Yes I did it again. I was planning to grow it long, but things changed. I blame it on being a busy mom, but I’ve been eyeing this cut for a few years now.

I didn’t cut my hair at all for the past year and a half. I had been wearing my hair in a bun nonstop, and really wanted something a bit more fun. Whenever I do a drastic hair cut, it takes me at least a week or more to get it exactly as I want it. This time was no different.

One of the BEST decisions I made for this hair cut was using high quality Japanese stainless steel hair shears.

The shears from the drugstore don’t even come close in comparison. Whenever I see a video of someone cutting their hair with kitchen scissors I cringe. My drugstore hair shears gave me split ends, so I can’t even imagine the damage kitchen scissors can do.

I cut all of my hair the exact same length using the ponytail method for hair cutting except the very front.

If you ever decide to try this method ALWAYS cut your hair BELOW the ponytail marker and not above. If you cut the hair above the ponytail, you are guaranteed uneven hair. Know that you can always cut more so there’s no need to cut more than you think you may want the first time.

On very stretched hair, I thorough combed my hair into a low ponytail at the nape of my neck and secured it with two hair elastics.

Then I added two more elastics to slide down the ponytail to use as a marker for where I was going to cut. With quality shears I cut BELOW the elastic. Next I cleaned up my hair in smaller sections to make sure everything was even. This process takes me FOREVER. I comb through each section with both a wide tooth comb and then smaller tooth comb to ensure that everything is even.

Lastly I took the very front of my hair from temple to temple creating an even box for layering by combing this section up and cutting straight across. I then combed this section forward and evened it up there too. After a bit more perfecting I was finally done.

I used this technique years ago and it really is the easiest way to cut your hair straight.

If you have varying sizes of curls throughout your hair and mainly do wash and go styles, this may not be the best way to cut your hair. You must really know your curls. If your hair is straight, or you predominantly wear stretched curly hair styles, you might really enjoy this simple hair cutting method.

In these pictures my hair is in a braid out done on dry combed out hair. This makes it extra fluffy (aka frizzy) and really shows the shape of the cut well. I’ve been playing around with more defined braid outs as well as wash and goes which gives a different look.

I’ve been doing my hair since middle school and am very confident cutting my own hair. If you really would like to learn how to do your own hair, and have hair skills in general, start slow. You can learn, and it will save you a lot of money. Otherwise find someone you trust who knows exactly what they are doing.

All in all this new hair cut was exactly what I needed.

I will probably keep my hair at a shorter length for a while. One thing about this cut is that because it has few to no layers, I can still do ponytails and my updos with my favorite leather and wood barrettes as well as hair combs. I also LOVE blunt ends. They are much easier to care for.

Have you ever used the ponytail method for cutting your hair?

(Images by Dawn Michelle)

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