Tried thinning shears on coarse hair for the first time totally screwed up a clients cut

I been cutting hair for about 4 years now and always avoided thinning shears on thicker coarse hair because I thought they would just make it look choppy. Last week a regular came in with that super thick wiry type hair and begged me to thin it out because he was tired of the bulk. I grabbed a pair I had sitting in my drawer for like 2 years and went to town on the top section. Big mistake. I took way too much off in one spot and created this weird dent that I had to fix by layering the whole top shorter than he wanted. He was cool about it but I felt bad. Now I know you gotta use them super sparingly and never go straight into the hair at a flat angle. You guys got any tips for fixing a botched thinning job without making the client sit for another hour?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivanlewis5d ago

Man I felt that in my bones. Did the same thing on a dude with thick Mexican hair last year, took a chunk out of his crown and he looked like he had a cowlick for a week. Best fix I found is to point cut into the dent with your shears at a 45 degree angle to blend it, then go back over the whole section with your regular scissors using a slight slide cutting motion. It saves you from having to chase the whole cut shorter and the client doesn't end up with a mullet.

wright.michael5d agoMost Upvoted

Funny how fixing a haircut dent is a lot like patching a drywall mistake, you just gotta feather it out right, @ivanlewis.