Guide to Cutting Your Own Hair Short

If you don't know what this is, I'll explain later.

Inspired by genkidesu’s post on cutting hair on your own, I commented about two things on their post but felt like I could go into more detail. I couldn’t post pictures in a comment, after all.

I started cutting my own hair two years after moving to Japan for a couple of reasons:

1. I am a massive cheapskate and don’t want to spend 5000 yen just to look more or less the same as when I walked into the shop
2. My experiences at barber shops were always a little uncomfortable for me. I never really liked the shoulder massage or getting my face covered by a towel like a fresh corpse when they rinse my hair.

Anywho, there are five things that I feel are necessary for cutting your own hair. The first is probably something that should come at no surprise to anyone: the comb. The comb helps you gauge how long you want to cut certain areas of your hair and where the lengths aren’t even.

The comb: useful not just for after waking up.

To go with the comb, you’ll want a pair of scissors. I got mine at a hundred yen store and it’s not that great, but it gets the job done. If you can find shears, you’ll probably have an easier time cutting and with less damage to your hair. With the comb, you can cut your hair to exactly how you like, or touch up areas that the next item can’t get to.

Scissors. Always beats paper, and hair in this case.

The third thing is probably the most expensive, but it makes life much easier: the electric hair clipper. I got my set from Amazon for about 5000 yen, if memory serves me correctly. This one does most of the work when I cut my hair. I use only three of the attachments: the 40mm length, the 30mm, and the 18mm. What I usually do is go over the whole head with the 40mm, then the sides with the 30mm, then around the ears and the nape of my neck with the 18mm. I then smooth out the three areas using the comb and scissors, or for the hair on the top of my head, the next item.

Hair trimmer set. This set has been serving me since 2020.

This razor/comb combination is the newest in my inventory for haircutting, so I put it up front for this post. I tried it out for the first time when I grew my hair long, and it’s great for cutting longer strands of hair evenly while keeping the cuts looking natural. Admittedly, it’s not an item I use often recently as I like my hair short, but I still use it to even out the top of my head. It also comes apart, so the razor itself is replaceable.

The opened version of the photo at the beginning. A razor with an attached comb.

All of these styling tools are great, but without a second mirror, cutting your own hair well is next to impossible unless you’re psychic or something. Fortunately, you don’t need anything expensive. Take a look at the 300 yen one I have (sorry that it’s old and dirty!)

A mirror with suction cup installation. Necessary for getting to the back of the head.

No matter what kind of mirror you have, it’s best to place it across from another mirror. I have a larger bathroom mirror and I use that as my main looking glass. I then turn to this smaller mirror to see the back of my head from the main mirror. It’s incredibly helpful, though it takes some practice to get the coordination to reach and control whatever implements to cut that area.

Peek-a-boo! But you can see how useful it is at seeing my nape. And proving that I need a haircut soon...

There’s one thing in my haircut toolbox that I NEVER use: the thinning scissors. To be honest, it’s simply because I have no idea how to use it. Maybe it’s because I keep my hair relatively short?

Thinning scissors. Looks fancy, but I have no idea how I would use it.

In any case, this post went on a lot longer than I thought it would. If you feel like something doesn’t make sense or I didn’t give enough detail, let me know in the comments. More importantly, if you know how those thinning scissors are supposed to be used, PLEASE let me know below!