Black and white photo of a curly-haired man in a striped cape while a hand runs clippers along his temple outdoors

Pick where you start

Three ways in, and they combine

Clipper CutsShort hair cut with an electric clipper and snap-on guards. Buzz cuts, short back and sides and, with practice, fades. The guard sets the length, so this is the most forgiving place to begin.

Start here

Snap on the longest guard in the box and run it over the whole head, against the direction the hair grows. If it still looks long, drop one guard number and go again.

360Jeezy clipper tutorials

Scissor CutsTrims, bangs and simple layers on hair long enough to hold between your fingers. Slower than clippers and more dependent on clean sectioning.

Start here

Wash and comb the hair straight, clip the top layers up out of the way, and cut half an inch off the bottom layer in a straight line. Let each layer down and match it to the one below.

Free Salon Education lessons

Self CutsCutting your own head, which means working on the back by reflection. Use it with either of the other two: it adds the mirror that lets you see what you are doing.

Start here

Hang the three-way mirror on a door at eye level and spend five minutes moving a comb around the back of your head before you pick up a blade. Everything is reversed, and your hands need to learn that first.

Regal Gentleman self-cut videos

Open a card to see what to do first. Each one ends in a button that adds its tools to the kit: a clipper, trimmer and blade spray for Clipper Cuts, shears, clips and a spray bottle for Scissor Cuts, and a three-way mirror for Self Cuts. Switch on as many as you need.

Your first cut, step by step

What you can cut in your first month

Neckline cleanup

Tidy the neck and around the ears between barber visits. It is small, low risk and buys two more weeks from any cut.

One-guard buzz cut

A single guard over the whole head. Hard to get wrong and the best way to learn how clippers feel.

Two-guard short cut

A shorter guard on the sides and back, a longer one on top, and a middle guard to soften the line where they meet.

One-inch blunt trim

A straight trim across the ends of long hair, cut in layers from the bottom up.

Bang trim

Cut dry, a little at a time, with the tips of the shears pointed up into the hair instead of straight across.

Choosing clippers and shears, and keeping them sharp

Clippers

Look for a full set of guards (at least #1 through #8), a taper lever on the side for small length changes, and either a cord or a battery that runs 90 minutes or more. A clipper that dies mid-cut leaves you with half a haircut.

Guard numbers are eighths of an inch on most sets

#1 leaves 1/8 inch, #2 leaves 1/4 inch, #4 leaves 1/2 inch and #8 leaves 1 inch. Check the chart in your box, since some brands differ.

Shears

A 5.5 to 6.5 inch pair in stainless steel with an adjustable tension screw. They should close smoothly with no grinding and cut a wet tissue cleanly at the tips.

Kitchen and craft scissors fold the hair before they cut it, which leaves frayed ends.

Hair shears stay sharp only if they never touch paper, tape or packaging.

Before every clipper cut, press each guard until it clicks at both ends.

A guard that pops off mid-pass leaves a bald stripe.

After every cut, brush the hair out of the clipper teeth and run two or three drops of oil across the moving blade.

Wipe shears dry and store them closed.

Flat lay on orange: thinning shears, cutting shears, a cordless clipper, eight guard combs, a razor, a brush and a black comb — Shears, a clipper and its full set of guards

Four skills to practice first

Sectioning

Splitting the hair into clean, clipped-away panels so you only ever cut the piece in front of you.

Following a guide

Every new piece is cut to match a strand from the piece you just finished, which is how a cut stays even all the way around.

Clipper control

Flat against the head on the way up, then rocking the blade away in a scooping motion so the short hair fades into the longer hair instead of ending in a shelf.

Checking balance

Comparing left and right in the mirror by pulling matching strands down beside the face or ears, instead of trusting how it feels.

Close-up of a comb and shears cutting a section of wet dark hair held between two fingers above the ear — A section held between the fingers and cut to length

What trips beginners up

What to expect

Expect your first few cuts to take an hour each and to look slightly uneven up close. Speed comes from repetition, not from rushing.
Expect a visible line where two guard lengths meet. Blending it out is the real skill of clipper cutting and takes several haircuts to learn.
Expect the back of your own head to be the hardest part. Mirrors reverse your movements, and it takes a few sessions to stop steering the wrong way.

