Everything you need to know about DIY haircare during COVID-19

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Now that hair salons and barbershops across Southern California have closed up shop, people are left to their own devices when it comes to self-grooming.

Before you pick up the scissors or trimmers, here are a few tips from a professional.

"Cutting hair is something that takes some people years to learn how to do appropriately," Anthony Defalco said, stylist and owner of Anthony's Salon in Huntington Beach. "If you're trying to maintain your hair at home, I don't think that this would be a good time to go for a brand-new look."

When the coronavirus outbreak forced Defalco to close his doors last month, he knew he had to do something.

"One of the things that I started doing is making at-home color kits for our own customers," he said.

Defalco recommends that if you are using hair dye from a salon, make sure to wear gloves because the color will stain your hands.

"If you have a part, that's where you're going to see the gray. Mix up your color with a little brush and apply it right on there," he said.

Defalco's salon also offers cans of spray root color. If you need to touch up roots, a solution might exist in your makeup bag.

"One of the things that a lot of people don't know is that you can take your contouring brush or any stiff brush, dip it in your eyeshadow and put it right on your root line to cover," he said.

If you need to trim bangs or the hair that frames your face, Defalco suggests pulling those strands of hair into a ponytail and gently cutting with scissors.

"Start out very, very gently," he said. "Very, very conservatively trimming off the little edges and then let it go."

To trim away at split ends, Defalco offered a simple trick.

"You can twist the hair in small sections," Defalco said. "The hairs that are split will come out of the twist and you can go across that with the scissors."

For shorter cuts, Defalco said to focus on what he calls the "neckburns."

"Comb all that hair forward in front of your ears and use either the scissor or the trimmer, just to cut off the stuff that starts looking kind of fluffy," Defalco said. "Same thing around the ears."

If you have someone to help you at home, Defalco suggests having them help cleanup around the neckline.

"Anything that you do can be corrected once this is all over and when you can go back into the salon," Defalco said.

Anthony's Salon is located at 19016 Brookhurst St, Huntington Beach.