Beauty Lingo

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Acid Mantle	Natural secretions that help maintain the body's natural surface acid balance. Requires 8 hours to rejuvenate after being washed away.
Alopecia	Excessive hair loss.
Alopecia areata	Sudden hair loss in an irregular or circular patches without scalp inflammation present
Amino Acids	Amino acids are the basic molecular building blocks of proteins.
Androgenetic alopecia	Hair loss caused by heredity, hormones and age that progressively shrink certain scalp follicles.
Asymmetrical balance	Created when weight is unequally positioned from the center axis.


B

Brassiness	Brassiness is used to refer to hair that is overly warm or yellow in tone. This can be the result of color buildup, color that is not processed properly or improperly formulated color. Brassiness is generally corrected by applying a toner or a color glaze to counteract the yellow.


C

Carbon	An element found in everything that is living or was once living.
Clarifying Shampoo	Used once weekly to remove product and mineral build-up.
Color	A phenomenon of light and visual perception
Compound Dyes	Combination of metallic and vegetable dyes; metallic salts are added to vegetable dyes to prevent fading. Compound dyes are not professional because they are generally seen as unpredictable.
Condition	Your hair's condition can affect the final color result. I (your stylist) will evaluate your hair's condition in order to determine if you need special post-color conditioning services to go along with your pre-color services included with your color to create a color formulation that is best for you.
Consultation	Before every color service, you will receive an in-depth consultation with me. This conversation is where we will exchange information and ideas about your hair and the look you want to achieve in order to get a recommendation. During the consultation, I will assess the condition of your hair to help determine what kind of color product is most appropriate for your hair's needs.
Contrast	Contrast is a value applied to highlights. High-contrast highlights are much lighter than the surrounding hair and provide a dramatic look. Lower contrast highlights result in a more natural look.
Cool	Cool is a tonal value that can apply to blonde, brunette, and red shades. A color is said to have "cool tones" if it tends toward blue or violet. Cool colors include platinum blondes, ash browns, and plum reds. See also warm.
Copper Sulfate	Algicide in pools that is responsible for giving the hair a greenish tone.
Cortex	The second layer of the hair fiber. Helps give the hair pigment and strength.
Coverage	Coverage is a measure of a haircolor's ability to cover gray. Some haircolor formulations are too transparent to effectively cover gray hair. Covering gray also requires a special color formulation in order to avoid flat or unnatural results. Redken Color Gels Permanent Conditioning Haircolor provides exceptional gray coverage with resistance to fading.
Curly Hair	Flat in shape. In excessively curly hair, the bulb region is almost parallel to the scalp.
Cuticle	The outermost covering of the hair shaft.
Cysteic Acid	By-product of the destruction of disulfide bonds.


D

Dandruff	Pityriasis; overabundance of epithelial cells that have accumulated on the scalp.
Decolorizing	Removing natural or artificial haircolor with a lightener (bleach). This is the first step in a double-process blonde haircolor service. There are on-scalp decolorizers and off-scalp decolorizers used for foil weaving.
Demi-permanent haircolor	Demi-permanent haircolors deliver incredible color, shine, and condition to hair with little or no lightening of the natural pigment. They do not remove or lift color. They are ideal if you want to enrich your natural color, brighten dullness, or refresh previously colored hair. Redken's Shades EQ Color Gloss is a demi-permanent haircolor. See also glazes.
Density	The number of active hair follicles per square inch on the scalp.
Depth	The depth of a haircolor shade is determined by the amount of darkness in the color. Deeper shades contain more pigment and absorb more light, while lighter shades are more transparent and reflect more light.
Diamond Facial Shape	The diamond face is elongated with its widest focal point at the cheekbones and more narrow at the forehead and chin.
Diffuser	A blow dryer attachment used to create curl by dispersing the warm flow of air.
Dimension	Dimension is a function of the range of tones in your hair. A head of hair that is all one color is said to be "flat" or lacking dimension. I can add dimension to your hair with highlights or lowlights.
Direct Dyes	Pre-colored molecules that do not require reaction with hydrogen peroxide.
Disulfide Bonds	Two amino acids held together by sulfide bonds. Gives stability and strength.
Double-process	A double-process hair color technique is used to achieve dramatic color changes, such as going from very dark to very light hair. First, the hair is lightened with a decolorizer. Then the new color is deposited on the hair. Your stylist will determine if a double-process is right for you. A double-process is also an effective way to first cover the unwanted (natural) color, and then add highlights to soften the new base color.
Double-process blonde	The process of decolorizing the hair and then re-coloring the hair with a glaze to the desired tone.


E

Elasticity	The ability of hair to stretch and then go back to its original shape without breaking.
Eumelanin	A form of melanin. Oval shaped granules ranging from brown to black.


F

Fading	Hair color fades for a variety of reasons, including exposure to water, air, sun, and harsh shampoos. To counteract fading, use color maintenance products such as Redken Color Extend
Finish	The appearance of the hair's surface, the polish or texture. Different haircolor products result in a different finish.
Follicle	Where hair grows up through.
Formulation	The formulation is the mixture of hair colors that are applied to your hair. Your unique formulation will be created by taking into account your hair's condition and your desired results.
Fringe (or "Fringies")	The hair completely or partially covering the forehead.


G

Gloss	A color gloss, such as Redken Shades EQ, delivers shiny color with no ammonia. It is a demi-permanent color.
Glyco-Proteins	Sticky, glue-like form of keratin that holds cuticle and cortical fibers together.
Gray coverage	See coverage.
Gray Hair	Gradual loss in pigment from slowed melanin production.


