Hair words
148 terms. The words of cutting, braiding and styling hair, in plain language.
A
- A-line
- A cut, usually a bob, that is shorter at the back and angles down to longer lengths at the front.
- African threading
- Wrapping sections of hair tightly with thread so they stand in sculpted shapes or stretch without heat.
- Asymmetry
- A haircut that is deliberately longer or shaped differently on one side than the other.
B
- Baby hair
- The fine, soft wisps at the hairline that are shorter than the rest of the hair.
- Backcombing
- Combing hair from the ends towards the roots to tangle it into a cushion that adds height.
- Balayage
- A hand-painted lightening method, from French for 'sweeping', giving soft, sun-kissed colour.
- Bantu knots
- Small coiled buns made by twisting sections of hair and winding them into knots across the head.
- Beehive
- A tall, rounded updo built with backcombing, shaped like a traditional beehive.
- Big chop
- Cutting off all relaxed or heat-damaged hair at once to start again with only natural hair.
- Bleaching
- Lightening hair by breaking down its natural pigment with a chemical lightener.
- Blow-dry
- Drying and shaping hair with a hand dryer and brush, for smoothness, volume or bounce.
- Blunt cut
- Hair cut straight across to a single sharp line with no layers, so the ends look thick.
- Box braids
- Separate three-strand braids hanging from square sections of the scalp, often with added hair.
- Braid
- Strands of hair woven over and under each other, usually in three, to form a rope.
- Bun
- Hair twisted or coiled into a round knot on the head, at the crown, the back or the nape.
- Buzz
- Cutting all the hair to one short length with clippers, as in the buzz cut.
C
- Champi
- The South Asian practice of massaging oil into the scalp and hair, the root of the English word shampoo.
- Chemical texturiser
- A milder relaxer left on briefly to loosen tight curls rather than straighten them.
- Chignon
- A low bun or knot at the nape of the neck, from the French for the nape.
- Choti
- The single long plait worn by many women and girls across South Asia.
- Clipper guard
- A plastic comb fixed to clippers that sets how much hair is left, numbered from short to long.
- Closure
- A small hairpiece on a lace or silk base that covers the top of a weave or wig and mimics a parting.
- Cornrows
- Small braids woven flat against the scalp in straight or curved rows, a style of African origin.
- Cortex
- The middle layer of a hair, which gives it strength and colour and holds a perm or relaxer.
- Cowlick
- A section of hair that grows in a different direction from the rest and stands up or sticks out.
- Crimping
- Pressing hair between ridged hot plates to make tight, even zigzag waves.
- Crochet braids
- Extension hair looped onto cornrows with a crochet hook, for quick braids, twists, locs or curls.
- Crown
- The top and back of the head, where the hair usually grows outwards from a whorl.
- Crown braid
- A braid wrapped around the head like a crown, or two plaits pinned across the top.
- Curling tongs
- A heated rod, with or without a clamp, that hair is wrapped around to make curls or waves.
- Curtain fringe
- A fringe parted in the centre that falls to each side of the face like open curtains.
- Cuticle
- The thin outer layer of each hair, made of overlapping scales like roof tiles.
D
- Dastar
- The Sikh turban, a long cloth wrapped around the head to cover uncut hair.
- Density
- How many hairs grow on a given area of scalp, from thin to thick.
- Detangling
- Gently separating knots and shed hairs, ideally from the ends upwards, often with conditioner.
- Diffuser
- A wide, bowl-shaped attachment for a hairdryer that spreads the air to dry curls gently.
- Digital perm
- A perm using heated rods controlled by a machine, giving soft, loose curls, popular in East Asia.
- Disconnection
- A cut where two areas of hair are left at very different lengths with no blending between them.
- Dry cutting
- Cutting the hair dry, as it will be worn, often curl by curl for curly hair.
- Durag
- A close-fitting cloth tied over the head to hold waves and protect short hair.
- Dutch braid
- A French braid made by crossing strands under instead of over, so the braid stands out from the head.
E
- Edges
- The short, fine hair along the front hairline, often styled into flat waves or swirls.
- Elevation
- The angle at which hair is held away from the head while cut, which decides how layered it becomes.
- Extensions
- Human or synthetic hair attached to the wearer's own hair to add length, volume or colour.
F
- Face-framing layers
- Shorter layers cut around the face, falling from the cheekbones or jaw towards the longer lengths.
- Fade
- Clipper work that blends hair from skin at the bottom to longer lengths higher up, with no visible line.
- Faux locs
- Temporary locs made by wrapping extension hair around braids or twists.
- Feathering
- Cutting or styling the ends into soft, tapered wisps that flick back like feathers.
