[Lolli_lah]

For all the scissors I recommend eBay until you decide what kinds of scissors you actually end up using the most. The cheapest thinning shears and stuff even at Walmart are $6 but I can get them cheaper on ebay with Buy-It-Now and free shipping.

I just bought curved shears for 7 dollars free shipping from eBay. I work as an apprentice at a groomers so I know WHAT to look for, just not wanting to pay the prices that PetEdge and other professional sites have + shipping costs. It's not really necessary to have expensive items that do virtually the same thing as an item you get off EBay will do, these people who sell on ebay get their items from probably the same type of manufacturers as other stores do at wholesale or whatever price, just don't give the super fancy purple and crazy color ones for huge price.

As I personally get more professional I might feel more inclined to pay for higher end scissors, but honestly they do exactly the same thing as what the expensive ones at work do and I don't see any difference.

Thinning shears do just that, thinning of hair. It's great for getting mats out and also for thicker hair spots you may want to thin out. It's seamless scissoring.

Curved shears are great for doing curved areas like around the front of the paw, around and side of the chest belly and rump areas, maybe the leg area, and top of head. If you feel like maneuvering in an awkward position they are good for jaw lines, too.

Blunt tip shears are good for the area around the eyes or ears that is very sensitive and easy to puncture as the dog may jerk around.

For pads I just use a regular shear, or the clippers with no extension. BE CAREFUL OF THAT as you can indeed clip the pads easily with clipper OR shears.