A Buyers Guide to Hairdressing Scissors

http://www.scissorhands.info

This buyers guide to choosing the right hairdressing scissors will will walk you through everything you need to know, and the right questions to ask, when purchasing your next pair of scissors. This could be online, at a trade show, or from a traveling scissor salesman when they visit you in your salon.

"Hello Ashley I am just writing to you to inform you that the scissors I bought from you are fabulous I love them best scissors I've ever had and I have recommended them to my friends that have, or are starting hairdressing thank you so much! - Dani-Mae Briggs"

Hello. I'm Ashley Howard and welcome to the basics scissor guide. It's a guide that is designed for hairdressers to help choose the right equipment no matter where you're buying your scissors from.

There are 3 subjects that are very important when it comes to choosing your scissor. Firstly, the ergonomics or the handle of the scissor; secondly, the length of blade that you want to use and thirdly what the scissor is made from.

So, let's start then with the first subject, which is the handle of the scissor.

It really falls into 2 categories: firstly, you have the classic straight handle scissor and you also have the offset, or ergonomic handle. With the straight classic scissor, if I put them together, you can see the difference is the angle at which the scissor points. If you use the classic handle and you point cut someone's hair, your body position, the arm is much higher and if you use an offset it's much lower. Also, when you're cutting against the skin with the straight handle, the handles tend to be slightly more obstructed than if you use an offset handle, which is less obstructed. It's so important when you come to choose your scissor because it will affect long-term your body position when you're cutting hair.

Secondly, the length of blade that you use is really key depending on the kind of work that you do. Again, there are 2 basic lengths that hairdressers will use. One is the short blade - here I have a 5 inch scissor. This is designed for palm cutting techniques, or precision cutting in small sections against the skin.

The other type of scissor length is the longer blade - here I have a 6.5. This is designed for cutting over the knuckles and for manual point cutting texturizing techniques. So, if your preference is to cut in your palm in small sections against the skin - short blade and if it's over the knuckles and point cutting it's the longer blade. Many hairdressers will have a pair of each size because they'll do both types of work.

And to finish off the blade lengths section, the industry standard or average size is around 5.5.

Thirdly, the scissor itself will be made from steel and those steels fall into 2 main categories again. You have German steel, which is more stainless steels and you have the Japanese steels.

The main difference is that the German scissor blades are often made from a melted stainless steel mold, more basic and the Japanese steels tend to be higher quality alloys and often those scissors are made in 2 parts. The main difference though, as a hairdresser is that the cheapest steels will be less smooth. The more expensive steels will be quieter and smoother to use.

So, with that information in mind, hopefully now you have some useful questions to ask the person that you buy your scissors from. What do they recommend as the handle design, what blade length you're going to need for the kind of work you want to do and lastly, what kind of metal are your scissors made from. With those questions in mind, hopefully you'll be able to choose the scissors for the kind of work that you want to do.

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