When to replace your hair and beauty equipment

Visual inspection

Frequent inspection of your tools will allow you to see whether or not there are any flaws with your equipment. Make sure to keep a look out for rust on any metal, which you may find if scissors or blades aren’t dried properly. You will also be able to spot any chips in plastics or signs of wear and tear on anything with a plastic handle, such as brushes or clippers.

Decline in work quality

If you notice that it is starting to become more difficult to cut through hair or apply makeup, it is more likely to be a sign that your equipment is deteriorating rather than your skills. If you notice a problem, give your equipment a visual inspection to make sure that blades are still sharp and that brushes and sponges are in good condition.

Over heating electronics

Being a particular problem for hairdressers you might notice that your hairdryers, straighteners or electric shavers may start to overheat more often, or work at higher temperatures than usual. If this is the case, they might be showing signs of wear from use over time. Repairing electrical equipment can be dangerous if repairs aren’t performed by a professional and the costs of doing so could be more than to replace the item.

Scissors

Whether you are a hairdresser or barber, you will most likely be using scissors every day. It is important to keep your scissors in good condition because they could create an uneven cut, and rip hair instead of cutting through it if the blades aren’t sharp enough.

Make sure you also keep any blades away from water as rust can form, damaging your blades and potentially transferring bacteria or an infection onto your clients.

Make up brushes

Beauty website, Health, recommend that if you have cracks or breaks in your brush handles, it may not seem like a big problem, but they should be replaced because the cracks could harbour bacteria which would then be transferred onto hands and possibly faces.

The other reason that you should change your brushes is if you notice that they are not maintaining their shape, even when washed. Brushes are likely to lose their shape over time, or with particularly heavy use. You may also notice that you start to lose bristles on the brush, which is usually a sign that the glue holding them in place is starting to wear.

Electric hair clippers

With regular use, electric hair clippers may wear quite quickly, especially if you are training staff who might be using them regularly and for lengthy periods of time.

If you buy a product from a reputable brand, it is likely to last for a good amount of time, but if the clippers start to deteriorate, it may be worth buying a replacement instead of looking to have it repaired. Good quality clippers are usually cheap enough to buy if you need a new set for any reason.

Razors

Sharing similar problems to scissors, razor blades should be kept in good condition, away from water and, ideally, sealed to make sure that each razor is fresh for each customer.

If you have a straight razor that you use for every client, look out for signs of rust, which can damage your blades and potentially transfer bacteria or an infection onto your clients.