The Story
(So far.)
The Origin
I grew up in what you might call a “hair” family. My maternal grandfather started and ran a salon called “Clifford’s” in Kennett Square, PA. Though I didn’t get to meet him, I did get to spend quite a bit of time in the salon because my grandmom “Dolly” took it over as the family’s primary means of income.
I have fond memories visiting my her when I was young, sitting in the salon’s waiting room, pacing around eating Dum Dum lollipops, and listening to all the women talk. I loved the energy of the salon. I loved that it was a place where everyone always seemed happy. I loved helping sweep up the hair that was cut off.
Keeping it in The Family
My Uncle, Clifford and Dolly’s son more famously known as “Michael Christopher” is an award winning stylist, salon owner, and entrepreneur. I’ve long heard stories about him cutting my Mom’s doll’s hair, knowing he wanted to be a “hair dresser” from a very young age.
I remember the feeling of going to my uncle’s salon when I was young. I thought it was the coolest place I had ever been. It was ahead of its time, stylistically. Even at a young age I recognized it. Big fireplace, high ceilings, Persian rugs, gigantic windows, black and white tile floors, perfect lighting, and a lot of great hustle and bustle energy.
For most of my adolescent and teen life, I would take the drive with my Dad once every couple of months to get my haircut there. Those are some of my favorite memories of my youth, taking the drive with my dad after school, going and getting my haircut at such a cool place. Sitting in the chair listening to my uncle curse up a storm to everyone around while cutting my hair in some crazy style that I requested (and he never turned down). Then following up the cut with dinner at the Lone Star Steakhouse to eat a steak and throw some peanuts on the ground.
My background
Fast forward to my early twentysomethings, and I was having trouble finding a consistent barber or stylist to cut my hair. I was so used to going to one place for most of my life that I couldn’t settle. I decided to try cutting my own hair, using makeshift mirror setups, a halfway decent pair of Wahl clippers and whatever scissors I was lucky enough to find at CVS. I did OK. OK enough to feel confident walking out of the house without worrying someone might look at me like I had two heads.
For all my adult life, I alternated between cutting my own hair and going to barbers or stylists. Living in NYC, I did have a consistent barber for years who I loved going to. Even then, every 5th or so haircut I would cut my own. I felt bad about it, but I would - and still do - just get impatient waiting. I’ve upgraded my setup a bit, but not by much.
Meet Taper
It wasn’t until 2023 when my wife and I bought some boxwoods for the house that I had an epiphany.
We had just purchased a new pair of pruning shears and I was using them to shape the shrubs when it hit me like lightning. The feel of the pruning shears in my hand was so natural. The spring-assisted opening made the flow of cutting feel so much more natural, more simple. The spring provided a sense of comforting resistance. The assisted open made me feel more like a sculptor cutting the shrub than I had ever felt cutting my hair with the typical scissors I had been using.
I decided to look deeper into different applications for spring-assisted scissors and shears and discovered that aside from pruning shears, shears for animal fur, kitchen shears, sewing scissors, only a few other applications typically utilized spring assistance.
It was at this point that I set out to create a pair of spring-assisted shears that would allow barbers, stylists, and home hair cutters to feel the way I felt when cutting my own hair. For professionals, they’re likely to be a tool in the tool chest. For home hair cutters, they’re meant to be the only tool you’ll ever need.
I’m not a professional barber or stylist nor am I professionally trained. The best I’ve got is watching my own haircuts over the years and watching hours upon hours of YouTube videos. I’ve also got my place bearing the torch as the next generation in a “hair family.”
In creating these shears throughout the prototyping phase, I sought the opinion of professionals.
The majority of feedback boils down to this: The optimal cut for these is scissor over comb, and any other cut with frequent opening and closing of the shears.
I received a lot of feedback that they’re quite comfortable to use and help reduce fatigue over a high volume of cuts. They’re a bit unconventional, but also feel quite natural.
My hope is that you, the barber, the stylist, the home hair cutter, will feel as much of a sense of comfort using these as I do, and I hope these will become as indispensable for you as they are for me.
Thank you for joining me on this journey.