Why you shouldn't use thinning scissors with curly hair

Let's first get one thing straight, when talking about curly hair we don't mean wavy hair. Curly hair in this blog means those beautiful spiral curls that can naturally get dry or frizzy if not properly maintained. Naturally curly hair can normally be hard work to maintain, but easy to maintain once you understand what does and does not work with curly hair.

Unfortunately it may take a bad haircut or a product or tool that dries curly hair out and does not leave it lovely and moisturised but instead leaves the curls with dry hair. If you want to avoid one big mistake by using thinning shears on your clients curly hair.. then we suggest you keep reading.

What could Thinning scissors do to my clients hair?

Now here's the right question to ask, What can Thinning shears actually do to your clients hair? In many circumstances thinning shears are a great tool to use on your clients hair if they don't have curly hair that is.

When cutting curly hair the general idea is to encourage the shape of the curl, Which actually needs the weight for the curl to stay in shape. Thinning shears tends to take out the weight of hair and when your clients have straight hair or wavy hair then the hair will sit more blended or flat. 

When you use thinning shears on curly hair then that thinning shear will take weight out of the curl which will result in the curl going frizzy and losing its shape, I mean who wants frizzy hair right?.

If your client has curly thick hair and you're reading this thinking, "Well my client needs some weight taken out of their thick hair because their hair is too thick and heavy". Don't worry there are other ways of taking weight out or without using the thinning shears. If having your clients hair thinned is still what you desire for them then read on. Which is why we lead you into our next topic.

Difference between Thinning scissors and Texturizing scissors

When you are looking at a pair of thinning scissors and a Texturizing shear side by side there are some visible differences. Thinning shears have lots of small fine teeth that are lined up close together. Texturising shears have much larger teeth and larger spaces between each tooth.

Now here comes a fun little hack some hair stylists like to do when wanting to thin hair but want to avoid a thinning shears disaster on curly hair. 

You will find that most unwanted thickness is always situated at the back of your hair and way under the crown area. Also this is the safest area to remove any bulk as there is so much hair back there.

If you take a couple of fine sections through the back and use the texturizing shears closest to the root area then this is a quick and easy way to remove bulk from curly hair without creating unwanted frizz.

Always make sure to section out your first section, from at least two inches from the nape (bottom) of the hair line. The reason we suggest this is that the whole perimeter of the hairline is naturally one of the thinnest areas of your clients hair. If you were to use the texturizing shears in this area then it would be as clear as day if your client were to tie up their hair.

Use this technique lightly and comb out each section first before judging if you need to go and cut some more.

Another alternative to using Thinning scissors

There's other ways for a professional stylist to avoid giving your clients frizzy hair and to have their hair thinned to remove excess thickness. This would be an obvious solution to a hair stylist but that is to give the hair some layers.

Layers are a great way to remove any split ends or damaged hair. Layers obviously create different lengths in your hair because when cutting layers into curly hair, no two curls actually curl the same way or fall the same length. Curly hair grows at all different lengths and ways when the hair is naturally curly, so cutting curly hair should be cut curly to see the true direction of the curl and not using a flat iron or cut post styling, because that wont give your client the best shape.

Giving your curly haired client layers is a great way to remove bulk, create shape and a great way to avoid picking up those pesky thinning scissors.

We understand that every Hairdresser may have their own special way of cutting curly hair. So Please keep in mind our suggestions are purely suggestions, in saying that we really suggest to avoid thinning scissors to keep your clients beautiful locks staying beautiful and bouncy.