A stylist explains why a TikTok DIY hack to get a perfect layered haircut in minutes makes sense in theory, but has the potential to go horribly wrong

• The TikTok-famous "butterfly haircut" has taken over the app as users attempt the DIY hack.
• It's supposed to give dramatic layers with a simple technique that takes minutes to execute.

Adventurous TikTokers are foregoing the salon and cutting their own hair using the "butterfly" technique, a viral hack that involves sectioning the hair into two ponytails and chopping the desired length off.

The cut gained popularity after hairstylist Brad Mondo, who has over 9 million followers on the platform, posted a tutorial of the technique in October of 2022. It has since blown up — the original video garnered over 20 million views, and the #butterflycut and #butterflyhaircut hashtags on TikTok have 248.1 million views and 245 million views respectively.

The trick promises to leave the hair with well-placed layers, despite only taking a few minutes to achieve. Users part their hair horizontally in a straight line from behind one ear to behind the other, and the bottom section of hair is gathered in a high pony at the top of the head, while the top section is tied into a ponytail in the center of the forehead.

Because of how the ponytails are positioned, when it's cut the hair should fall in dramatic layers.

Paul Watts, a hairdresser and YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers, said the cut is reminiscent of "the Rachel," a style inspired by Jennifer Aniston's character in "Friends" that gained popularity in the 1990s.

"We've got that beautiful sort of symmetrical shape around her face, but being blow-dried back. We're creating that sort of wings effect," he told Insider.

Users of all different skill levels are trying out the viral hack, from professional hairdressers to at-home amateurs.

Many of the butterfly technique videos appear to end successfully, leaving users with the desired result. However, there are a fair share of self-proclaimed failures, which usually say their error was cutting off more hair than they'd planned to.

Watts, who has been hairdressing for 15 years, told Insider that in theory the technique works in part because the ponytails are positioned in the center of the head.

''When you've got it bang in the middle, you know you're going to get symmetry," Watts said. "It makes the sectioning as we would do in the salon seem very simple.''

However, Watts warned that there are a few caveats to the seemingly straightforward trend.

He said that issue with overcutting could be down to users not fully understanding the concepts of "elevation" and "over-direction," which mean that when the hair is brought up and forward, cutting it straight across creates layers that are shorter at the top and longer at the bottom. According to Watts, a good understanding of how this works is what helps stylists know where the hair will fall after the cut and ensure length will be distributed correctly throughout.

Watts also warned that if the ponytail isn't perfectly positioned, it could leave people with shorter hair at the back than at the front, which is not the intended result.

Additionally, Watts said the technique is only "universal to a degree," meaning it most likely can't be executed exactly the same on all hair types.

"If somebody's got really fine hair and they're looking at doing it, they're going to be losing a lot of length and a lot of fullness from their hair," Watts said. "If they've got loads of hair, it would be really sort of chunky and not sit how they expect it to."

While Mondo's tutorial in October kickstarted the trend, users continue to test out the technique, seemingly undeterred by those with regrets. Multiple videos of people trying the cut have rung in millions of views in the past week.

Interest in at-home alternatives to salon beauty treatments rose when the COVID-19 pandemic forced salons across the nation to close their doors in 2020, and have continued to be popular since.

Many DIY beauty trends, like using self-tanner to contour the face and cutting curtain bangs by crossing sections of the hair over the forehead, have gained popularity on TikTok where people post videos explaining or experimenting with such hacks and often gain millions of views as a result.

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