long hair ramblings about thinning scissors!

[lolar]

I know the thought of thinning scissors must scare a lot of people, as it does me....but i'm considering it. My hair is one length and waist length now. I've got here many times before - determined to get to hip and then at around this length start getting fed up. My hair is very thick and I get a lot of compliments on my hair but although the hair might be nice hair, im very petite and it just drowns me and it is so heavy I never seem to wear it down any more. Last time I got to waist was about 3 - 4 yrs ago and I got this feeling then so I had layers put in.....then I didn't like how the layers were cut so I had a chin length bob cut...and hated it the second it was done. So this time i'm thinking about having it thinned with thinning scissors so I can still have the one length look but it doesn't look so bulky. The other thing was to have face framing layers but then I thought maybe at waist my hair will be too long for this now as it will end up as a V at the back (which I don't want). I've never tried thinning scissors before and i'm a bit worried about trying them....does anyone else use them? do they cause split ends? Any comments from anyone else with thin waist length hair would be appreciated. How is yours styled when its down? ps I have an appointment with my trusted hair dresser next week (I wont be doing this myself!)

[goldenlady]

As a baby-hair owner myself, I'm very very jealous!

[chen bao jun]

Don't know if they cause damage or not. I know that thinning with a razor does. I have never thinned my hair (though its often been suggested that I should) because my father told me that he had it done once and the problem is that you have to keep doing it constantly, because when the thinned parts start to grow (and my hair and his hair grows fast) then you have the same thickness sort of poofed out on top while the bottom hangs down limply. Layers really don't work for you?

[BlazingHeart]

For my thick hair, thinning is a disaster. I had it done once, and it was one of three cuts I have had that I truly hated. It made it so I had ends sticking out everywhere. It looked silly down and worse if I tried to braid it or put it in a ponytail. I looked like my hair was ultra damaged and breaking off at every length.

[Pixie2013]

If it is done right thinning can look nice. I am pixie now but had my hair thinned when it was BSL. The thinning shears themselves don't do any damage, but once the hairs are cut the shorter ones are your new end points for split ends, so it can be a real pain to maintain a healthy look if the hair is thinned too high. You can buy thinning shears at a beauty supply store and try a bit of thinning on your own, just on the bottom inch or two of hair or even just on one small section instead of on your whole hemline. Just like with damaged ends or too many layers, thinning can make braid ends and some updos much trickier.

[spidermom]

Ends sticking out all over the place: that's what I remember about thinning. Bleh! Well-done layers are much nicer.

[massivecnqstdr]

I agree with the previous posters. Thinning shears on a one-length haircut tend to just give the look of split ends. They aren't actually split ends, but the shorter hairs tend to just behave badly. My hair has never been long or thick, but I used to cut hair. I would honestly recommend light layering, point cut but not thinned with a razor or thinning shears. Or, just love the hair you have that people like me would kill for!! :p

[fairview]

I wish you were in the Dallas/Forth Worth Area and Icould give you what you want and stull have the appearance of a one length look.

First you say you are petite which I take to mean vertically challenged. There are NO rules when it comes to cutting and coloring hair. Only guidelines. If you can choose a hairstyle or length that bends/breaks accepted guidelines and you do it confidently, no matter what style or length you chose it will look good on you. The most beautiful cut/color/style worn without confidence will always look poor. Long hair on a vertically challenged individual gives the illusion of even being shorter and couple that with a lot of hair, the petite individual will appear to be a very small person. When your hair reaches a certain length you have admitted you begin to feel uncomfortable with it and end up doing something rash. The solution is to keep it shorter than that critical length. That critical length is when you lose self confidence in your appearance and you become obsessed with the illusion your hair is giving you.

Secondly, you do not want thinning or more correctly texturizing shears to reduce the weight of your hair. Tools in the hands of fools will always create disasters. Texturizing shears are of limited use to me that I will address later.

Weight in your hair resides in that area from the backside of one ear around the back of the head to the backside of the other ear. Forward of the ears, the hair line jumps up 3+" and if anything present the opposite problem. To reduce weight in the hair and maintain a one length cut, the stylist needs to cut invisible layers inside the hair from these two corners on the backside of the head. If started to close to the scalp, the ends will stick up and outside your canvass. Started to far down the mid-shaft and weight will be reduced but the ends will appear overly thin. While I'm not about to give away all my secrets I will say that any competent stylist will only remove weight when the hair is dry and you should only allow it to be done dry. It is impossible to tell how much weight is removed when the hair is wet.

Texturizing shears have valuable albeit limited use with me. I will use them to remove weight lines in a men's cut and on a ladies cut I will use them to reduce bulk at the ends. Most every guest I see for the first time comment about the impossibility of combing through their hair without it stopping near the ends. In the right hands and used correctly, texturizing shear will eliminate this problem in a heartbeat without thinning the ends out. When it comes toadding texture to hair. I will use a D. Scott carving comb, chopstick or DSX4 razor or old school point cut with scissors.

Hope this helps in finding a solution.

[HintOfMint]

I will be an odd voice here in favor of texturizing scissors (not razors, but notched or toothed scissors that cut some hairs but leave others). I have hair that has been from hip to tailbone in the last year. I tried growing it out to one length and it was just too heavy. I decided to get layers and they helped but as my hair grew longer, it became heavy again and the layers, while nicely done, looked "stacked" because of my thickness. Finally, my hairdresser took out the texturizing scissors and went to town on my hair. FINALLY, my hair was able to lay nicely and I was able to actually get some volume at the top without choppy layers. As the poster above me noted, they're "invisible" layers cut into your hair instead of "steps" from outside in or front to back.

I would trust my hairdresser with my life, he's the best I've come across, so I'm fine with him thinning out my hair this way. I can see it go very wrong in less skilled hands though. You also should only get it done once every other cut or once every two cuts because it can really thin out your ends if done every time.

[Artisticat]

Last time I went to a hairdresser (1 1/2 years ago) - she "texturized" my hair.
Ended up with "furry" hair. I was so depressed about it for months.
I vote for layers if you have to reduce the weight of your hair.