What to watch for

Wet hair hangs longer than dry hair, and curls spring up further still. Cut less than you think you need, then check again once it dries.
Do not chase evenness. Trimming one side to match the other, back and forth, is how an inch turns into four. Make one correction, then stop.
Do not set a neckline high. Follow the natural hairline and only remove what grows below it, because a high line grows out as stubble within a week.
Do not pull the hair tight while cutting bangs or around the ears. It springs back shorter than where you cut it.

Safety and hygiene

Fold the top of the ear down with your free hand whenever a blade is near it. Ears are the most common nick.
Keep your fingers behind the comb or below the blades when cutting against them, and pass shears handle first.
Clipper blades heat up with use. Touch the blade to your inner wrist every few minutes and pause if it is hot, above all on children.
Disinfect blades and combs between people. Do not cut over broken skin, a rash or an active scalp infection, and do not share tools during a lice outbreak.
Keep corded tools away from a full sink or tub, and never use any clipper on dripping wet hair unless it is rated for it.
With young children, cut while they are distracted and seated low, and stop if they will not hold still. A half-finished cut is better than a sudden head turn into open shears.

Where to learn

Haircutting is easier to learn by watching than by reading, and working barbers and stylists teach it free online. Watch one full video of the exact cut you plan to do before you start, then keep it open on a phone propped beside the mirror. Videos filmed on a mannequin head show sectioning most clearly. Self-cut videos are the ones that explain how to work on the back of your own head. When you next sit in a barber or salon chair, ask which guard numbers and lengths they use on you: it is the fastest way to get a recipe for your own hair.

Free haircutting lessons to watch

A hand holding open shears across long, straight dark hair, seen from behind — Shears held level across long hair

How the kit is put together

The base kit is what every cut uses, whoever is in the chair: a cape to keep hair off clothes, cutting combs, a brush to clear clippings and a hand mirror for checking the back. Then you add the tools for the kind of cutting you chose. Clipper Cuts brings the clipper, a detail trimmer for edges and a spray that cleans and cools the blades. Scissor Cuts brings shears, sectioning clips and a spray bottle to keep hair evenly damp. Self Cuts adds a three-way mirror. Spend the most on the cutting tool itself, since a clipper that pulls or shears that fold the hair make every other step harder. Thinning shears and a practice head are optional extras for later.

A pair of cutting shears and a pair of toothed thinning shears on a pink background — Cutting shears and thinning shears

Thinning shears closing over a comb held against the side of a man's short dark hair

Set up the cutting station

Every line, with its options side by side

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The cape, combs, neck brush and hand mirror start in the kit. The clipper, trimmer and blade spray join when you switch on Clipper Cuts, the shears, clips and spray bottle join with Scissor Cuts, and the three-way mirror joins with Self Cuts. Thinning shears and the practice head stay out until you add them.

Hair cutting cape

Essential · Core equipment

Cut hair works into clothing and itches for hours. A cape with a snug neck keeps it off the person and sends it to the floor.

budget

Omvoina Professional Hair Cutting Cape with Adjustable Snap Closure, Salon Barber Cape,Waterproof Hairdressing Salon Cape - 57" x 51"(Black)

4.6(3.1K)

$4.99

Home Haircutting

Pick where you start

Your first cut, step by step

Choosing clippers and shears, and keeping them sharp

Four skills to practice first

What trips beginners up

Safety and hygiene

Where to learn

How the kit is put together

Set up the cutting station

Hair cutting cape

Barber cutting combs

Neck duster brush

Handheld mirror

Hair clippers with guard set

Detail trimmer

Clipper blade disinfectant and coolant spray

Hair cutting shears

Hair sectioning clips

Fine mist spray bottle

Three-way mirror

Thinning shears

Practice mannequin head