subject: A Guide to Buying Hair Scissors [print this page] Spending day after day cutting and shaping and blending and thinning can put a lot of stress on your muscles, but the righthair scissors provide every comfort enhancing feature available.
As a student, you'll be using these shears often and on all types of hair so it's important to invest in some quality shears that will last. These scissors are the most valuable tool you have.
The Kamisori 5.75"Ergonomic Student Shears are made from 440C high chromium Stainless Steel. It is made with special corrosion resistant properties to ensure that they don't rust or become damaged and this metal provides the highest durability so these studenthair scissors will last throughout all of your training.
Using the correct blade is another important part of learning how to cut and style hair. Convex and Bevel blades are the most used types. Bevel blades have been around for a long time and are the oldest style used today. Because of it's older design, scissors with bevel blades need more forced to open and close. It can easily add pain and strain to your hand and fingers. Just consider how many times you open and close your shears during one hair cut. The convex blade is a newer, updated blade and is used on nearly all training shears. It is a state of the art, smooth blade that requires less force. Convex blades are required for slide cutting because bevel blades will leave the hair choppy and gapped.
The tensions system on professional hair shears have evolved over the years to make the adjustments easier and more accurate. There are five tensions systems on professional hair shears: The Coin Adjustable, Round Click Dial Adjustable, Leaf Spring Assembly, Rotating Thumb Ball Bearing and Ball Bearing Pivot System. The purpose of a tension system is to allow the hair stylist to adjust how the shears open and close. Too tight tension will lead to poorly executed cuts and easily damaged hair scissors; too loose tension makes hair damage because it will bend the strands, rather than precisely cut them. The coin adjustable system is the oldest tensions system available; it is considered an industry standard and very dependable.
Round click dial tension systems are more precise because the scissors make an audible click with each adjustment. The leaf spring adjustable tensions system is modified version of the previous two styles that allows for much more control and accuracy when adjusting the tension. The balance it offers to hair shears results in a longer lasting set of scissors. Both of the ball bearing tensions styles allow for more stability and movement when using the hair scissors.
Finger rests are an option feature available on most hair scissors and provides a new level of comfort and/or stability. It can reduce muscle stress and prevent injury, especially CTS (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and RSI (Repetive Strain Injury). There is no hard-fast answer for using a finger rest. Its use is based on the desire of the stylist. Because of this, some professional hair shears come with a finger rest and some don't. On some shears, the finger rest is removable, allowing each student to try cutting hair with and without the rest. No matter what their preference, students will be able to work comfortable with these kinds of shears.
The final feature discussed in this article is the thumb ring, or swivel thumb ring. Many scissors are manufactured with stationary thumb rings, but for a new hair stylist, it is important to use scissors that can adjust to his or her preferences. It's also valuable in that it give a student the opportunity to try using the scissors at different angles to help decide what works best. Many high quality shears have a thumb ring that adjusts to any angle to increase comfort and leverage and to provide options to each new stylist.
Professional hair shears come in a vast variety of shapes, sizes and designs. They range from very inexpensive and very low quality to extremely expensive and the highest quality. Purchasing shears as a stylist is an investment, and should not be taken lightly. The least expensive pair of professional hair shears is almost never the best option; with poor quality scissors your will deliver poor quality cuts and hinder your career. It's important to invest in the best tools not only for your career, but during your schooling as well.
