Hair scissors help please...

[Flossiebell]

Hi everyone

I’ve decided to start cutting my own hair again. I don’t have a major issue with this in that I’m wavy/curly so exact straight lines aren’t an issue.

However......I really struggle with scissors. I have bought about 3 pairs of hairdressing scissors over the years - at about £12 each and they are all advertised as ‘professional’. I know that actual ‘professional’ hair cutting scissors cost a lot more than that, but I expect them to do a decent job. They are adjustable so I have tried to get them to be reasonable but no joy.......they either bend my hair without cutting or just ‘push’ it out of the way. This makes me wonder if they are damaging the ends rather than cutting straight across - or am I overthinking this?

Do I need actual hairdressing scissors? Surely it shouldn’t be this hard to do. Will ordinary scissors do the trick providing I don’t use them for anything else? Does anyone else have this problem? It’s bad when I want to cut my own hair after several bad experiences at the hairdressers only to find that despite owning several pairs of scissors I can’t actually cut it........arrrrrgh!

Does anyone have any advice or tips please?

Thanks 😊

[Julescarm]

How thick is your hair? If its thick you could need to cut in smaller sections. Mine is Fine but both my husband and step son have extremely thick hair. I've been using a beard trimmer for their hair and a small tooth comb. Works well. Lol. I would not chance ordinary scissors.

[littlestarface]

You need real hairstylist scissors sadly or else we just keep the split in a cycle. Its worth it to buy the more expensive scissors.

[akurah]

Check the price of scissors sharpening if there are stores local that do that. They can either sharpen your scissors or potentially advise you to get better scissors. Be mindful of the cost though, if the price of sharpening is such you’re better off getting new scissors, do that.

Make sure either after sharpening or replacing that they’re never used to cut anything except hair. This means not letting anyone else get ahold of them.

[Flossiebell]

How thick is your hair? If its thick you could need to cut in smaller sections. Mine is Fine but both my husband and step son have extremely thick hair. I've been using a beard trimmer for their hair and a small tooth comb. Works well. Lol. I would not chance ordinary scissors.

Hi Julescarm, thanks for replying. I have fine hair, but lots of it.

[lapushka]

Good scissors are "Japanese steel" and cost at least around 50 dollars or euro. Mine are EU based and are from Ultron. They cost about 50/60 euro last I bought some (was an on sale offer that I couldn't resist, so I got a back-up pair). Mine were more than 10 years old, but they are still *fine*!

The Mane Choice ones aren't bad - at all, if you want an actual recommendation that you can get in the US. I have heard from so many people they are really sharp!
https://themanechoice.com/products/shear-surgical-precision-professional-cut-split-end-eliminator

[Ligeia Noire]

I got exactly the same ones that Lapushka is recommending, last year for Christmas, and I like them a lot, they are very sharp, easy to use and come with a practical protective case.

[sumidha]

Go to a beauty supply store and buy a pair from the back wall behind the register. Spend around $60 and you'll never have to buy another pair or probably even have them sharpened, for the rest of your life. :)

[M00bles]

If you have a Salon Services that’s open to the public near you then you can get Japanese steel scissors for around £30+. It may seem a lot but I figure most hairdresser visits are around that price so they’ve paid for themselves after one use.

[lapushka]

Here a student-chain hairdresser (that puts students in between their regular hair dressers) charge 59 euro for a cut and blowdry. That price has gone up, and you are not even guaranteed a good outcome by going to this chain, if it's not an easy enough cut. They are the ones that messed up my hair right before graduation. A flyer just fell into my mailbox from them (regular mail) and the prices were on there, so they're "fresh".

Give me my scissors any time. It's nothing spending 50 dollars or euro one time for a good pair of shears.

Do look for "japanese steel" ones, and the Mane Choice ones are just that. Not that you have to buy those, they may not be available in your part of the world, but a good hair supply store should have some good ones for you.

[bed_head]

Just throwing my 2 cents into the discussion. I have a pair of Tweezerman hair scissors (Tweezerman Spirit 2000 Styling Shears) that I picked up like 5 years ago. I don't use them a super lot, but I do find that they have a nice sharp edge on them. The brand, in my opinion, seems to make consistently good products that hold up well in my experience.

[Flossiebell]

Hi everyone - thanks so much for the advice. I have just ordered a pair of ultron scissors! Can’t wait for them to arrive 😀 thanks again...

[lapushka]

Hi everyone - thanks so much for the advice. I have just ordered a pair of ultron scissors! Can’t wait for them to arrive �� thanks again...

You did not by any chance get the 10 euro pair, right, because those are worthless. It's the 50 euro (or thereabouts) ones that are awesome.

[Flossiebell]

Hi Lapushka, no I didn’t order the 10 Euro ones, have learnt my lesson - I ordered some that equate to 48.5 euros 😀 sounds like you definitely get what you pay for