Advice on hair trimmers?

I really want a punky cut but my hair grows stupidly fast and I can't afford more than a $20 haircut every 4-6 months. Also the cheaper places keep giving me the wrong cut, it's very hit or miss. I was thinking of investing in a hair trimmer since it would pay for itself in the long run, but I'm not sure how easy it is to use it on my own hair. Or how related quality is to price, etc. Anyone have experience with these things?

 

Are you thinking about just shaving, or do you do something more along an actual haircut where you keep most of it on? @Mendacity shaves around a mohawk and I usually trim my hair with haircutting scissors, so we've been doing it a while.

We had a pet shaver (15 bucks!!!) for about a year before picking up a people shaver, but the actual process of shaving isn't too hard? Easier if you have someone to do the back of your head. Higher priced is going to have more tips and options, and usually don't heat up as quick-- but for basic back-and-sides shaving, a low end shaver will work for keeping your fuzz in check.

Haricutting scissors should do you fine for the rest. Beauty supply stores are gonna be your best bet-- even cheap trimmers there are going to be higher quality than what you find in Target, but if you're not looking to do anything fancy, you should be safe in the 20-40 dollar range.

 

I'm looking to basically leave my bangs long but have the rest of my head trimmed down to maybe an inch or a little shorter. AFAIK the things come with different length settings?

I could probably get my partner to do it when I visit but it's good to know it's not impossible on my own.

 

actually, I think you'd have to use scissors to maintain an inch or so of length. I mean, don't quote me on this, but I get my back and sides trimmed when I get a cut, and the guard they use for me (guards are the "length settings," pretty much) is the longest one they've got, and it's definitely less than an inch. more like a half-inch, or maybe a third. it's called a 3, if you're wondering. but for all I know there are special guards for longer lengths that just usually aren't stocked by salons! you'll have to do a little research, I guess.

 

You can get longer guards for longer cuts. My partner got a 40ish dollar Wahl trimmer set from Costco, it has guards/"guide combs" that go up to an inch. Their number for that is 8; not sure how it compares to other brands, but it looks like a lot of them have up to an inch. (I used it when I semi-shaved my head.)

http://www.buzzcutguide.com/hair-clipper-sizes/

 

There are longer guards, but most of them are still less than an inch. An inch is a lot of hair though, all things considered. I think 3/4 of an inch is the longest ours goes? Hair cutting with scissors is harder, but still possible to do yourself-- I usually do mine, but I also dye mine and just cut it when the undyed hair is around an inch long.

edit: ninja'd, and I was wrong! So, using different guards for longer lengths is a thing you can do.

 

i have a good set i got from CVS for about 20 bucks, comes with the clippers, and 8 different hair length thingies(guards?). it can go really short though, i never went shorter than a 4 or maaybe a 3. this isn't the exact one i got but it's on sale right now and has 8 guards.

my hair grows really fast so this has paid for itself many times over

 

I suspect that once I cut it I will probably want to go shorter but I thought I should err on the long side because you can always go shorter.

Ty for all the replies! I will post pics if I succeed in finding something.

 

that thing just looks...painful.

I got one for like $13 thanks to a sale and coupons :D



but holy shit, i have so much hair. the rest of it was only half as long as those bangs, and I could have made a whole new Donald Trump from what I cut off. (why did I give myself that mental image, eugh.)

now it's fuzzy and i cant stop touching it.