Whether you are a beginner or a professional hair stylist, you can use an array of tools to trim hair to your client’s satisfaction. If your selection is poor, you will face a nightmare choosing the right tools for cutting hair. Therefore, educating yourself about the best tools for professional and personal use is crucial. Here’s a look at the most important hair-cutting tools you must have. These tools also come in various specifications to achieve particular results, and you will learn how to apply them in your daily beautification duties.
1. Hair Cutting Scissors
Hair-cutting scissors are the basic tools used for most hair-cutting duties and are somehow more complex in design than average scissors. These shears are built with precision and can be bevelled or convex to accommodate different hair-cutting styles, even with a hairdressing foil roll for dyes.
The scissors have flexible pivots that are neither loose nor tight to work within specific tension levels. However, they can take as much tension for opening and closing while shaving.
In addition, they have a ‘tang’ for resting the pinkie finger for more styling control to make it easier to use. Luckily, modern shears consider ergonomics that minimise pressure on the hands of the stylist. As a result, the shears can cut hair perfectly without twisting or folding the edges.
2. Hair Cutting Comb
A hair stylist will use a hair-cutting comb to detangle hair before trimming. Various sizes and shapes of combs can manage hair in different applications. Thinner combs with fine teeth are great for precise and accurate hair trims. Wide tooth combs are perfect for minimising hair damage on curly and coarse hair.
Most cosmetologists use the scissor-over-comb technique to create impressive hairstyles for men and women. In addition, the barber can work around the hairline when covering hair with a hairdressing foil roll for dye application.
3. Hair Clipper Tools
Most men get their hair trimmed using clippers, common hair-cutting tools. The clipper is one tool you should never miss at a salon or barbershop. Although they are primarily used for styling gents, they apply to women’s hairstyles that require a hair dye brush.
Their construction allows for properly cutting short hair, like making fades and shaping military styles. Clippers mimic scissors with two blades that move from side to side to cut hair. The blades are teethed like combs to capture every single strand of hair.
4. Thinning Scissors
Thinning scissors are used for texturing hair and have blades like normal sheers, only that they have comb-like teeth on one of the blades or both. These scissors cut hair and soften the lines to texture the ends. Softening the hair makes it easier to use a hairdressing foil roll for highlighting.
They can improve hair volume if well manipulated because they are effective in taming and blending tough hair. When buying texturing sheers, consider the teeth count, the space between teeth and whether both blades have teeth.
5. Hair Trimmers
Hair trimmers or trimming tools look like clippers, only that they are smaller, narrower, and very shallow teeth. In addition, hair trimmers come with two blades; since they are smaller, they are not effective for cutting hair. Instead, their design is only for precision cuts to create perfect edges, sideburns, hairlines, short haircuts and beards.
Sometimes people have hair extending down their neck, and after a haircut, a trimmer tool shapes out the excess hair to maintain an acceptable hairline.
6. Straight Razors
A straight-styling razor looks like a standard knife and comes in various grinds with wooden, plastic, or steel handles to protect the hands. Straight razors are the best tools to add volume and layers so that a hair dye brush covers more hair.
This impressive yet simple design ensures that no hair sticks between the blades when making small cuts. In addition, these razors do not work unidirectionally and move smoothly to make a normal haircut outstanding and unique.
Sometimes, they make hair look unnatural after cutting, so stylists use them with scissors. After this process, the razor adds texture to the hair. Besides straight razors, there are razor combs which are unique combs fitted with a razor.
Using the appropriate hair-cutting tool for its intended purpose will always guarantee better results. Understanding the tools’ differences and operations will place you above the competition. In addition, equipping yourself with handy techniques also makes it easier to manipulate these tools for better functionality. For example, when the hair is well cut, the foil and hair dye brush can conform to the texture for an even colour gradient. Therefore, if your client needs their hair dyed after the shave, ensure you have the appropriate tools for the job.
