only cut what is necessary. If it's just small pieces, you don't even need to get everything at home. Who knows, we might be able to do a bang tutorial/live session on how to carefully trim your bangs with, for example, a household, garden, and kitchen scissors. Everyone has that at home. And a comb is handy. And a large towel. Or a baby spit-catching bib.’

Well. And then on to the real deal: cutting. What is the best technique? Shall we cut my bangs together via FaceTime soon?
‘Sectioning the hair is very important. If we are going to cut the bangs together, you must make sure that you only cut in the bangs. Explaining how to cut your hair to a client in text is very difficult. You can't just start without a plan.’

Where in the house is it handy to cut?

‘Not over a rug or carpet. Also, put on shoes (unless you want hair in your socks). Over a smooth surface where you can vacuum the hair away again.’

And, also not entirely unimportant: my love is now also asking if I want to cut his hair... Help, is there a special technique for that? Because that seems to me a real craft.
‘Often men can manage for a while if the contours of the haircut are neat. The hair around the ears and neck hairs make the look messy. Maybe this is just the moment to let the hair grow a bit to try out that new haircut later. With household, garden, and kitchen scissors, you can carefully cut the hair around the ear. Do this in small pieces, make small cuts, and check from a distance how it looks after each cut. You can push the ear down a bit or fold it. But keep the hairline in mind and don't cut into it. Also in the neck: carefully remove only the excess neck hairs with a razor or clippers.’

Do you have any S.O.S. emergency tips for all the people for whom it is too late and who have already, um, messed up their hair?
‘Don't mess it up any further than this! I'm sure we can fix it. Check online for tutorials on how to style your hair if it doesn't look good. This way you can hide a lot. Or curl it with a curling iron (check our curl tutorial on IGTV). This way, ‘chunks’ are less noticeable than in straight hair. And one last tip: make an appointment in advance; if it still can't go through, at least you'll be in the first batch.’