PDA

View Full Version : Shears For Trimmings, Dustings, and S&D?



mermaiden_hair
February 11th, 2016, 07:57 AM
Hey all, I have a quick question for you lovely people: Which shears do you like to use for your trimmings, dustings, and S&D? I have this very small pair of scissors that I only used for my eyebrows, you know when you brush your eyebrow hairs up and then cut the very long hairs in order to make your brows look groomed? Yeah, I have the Tweezerman ones, they're very good quality, but I am wondering if that is safe to use for my hair, LOL!

https://www.gianteagle.com/ProductImages/PRODUCT_NODE_1323/38097005509.jpg

bunneh.
February 11th, 2016, 08:19 AM
Any sharp scissors that you only use for hair are fine. Some people say they have to have professional shears or those meant for hair, but honestly I think sharpness of blades is more important than what they're originally meant for. Dull hair shears are a lot worse for the hair than perfectly sharp paper scissors. But you want to take your hair into account, some hair is more fragile and other doesn't care what you do to it.

Eastbound&Down
February 11th, 2016, 08:45 AM
I have a pair of shears that I bought from Sally's for a decent price that work really well. I haven't used them in a while and I'm doing a no trimming challenge this year, but they are waiting patiently for me in a drawer at home for when the end of December rolls around and it's time to trim.

missrandie
February 11th, 2016, 08:55 AM
I got a pair off Amazon that I use exclusively for hair.. But I think they have only snipped a max of 20 hairs thus far with them :p

Arctic
February 11th, 2016, 09:02 AM
Those are probably nice for S&D but they are too small (too short blades) for trims (at least IMHO).

lapushka
February 11th, 2016, 09:11 AM
I'd get a different set just for hair, not that tiny pair of shears. It might be okay for S&D but for a real trim, you're going to have trouble cutting through more hair. This is great for individual hairs, but for more, bigger chunks: no.

Beatrixity
February 11th, 2016, 09:45 AM
I use very sharp, high quality embroidery scissors for s &d. They work well, and I have not seen any damage from them. I had bought a pair of hair shears for $10 (conair brand), but those were terrible and did cause damage. I'm currently saving up for Japanese v10 steel shears for actual trims, but it might be a wile before I buy them. Sigh. Hope you find the shears of your dreams!

Remi
February 11th, 2016, 06:11 PM
I could not find any where I live, and I decided to order a pair from ebay. They have adjustment for the tension and really are very sharp. I really love them.

lapushka
February 13th, 2016, 03:27 PM
I could not find any where I live, and I decided to order a pair from ebay. They have adjustment for the tension and really are very sharp. I really love them.

I got some off of ebay as well and they were cheap and were so dull I couldn't believe it. Even my drugstore regular shears were sharper. And I need sharp shears because my hair is thick.

That is why I got real professional shears for about €50 from a *real* beauty supply store. They are amazing! I think I've had these for about 10 years now. Of course they hardly get used. My mom snips her hair with them every 3 to 4 months, and they are used for my cuts, whenever I decide to trim my hair (last cut was this January, and before that it was 2 years ago).

SaraJayne
February 13th, 2016, 03:36 PM
I recently bought hairdressing scissors from Amazon just for S&D. They cost me £12. The other night when cutting out a few tangles on my dog I switched from cheap scissors to my hair ones and the difference was amazing! Made me feel entirely justified in buying a special pair for the purpose.

mermaiden_hair
February 16th, 2016, 05:48 AM
Any sharp scissors that you only use for hair are fine. Some people say they have to have professional shears or those meant for hair, but honestly I think sharpness of blades is more important than what they're originally meant for. Dull hair shears are a lot worse for the hair than perfectly sharp paper scissors. But you want to take your hair into account, some hair is more fragile and other doesn't care what you do to it.

Good information, thank you! My Tweezerman scissors are pretty darn sharp, but it is very small. Then again, it might work for a S&Ds but not for trims. Is there a difference between trims, microtrims, dustings, and S&D? I know that S&Ds means only cutting individual split ends, about less than 1/4 inch cut off. Trims are more than 1/4 inch, usually 1/2 inch or more cut off, right? :confused:


I have a pair of shears that I bought from Sally's for a decent price that work really well. I haven't used them in a while and I'm doing a no trimming challenge this year, but they are waiting patiently for me in a drawer at home for when the end of December rolls around and it's time to trim.

Sally's Beauty is amazing. Too bad they aren't any in Ireland... but we do have beauty supply stores, I'll have to take a look!


I got a pair off Amazon that I use exclusively for hair.. But I think they have only snipped a max of 20 hairs thus far with them :p

I might have to go the online route if I cannot find anything decent here in Ireland as well. :p


Those are probably nice for S&D but they are too small (too short blades) for trims (at least IMHO).

