Let’s get a haircut. We go to a hair salon.
Hair salon is a place where you have your hair cut or styled.
So, usually if you’re just looking for a short or traditional style haircut, you can go to a barbershop.
Barbershop is a place for cutting men’s hair and it’s only for men while hair salon is for both men and women.
It provides more styling stuff.
A person who works in a barbershop is called a barber.
A person who works in a hair salon is called a hairdresser or hairstylist.
When you go into a hair salon, a hairdresser will ask you:
Hi, how may I help you?
What can I do for you today?
Are you here for a haircut?
Some hair salons may require a reservation or an appointment.
That means before you go, you need to tell the hair salons that
“I want to come in at a particular time, say 3pm”.
Some other hair salons may take walk-ins. That means they don’t need a reservation.
So, the hairdresser may ask:
Do you have a reservation?
You may answer:
Yes, at 3pm.
No, I didn’t.
Then, the hairdresser will ask you:
What would you like to have done today?
How would you like your hair cut?
That means what would you like the hairdresser to do.
You may answer:
I’d like to have a trim, please.
“trim” means to make your hair a little bit shorter and the hair style should more or less be kept the same.
Using the same sentence structure, you may also say:
I’d like to have a cut and a wash. That means besides cutting my hair please also wash my hair
I’d like to get a perm. Here perm means permanent, which is a process to make your hair curly
The other sentence structure you may use is:
I’d like to have or I'd like to get my hair plus past participle
for instance, I’d like to have my hair cut.
That means I would like another person, other than myself, to cut my hair.
Here “cut” is a past participle but the past participle of “cut” is also “cut”. So, I’d like to have my hair cut.
Another thing is that don’t be confused with “hair cut” (with space) and “haircut” (without space).
“haircut”, without space, is a noun that means the style in which your hair cut.
For instance, I have a trendy haircut.
More examples of the sentence structure:
I’d like to get my hair bleached. That means to make your hair lighter in color
I’d like to get my hair dyed. That means to add color to your hair.
“bleached” and “dyed” are similar in the sense that they both mean changing the color of your hair.
“bleached” means removing color. “dyed” means adding color. So you’re not sure, you may just say...
I’d like to get my hair colored.
I’d like to get my hair colored purple.
I’d like to get my hair permed.
Now, if you’ve asked the hairdresser to trim or cut your hair, he or she may ask:
How much would you like taken off the top?
How much would you like taken off the sides?
How much would you like taken off the back?
You may answer:
I’d like an inch taken off.
I’d like three inches left.
let’s talk more about hair styles.
This is the simplest hair style. He is bald. That means he has no hair
She has curly hair.
Her hair curls.
She wears her hair in two braids. These are her braids.
She has blonde hair. blonde means yellow or gold hair
She is a blonde woman. She is a blonde.
hair extension: a long piece of hair that is added a your own hair in order to make the hair longer
bangs (or fringe): the hair hanging over your forehead
part (or parting): a line on your head made by brushing the hair in two different directions
This is a center part.
This is a side part.
fade haircut: on the sides and back you have no or little hair and starts to transition to longer hair at the top
He has a fade haircut.
She has long layered hair.
Layered hair is hair that is cut into layers in which some pieces of hair are shorter and others are longer.
That can make your hair appear to have more volume and not too flat.
She gets highlights in her hair. That means only a few pieces of her hair get colored.
Let’s talk more about hair problems.
My hair is frizzy, rough and dry. That means your hair is very curly, not smooth, not shiny
My hair is oily. That means containing a lot of oil
Split ends: a hair that has divided into several parts at its end
You may want to ask your hairdresser on how to fix these problems. You may say:
How can I get my split ends fixed?
What product would you recommend for dry hair?
Now, we’ve learned a lot of English phrases about hair salon and hair styling.
Let’s practice a simple conversation.
Hi, how may I help you?
I’d like to get a haircut.
Okay, no problem. Come over here.
So, what would you like to have done today?
I’d like to have a trim, please.
Sure, how much would you like taken off the top? About this much?
Yes, that’s great. And I’d like a bit shorter on the sides and back.
Do you want a fade haircut?
What’s that? How does it look like?
Let me show you a picture. Here you go.
That looks trendy. I’ll go for a fade haircut then.
Okay.