[Ever see something you want but don’t have the money to buy? Ever get sick of studying/watching TV and have the urge to get crafty and make things on your own? We know! Us too! We just don’t know where to start, which is why we got some of CollegeCandy’s craftiest writers to share their favorite DIY projects with everyone. These things are easy, fun and a great way to save some serious cashola.]

I was always a bangs girl. And by always I mean long after it was socially acceptable to have them. I even remember the monumental day when I finally listened to my stylist and grew those bad boys out. Too bad it was like 3 months before they started showing up in fashion magazines as the new “it” hairstyle.

Now bangs are everywhere and they add so much fierceness that I just have to have them back. And I can do it…all by myself.

Cutting your own bangs seems totally scary, but if you are careful and do it right, you can have a salon look without paying the salon price. So, grab some scissors, get in front of the mirror and get chopping.

Tools:
Shears (Do not use whatever scissors you have lying around the house – those will most definitely leave you with some seriously botched bangs. Invest in a pair of hair shears for a precise cut.)
Mirror
Hair clips
A good friend for moral support

Snip Snip:
1. Make sure your hair is dry and styled how you normally wear it. If your hair is wet it will be weighed down and you will cut off more than you mean to!

2. Gather the hair in the front that you’d like to cut into bangs. This can be as thick or thin as you want. Pull back the rest of your hair and secure it in hair clips so as not to accidentally cut something you shouldn’t.

3. Comb the bangs down in the front so everything is where it should be.

4. Grab the to-be-bangs between your index and middle finger and pull down lightly, holding them away from your face.

5. Take your scissors and, pointing them up, trim in upward snips. (Do not cut straight across! That will leave you with a very unflattering straight line. By snipping upwards, you will have more texture to the bangs and they will look less severe).

6. Make your way across and check your progress. If they are too long, repeat step 5, taking off very little length. Repeat as necessary until your bangs are at the desired length.

Remember to keep those hands steady. You don’t want to end up lookin’ like this. Also, it’s better to snip too little than to hack too much, so take your time. I did and I’m super happy with the chic and fabulous results.

We’re really excited that guys are finally catching on and taking care of things downtown, but “trimming the bush to make the tree look taller”? WTF?

It seems like purse strings are pretty tight these days, and it can be pretty hard to choose what to spend money on. A manicure or dinner? A new pair of shoes or gas? A night at the bar or books for class? Pretty tricky. But there are some luxuries that you can skip in favor of doin’ it on your own, like your brows.

Yeah, they always seem great when you get them waxed, but if you use the right products and know the right tricks you can do it in your very own home…and spend the $15 on a long island iced tea instead!

Step 1: It’s much easier to tweeze your brows when your skin is soft, so the hair will come out easier. So hold a hot facecloth on your face for a couple of minutes first.

Step 2: Pick the shape that you want to create with your brows. Go with a natural arch; don’t create an extreme arch if you don’t have one (you can tell). If you need some guidelines, you can use brow stencils, like these ones from Anastasia. As a general rule: eyebrows are supposed to match up with the corners of your eyes, so draw a line with your finger from the inner corner of your eye up to your brow. That’s where they should begin and they should taper off at the outer corner of your eye. You can begin to tweeze by plucking the ends of the brows.

As for products, Tweezerman tweezers are great because they are sharp and have slanted tips. These tweezers come in fun animal prints too! Or you can try this floral tweezer kit that contains slanted tweezers as well as a pointed pair. Or there is also this awesome mini polka dotted pair – perfect for your purse or travel. (All of these are so cute that you will almost forget that tweezing hurts!)

Step 3: Use an eyebrow comb to brush your brow hairs upwards to get a better idea of where the hair roots are. Then pluck underneath the arches. Go slowly and brush them out every few minutes to see how much you have plucked. You don’t want to be that girl that overplucked. (We had a girl that pretty much plucked her whole brows off in the 8th grade. It’s been 8 years and we all still remember. Lesson learned.)

Step 4: Comb your brows back upwards and use the cuticle scissors to snip against the natural hair flow. These ones from LaCross are really cheap and work great. By using cuticle scissors for the top of the brows you eliminate the need to tweeze too much above the brows. When you are done tweezing and cutting, apply unscented lotion with a cotton ball to pick up extra hairs and soothe redness.

Step 5: If you need to fill in some areas that are uneven, use a pencil or powder that will blend really naturally. Then use an angled brush to sweep and blend in the color. This Dior pencil is a little pricey but it’s a pencil and a brush in one! Plus it includes a sharpener.

Step 6: To set your newly perfect brows in place for a night out try this Smashbox tech wax. It’s clear and long lasting so that all your hard work won’t go to waste!