Cutting Your Own Hair – Butch Cut with Philips Hair Clippers (Haircut)

This blog post is about cutting your own hair with Philips hair clippers. More specifically it is about having a ‘butch cut’.

Warning: Cutting your own hair can be dangerous and only an adult should attempt to cut their own hair.

This post covers:

• Introduction
• Hair clippers to use for a butch cut.
• Insight and tips for actually cutting the hair.

Introduction

Whilst my hairline is slowly residing, I wasn’t looking to shorten it due to baldness, but my hair was out of control, curling, wavy and thick, and that means it is harder to tame when longer.

I wanted to at least try cutting my own hair and gain the experience. Upon discussing with others, it turns out plenty of males shorten their own hair.

I already had cheap trimmers which I had purchased for beard removal, but as you will read below, I needed to buy another product for the hair on the top of my head! This blog post, whilst admittedly not written from an expert point of view, does give plenty of insight and tips based upon my limited experience of hairdressing. At the very least, I hope it helps some avoid some pitfalls.

The hair clippers

Whilst I think the cheap Walh Performer 5537-217 trimmer is perfect for removing a short beard, it is definitely not ideal for using on the top of a head. I used them once to try and do a butch cut and it wasn’t a good experience. I definitely will stick to using them for beard removal or trimming which they are an excellent product to use.

Then one day I was in Boots (UK store) and saw a deal on the Philips HC3420 hair clippers and couldn’t resist!

So let’s get the negativity out of the way, and point out they feel cheap, the box they come in is poorly presented with a cardboard interior and the instructions are awful.

So now time for the positivity, and let us begin with the power options. The cordless hair clippers were already charged, and they are simple to use and light to hold.

The haircut type

I wanted to cut my hair to the same shaven length all over, which I believe is called a ‘butch cut’, which is a form of ‘buzz cut’. Anyway a simple hairstyle, and as I currently live on a windy coastline, it means my hair is all over the place (well other than when cutting!).

The actual experience

There is a reason why barbers cover you in a sheet and have floors they can easily wipe! Whilst I did do my haircut in the bathroom on a floor which I can wipe, I regret not asking my girlfriend to do the haircut.

I used the Walh trimmers for my first butch cut, but wanted to use a more expensive product, with a wider cutting area and more features, so hence why I purchased the Philips product.

However even after running over the hair multiple times with my new Philips hair clippers, I later discovered hair strands that hadn’t been properly cut and required attention. That being said it was my first time using the Philips product, and I’m sure maintaining the hair at a certain length is easier, but I removed at least five centimetres of hair!

If I have a third ‘butch cut’ with hair clippers, the steps I will follow are:

1. I will sit down with a sheet over my shoulders.
2. I will be in an appropriate room with a floor that can be easily wiped and cleaned.
3. My amazing girlfriend will perform the haircut.
4. I will immediately wash my hair over the bath or basin and then take a shower after.

I’m not experienced or an expert, but the steps above will likely save me some hassle, as I did follow a couple of those steps originally.

Conclusion

I will admit that when you first perform a dramatic haircut yourself, it can be a nervous experience and you should set aside extra time and perhaps give yourself a while to get used to the cut, instead of immediately being out and about.

I don’t regret having the hairstyle, but it has come as a shock to some others and my beard is almost the same length as the hair on my head! However it is my life, my better half likes it and perhaps I will regrow my hair back to the original style or maybe have another short hairstyle.

On a side note, the cost of the hair clippers I purchased are roughly equivalent to three trips to my local barbers, so at some stage it will work out cheaper.