CUTTING LONG CURLY HAIR AT HOME - MY FIRST DOUBLE UNICORN CURLY HAIRCUT

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If you're reading this at some point other than in 2020, you might not get a few of my references. So, to bring you up to speed: It's April 10th, 2020, my family is in quarantine and has been since March 14th (or something). I broke my arm severely the month before that, so I've been home without fail for more than two months, with a few exceptions for visits to my orthopedic surgeon. Basically, I haven't been able to get a haircut in a long time and I have no idea when I'll be able to again, so I did it myself. I did a quick search for "How to cut curly hair at home" after hearing about it from my niece, then I made it happen. Here's how it went, and how you can do it yourself, too. (read more)

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DOUBLE UNICORN CUT YOUTUBE

As always, if I can make a video to go with my post, I will. If you'd rather watch me talk about how to cut long curly hair at home using the unicorn cut curly hair method, here you go:

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HOW TO DO A UNICORN CUT CURLY HAIR METHOD

The first thing you're going to need in order to cut curly hair at home is some supplies. I'll list what I used, and I'll also post the Amazon links so you can check them out, in case you're missing any one thing, or in case you're like me, and you don't normally have a comb or hairbrush on hand.

1. SCISSORS - I used my Kai scissors that I quilt with, but if you have a good, sharp pair of scissors, that will work. You could also go for a kit designed to help you with cutting your hair at home. it comes with scissors, a comb, a cape, etc.

2. PONY TAIL HOLDERS (SMALL AND LARGE) - You're going to need at least two pony tail holders, but preferably three. I'm specifying small for at least two of them only because I don't want you to think you can use a Scrunchie or other bulky pony tail holder for the actual unicorn part of the tutorial. It needs to be small enough that you can easily see and access your hair. The last thing you want is a hindered line of site. Something like the basic Goody hair ties would be perfect. If you have a bigger pony tail holder on hand, you can use that one to hold part of your hair back if you choose to do a curly double unicorn cut/curly girl double unicorn cut.

3. COMB/BRUSH - You'll be brushing your hair a lot during this process, so make sure you have something that glides through your damp hair pretty easily. I actually didn't own a brush until a few days ago (because I think I might take a stab at using a straightening iron for the first time), so I'm lucky I had one. If you've got curly hair, a wide tooth comb or low row count brush is ideal. I bought a 7 row Denman Brush for curly hair and it worked great.

That's it, that's all you're going to need. See, I told you it would be easy. (I may not have told you that, but I'm telling you now.)

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HOW TO CUT YOUR HAIR AT HOME STEP BY STEP

I'm going to go into detail here, only because I'm the person who likes detail in things like this. I am not the person who remembers to take pictures of each step, though. I've grabbed stills from my video, which means you get awkward faces and weird mouth sets, sorry about that! 

I'll include a picture for each step, but feel free to ask questions in the comments, I'll do my best to answer them.

Since I did a double unicorn cut (adding a second layer to the unicorn cut), I'll give directions for that method. However, if you only want to cut once, you can follow along until I get to the second unicorn, you don't need anything after that.

And, in case you don't remember what I was working with, here are my unicorn haircut before and after photos:

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HOW TO DO A DOUBLE UNICORN CUT
STEP 1 - CLEAN & DAMP HAIR

The first thing you need to do for your double unicorn or single unicorn cut is wash and semi dry your hair. You don't want it soaking wet, but you want it damp enough that your comb or brush moves through without hesitation. If you know how much you want to cut already, you can leave your hair more damp. I think the idea behind having not totally wet hair is that your curls won't spring as well, and you might cut off too much. 

I took my towel and gripped sections of hair, keeping my hand vertical. I didn't press my hair to my head like I normally do since I didn't want to create any extra frizz. 

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HOW TO DO A DOUBLE UNICORN CUT
​STEP 2 - BRUSH IT STRAIGHT (3 STEP PROCESS)

Grab your brush and brush your hair until it's straight. If you have very curly hair, make sure there aren't any hidden curls under the first layer of hair, really get the brush next to your scalp.

Once you've brushed it straight, bend over with your hair dangling toward the floor, then brush it straight again, this will help you when you stand up. Grab your hair right at your forehead hairline and hold it tight so it doesn't move when you stand up.

Now that you're standing up again, brush your hair one more time, this time straight out from your face so you're brushing to your front, like you're going to put a pony tail unicorn horn on your forehead/hairline. 

