We put together a dictionary of hair colour lingo to help you clearly communicate your ideal hair colour to your stylist. Don’t forget to bring your inspiration pictures! Those help a ton.
ASHY Ash or ashy refers to the tone of hair color that is cool-based with blue, violet or natural/neutral pigments. Ashy tone does not contain any warm, red or golden hues.
BABYLIGHTS Fine, delicate highlights that mimic the subtle, dimensional highlights
BALAYAGE A French word that literally means “sweep,” used to refer to a free-form highlighting technique that involves painting a lightener on to hair for soft, natural-looking highlights.
BASE COLOUR Colour applied at the root area or all-over before a dimensional/creative colour technique is done.
BRASSY Refers to unwanted warm (orange and red) tones, usually in lightened or colored hair.
CONTRAST Contrast applies 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 blondes and brunettes. A colour is said to have “cool tones” if it has shades of blue, violet or green. Cool colours include platinum blondes, and ash browns.
COVERAGE Coverage is a measure of a hair colour’s ability to cover gray. Some hair colour formulations are too transparent to effectively cover gray hair.
DEMI-PERMANENT COLOUR Colour with little or no peroxide or ammonia, mixed with a low-volume developer to deposit color with little to no lightening power. Lasts for roughly 24 shampoos.
DIMENSION Dimension refers to the range of tones in your hair. A head of hair that is all one colour is said to be “flat” or lacking dimension. Your stylist can add dimension to your hair with highlights or lowlights.
DOUBLE-PROCESS In a double-process, two colour services are done in one visit. Generally this is done by doing the first colour service (to lift hair colour), washing and drying the hair, then applying the second colour. This can include lightening the hair, then applying a pastel/funky color or even something like a red on dark brown hair. Depending on what the client wants, a double process can also be known as a colour correction.
GLOSS A gloss involves using a semi-permanent colour to enhance, enrich, change, match, tone down or intensify natural or colour-treated hair while harmonizing contrast.
HIGHLIGHTS Highlighting hair means isolating select strands in the hair and treating them with a hair colour or lightener to make them lighter than their base/natural colour. Highlights can add dimension by contrasting with the rest of the hair and are created with foils or special combs or brushes used for “painting on” the colour.
LEVEL or THE LEVEL SYSTEM A universal system used by colorists and hair color manufacturers to standardize hair color charts. Level refers to how light or dark a hair color is—the lower the number, the darker the hair.
LIFT Lift is the chemical process of lightening the colour of the hair. Different hair colour formulations have different lifting abilities.
LOWLIGHTS Lowlights are created by using colour with foils or painted on to darken specific pieces and create dimension. Generally low lights will be 2-3 levels darker than your base colour and slightly warmer. This can be used for a more natural look or create accents within the hair.
OMBRE The transition of hair color from darker roots to lighter ends. Can be brown to blonde, dark brown to light brown, deep auburn to red/gold, etc.
SEMI-PERMANENT COLOUR Hair color that does not require a developer/activator and only partially penetrates the cuticle and is gradually washed out after each shampoo.
SINGLE-PROCESS A single process refers to any colour service that is done in one step. This can be using a permanent colour that lifts and deposits, a gloss, highlights/lowlights, or a creative colour service with only one process.
TEXTURE Texture, as defined by the diameter of an individual hair strand, is generally described as fine, medium, or coarse. Your stylist will factor in your hair’s texture when determining your best colour formulation.
TREND PASTEL Trend Pastel refers to the softened, lightened hues of colours such as red, purple, green, orange, yellow, or blue. Pastel tones of colour are meant as colourants and toning shades, and are best achieved when applied to very pale blonde hair to create for example pink, lavender, mint green tones
TONE Tone, in hair colouring, is the term used to describe a specific colour—”golden” blonde, “coppery” red, “ash” brown. Colors are divided into warm tones and cool tones.
TONERS Product applied to colored or lightened hair to neutralize unwanted tones, or refresh and enhance existing color.
WARM is a tonal value that can apply to blonde, brunette, and red shades. A colour is said to have “warm tones” if it tends toward yellow, orange or red. Warm colours include golden blondes, auburn brunettes, and coppery
Did we miss anything? Let us know if there is any aspect about hair colour you would like defined for you. We’re here to answer any of your burning hair colour questions.