Waiting out the coronavirus pandemic from home means that many Las Vegans are going without regular haircuts. For those still going to an “essential” work site—and for those expected to look their best via video conference from home—that can be a messy situation.
Never fear. We checked in with two local hairstylists, Alex McDonald of Square Salon and Larry Reha of Makeshift Union, to get you some tips about manage your tresses during the shutdown.
First and foremost, “Take this time to give your hair a break,” McDonald says. “Don’t blow-dry; don’t put any heat on it. If your hair is overprocessed, just let it air-dry. If it’s oily, experiment with not washing it every day. If there’s any time to give your hair a break, this is it.”
Reha agrees. “I normally tell people, ‘Whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it. Just come to me.’ But we’ve never experienced anything like this,” Reha says. “I would start by saying, ‘Do you really have to?’ If it’s urgent, like you’re still working, by all means. But if you don’t have to, try not to.”
McDonald recommends using an apple cider vinegar rinse for your hair if you experience dandruff or have leftover product built up from the days of regular styling.
Whatever at-home treatments you try, McDonald advises to stay away from coconut oil. “Do not do a coconut hair mask. That will build up on your hair and prevent any of your products [from] penetrating in your hair and cause a lot of breakage. [That] could affect your color services in the future.”
Reha recommends letting your fringe fly for now. For folks who absolutely need a trim, he offers a couple of tips.
“There’s a couple things you can do with halfway decent house scissors, as long as they’re pretty sharp,” he says, recommending kitchen shears or scissors from a sewing kit over dull paper scissors.
For bang trims, Reha recommends cuticle scissors. “Small shears make small mistakes,” Reha says. Another key pointer: don’t cross horizontally across the hair—ever. “Cut vertically, not across the hair. If you cut across, you’re going to create a line, and that’s going to be impossible to get rid of,” he says. For bang trims, hold the scissors straight up and down, and cut upward into the hair a tiny bit at a time.
If you have very short hair, Reha says you can use clippers or a beard trimmer, but you’ll want to start with a longer guard. “Even if you think it’s not going to take off any hair, start with that one and then gradually work your way down,” he says. “Most people go too short, and there’s no coming back from that.”
On the other hand, Reha says this might be the time to shave your head completely. “I’ve never done that in my life, but I was like, ‘Well, what the hell.’ I feel like we’ll see a lot of that.”
For those not ready to go to that extreme, Reha says product can help those trying to hold off on cutting their hair at home. As short hair grows out, Reha recommends switching from a pomade to a grooming crème, which will allow longer hair to move and lay down in a way pomade doesn’t.
