I finally asked an old barber why he never uses thinning shears

Last week I was filling in at a shop in Austin and got to talking with this older guy, Jimmy, who's been cutting hair since like 1982. He watched me grab my thinning shears on a thick head of hair and just shook his head with this little smirk. I asked him what was up and he said "son, you're taking the easy way out and it shows in the finish." He spent the next 10 minutes showing me how he uses just his regular shears and some point cutting to blend everything out. I tried his method on my next client and honestly the texture came out way better, no weird lines or choppy spots. He told me thinning shears can leave little blunt ends that mess up how hair grows back over time. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has ditched thinning shears completely or if I'm just being dramatic about one guy's opinion.

3 comments

3 Comments

milarodriguez6d ago

Oh man, I went through this exact thing a couple years back when a barber at a shop in Dallas showed me the same technique! Once I got comfortable with point cutting, my blends looked way cleaner and my regulars started saying their hair grew out nicer between appointments. I still keep my thinners around for super thick hair, but honestly I reach for them way less now.

tessa_murray6d ago

Totally get where you're coming from. I've had a few old timers tell me the same thing and it made me rethink everything. The way they explain how thinning shears create those blunt little ends really stuck with me, especially when I noticed my own clients coming back with weird regrowth patterns. I tried ditching mine for a few weeks and honestly once you get the hang of point cutting it feels more controlled and natural. Maybe it's just me but I feel like the finish lasts longer and the hair lays better between cuts too.

angela_harris6d ago

Lol I gotta disagree about point cutting lasting longer, I've actually had clients come back way faster when I use that technique compared to thinning shears. The blunt ends from thinning shears give me way more control over how the weight falls in the cut personally.