That older barber told me to stop using thinning shears on straight hair

I had this old school barber named Sal who watched me hacking away at a client's thick straight hair with thinning shears about 3 months ago. He pulled me aside and said those shears are only good for curly or wavy textures, and that I was just creating frizz and uneven layers on straight hair. I was stubborn at first, figured thinning shears were thinning shears. But last week I finally tried his way, using just my regular scissors and some point cutting technique instead. The result was way cleaner, the client actually noticed and said the weight came off better without all those weird short pieces sticking out. Made me wonder how many other bad habits I picked up from watching YouTube instead of asking an old timer. Any of you guys get handed advice from someone that totally flipped your routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

troyp3724d ago

Jump right in and test it for yourself on a few different hair types. I used to grab thinning shears without thinking and ended up with choppy results on straight hair too. Sal's right that they can shred the cuticle on straight strands and make it look fuzzy. I switched to slicing or using a razor comb for weight removal and it gives me way more control. Try using your shears to cut into the ends at a 45 degree angle instead of chopping across. One bad habit I had was overtexturizing the crown, which made it stick up like a rooster tail.

jade3224d ago

I gotta disagree, thin shears can actually be clutch on straight hair if you use them right.