At-Home Haircuts and Workouts
April 21, 2020
With salons shut down for at least another week or so, we’re all trying to figure out how to cut hair – our own and other’s – stay in shape and not go stir crazy from inside our four walls. The pros have offered some timely tips on home hair-cutting and coloring, and we gathered a few fun videos to turn your living room into a temporary – or permanent – home gym.
If you can’t stand your hair after a month of quarantined living – the color or the length –here’s what you can do on your own head, and what you should leave to the experts. The Know in our own Denver Post notes that hairstyles are one giant metaphor for what’s happening right now. We’re all going to be different after Colorado opens back up for business, and that includes hair, so let’s embrace the challenge! Long hair looks like a snap, especially with the right tools. And judging by video tutorials on YouTube, Good Housekeeping and Seventeen Magazine’s websites you can find go-by instructions to cut curly bangs, long layers, (see the controversial unicorn method) blunt bobs and natural hair.
If you’re cutting a guy’s hair, first watch this video of Gwen Stefani cutting Blake Shelton’s hair last week on Jimmy Fallon. It’s worth three minutes of your time, just to see how handy Gwen is with a pair of clippers. GMA posted an Instagram video with celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton demonstrating a men’s home haircut – with suggestions about the tools you’ll need to get the job done.
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Celebrity hairstylist @ChrisAppleton1 demonstrates how to give a men’s haircut at home! #StayAtHome
If that dummy’s cut is not the look you’re going for, head to The Manual for an overview of looks you might want to adopt. From the classic buzz cut, which is gaining popularity now for being the easiest option, to the undercut which is a Peaky Blinders-style, buzzing of he sides and leaving the top a bit longer.
The Guardian features a few celebrity social posts from #stayathome haircut to entertain us with pictures of “lockdown locks” from all corners of the world. That’s one positive thing about a global pandemic, everybody who’s quarantined can share a connectedness in dealing with day-to-day challenges. One bit of advice if someone you know is considering a super close head shave, 1) don’t do it if you have a lumpy skull – it’s not the best look for misshapen heads and 2) if you do shave, be sure to take good care of your now-exposed scalp.
The Modest Man offers tips about using clippers —things like start back to front. He uses the professional Wahl clippers, which also have trimmers to use on sideburns and necklines and recommends using different attachment sizes – a #2 (1/4 inch) on the sides and a longer #3 (3/8 inch) on the top. Here’s a YouTube tutorial video for a super short haircut with just a little length on top, and a very entertaining and timely tutorial from Pete and Pedro for a more feathered fade, and a lot longer on top. We don’t know if this is Pete or Pedro, but we agree with his observation – cutting your own hair can make you feel empowered!
More Tools You Can Use
Other tools for a little longer, but still uniform cuts are many and varied, from the Conair Rotary Hair Clipper which can be used in the shower for less clean up. You don’t have to have a mirror to drag this ergonomically-designed tool across your head in several directions. And you’re done when you don’t hear any more strands being cut by the rotary blades. It’s a one length-only trimmer but can save you a lot of time getting to a uniform buzz cut. Hammacher Schlemmer has a similar rechargeable hair trimmer that offers a five-minute haircut with circular rotary blades with attachments for two different lengths.
If you’ve cut your hair before and bemoan the aftermath of sweeping and wiping up all the hair that floats everywhere, check out the capes that make quick work clean up. Most of these capes keep clipped hair from sliding down a collar and irritating skin, and range from smocks to the umbrella hair-catchers that capture all the strays.
We found a couple of great assists for at-home haircuts, like the CombPal that enables you to point cut (at an angle) or straight cut to a desired length of short hair, and a hairline guide for a DIY cut, so you can get the back of your hairline clean and straight. Or this Shark Tank favorite for long hair, the CreaClip set. Designed for all hair types, you simply clip the device to your entire head of hair, and snip away. The set includes a CreaClip for bangs, too, and you can snip straight across, or at an asymmetrical angle. It’s a DIY hair-cutting tool that works for lots of different hairstyles.
Stay-at-Home Exercise
When it comes to exercise, everybody has his or her own fitness preferences during stay-at-home orders, but we found some helpful and hilarious online routines that will put a smile on your face, and maybe even burn a few extra calories.
Glamour collected 10 at-home workouts from Instagram posted by physical therapists, personal trainers, gym owners and weightlifters to provide a variety of aerobic workouts, strength training exercises, and isometrics. Some require no equipment, and for others you’ll need a pair of hand weights – but one of these will hopefully be motivation enough to get you off the couch and up on your feet.
Spy put together a list of nine free workout apps, from the Nike Training Club – one of the most comprehensive (and free!) workout apps available – to Yoga for Beginners, Map My Run and a Kettlebells Workout. One final video, Jim Fonda’s 80s Party Pump is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. Choreographer @JamesBWhiteside and his two helpers put together a 14-minute exercise video for Instagram with 80s tunes that’s now viral. It’s not just worth a look for the smile factor, it really will boost your mood and workout motivation!
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Outdoor Mood-Boosting in Southshore
One beautiful benefit of living in Southshore is its location and access to miles of trails by the Aurora Reservoir. You can walk, skate, bike and jog the paths to and from the lake knowing that 20 minutes outdoors can lower your stress levels and give you a dose of the immune boosting Vitamin D. Check out the Southshore model homes online – or schedule a live walkthrough with a sales associate. Brand new homes from Taylor Morrison, Richmond American Homes and Toll Brothers offer Life at the Lake in ranch and two-story designs, priced between the $400s and the $700s.