lǐfàdiànㄌㄧˇ ㄈㄚˋ ㄉㄧㄢˋ
barbershop / hair salon, literally “cut hair shop”
The destination: 理发 'manage hair' is the general term.
理发店旋转灯 理髮店旋轉燈
lǐfàdiàn xuánzhuǎn dēngㄌㄧˇ ㄈㄚˋ ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄒㄩㄢˊ ㄓㄨㄢˇ ㄉㄥ
the barber pole, literally “barbershop spinning light”
The striped pole: globally understood as 'haircut here'.
美发店 美髮店
měifàdiànㄇㄟˇ ㄈㄚˋ ㄉㄧㄢˋ
hair salon (fancier), literally “beauty hair shop”
The upscale version: 美发 'beautify hair' vs plain 理发.
lǐfàshīㄌㄧˇ ㄈㄚˋ ㄕ
hairdresser / barber, literally “cut hair master”
The professional: also 发型师 'hair-stylist'.
Tony老师 Tony老師
Tony lǎoshīTony ㄌㄠˇ ㄕ
'Teacher Tony': every hairdresser's name, literally “Teacher Tony”
The running joke: Chinese stylists all take English names, Tony being the cliché.
剪头发 剪頭髮
jiǎn tóufaㄐㄧㄢˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄈㄚ˙
get a haircut, literally “cut hair”
The basic phrase: 剪 'scissor-cut'.
xǐtóuㄒㄧˇ ㄊㄡˊ
wash hair / shampoo, literally “wash head”
The service: often includes a head massage, a China barbershop treat.
吹头发 吹頭髮
chuī tóufaㄔㄨㄟ ㄊㄡˊ ㄈㄚ˙
blow-dry, literally “blow hair”
The finish: 吹 blow.
liúhǎiㄌㄧㄡˊ ㄏㄞˇ
bangs / fringe, literally “bangs”
The fringe: 空气刘海 'air bangs' is the wispy style.
báifàㄅㄞˊ ㄈㄚˋ
white/gray hair, literally “white hair”
The aging marker: 少年白 'premature graying'.
tuōfàㄊㄨㄛ ㄈㄚˋ
hair loss, literally “lose hair”
The modern anxiety: 秃头 'going bald' memes dominate youth dread.
发际线 髮際線
fàjìxiànㄈㄚˋ ㄐㄧˋ ㄒㄧㄢˋ
hairline, literally “hair boundary line”
The receding worry: 发际线后移 'hairline retreat' is universal anxiety.
jiǎfàㄐㄧㄚˇ ㄈㄚˋ
wig, literally “fake hair”
The solution: 假发片 'hairpieces' for thinning coverage.
hùfàsùㄏㄨˋ ㄈㄚˋ ㄙㄨˋ
conditioner, literally “protect hair element”
The after-shampoo.
xǐfàshuǐㄒㄧˇ ㄈㄚˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
shampoo, literally “wash hair water”
The essential: also 洗发露.
lǐfàㄌㄧˇ ㄈㄚˋ
haircut (the service), literally “manage hair”
The verb: 理 'manage'.
修一下
xiū yīxiàㄒㄧㄡ ㄧ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
just a trim, literally “repair a bit”
The safe order: a touch-up, not a transformation.
剪短一点 剪短一點
jiǎn duǎn yīdiǎnㄐㄧㄢˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ ㄧ ㄉㄧㄢˇ
cut it a bit shorter, literally “cut short a bit”
The basic request: 短一点 'a bit shorter'.
打薄
dǎbáoㄉㄚˇ ㄅㄠˊ
thin out (the hair), literally “thin it”
The volume request: 打薄 removes bulk without length.
píngtóuㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄊㄡˊ
crew cut, literally “flat head”
The military cut: short all over.
寸头 寸頭
cùntóuㄘㄨㄣˋ ㄊㄡˊ
buzz cut, literally “inch head”
Shorter than 平头： ~1寸 'inch' of hair.
guāngtóuㄍㄨㄤ ㄊㄡˊ
shaved head, literally “bare head”
The full shave: also slang for losing everything.
biànziㄅㄧㄢˋ ㄗ˙
braid / queue, literally “braid”
The braid: historically the Manchu queue, now any plait.
mǎwěiㄇㄚˇ ㄨㄟˇ
ponytail, literally “horse tail”
The classic updo: literally a horse's tail.
