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Your hairdressing shears are your best friend! But that doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to just one. We are firm believers in you can have more than one best friend! There is a reason why hair stylists always carry an array of hair cutting shears with them, they each serve a purpose. If you're struggling to figure out which length professional shears you will need, and why, you have come to the right place!
Blunt cutting is used in almost every haircut. Whether it be just cutting the perimeter of the cut, or a full on blunt bob, this technique will be your go to... so will the shears you use. The basic, go to length for our everyday hair cutting shears are a 5.5 inch blade. This length blade is great when cutting the perimeter of a haircut, blunt. This length makes it easy to ensure you don't cut past your middle knuckle, and cut yourself!
However, there are other lengths you may want to try out when blunt cutting. If you find yourself doing lots of bobs you may want to consider shears with longer blades. This could be anywhere in length from 6 inch to 8 inch blades. For bobs you may want about a 7 inch shear. 7 inch shear blades are great for straight line cutting. The longer blade ensures that you will get an even length the entire length of the blade. Longer shears are also great for cutting on the skin. When cutting on the skin they ensure you can take larger sections and you are less likely to have to lift the scissor from the skin, making smooth clean lines.
This cutting technique can go hand in hand with blunt cutting. Precision cutting means very straight and perfect lines throughout. A perfect bob cut or a straight bang would be considered a precision cut. Why would you need a different length scissor for this technique? Well not only do you want to make sure you have the perfect length blade, but also the perfect type of blade. To get that incredibly straight, sharp look of a precision cut you will need a super sharp convex edge ! And we recommend pairing that with a 6 inch blade. This length guarantees you can take larger sections and keep your lines super straight!
Now that you've used your longer hair cutting scissors to cut the perimeter of your cut lets talk layers. Whether you're cutting long layers or graduated layers, which scissor would you choose for these hair cutting techniques?
For this style we recommend sticking with average blade lengths, either a 5.5 inch or 6 inch. When cutting layers you will either be cutting them blunt or point cutting. When cutting layers blunt you will want to make sure you do not cut past your knuckle, so an average sized blade will be best. If you're point cutting, this cutting technique is best used with 5.5 inch shears or below. This blade length ensures you can cut into the hair, adding texture and removing weight throughout.
There are many different texturizing techniques you will use on a daily basis. First and foremost is texturizing with your texturizing shears. These texture shears are usually around 5.5 or 6 inches. They have multiple teeth, widely spaced apart, to remove larger chunks of hair.
Another texturizing technique is point cutting. You can point cut just the ends of the hair to give it a textured, softer look, or you can use deep point cutting to leave length but remove weight from the interior of the cut. If this kind of cutting is your jam, you may want to consider having a shorter blade scissor to help you out. Using 4.5 to 5.5 inch blade lengths will ensure you can remove weight quickly and texturize properly.
And then of course there are the slide cutting shears! Slide cutting is a technique involving sliding the shears down the hair to help remove weight and blend lengths. Slide cutting can be used on the ends for texture or cutting the interior to remove weight, sometimes called slice cutting. Slide cutting shears, like our VG10 Slidershere, come in two sizes- 5.5 inch or 6 inch. These lengths and very sharp edge, are perfect for slide cutting and other advanced cutting techniques.
Similar to texturizing, thinning has a few different techniques, and scissors you can use. Thinning involves removing weight from haircuts, normally on thick hair.
There is of course the thinning shear. Thinning shears are usually 6 inches. This ensures plenty of room for its 25- 40 teeth. These teeth are placed closer together so as not to remove too much hair. They are great for blending, removing weight and finishing cuts.
Remember point-cutting? Well when you use it to cut into a section you are thinning out the cut and removing weight. There is also brick cutting which involves cutting into the hair in the pattern of a brick. This technique is great to remove weight in curly or coarse hair. For these techniques you can look for a shorter shear, 4.5 inch to 5 inch shears will be best.
Scissor over comb is one of the most popular barbering techniques. It involves lifting sections with a comb and cutting with a scissor. It is used by barbers and hairdressers alike, for shorter styles. The best length professional hair cutting shears for scissor over comb are longer blades. We recommend 7 inch or 8 inch shears if you're a scissor over comb regular. This length allows for you to take larger sections, and keep them straight and in line.
We recommend that barbers who do scissor over comb, or hairdressers that do a lot of mens or shorter hair cuts, have specialty shears just for this cut! To ensure you're getting the best possible finish you will want a long shear, with a narrow beveled edge. The combination of length and beveled edge will mean you can take larger sections and prevent the hair from sliding out of the shear when you cut.
Well we will leave this up to you ! We recommend trying out different lengths to see which fit your daily needs best. You can always check out one of our hair cutting shear kitsHERE. These kits include at least one scissor and one thinner. If you really want to get to know your different length shears - Check out thisREFRESH KIT. It includes 6 inch thinning shears, 5.5 inch, 6 inch and 7 inch shear, guaranteeing you have all your bases covered!
