An often-overlooked but critical detail when choosing a new hair shear is the proper fit. The way in which a shear fits in the hand affects control, precision, and the overall quality of the finished cut. Ill-fitting shears can cause discomfort, fatigue, or even injury.
Educator and platform artist Jesse Linares, a Sam Villa ArTeam member, breaks down the do's and don'ts of a correct fit for your shear.
Doing a Shear Fit Check
The fit of a hair shear refers to how our fingers fit in its rings. This spacing directly affects how the shear feels in our hand, how the weight is distributed, and how it will benefit (or hurt) us ergonomically.
In fact, without proper spacing, a shear that could be perfect for us might feel wrong in our hand.
When our fingers are sitting too far into the rings, it forces our entire hand to move to get the scissor in motion. This adds unnecessary stress to our hand, and also the shear itself.
With the correct spacing, the shear is held securely by our fingers — not the thumb. On our ring finger, we want the ring of the shears to be unable to slide past our second knuckle. It may even feel a little snug there, and that's okay. That's really going make sure the scissor maintains its position towards the end of the finger and is held securely.
As far as the thumb goes, we want only the very tip able to fit into the ring. The thumb's job is to merely move the blade up and down — not to hold or push it. Our grip on the shear comes from the rest of our fingers and the secureness that we have from the spacing on our ring finger.
When using a shear, our thumb operates as a lever, with the fulcrum being the joint at the very base of the thumb. The closer the shear is to this joint, the wider the hand has to open to move the blades.
The body of the scissor should remain as close to the ends of our fingertips as possible, so when we open and close this "lever" it doesn't take that much movement to get the blades in motion.
Reducing this movement benefits us over time. In fact, it was for this reason Sam Villa introduced the "forward-set thumb" configuration present in most of our shears.
The fit of our shear is crucial to having the best experience and could help us fall in love with our favorite scissor all over again! If your spacing needs adjustment, check out Sam Villa's Shear Care Kit.
Find out where Jesse Linares will be teaching and book an in-salon class here.