You’re 3 hours deep in hairtok. Not only are you now unsure of how to pronounce “balayage”, but there’s about 300 new terms you’ve heard and they are all fighting for space in your algorithm laden brain.

Here are some terms you’ve probably heard that I promise you as a hair colorist you should NOT use unless you are sure of their meaning!

SCANDI HAIRLINE: this is short for Scandinavian hairline. This is when 1 cm to 1 inch of your front hairline (think ear to ear face frame) has bleach put directly on the scalp to create a halo of blonde. This can look insane or look clean af. One thing to keep in mind is that if your natural color is dark brown it makes it almost impossible to do this safely unless it is part of the service from the get go. Also since it’s framing your face when it grows out it will be a super harsh line- if you pull your hair up or back a lot it will be a short lived glowing effect and after a few weeks can look like you eat dinner at 7-11.

ROOT TAP: this is a one to two cm bit of slightly darker blonde toner applied directly at your scalp that provides depth and keeps your highlights appearing softer and slightly more natural. The down side of this is that if your hair doesn’t let this pigment wash out easily between highlight appointments, it can stain the highlights and keep them not as bright as you would like.

ROOT SHADOW: this is similar to the root tap except instead of a lighter blonde tiny shadow, it’s a bit darker and also usually around an inch or an inch and a half. The risk of your highlights getting stained by this triples and I personally only suggest this if you are only getting your hair color done 1-2x a year.

BRONDE: an obvious portmanteau between the words “brown” and “blonde” (or maybe even brunette and blonde if you want to get fancy). I would usually call this dark blonde. In fact anyone would unless they want a gimmicky trending term to make people think they reinvented the wheel. I said what I said.

REVERSE BALAYAGE: no one knows what this is. I actually used the term in an article written about me in Refinery29 years ago as a joke and I told my staff watch this is gonna become a thing and it’s total nonsense. Feel free to use this term to a hairdresser but make sure you ask them what they think it means before they start so you know what you’re getting yourself into lmao.

WOLF CUT: a shag haircut. Literally a shag haircut. I don’t know what else to say.

BASE BUMP/ROOT LIFT/SMUDGE: this is color, not bleach or lightener, that is applied to root regrowth aka your natural hair. The intent is to lift the natural roots up a level or two which means to make your natural color a bit lighter for a variety of reasons. This can be to make your grow out between highlight appointments more palatable or can be used at the same appointment as your highlights to blend your highlights into your natural hair that surrounds them. When done correctly, this is a game changer. When done incorrectly, you can have orange roots and weird blue highlights. Make sure you know who’s doing your hair. Lol. I should say in some cases there are colorists who will use bleach for this, almost always on wet hair at the bowl. This can be done correctly, but the people who know how to do it are few and far between.

TEASY-LIGHTS: this is a way to brighten the middle to ends of your hair in a way where it’s blurred. A section of hair is back combed, and the part left out has lightener or highlift color painted on it and after it’s done processing it can give a soft and subtle look to make the ends of your hair brighter. Usually done on the hair that’s left out of the highlight foils or can also be done on hair that wasn’t foiled to add in blonder pops on your ends. This is an amazing technique 10 out of 10. IF your colorist knows what they’re doing lol. It’s cracking me up that I have to keep adding this disclaimer but hey don’t assume, right?

METAL DETOX: this is a service done using a specific product that is done to attempt to take out any type of deposits that have collected in your hair shaft overtime. These deposits can be minerals or chemicals or pigments as a result of either. It’s important to note that these deposits can enter your hair through products you’ve applied, water source you’ve used to wash your hair or swim, or even airborne environmental pollutants. This can be a stand alone service or it can be done in addition to a color service either before or after the color is done. there are a few brands that make a specific metal detox and although the technology is not new, the term for it has become popular lately and can be an amazing way to keep your hair bright and healthy.

OKAY.

I think that’s enough information for today. If you even made it this far then you are somebody who cares about their hair and wants to make a more informed decision about who you let color it! Good job!!!

As always, deciding who you let color your hair is a huge decision. Do not fall into the trap of a salon or a colorist who uses a lot of trendy hair terms to sound like they have more to offer than another colorist who doesn’t believe in the gimmicks! A solid conversation with a new hair colorist will usually let you know if you guys vibe and if you’re on the same page as far as what’s important. Trust your gut!

Also if there’s any other hair terms you find confusing, comment them here and I will make the next list of definitions explained as best I can!

Happy Blonding!!!

Caitlin & Team BLONDE BLOND