Writing About Hair: The Thick and Thin of Descriptions

By Sharla Rae

You all are getting another peek into my magic

notebook. This time were taking a page out of my 17 page section that covers hair,
wigs and every description of body hair you can imagine (and probably some of
you cant). Now that Ive scared you, were going to talk about the hair on your
characters heads the color, the length, the style . . . Were covering it all. But
there are a few very important points we should chat about first.

The #1 thing about hair descriptions is Do Not overuse them. You do not
want to be known as hair girl or hair boy!

#2 on the essential List: Hair descriptions are a part of the character so

make them work harder by using them to describe the person inside, not
just what the person looks like outside.

Examples:
 A tomboy might have a very short, non-nonsense haircut. Then again, she
might hide long tresses under a ball cap, because secretly shed like to be
noticed as the girl she really is.

A man who works as an executive might conform to a short, and very

tailored look. Or, he wears expensive suits but he wears his hair a little too
long because on the weekends he caters to his passion and joins his buddies
for motorcycle road trips.

Okay, because I have so many descriptions and definitions, Im going to cut to

the chase.

Alternative Generic Names For Head Hair

Coiffure
Curls
Down
Fringe
Fuzz
Locks
Mane
Mop
Ringlets
Shock
Strands
Tresses
Tufts
Wig
Wool

Descriptive Hair Phrases

Bangs obscured her eyes like a sheepdog

Flaked with snowy dandruff
Bleached, bottle baby
Braid like a thick black rope
Bundled at the nape
Bun resembled a cow patty
Cascading down her back
Chemically damaged
Coiled in a top-knot
Crowning glory
Cupie curls
Curls foamed luxuriously
Tendrils danced on the breeze
Disheveled
Downy bond hair sprinkled her arms
Dramatic widows peak
Elaborately dressed with ribbons
Electrified
Smelled like burnt chicken feathers
Snow drifts of dandruff
Veiled her expression with
Greased into a ducktail
Flaming locks fluttered to the floor
Fluffy
Frizz job, bad perm
Glossy locks lifted on the wind
Grew like a thatch of straw on a roof
Grizzled, gray hair
Hair drooped around pale cheeks
Hair like Rapunzel
Hairy as a dog
Hung like a dark river
Kinky perm
Knotted
Left unbound to tumble
Like a clown wig, artificial red, plastic shine and fuzzy
Like a thatched roof
Like she put her finger in a light socket
Limp and lifeless
Long, shaggy hippy look
Lustrous as onyx stone
Marcelled into fingerwaves
Matted to the scalp
Perm fried
Prematurely gray
Puffed like a bubble around her head
Ragged bangs
Rats nest
Ringlets
Shock of hair stood straight up
Slapped her face like wet worms
Sleek and chic
Smooth honey dripped over her shoulders
Spiky Mohawk style of a punk rocker
Spilled out of the hat
Spread like feathers on a pillow
Standing on end
Stiff in front like a cockatoo
Straight as a wire
Streaked, highlighted
Stuck to her sweaty nape
Tangled mane
Tousled pixie
Two-toned dye job
Unconquered curls sprang loose
Unruly swirl
Old-lady blue rinsed hair
Vibrant color and shine
Wet with sweat
White Pigeon Wings at temples
Wispy ringlets
Wondered what rubble lay beneath that mess
Wreathed her face

Hair Texture Phrases

Baby fuzz
Bleached hair like mushy wet works
Blue feather hair of old lady
Bristle top
Broom chopped
Cat-fur fine
Cotton candy hair, fine
Cottony
Dandelion fuzz
Down
Gummy
Horsetail coarse
Moldy hay
Short-cropped and stiff
Soft and lush
Soft curls and waves
Yellow straw

Descriptive Hair Color Words & Phrases

Black

Coal
Crows wing
Ebony
Jet
Indian Ink
Midnight
Obsidian
Onyx
Raven

Grays and Whites

Battleship gray, dull gray

Blue dandelion fuzz
Blue rinse gray
Faded glory
Flint
Grizzled (gray)
Gunmetal
Maltese gray (blue gray)
Mineral
Mousy (gray)
Pewter
Salt and Pepper
Shale
Silver cloud
Smoke
Snowy white
Swans wing
Steel
Wood ashes

Brown

Amber (reddish)
Ash brown
Auburn (reddish)
Baked Clay
Bison
Brunette
Burnished
Camel
Caramel
Chestnut
Cinnamon
Clove
Dark beer
Dark Earth
Dark toffee
Dirt
Fudge cycle
Glazed ginger
Maple Sugar
Mink
Mousy
Muddy
Nutmeg
Pecan
Rawhide, dark reddish
Root beer
Russet
Tobacco
Tortoise Shell
Walnut

