Should I Try Thinning Scissors?

If you envy those who wake up with flat, perfectly straight hair in the morning, you are not alone. The thinner your hair, the easier it is to control. If you have curly or thick hair, you may notice yourself engaging in an all out war every single morning as you attempt to style and manage your hair. You’ve tried a ton of different hair products to try and reduce the poof and frizziness, all to no avail. If this sounds like you, then it may be time to have your hair “thinned out” with thinning scissors.

You can use thinning scissors yourself at home, or a professional in a salon can use them on your hair. Thinning scissors, which are also commonly referred to as thinning shears, are scissors that are used to both thin and shape your hair without actually changing your hair style. The thinning shears differ from regular scissors in that they have two very jagged blades that are very comb-like in appearance rather than being two straight blades. These two comb-shaped blades allow for some of the hair on your head to be cut short, while the rest isn’t cut at all.

TIP: If you have a choppy hair ‘do and you want to blend your hair some more, thinning shears can do that too regardless of your hair type or length. Use with caution if you do have thin or fine hair as thinning scissors may remove too much of your hair’s “bulk”.

How to Use Thinning Scissors

If you want to try using thinning scissors or shears in your very own home, you can definitely do so. Start off by taking your hair and combing it so that it is as soon as it can possibly be. Now open up the shears and slide them all the way up so that they are 1/3 to 1/2 of the way along the length of the hair from the scalp. Make one single cut with the scissors, and then remove the scissors. Take your comb and comb it through that section of the hair so that you can remove the hair that has been now cut.

Move right along to the next section of hair (choose a different length) and use the same process: open the scissors and move them to that same point where you made your first cut, snip the hair, and then comb out the cut hair. Do this until you have made one round around your entire head. If need be, you can go around your head again, this time moving down to 1/3 of the way above the tips of your hair.

For wavy or straight hair, you will most likely only need to make two rounds around your head. For those with curly hair, you may need to make a third time around at the middle of the length of your hair. Always remember to start from the top and work your way down. This will help you assess just how much thinning your hair really needs without thinning it out too much.