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HOW TO DO A DOUBLE UNICORN CUT
​STEP 3 - PONY TAIL HOLDERS (2 STEPS)

Now that you've got a hold of your hair, grab a pony tail holder and place it at the base of your pony tail, right on your scalp at your hairline/forehead. 

Brush your hair again to make sure it's tight, then decide how much hair you want to cut off, and place a second pony tail holder at that point.

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HOW TO DO A DOUBLE UNICORN CUT
​STEP 4 - CUT

It's time to cut your hair! Don't be nervous, it'll be fine. :)

Everything I read about doing a double unicorn cut told me that the first cut should be level, so you'll cut straight across, not at angle, that's how I did it. 

Now, if you want to cut it at an up/down angle AWAY from you, I don't see why that wouldn't work, and I will likely do it that way next time. The idea behind this is that the hair closest to your forehead will be shorter, and the hair further down your head will be longer, a bit like a simple layer.

However, I cut it straight across, and it turned out fine. 

STEP 4A (OPTIONAL) - I also read articles that said you can cut up into the ends of your trimmed hair at an angle (little snips) to give yourself a little more layering. I did this, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing, so I didn't get very into it.

If you're doing only a single unicorn cut, you can stop here, you're all done. If you want to do a layer, or a double unicorn cut, keep reading.

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HOW TO DO A DOUBLE UNICORN CUT
STEP 5 - BRUSH/PONYTAIL HOLDER

For your second layer you're going to want to only pull forward a section of hair to make the second unicorn horn. I pulled the hair up from the level of my ears, and I put the rest of my hair in a hair tie so it wouldn't get in my way. 

You can use your fingers to separate your hair to get an even line, or you can use a comb, etc. I don't know how to do that, so I just used my fingers and then looked in the mirror. I'll probably try to be a little more scientific about it next time. 

Brush only that section of hair forward, then put it in a pony tail at your hairline/forehead again. 

Put a hair tie at the end of your unicorn horn for where you want to cut the hair. 

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HOW TO DO A DOUBLE UNICORN CUT
STEP 6 - CUT AT AN ANGLE

You're ready to cut your second layer. If you cut your first layer at an angle, you already know how to do this. But, if you cut your first cut straight, then this is really important.

Hold your hair up and decide which side of the pony tail holder you want to make your cut,  but make sure you factor in the width of the pony tail holder before you make that cut.

This cut will be made at an angle AWAY from you. The hair closest to your forehead will be shorter, and the hairs further down your head will be longer. It's super cute! 

Put your scissors at an angle AWAY from you and make the cut. If you're not sure about how to hold your hair (this was a real question in my head), I kind of held it in a bunch since I figured if I tried to hold it flat, the scissors would just bunch it up.

​Once that cut is done, you're done!

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TWO MONTH UPDATE

My original haircut was April 10th, and I'm writing this part of the post exactly two months later, June 10th. 

I trimmed my hair again myself on the 8th and wasn't as happy with how it looked. Due to my irregular curl pattern (curly hair at the top of my head, wavy hair in the middle, and kinky curls at the base of my neck), I was trimming my way into a wavy few inches of hair on the bottom, with a riot of curls starting a few inches above that. It didn't look bad, but it also didn't look as good as it did when my Deva Curl stylist did the cut for me. 

I'll talk more about that in this video, I hope it helps:

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THE END & FINAL THOUGHTS

I have never liked getting my hair cut. For the longest time, the hair stylist would wash it and then cut it while it was wet, making my hair look like a bell when it dried and curled.

Once I found a Deva Curl stylist, I enjoyed haircuts more (the end result), but it was expensive. Between the cut and the tip, I was paying $125 for a hair cut.

​Not that good hair care should be cheap, but I'd rather spend that money on something else, like getting my nails done a few times. 

My big question at the end of this is whether or not I like this haircut enough to do it again. At first I thought the answer was a firm yes, but now (updating this post two months later), I think the money I was spending on a Deva Curl stylist was a good investment. I simply have too many different curl patterns on my head to get a consistent shape, and that isn't something I can deal with long term. 

So, I'll be going back to my stylist, but if you are a curly girl with a single curl pattern, I think cutting your hair at home could definitely save you money and keep you looking cute.

As always, if you have questions, let me know. I'm happy to help, if I can.

Ty

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