I agree. Then again... I'm thinking I shouldn't trim my hair at all and just do S&D until I reach my goal length. Is that healthy to do, though?


I'd get a different set just for hair, not that tiny pair of shears. It might be okay for S&D but for a real trim, you're going to have trouble cutting through more hair. This is great for individual hairs, but for more, bigger chunks: no.

I definitely agree. Is there a certain type of shear that I should look for?


I use very sharp, high quality embroidery scissors for s &d. They work well, and I have not seen any damage from them. I had bought a pair of hair shears for $10 (conair brand), but those were terrible and did cause damage. I'm currently saving up for Japanese v10 steel shears for actual trims, but it might be a wile before I buy them. Sigh. Hope you find the shears of your dreams!

Me too! I know of the Hikari shears but they are extremely expensive, maybe one day many years into the future I'll buy a pair from them, but right now, I just need a decent shear at a decent price.


I could not find any where I live, and I decided to order a pair from ebay. They have adjustment for the tension and really are very sharp. I really love them.

Are you talking about the Tweezerman or something else?


I got some off of ebay as well and they were cheap and were so dull I couldn't believe it. Even my drugstore regular shears were sharper. And I need sharp shears because my hair is thick.

That is why I got real professional shears for about €50 from a *real* beauty supply store. They are amazing! I think I've had these for about 10 years now. Of course they hardly get used. My mom snips her hair with them every 3 to 4 months, and they are used for my cuts, whenever I decide to trim my hair (last cut was this January, and before that it was 2 years ago).

Lapushka, do you give yourself actual haircuts? How do you do that without getting nervous? shudder: I wish I had that kind of courage to give myself actual haircuts, but I'm too scared! It would save me a lot of money by staying away from salons!


I recently bought hairdressing scissors from Amazon just for S&D. They cost me £12. The other night when cutting out a few tangles on my dog I switched from cheap scissors to my hair ones and the difference was amazing! Made me feel entirely justified in buying a special pair for the purpose.

I'll have to buckle down and get me a pair of real shears just for my hair, then! Thanks everybody!

lapushka
February 16th, 2016, 06:28 AM
I definitely agree. Is there a certain type of shear that I should look for?

I've got the brand "Ultron". It was from a local beauty supply store in The Netherlands (they ship to Belgium), and cost me about €50. Good investment. Had them for 10 year or so and they are still as sharp as ever. My mom trims her hair with it 3/4 times a year, and I trim... very rarely. Last trim was this January 1st 2016 and the trim before that was November 2013. But it still cuts through all my "bulk" *very* sharply. :lol:

I'd go to a real beauty supply store and get pro-haircutting shears, but just the entry level and don't get ones that cost just less than 50, I'd say that is the key in getting a real sharp pair. I have drugstore ones that were around €10 and they aren't nearly as sharp as these. And I have iii hair, so it matters because it's not fun having to saw through all that thickness. The way you can tell if it's not sharp enough is that you have to "saw" through the hair.

mermaiden_hair
February 16th, 2016, 06:36 AM
I've got the brand "Ultron". It was from a local beauty supply store in The Netherlands (they ship to Belgium), and cost me about €50. Good investment. Had them for 10 year or so and they are still as sharp as ever. My mom trims her hair with it 3/4 times a year, and I trim... very rarely. Last trim was this January 1st 2016 and the trim before that was November 2013. But it still cuts through all my "bulk" *very* sharply. :lol:

I'd go to a real beauty supply store and get pro-haircutting shears, but just the entry level and don't get ones that cost just less than 50, I'd say that is the key in getting a real sharp pair. I have drugstore ones that were around €10 and they aren't nearly as sharp as these. And I have iii hair, so it matters because it's not fun having to saw through all that thickness. The way you can tell if it's not sharp enough is that you have to "saw" through the hair.

50 euros or over... got it! Thanks so much, I really need a good pair of shears. I also wonder how in the world you are so brave in giving yourself a full haircut at home. :O Don't you get nervous doing it?

bunneh.
February 16th, 2016, 07:02 AM
Good information, thank you! My Tweezerman scissors are pretty darn sharp, but it is very small. Then again, it might work for a S&Ds but not for trims. Is there a difference between trims, microtrims, dustings, and S&D? I know that S&Ds means only cutting individual split ends, about less than 1/4 inch cut off. Trims are more than 1/4 inch, usually 1/2 inch or more cut off, right? :confused:

Because they're small it'll be hard to do trims or dustings with them, but for s&d they should be good. S&D is snipping off only ends that are split or bent, or knotted or otherwise in bad condition. Microtrimming and dusting is basically the same thing, it means cutting your entire hemline but not a lot, perhaps 1/5 of an inch (5 mm) or so. Trimming is everything else; cutting more than 1/5 of an inch, changing hemlines, getting layers, getting bangs, going from long hair to much shorter hair,...