H

Hair Density	Amount of hair per square inch.
Hair Root	Located beneath the surface of the skin.
Hair Texture	The diameter as well as the feel of the hair strand.
Highlights	Highlighting hair means isolating select strands in the hair and treating them with a haircolor, lightener or toner. Highlights can add dimension by contrasting with the rest of the head of hair and are created with foils, a cap or special combs or brushes used for "painting."
Hue	The name of a color. (e.g. red, orange)
Hydrogen Bonds	Helps organize the proteins but tends to be weak or break easily when exposed to water or heat. Hydrogen bonds help curly hair naturally keep its curly form.


I

Integrity	The overall strength and condition of the hair. Hair with poor integrity may require post-treatments after a color service. Pre-treating (as I usually do) will make the hair stronger as well.


L

Lecithin	Used as an emulsifier. Found naturally in egg yolks.
Lift	Lift is the chemical process of lightening the color of the hair. Different hair color formulations have different lifting abilities
Lightener	A lightener is a lifting agent—it lightens the color of the hair. Bleaching, decolorizing, and lightening are all terms used interchangeably by stylists to describe the lifting process. Most lighteners generally do not deposit any tone into the hair, leaving the raw, unnatural undertone of the hair.
Lowlights	Adding darker strands to the hair to balance a too light look. Lowlights are typically created with foils, caps, or combs. The effect complements the natural color. Lowlights can add dimension to your hair.


M

Maintenance	Color "maintenance" includes periodic salon visits for color touchups and regular at-home support with post-color care products such as Redken's Color Extend and UV Rescue haircare collections.
Medulla	Runs down the middle of the hairshaft. Has no known function in humans.
Melanocytes	Helps to create melanosomes, located in the bulb region of the hair.
Melanosomes	Contain pigment (melanin).
Metallic Dyes	Haircolor that contains metal. Metallic Dyes are also known as progressive dyes because with each application the hair gets darker.


O

Off-scalp decolorizer	An off-scalp decolorizer works quickly and is stronger than many other decolorizers. It's typically used in highlighting.
On-scalp decolorizer	An off-scalp decolorizer works quickly and is stronger than many other decolorizers. It's typically used in highlighting.
Oxidation	Haircolor dye reacting with hydrogen peroxide to form a visible color.
Oxidative Dyes	Small colorless molecules that penetrate the cuticle into the cortex.
Overprocessed	Hair that has been overprocessed via bleaching, straightening, or other services can be porous and challenging to color. If your hair is overprocessed, you may need to use a gentle haircolor and utilize pre- and post-treatments to to help restructure and moisturize the hair.


P

Papilla	Where the hair is formed and melanin is created, located at the bottom of the hair follicle.
Peptide Bonds	The end bond of amino acids where the amino ends attaches to the acid end.
Permanent haircolor	Permanent hair color does not wash out. It can be used to achieve subtle or dramatic color changes, to lighten hair, and to color hair that is up to 100% gray.
Pheomelanin	Diffused small particles that range from red to yellow. The shape is different than eumelanin and is water soluble.
Pigment	See melanosomes.
Polypeptide Bonds	Several peptide bonds forming to connect a chain.
Porosity	Your hair's porosity determines how it will absorb color. Hair that is very porous, due to overprocessing or other chemical exposures such as swimming, will absorb color more readily.
Primary Colors	Blue, Red, Yellow
Protein	Hair is 70-80% protein. Proteins provide strength and resilience.


S

Salt Bonds	Make up 35% of the hair fibers resistance to change. Greatly effected by pH and water.
Saturation	The percentage of hue in a color. (e.g. pink has more light value than red)
Secondary Colors	Orange, Green, Violet which are produced by combining primary colors.
Semi-permanent haircolor	Haircolor that is designed to last through five to seven shampoos, depending on the processing time selected and the porosity of the hair. Semi-permanent colors do not lighten hair.
Single-process	Single-process haircolor will permanently transform your hair in one application—there is no separate decolorizing step, versus double-process hair color. Single-process haircolor is generally used to boost or lighten natural color and to cover gray.
Straight Hair	Round in shape, Grows outwards at slight to moderate angling.


T

Telogen Effluvium	Telogen effluvium is characterized by sudden, diffuse hair loss caused by an interruption in the normal hair growth cycle. This interruption is often the result of trauma, such as chemotherapy, childbirth, puberty, major surgery, severe stress, and severe chronic illness. Telogen effluvium can become chronic.
Temporary Dyes	Stains the cuticle layer. In non-porous hair, temporary dyes will last 1-3 shampoos. If the hair is porous the color may stain.
Tertiary Colors	Produced by mixing equal proportions of primary colors with their neighboring secondary colors.
Texture	Texture, as defined by the diameter of an individual hair strand, is generally described as fine, medium, or coarse.
Texturizing	Cutting the hair at different lengths within the form of the hair. Used to to provide mobility and to reduce bulk.
Tone	Tone, in hair coloring, is the term used to describe a specific color—"golden" blonde, "coppery" red, "ash" brown. Colors are divided into warm tones and cool tones. See also warm and cool.
Transparency	Transparency is a value used to describe the amount of pigment a haircolor formulation will deposit on the hair. Highly transparent colors will provide subtle changes.


V

Vegetable Dyes	Natural products used to color the hair. Considered non-professional due increased fading. Henna is an example of a vegetable dye.


W

Warm	Warm is a tonal value that can apply to blonde, brunette, and red shades. A color is said to have "warm tones" if it tends toward yellow or red. Warm colors include golden blondes, auburn brunettes, and coppery reds. See also cool.
Wavy Hair	Wavy Hair is oval shaped.
White Hair	Melanocytes completely absent or dormant.

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