Trim Your Budget By Cutting Kids' Hair
Parents can save themselves time and money by cutting their children's hair right in their own home. Cozy Friedman, founder of Cozy's Cuts For Kids offers the "Saturday Bargainista" tips on how to cut your children's hair at home, and it doesn't involve putting a bowl on their head!
Friedman describes how to get through the basic steps so cutting your children's hair at home doesn't need to be an awful, traumatizing experience for the child … or the parent. Rather, Friedman says you can get your children's hair to look like they went to a salon with a few easy steps, very few tools and some patience and time.
Be prepared
Is it better to cut hair when it's wet or dry?
Cut hair when wet for a more precise cut, but remember that the hair will shrink when it dries so leave hair longer than you will want it to be when dries. A quarter to a half inch longer should be good, depending on how curly the hair is.
You suggest parting the hair down the center, why is that an important first step?
Part the hair down the center so it's even on both sides. For longer hair styles (boys & girls), always cut with the center part even when the child wears a side part. This will ensure that both sides of the hair are even.
You say it's important for longer lengths to keep the chin down, why?
This will prevent the bottom layer from being longer than the top layer. This is especially important for girl's who have longer hair..
You say that you have to section off the hair first, what does that do?.
Start cutting in the front of the head first because that's the most noticeable section and then proceed to the sides and work your way towards the back.
Take small sections of hair between two fingers and slide your hand towards the ends. You will repeat this all the way around.
How do you make sure you are cutting even all the way around?
Use your finger as a guide as far as length to keep the haircut even all the way around.
How about if you have coarse hair?
You can use a Clipper to shape and cut hair that is shorter and coarse.
What's the most common mistake parent's make?
The most common mistake parent's make is cutting the bangs too far back. I suggest cutting from eyebrow to eyebrow, no farther back than that.
Cut bangs from eyebrow to eyebrow
For a boys cut, how do you tidy up around the neckline?
When "cleaning up" around the neckline, many people go to short. Follow the natural hair line. If there is a peak, just clean up to the tip of peak. Follow the natural hair line around the neckline.
For cowlicks, don't cut it short -- it will make the hair stick up! Instead, leave it ½ inch longer than the rest of the hair so that the cowlick will "lie down" rather than stick up.
Try low maintenance hair styles for less upkeep. For boys, long shaggy styles are in style now, which works well for this. Shorter styles need more frequent maintenance, and for girls, one length hair needs less maintenance. Bangs need frequent trims. One length styles can be accessorized more easily and can hide split ends in need of a trim.