As for the shears, I used to use those that came with dad's electric razor thing and they were super sharp but I decided to buy a pair for hair only as I used those to cut paper and other stuff as well occasionally. I got ones for 10€, I'd never pay 50 € for shears, my hair is not worth that much lol...

lapushka
February 16th, 2016, 10:09 AM
50 euros or over... got it! Thanks so much, I really need a good pair of shears. I also wonder how in the world you are so brave in giving yourself a full haircut at home. :O Don't you get nervous doing it?

Well my mom cuts it for me, but Feye's method as well as the compact cut layering techniques have always worked wonders! It is scary at first, but once you find out you can avoid salons and what you can do wrong is minimal, that's basically it. You've got the bug. :lol:

mermaiden_hair
February 18th, 2016, 12:50 PM
Because they're small it'll be hard to do trims or dustings with them, but for s&d they should be good. S&D is snipping off only ends that are split or bent, or knotted or otherwise in bad condition. Microtrimming and dusting is basically the same thing, it means cutting your entire hemline but not a lot, perhaps 1/5 of an inch (5 mm) or so. Trimming is everything else; cutting more than 1/5 of an inch, changing hemlines, getting layers, getting bangs, going from long hair to much shorter hair,...

As for the shears, I used to use those that came with dad's electric razor thing and they were super sharp but I decided to buy a pair for hair only as I used those to cut paper and other stuff as well occasionally. I got ones for 10€, I'd never pay 50 € for shears, my hair is not worth that much lol...

Your trimming definition sounds like a haircut, or is it the same thing in the end? :confused: I thought haircuts were like, to dramatically change your hair, and then a trim is something one must do in order to maintain a certain length, hair health, or to cut off damaged ends (more than 1/4 cut off) while it grows.


Well my mom cuts it for me, but Feye's method as well as the compact cut layering techniques have always worked wonders! It is scary at first, but once you find out you can avoid salons and what you can do wrong is minimal, that's basically it. You've got the bug. :lol:

I'll look at those methods, thanks! My mom actually cuts her own hair in layers, it is not uber long but it is around her mid back and it looks really nice! She saves money every year by skipping the salon. :o

lapushka
February 18th, 2016, 01:28 PM
I'll look at those methods, thanks! My mom actually cuts her own hair in layers, it is not uber long but it is around her mid back and it looks really nice! She saves money every year by skipping the salon. :o

Here's more info on one of the techniques. They both originated from the book, "Haircutting for dummies":
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/cutting-hair-with-lightning-speed.html

This is the technique that is currently used on my hair. But for ease of use, we make a ponytail, then because the hair is so long, do another elastic band along the way, then bring it down and snip.

mermaiden_hair
February 18th, 2016, 01:39 PM
Here's more info on one of the techniques. They both originated from the book, "Haircutting for dummies":
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/cutting-hair-with-lightning-speed.html

This is the technique that is currently used on my hair. But for ease of use, we make a ponytail, then because the hair is so long, do another elastic band along the way, then bring it down and snip.

Don't you just love the Dummies series? :rolling: My dad has a bunch of those back in the 90's and I remember skimming pages upon pages of them in all sorts of topic. I have a Dummies book in my Kindle account about clean eating. They really are great books once you get past their cheesy yellow and black color schemes.

I'll get that Dummies book about hair cutting, then, since my hubby-to-be keeps pestering me to also cut and trim his hair in order to save some money in the bank. It is a good life skill to have! So thanks a million!

bunneh.
February 18th, 2016, 02:30 PM
Well to maintain a length you would have to cut the same amount of hair off in a month that it grows that month, which is on average half an inch, could be less could be more. But then if someone cuts more than an inch or let's say a couple of inches, they would still say they trimmed their hair. I'm not sure but yes it's probably more of a maintaining thing not necessarily in a way that you'd be trimming off the exact same amount that grew in a certain period of time but rather to maintain the basic shape you chose for your hair.

lapushka
February 18th, 2016, 03:11 PM
Don't you just love the Dummies series? :rolling: My dad has a bunch of those back in the 90's and I remember skimming pages upon pages of them in all sorts of topic. I have a Dummies book in my Kindle account about clean eating. They really are great books once you get past their cheesy yellow and black color schemes.

I'll get that Dummies book about hair cutting, then, since my hubby-to-be keeps pestering me to also cut and trim his hair in order to save some money in the bank. It is a good life skill to have! So thanks a million!

Yes there's definitely some good pointers in there on general cutting as well! I would recommend it to everybody! :D