How to cut your curly hair at home with tips from experts

When it comes to curly hair, consistent care and maintenance is essential to growing healthy locks. And a huge part of keeping curls, coils and kinks thriving are professional haircuts. If going to the salon isn’t an option, trimming your hair at home is possible — but with a plan.

We asked Melissa Hernandez of City Curl Studio in New York and Yasmine Young of Diaspora Salon in Baltimore, Md. for their best advice on trimming your curls at home. The most important factor to avoid at at-home haircut fail? “You should cut your hair when it’s dry. That way you can see just how much you’re cutting and what it will look like styled,” Young says.

Hernandez agrees, adding: “I always recommend to my clients when shaping their hair at home to cut their hair dry and to be mindful of the ‘spring factor.’ Half an inch in curl life is an inch in real life.”

So while cutting curly hair without a stylist may feel daunting, it can be accomplished successfully. Here, Hernandez and Young share their favorite (and simple) steps to maintaining good curl health at home without stress. 

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