Tools of the Trade

What hairstyling tools do we use here at Paul Mitchell The School? We use everything that you normally would think of blow dryers, smoothing and curling irons, clips, combs, brushes and of course scissors. Yes, they all help in making you look fabulous but did you know they each have a special function? This may be common knowledge for most of you but for a novice like myself I wasn’t familiar with all the different functions. The blow dryer with nozzle helps direct the heat to dry and give your hair shine. The smoothing iron is for the smooth and shiny look and the curling iron will give you that Victoria Secret look.

The clips aka duckbill clips are used for keeping the hair in place when cutting, or coloring. Each of the combs have a special function, the large white comb is used for detangling wet hair. The 408 comb (black/various colors) is used for precision cutting when the hair is wet. It includes numbers on the side 1 – 6 inches for cutting the correct length. The 424 comb aka the green comb is used for cutting dry hair that is thick or coarse. The 416 comb aka the red comb is used for cutting wet hair that is curly or coarse. It can also be used for dry cutting.

The brushes we commonly used are the paddle brush which is great for flat wrapping hair to remove 80% of moisture. It is also great on the short graduation cut. The style brush (black rubber brush) is used for the leafing and beveling technique and it will give your hair a great shine. The sculpting brush is used to create the shape and style of the hair. The boar round brush is great for coarse curly hair to grab the hair and give it a sleek, smooth style. The thermal round brush is great for the guest who wants the added volume.

The scissors we use at Paul Mitchell are small, medium, large and texture scissors. The small scissors are 4 ½ - 5 ½ inches in length and are used for the graduated, short layered hair cuts and also for detailed work around the neck and hairline. The medium scissors are 6 inches in length and are used for long layered cuts and for point cutting. The large scissors are 6 ½ - 7 ½ inches in length are used for one length cuts and scissor over-comb techniques. The texture scissors are used to remove weight from thick hair or to blend the short lines of a hair cut.