EKS

EKS makes beauty cutting instruments and hairdressing scissors out of Solingen, the German city that’s been synonymous with blade-making for centuries. That address carries weight. Solingen output is associated with careful, precise finishing, and a maker rooted there is trading partly on that long regional reputation for steel work.

The ranges and the steel

On the hairdressing side, the two ranges to know are Classic Satin and Chiroform, the latter offered in Satin and Cerise finishes. There’s also a set of thinning and texturising scissors across several tooth counts, and the Classic Satin cutting scissor comes in a left-handed build, which is a thoughtful inclusion that plenty of larger brands skip.

I’ll be candid about one limitation: EKS doesn’t publish a single named steel grade for these. Retailers describe the hairdressing blades generically as stainless steel with micro-serrated edges. That micro-serration is a deliberate choice rather than a gap, since it grips the hair and resists pushing, which some stylists prefer for control even though it isn’t the smooth-slicing convex edge premium Japanese lines chase. For the exact spec on any model, the EKS site or a retailer listing is the place to check.

Price and availability

EKS sits in the mid-range band, roughly $200 to $400, with the figure moving by model and finish. It’s carried by select European retailers, including yoiscissors.co.uk in the UK, and the full catalogue lives on the brand’s own site at eks-solingen.de. US buyers source through European stockists for now. For other makers from the region, see the Germany directory.