- Feed-in braids
- Cornrows that start small and grow thicker as extension hair is fed in, so they look natural at the root.
- Finger waving
- Shaping damp hair with fingers and a comb into flat, rippling S-shaped waves close to the head.
- Fishtail braid
- A braid made with two strands, crossing thin pieces from the outside of each, like a fish's bones.
- Flat iron
- A heated tool with two flat plates that are clamped over hair to press it straight.
- French braid
- A braid that starts at the crown and picks up new hair at each cross, lying flat to the head.
- French twist
- Hair swept to the back, twisted upwards into a vertical roll and pinned along its length.
- Fringe
- Hair cut to fall over the forehead, called bangs in American English.
- Frizz
- Strands that rise out of a smooth shape or curl group, giving a fuzzy outline.
- Fulani braids
- A braiding pattern of the Fula people of West Africa: a central braid, side cornrows and beads.
G
- Gajra
- A garland of fresh flowers, usually jasmine, worn in the hair across South Asia.
- Graduation
- A cutting method that stacks shorter hair underneath longer hair, building weight and shape.
- Guide
- The first section cut to length, which every following section is matched against.
H
- Hair beads
- Beads, shells and metal cuffs threaded onto braids and locs as decoration.
- Hair length
- How long hair is worn, from shaved through short and medium to long and floor-length.
- Hair type system
- A way of sorting hair by curl pattern, from type 1 straight to type 4 coily, with letters A to C.
- Hairline
- The edge where hair growth begins on the forehead, temples, around the ears and at the nape.
- Hairpin
- A pin or stick used to hold hair in place, from small sprung grips to ornamental sticks.
- Hairstyle
- The way hair is cut, arranged, set or covered; a haircut is the part made with scissors or clippers.
- Half-up, half-down
- A style in which the top half of the hair is tied back or pinned and the rest hangs loose.
- Head shaving
- Removing all the hair on the head with a razor or close clippers, for style, faith, sport or mourning.
- Headwrap
- A long cloth tied around the head, from the sculpted Nigerian gele to the everyday doek.
- Henna
- A plant dye from the leaves of the henna plant, used for centuries to colour hair red and auburn.
- Highlights
- Strands lightened, or darkened in lowlights, against the rest of the hair to add depth.
- Hijab
- A headscarf worn by many Muslim women to cover the hair, neck and ears.
- Hot comb
- A metal comb heated on a stove or electrically and pulled through hair to straighten it.
- Hot tools
- Heated styling tools such as hairdryers, flat irons, curling tongs, hot combs and hot rollers.
I
- Interlocking
- Maintaining locs by pulling the end of each loc back through its own root with a tool.
J
K
- Kanzashi
- Japanese hair ornaments, from lacquered combs to silk-flower pins, worn in traditional hairstyles.
- Keratin smoothing
- A salon treatment that coats and seals the hair with heat to reduce frizz and loosen curls for months.
- Kesh
- Uncut hair, kept by Sikhs as one of the five articles of faith and covered with a turban.
- Knotless braids
- Box braids that begin with the wearer's own hair and add extensions gradually, with no knot at the root.
L
- Lace wig
- A wig with sheer lace at the hairline into which hairs are hand-tied, so the edge looks natural.
- Layering
- Cutting the hair to several lengths so shorter pieces sit over longer ones, for lift and movement.
- Line-up
- Sharpening the hairline at the forehead, temples and neck with a trimmer or razor for crisp edges.
- Locs
- Rope-like strands formed when hair is left to mat or is twisted and knitted together over time.
M
- Maang tikka
- A jewel worn on the parting, with a pendant resting on the forehead, common in South Asian bridal dress.
- Marcel wave
- Deep, regular waves made with heated tongs, invented by the Paris hairdresser Marcel Grateau in 1872.
- Microlocs
- Very small locs, often hundreds on one head, usually started and kept by interlocking.
- Mundan
- The Hindu ceremony of a child's first head shave, usually in the first, third or fifth year.
N
- Nape
- The back of the neck where the hairline ends, the lowest point of most haircuts.
- Natural hair
- Hair worn in its own texture, without relaxers or straightening, and the movement that promotes it.
- Neckline
- How the hair is finished at the nape: squared off in a block, rounded, or tapered to the skin.
- Nihongami
- The traditional Japanese women's hairstyles, built from waxed hair shaped into loops and wings.
O
- Over-direction
- Combing hair away from its natural fall before cutting, so it ends up longer in one direction.
P
- Palm rolling
- Rolling each loc between the palms to tighten new growth and keep the loc round.
- Paranda
- A woven, tasselled cord braided into a plait in Punjab to lengthen and decorate it.
- Parting
- The line where hair is divided and combed in opposite directions, at the centre or to one side.
