Article: If it's been a long time since you've had your hair cut, make sure that the sudden loss of body doesn't make your hair look limp and thin. Using treatments along with regular shampoo and conditioner will help to keep your hair strong and healthy. Try to use treatments that contain keratin which helps to strengthen and nourish your hair. If your hair is severely damaged, use double or triple concentrated keratin treatments. Comb your hair thoroughly and cut your hair damp. Straighten out curls or waves with a straightener tool or a brush and some hairspray or water. If the curls or waves are very loose, they will become straight when you get them wet. However, if you have tight curls, they will probably remain curled when wet so you may need to straighten your hair with a flat iron before you cut it. The straighter, the easier. You can use curlers, rollers, or hair tools to restore the curls or waves once the hair is cut, unless you like the straight look. You may find it easier to cut your own hair dry. Do what works best for you. Hair shouldn't be cut with a ratty old pair of kitchen shears. Make sure that you're using sharp, clean scissors appropriate for cutting hair, so the job goes smoothly and your hair ends up looking great. A small pair of scissors will work best for cutting your own hair. Some people like to use razor combs to cut hair, but if your hair is very long, you need to do some cutting with regular scissors first. If you want to finish it with a razor comb, after you've layered, that's fine. If you haven't gotten your hair cut for a while, there's going to be a lot of it to collect. If you start with a ponytail, you'll be able to keep it all in one place relatively easily, but otherwise you're going to make a big mess. Take some steps to make sure that it'll be easy to clean up, if you're going to cut indoors. Make sure you're somewhere with hard, laminated floors, like the kitchen or the bathroom. Clear out all bathmats, rugs, and other things that'll get in the way of your sweeping. Sweep up the hair immediately when you're finished, into a trash can. Alternatively, going outside can make clean up a whole lot easier. Set up a chair on a warm night in the backyard to cut your hair and don't worry about cleaning it up. Regardless of whether or not you or someone else will be doing the actual cutting, it's a good idea to have a couple of hand mirrors ready so that you can periodically check on the work and make sure you're not taking too much off the back. Mirrors allow you to see your head from all angles, making sure that you're not missing anything. Mirrors are great for checking your results. However, if you cannot see the area that you want to cut without using a mirror, then don't try to cut it.
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Use hair treatments before and after. Wash your hair thoroughly if you want to cut it yourself. Use a pair of small, sharp scissors. Cut your hair on a hard floor in a clean space. Get some hand mirrors.