I couldn’t help but be intrigued when I first read this. I spent the necessary amount of time learning how to cut hair professionally, so anytime someone says “Try this home haircut on yourself,” my instinct is to call shenanigans. But the man behind this sensation, Lee Stafford, is an actual hairdresser, and his six-step process is designed for the cash-strapped woman who wants a medium-length layered cut. Take a look at the results of the big chop below, as well as the steps this woman used to get there. 

 The brave volunteer for this experiment was a woman named Alice. Here are the results of her cut.


You can view the steps in detail at the source, but here’s a quick rundown:

1. Smooth your hair out thoroughly. No need to wet it.
2. Gather your hair into a ponytail on your forehead.
3. Measure the length you want to cut off by how short you want your shortest layer.
4. CHOP.
5. Point-cut into the ponytail to add some texture to the ends.
6. Pull it down from the ponytail and enjoy your new ‘do.

Frankly, this sounds terrifying to me. But then again, I’m not a thick-haired lady who just gets overwhelmed with how much I need a trim. A cut like this would show every line in my hair, and probably turn into more cutting, which would prove disastrous. I have been a hairstylist for a long time and no, I do not try to cut my own hair. Not because I’m afraid of what could happen; because I know what has happened in the past. Call me old-fashioned; it ain’t pretty.

That said, this would certainly do in a pinch. If you’re the kind of girl who is used to doing a great deal of styling — i.e. even curling your hair every day — this might be a viable way to cut costs in your life. Pardon my skepticism, it’s just I know how great a haircut can look, and this is really selling yourself short. But I guess that’s… kind of the idea.

Alice admits that, while happy with the cut, “The fringe came up miles shorter than [she] expected.” Cutting hair is a science. So yes, for all intents and purposes she has a new haircut, and it’s not a bad one. But it’s not really the one she set out to achieve.

Would you try this method of DIY haircutting? Do you ever cut your own hair, or are you chicken like me?