Glossary
Cosmetologist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential cosmetologist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key cosmetologist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in cosmetologist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Balayage
- Hand-painted highlights.
- Booth rental
- Renting a station to work independently.
- Commission
- Pay based on service sales.
- Consultation
- Discussing a client’s goals.
- Developer
- A peroxide product used with color.
- Disinfection
- Killing germs on tools.
- Foils
- Foil used to separate highlighted hair.
- Layering
- Cutting hair at different lengths.
- Level
- The lightness or darkness of hair.
- Patch test
- A test for allergic reactions.
- Porosity
- How well hair absorbs moisture.
- Rebooking
- Scheduling the client’s next visit.
- Retail
- Selling products to clients.
- Texturizing
- Removing bulk for movement.
- Tone
- The warmth or coolness of a color.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Cosmetologist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Cosmetologist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.