- Patka
- A small square cloth tied over the hair knot, worn by young Sikh boys and for sport.
- Payot
- The sidelocks of hair in front of the ears that many Orthodox Jewish men and boys leave uncut.
- Perm
- A chemical treatment that sets curls or waves into the hair, lasting until it grows out.
- Pigtails
- Two ponytails or braids, one on each side of the head, often worn by children.
- Pin curl
- A flat coil of damp hair pinned against the head to dry, setting a curl without rollers.
- Point cutting
- Snipping into the ends of the hair with the scissor tips to soften a hard line.
- Ponytail
- Hair gathered and tied at the back or top of the head, hanging free like a pony's tail.
- Porosity
- How easily a strand takes in and holds water, set by how open its outer cuticle layer is.
- Protective style
- A style that tucks the ends away and limits daily handling, worn mostly on afro-textured hair.
R
- Razor cutting
- Cutting hair with a straight razor blade instead of scissors, for soft, tapered, wispy ends.
- Relaxer
- A strong chemical cream that permanently straightens curly or coily hair by breaking its bonds.
- Rollers
- Cylinders that damp hair is wound around and dried on to set curls, waves or volume.
- Round brush
- A cylindrical brush used while blow-drying to smooth hair and curve the ends.
S
- Satin bonnet
- A loose satin or silk cap worn at night to protect hair from friction and keep a style in place.
- Scissor over comb
- Cutting short hair by lifting it with a comb and trimming what sticks out above the teeth.
- Scrunching
- Squeezing wavy or curly hair upwards in the hands to encourage curls to form.
- Sectioning
- Dividing the hair into neat parts and clipping them out of the way before cutting, colouring or braiding.
- Shag layering
- Many short, choppy layers through the crown and sides, with a thinner outline and often a fringe.
- Sheitel
- The wig worn by many married Orthodox Jewish women to cover their hair.
- Shikha
- The tuft or lock of hair left at the crown of a shaved head by many Hindu men, especially priests.
- Shrinkage
- The way curly and coily hair draws up shorter than its true length as it dries.
- Sideburn
- The strip of hair in front of each ear, where the hair of the head meets the face.
- Silk press
- A careful blow-dry and flat iron on natural curly or coily hair for a sleek, straight finish.
- Slick back
- Combing hair straight back from the forehead and fixing it close to the head with a product.
- Starter locs
- The first stage of locs, when sections are coiled, twisted or braided and have not yet matted.
- Strand thickness
- The width of each hair, from fine to medium to coarse.
T
- Taper
- A gradual shortening of hair towards the neckline and sideburns, gentler and lower than a fade.
- Temple
- The flat area at each side of the forehead, between the eye and the ear, where many fades begin.
- Tension
- How tightly hair is pulled in a braid, ponytail or weave, which affects comfort and the hairline.
- Texturising
- Cutting into the hair to remove bulk and give the ends a piecey, separated look.
- Thinning
- Removing bulk without shortening the hair, usually with toothed thinning scissors.
- Tignon
- A headwrap worn by Creole women of African descent in Louisiana, once imposed by law.
- Tokoyama
- A professional hairdresser to sumo wrestlers, who dresses their oiled topknots.
- Tonsure
- Shaving part or all of the head as a sign of religious devotion or entry into a religious order.
- Topknot
- A bun or tuft of hair tied at the top of the head.
- Twist-out
- Defined curls made by twisting damp hair, letting it dry and then unwinding the twists.
- Two-strand twist
- Two sections of hair wound around each other, a common style and set for coily hair.
- Type 1 hair
- Straight hair, which falls flat from root to tip without a wave or curl.
- Type 2 hair
- Wavy hair that bends in loose S shapes, from soft waves at 2A to defined waves at 2C.
- Type 3 hair
- Curly hair that forms spirals and ringlets, from loose 3A loops to tight 3C corkscrews.
- Type 4 hair
- Coily hair with tight coils or zigzags, often called afro-textured hair, from 4A coils to 4C.
- Type 4C hair
- The most tightly coiled hair type, with little visible curl pattern and the most shrinkage.
U
W
- Wash day
- The full routine of washing, conditioning, detangling and styling natural hair, often once a week.
- Waves (brushing)
- Brushing short coily hair in one direction for weeks to make a ripple pattern of waves.
- Weave
- Extension hair on wefts sewn onto cornrowed hair with a needle and thread.
- Whorl
- A spot where hair grows outwards in a spiral, usually at the crown, sometimes two of them.
- Widow's peak
- A V-shaped point of the front hairline in the middle of the forehead.
- Wig
- A head covering made of human or synthetic hair, worn as fashion, for privacy, for ritual or after hair loss.