A couple of years ago, I bought a pair of hair shears and started trimming my own hair. Even the uber-cheap hair cuts that I opted for would add up over the course of a year. At the time, I simply visited a beauty supply chain and bought a basic $10-$15 pair.
A bit over a year ago, I changed my hair care regimen drastically when I stopped using shampoo and styling products (mousse was my big addiction). I can’t remember which I quit using first, but the combination creates a vicious cycle — use styling products which build up in hair, thus requiring shampoo to remove build-up; shampoo strips hair of natural oils so hair gets frizzy, thus requiring styling products. Rinse and repeat. In the process, I was unnecessarily exposing my body and the environment to all sorts of nasty chemicals (just because you rinse them down the drain, doesn’t mean they’re gone) and creating waste in the form of all of those empty shampoo bottles and mousse cans.
Despite the fact that I am perfectly happy with my product- and poo-free hair*, I imagine most stylists would be less than enthusiastic and would have a long list of things that were “wrong” with my hair that their amazing products could fix. Uh-huh. This made it even more imperative that I cut my own hair.
Unfortunately, my hair shears grew dull and were doing more bending the ends of my hair than cutting. Options: buy a new pair or get them sharpened (which may not even be an option with low end shears). Sharpening is by far the greener option, but in this case, sharpening (~$20) would cost more than buying a similar pair of scissors. Instead, I shelled out a bit more dough and purchased a pair of hair shears that are able to be sharpened, are worth sharpening, and should last pretty much forever. This option is by far greener than buying a new pair every two years, and cheaper in the long run.
I am very excited to try my fancy new shears, but I must reign in my enthusiasm or I may end up totally hairless!