normal sissors vs. hair sissors

This is true and this is why professionals use the best, or should be using the best.

The salon scissors cut clean, the hair doesn't slide away as you cut it. I hate that because it messes up the line.

Anyway, with the salon scissors the hair is cut, not bent or frayed or... well, have you ever been cutting your hair and it takes two or three "chomps" before it makes a cut. That is very bad for the hair.

I invested in a brand called Eclipse. They are great. The cutting edge is very sharp and I only use them for hair. I have known professionals who are so fussy about their scissors, they dare not drop them because then the blades separate enough to not cut the hair properly. That might also tell you the importance of a good pair of scissors.

Hope this helps.

Hey, I love "chomp "too.
Here is a visual.......imagine your hair under a microscope....cut with bad scissors will look like a new tube of lipstick...ya know the tube with a slant on the end. Cut with good scissors will look like a fresh tube of chapstick....straight across. The bad scissors create the slant that leaves more open ends of cuticles so they have more of a chance of splitting. Straight across seals them.

I hope this helps

Don't mind me if I butt in here =).

I believe the point is the sharper scissors are, the better and more cleanly they cut the hair. Store bought scissors and other scissors can be less sharp and precise, so they will either break hair off at the point of "cutting" or will cut the hair at an angle, and it will be more likely to split. So the main point is, if you want your ends to be very clean, use "hair" scissors that are not used for any other purpose. Personally, I occasionally use my own regular scissors to cut off split ends (one at a time) because I have this idea in my head that the less damaged ends I have, the easier it will be to brush through my hair, and the less time and product it will take to "fix" it.

Probably the absolute worst you could do to your ends would be to use those dull "kid-safe" blades with rounded ends, the ones we used to use in elementary school that sometimes wouldn't even cut paper ;-). But in the long run, cutting off damaged ends with sub-standard blades probably just leaves another vulnerable end. Hope this has helped.

That's like asking "is the carpenter using a hammer or a frying pan." The right tool for the right job.

It's their livelihood and they are professionals. They use the best of everything... I should hope. I can't see a secretary using hair scissors and a stylist using desk scissors.

I guess they learn that in beauty school. Lesson #1.

When you go into a salon, take a peek and take note of the tools. If they look like they came out of a kindergarten class leave immediately.