Can you believe that it’s been over a year since the first case of COVID-19 was discovered? For many of us we’ve been trying to stay safe and do what we can to prevent the spread of this disease. This includes, staying at home as much as possible, wearing masks when leaving the house, and social distancing when possible. And even though some states have relaxed their restrictions when it comes to certain businesses being able to re-open, some people are still not comfortable venturing out into public places.

This means that some of us may have not gotten a hair cut in quite a long time!

A haircut can make a person feel good about themselves. It helps increase self-esteem, it helps with hygiene, and is just one of those things that can give you a sense of normalcy during a time that is anything but normal.

For women, going long periods of time without a haircut is sometimes normal. Women with long hair tend to visit the salon less frequently for haircuts than women or men with short hair. But for those with short hair, maintaining a certain length and style is harder to do without frequent haircuts.

Depending on your hair type and hair style, you may be able to cut your own hair at home, especially if you’re a male.

Here are a few tips on how to cut men’s hair at home.

Cutting Men’s Hair at Home

Use Electric Clippers

One of the easiest ways to cut male hair is by using a set of electric clippers. Electric clippers are reasonably priced and can be found at Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon. These clippers allow you to set the length in which you want the hair to be and can be as simple as going around your entire head with the same number.

If you wish to maintain a certain hair style, like a fade, or layering, you can utilize the different length guards to create a more stylized look instead of just a single length. There are also angled guards included to help get those hard-to-reach places behind your ears.

If you tend to keep your hair pretty short and all the same length, this is the easiest way to maintain your hair if you can’t make it out to the barber.

If you’re looking to create more of a styled look using the clippers, be sure to follow a few simple rules.

Use Different Lengths For Different Sections

If you’re not sure what number guard is right for your hair, start with a high number and work your way down. You can always go shorter, but you can’t make your hair longer if you go too short.

If possible, section your hair into different areas based on how long you want the hair to be. Sides generally are going to be shorter and the top longer. You’ll want to use a smaller number guard on the sides of your hair while cutting from bottom to top. If you’re looking for a layered look, or a fade, start with a higher number guard and slowly work your way down to a smaller number towards the bottom – towards your ears and neck.

Trim The Very Top

Once you’ve got the sides and back to the length you like, it’s time to tackle the top of your head. If you’re going really short, then this won’t be an issue for you since you can just use the clippers across everything, but if you’re looking to keep it a little longer, or style it a bit more, you’re going to need to be careful here.

A good pair of sharp hair cutting scissors work best so if available, use those. A regular pair of kitchen scissors can work but may be too big or dull to do the job.  If the clippers are all you have, they will work too, you just have to be careful not to take too much off the top.

You’ll want to get the hair a little wet and then hold the hair up between your first and second finger of your non-dominant hand and cut(or clip) from the sides towards the top to blend everything together (unless you’re going for that bowl cut look or cutting bangs). When you’re doing the front of the hair, comb it upwards towards the ceiling and trim a little off the top.

When cutting your hair at home, the best piece of advice we can give is to leave it a little bit longer than you might normally. This way, if you really mess something up, you can have a professional even things out and fix it to the best of their ability.

If you go too short at home, then there won’t be much room for adjustments, and you may be forced to go really short in order to fix any issues you may have caused.

Even Out the Sideburns and Back

The last thing you want to do is even out the sideburns and the back at your neck. This portion of the cut may require a friend to help, since it’s pretty hard to see the back of your head and try to accurately cut a straight light with the clippers.

Make sure you’re looking straight ahead and then have a friend remove the guard from the clippers and put the clippers against your skin and pull straight down. This will create a line straight across and remove all the little hair underneath.

If you’re doing sideburns, be sure to try and line them up at the same point of the ears on both sides, so that you’re not uneven. Fun Fact: most people’s ears are a little uneven so it’s best to match up the sideburns with each other than to the ears.

Cutting your hair at home, especially for men, can be a great way to save a little bit of money. If you like to keep things short like a buzz cut, there’s no reason to pay $20+ for a barber to do the same thing you can do it at home.

Being stuck inside during the pandemic has caused a lot of people to change up their normal routines. One of the first things that you’ll notice is when your hair becomes too long it may seem out of control. To help add a bit of normalcy into your life, keep your hair fresh and clean and try a home trim.

Everyone on those video calls can still tell that you haven’t gotten a hair cut in months, so why not impress them the next time you jump on that zoom call.