Cutting Your Own Hair at Home is Easy, Fun, and More Hygienic - Stay Safe

Whilst on my way to the hair salon one day prior to the movement control order (MCO), I kept wondering how I could practise social and physical distancing there. I was quite reluctant to go to the hair salon that day because I did not want to have physical contact with anyone during the coronavirus pandemic. I was wondering what would happen if the hairdresser and / or his clients had the virus. After all, there are many people who have been infected without knowing it as they do not start coughing immediately. What about those who do not show any symptoms at all? And the towel, hairbrush, comb, and chair - all these have been used by many people. Even the hairdresser himself is in contact with many people. Surely, anyone who comes in contact with an infected person will be infected too! I changed my mind although I was almost there and decided to wait until the coronavirus pandemic is completely over. But when would that be? No one can answer this question but the most important thing is to stay safe. Some of us may have read about the Missouri hairstylist  who attended to customers while experiencing symptoms. According to The Guardian, she may have exposed 91 people to Covid-19.

For years I have been wondering where to find a good and honest hairdresser. I found one more than ten years ago but after he left the salon, I had no idea where he had gone. The one I used to go to for the past few years has been pestering me to perm my hair or do rebonding and did not seem to be very happy when I told him that I preferred my hair to look natural. He kept denying the fact that the perm and rebonding process could cause split ends and damage my hair and offered to give me a discount but I declined his offer - not because I could not afford to pay but I did not like to do anything unnatural and chemical treatments were totally unacceptable. In December 2018, I went to him for a haircut and he totally ignored me even though I had made an appointment with him earlier because he had so many customers at that time. His assistant defended him, saying that I did not make any appointment that day even though she was the one who picked up my call. I wasn't furious at all because his services were not free and could be considered as quite expensive. I smiled and said that it was okay and I would see him another day but in my heart I was saying that what I meant by 'another day' was 'never again'. I should have realized earlier that he wasn't interested in giving haircuts because he could make more money doing perms and rebonding.

It is not difficult to find another hairdresser as there are so many of them in Kuala Lumpur but a good one is hard to find. The new one was better as he did not force me to perm my hair or do rebonding. But the problem with him was each time I asked him to cut 2 inches he ended up cutting 1 cm. Even after not seeing him for 2 or 3 months, he still did not want to cut more than 1 cm and therefore it did not make any difference whether I went to him for a haircut or not. I won't deny the fact that I have not been getting a proper haircut for some time already. So the MCO came at a time when I desperately needed a haircut. I remembered some close friends of mine telling me that they have been cutting their own hair since their secondary school days and began to wonder whether I could do the same. Although I did not believe in cutting my own hair, I had no choice but to try and find out how this could be done professionally. After all, it might take months or even years before I dare to go to the hair salon again.

My MCO Haircut Kit

Although I had no confidence at all initially after reading some articles about quarantine haircuts that have gone wrong, I decided to give it a try. I started my coronavirus haircut with the haircut tutorial videos at Youtube and it did not take me long before I learnt this new skill. I have watched several videos and found this video particularly helpful as this was the kind of hairstyle I wanted. I would like to thank Patry Jordan English for sharing this beautiful video with us. Option 2 worked perfectly well for me. Since my hair was so long, it was not difficult to cut because I could see what I was cutting. Although it was my first attempt, my coronavirus haircut turned out to be a successful one. I was so happy because I did not believe I could do it so well. And what hair cutting tools did I use during the MCO? A pair of kitchen scissors, a comb, and a rubber band, that was all. So my dear readers, have confidence in yourselves and stay safe with your coronavirus haircut - it is possible to cut your own hair at home in a safe and hygienic environment. Remember to start with small cuts (1 cm) as you can always cut more after you have mastered the skill. Stay safe, stay healthy.

There are many haircut tutorial videos that you can easily find on the Internet depending on your needs and you will surely be able to find a suitable video or combination of videos that fit your requirements irrespective of whether your hair is long or short. Have confidence in yourself and ignore negative advice which says you cannot cut your own hair. If schoolchildren can do it, there is no reason why you can't. There is also no reason why your haircut should go wrong if you follow instructions and do it carefully. Believe me, you will feel proud of yourself when you do it right and come out with a successful haircut. I called my friends one by one the day I cut my hair for the first time and told them proudly of my successful endeavor. And here I am sharing this beautiful experience with my readers.

What are the benefits of cutting my own hair at home? It seems that my regular RM45 haircut is not a necessity anymore as I can easily do it myself now. With RM45, I can get 9 kg of mangoes and that's a lot. The good news is I don't have to waste time going to the hair salon as I can do it in the comfort of my home whenever I want. No more sitting for hours in the salon waiting for my turn in the queue - I really hate waiting. Apart from saving money and time, cutting my own hair also gives me a sense of satisfaction because the do-it-yourself version is safer, free of charge, and even better. Further, I don't have to tolerate the rude and irresponsible hairdressers' bad attitude anymore. Throughout the years, there have been countless times when I came back  from the hair salon with a bad haircut that had one side longer than the other and I had to fix it myself. The hairdressers were often reluctant to do anything with a completed haircut no matter how bad it turned out to be because they were just too busy with too many customers. Some would just do some tricks with the hair dryer to make both sides look as if they had the exact same length but after washing my hair it was obvious that they looked different. It was a terrible thing to pay so much for such shitty services and I am glad that this will not happen again. The most important thing is - I am in control of the outcome now.

What are the lessons that I have learnt from my coronavirus haircut? At certain times in our lives we may feel that certain things, people, or activities are indispensable and we cannot live without them. But if they are no longer there, do not feel sad because life has to go on and we will someday come across someone or something that is even better. Our lives change with time and we have to reshape our lives to adapt to these changes. Do not let the images of people with bad quarantine haircuts on social media scare us as these are intended to entertain the public! If we never try, we'll never know. If we really want to do something, we'll find a way. But, if our intention is to snap some photos of our disastrous quarantine haircuts and post them on social media to entertain the public, then we'll never find a way to do the right thing.