丸子头 丸子頭
wánzitóuㄨㄢˊ ㄗ˙ ㄊㄡˊ
bun (hair), literally “meatball head”
The cute name: hair coiled like a meatball.
tàngfàㄊㄤˋ ㄈㄚˋ
perm, literally “scald hair”
The curl treatment: 烫 'scald' describes the process.
juǎnfàㄐㄩㄢˇ ㄈㄚˋ
curly hair, literally “curl hair”
The texture: natural or permed.
拉直
lāzhíㄌㄚ ㄓˊ
straighten (hair), literally “pull straight”
The opposite of perm: chemical straightening.
rǎnfàㄖㄢˇ ㄈㄚˋ
hair dye, literally “dye hair”
The color change: 染发剂 is the dye itself.
挑染
tiāorǎnㄊㄧㄠ ㄖㄢˇ
highlights, literally “pick dye”
The partial dye: selected strands only.
漂发 漂發
piǎofàㄆㄧㄠˇ ㄈㄚˋ
bleaching, literally “bleach hair”
The prerequisite for bright colors: strip the pigment first.
焗油
júyóuㄐㄩˊ ㄧㄡˊ
hot oil treatment, literally “bake oil”
The deep conditioning: salon staple service.
hùlǐㄏㄨˋ ㄌㄧˇ
hair treatment, literally “protect manage”
The conditioning service.
头皮护理 頭皮護理
tóupí hùlǐㄊㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ ㄏㄨˋ ㄌㄧˇ
scalp treatment, literally “scalp treatment”
The specialty service: scalp spas are big in China.
办卡 辦卡
bànkǎㄅㄢˋ ㄎㄚˇ
buy a membership card, literally “handle card”
The inevitable pitch: prepaid salon cards, deeply discounted, mildly risky.
推销办卡 推銷辦卡
tuīxiāo bànkǎㄊㄨㄟ ㄒㄧㄠ ㄅㄢˋ ㄎㄚˇ
membership card upselling, literally “push card”
The notorious upsell: salons push prepaid cards hard, shops vanish with your money.
卷钱跑路 卷錢跑路
juǎnqián pǎolùㄐㄩㄢˇ ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄆㄠˇ ㄌㄨˋ
take the money and run, literally “roll money run”
The salon scam: prepaid-card shops that vanish overnight.
洗剪吹
xǐ-jiǎn-chuīㄒㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄢˇ ㄔㄨㄟ
wash-cut-dry (the basic package), literally “wash cut blow”
The standard service triad: also ironic slang for the overstyled 非主流 look.
非主流
fēizhǔliúㄈㄟ ㄓㄨˇ ㄌㄧㄡˊ
the 2000s emo-hair subculture, literally “non-mainstream”
The era of giant hair and angst: the look '洗剪吹' mocks.
杀马特 殺馬特
shāmǎtèㄕㄚ ㄇㄚˇ ㄊㄜˋ
shamate: the punk-fusion subculture, literally “kill-ma-te (transliteration)”
Rural workers' Japanese-visual-kei-inspired hair: spiky, dyed, proud, mocked, now nostalgic.
剃头匠 剃頭匠
tìtóujiàngㄊㄧˋ ㄊㄡˊ ㄐㄧㄤˋ
street barber (old term), literally “shave head craftsman”
The traditional trade: outdoor barbers still work parks.
二月二剃头 二月二剃頭
èryuè èr tìtóuㄦˋ ㄩㄝˋ ㄦˋ ㄊㄧˋ ㄊㄡˊ
dragon-head-raising haircut day, literally “2nd month 2nd shave”
The festival: 龙抬头 day, the one lucky haircut day after New Year (cutting hair in the first month curses your uncles!).
正月不理发 正月不理髮
zhēngyuè bù lǐfàㄓㄥ ㄩㄝˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧˇ ㄈㄚˋ
no haircuts in the first lunar month, literally “first month no haircut”
The taboo: 正月剃头死舅舅, cutting hair 'kills your uncle' (actually a folk mishearing of 思旧 'missing the old').