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Beauty

How to Cut Men’s Hair at Home Like a Pro

Men’s hairstyles can look overgrown quickly, and many men take a trip to the barber shop biweekly. But you can look sharp even when you can’t get to the barber. Whether you need a quick buzz on the neck or a trim on the top, use these techniques at home to maintain your clean cut. 

Gather Tools

You don’t need to drain your bank account for professional equipment, but it will pay to have a few tools on hand. 

Hair clippers

You can use multi-purpose clippers with a variety of attachment sizes to buzz the sides, remove length, or trim your beard.

Tapered barber comb

A comb with both small and large teeth is ideal to groom coarse and fine hair.

Towel

Place a towel over your shoulders to catch loose hair. Cut your hair over a floor that’s easy to sweep to make cleaning up easy. 

Mirrors

Use a small handheld mirror in front of a larger mirror to see the back of your head. A tri-view medicine cabinet can also work.

Tips From the Professionals

Follow these guidelines to get a professional-looking cut at home.

Focus on unkempt areas first

Maintain the perimeter of your hair (around the ears and back of the neck) to extend the life of a haircut for a few weeks. 

Use professional shears

Regular scissors are too dull to cut hair cleanly. Invest in a good pair of professional sharp shears.

Start with a high guard

When using hair clippers, start with a high guard and work your way down to ensure you don’t take off too much length. An eight guard will remove about an inch of length. 

Be careful with wet hair

While hair is easier to cut when wet, it’s difficult to predict how it will lay once dry. Use clippers on dry hair and spritz water before trimming longer hair with shears, but cut less than normal to err on the safe side. 

Ask for help

Cleaning up the back of your neck is no easy task. If you can, ask a family member or friend for assistance.

How to Cut Men’s Hair at Home Like a Pro

Conclusion

Cutting men’s hair can be tedious. If possible, ask someone help, especially for the back section. Whether you have help or not, always err on the safe side and cut less off than you normally would to save room for error.

By Danielle Emig

Danielle Emig is a freelance writer and lipstick lover living in New York City. Originally from Portland, she moved to the big city with only a suitcase full of shoes and a mind bursting with dreams. It was her desire for adventure that led her to NYC, and even working unpaid internships and odd jobs to make ends meet — like cocktail waitressing at a pirate-themed bar — wouldn’t deter her from making it as a writer and editor. Two years later, she landed at InStyle Magazine and hasn’t looked back since. When she’s not sipping out of a lipstick-stained wineglass, Danielle loves to cook, make jewelry, and hang out on her fire escape.