Reds

Auburn
Berry
Brassy
Brightest
Burgundy
Burnished copper
Carrot top
Cinnabar
Clown wig red
Cognac
Dull brick
Flame
Garish brass
Orange
Russet
Scarlet
Strawberry
Wine

Professional Hair Color Descriptions

Ash blond Lacks red or gold highlights (verges on green tones); light
mousy blond, medium and dark blond, dishwater, beige
 Ash brown Browns lacking warm/red tones tones; light mousy brown,
medium and dark brown

Black Different shades of black vary according to the amount of

highlighting or pigmentation shadings present in the hair; black lacking all
highlighting will be duller, ash shade; black containing a lot of red may appear as
deep burgundy

Red Warm shades; berry, russet, strawberry (red-blonde), rusty orange,

wine, carrot top, etc.

Towhead Whitish blond; usually an ash blond lacking warm tones but not
always

Warm blond Blond with touch of gold and red; whiskey, wheat, honey,
strawberry, brassy, golden etc.

Warm brown Brunette, dark or light brown that contains red or gold tones;
varies from light to nearly black; reddish brown, chestnut, dark amber, auburn etc.

Hair Styles Modern And Historical

Its impossible to name all the hairstyles but the selection here should be a
good start. Many listed here also are known by other names.

[See of some these hairstyles here.]

Afro Unisex style borrowed from the African Americans; short and very
curly, forming a bowl shaped profile; a pick is used to pull the hair away from the
head and shape it

Asymmetric Hair is cut long on side of the head and short on the other.
 Bedhead Popularized in 1990s by starlet Meg Ryan; short to mid-length
shaggy cut worn jelled or moussed in tossed fashion

Beehive A 60s French twist coiled at the back of the head and rising above
it to form a cone shape (see upsweep)

Bob Introduced in 1915 this short cropped hair style was popular during the
1920s; also called the shingle bob, the shingle, the Eaton crop. It is often cropped
at the jawline and aligned close to the face.

Bouffant Puffy hair style hair is backcombed or ratted then barely

smoothed, resulting in a bubble affect

Bowl Most commonly worn by young boys. The bang area cut straight cross
the forehead as if measured by turning a bowl upside down on the head. The top
layers are longer and cut along the this bowl line around the head.

Braid Plaited hair

Bubble 60s hairstyle, short to mid-length, ratted/backcombed to appear like

a football helmet or bubble surrounding the head

Butch/flattop/crewcut A mans style; usually cut with electric shears; very

short and stands on end at the front of the head and his shaved close to the head on
the sides; sometimes called a GI cut.

Buzz Modern slang for a hair shaved close to the head

Chignon Bun, usually at the nape or top of head; topknot

Conk African American textured hair that is straightened

 Cornrows Small tightly braided rows of hair that hug the scalp; most often
worn by African Americans

Duck tail 50s style worn by girls and boys alike; hair on either side of nape
combed toward the center of the head; reminiscent of Elvis Presley, Fabian, Doris
Day, Debbie Reynolds etc.

Farraha Fawcett Long layered hair flipped or feathered back off the face
with a bang that feathers or rolls off the face as well; made popular by the TV star
of the same name; late 70s and early 80s

Finger waved Usually short haircut in which a stylist uses lotion and her
fingers to create deep waves that circle the head. Popular in the 1920s and 30s.

Flip Feminine hair style of the 50s and 60s; long hair usually shoulder
length turned up at the ends, sometimes in a roll.

Fontange Worn 1690s to 1710; a towering fountain of frills and complex,

lacy intertwining shaped around a wire frame and considered the height of fashion;
nicknamed by disdaining men, the tower and the comet

French twist/seam Hair swept back from both sides the head (front to back)
and rolled down the center of the head into a roll or tucked to make a seam

Fringe Curly bangs worn in the 1880s; in 1900s worn straight; alternate
name for bangs

Kiss curls Seen immediately after Civil War; ringlets of curls on the cheeks
or forehead

London Cut Short female cut popular during the 1960s and early 70s. The
hair was cut over the ears, leaving a fringe in front of the ears, often brushed
toward the face or straight down. The nape hair was cut along the hairline like a
boys but more rounded instead of squared off like a mans neckline.

Mohawk Shaved head with a strip of hair growth down the center of the
head from forehead to the nape

Pads Late 1830s long coiled curls over the ears (looked like ear muffs); at
the back of the head they were called a Grecian knot or psyche knot

Pageboy Introduced in late 1930s early 40s; long, hair turned under,
usually just touching the shoulders

Pigtails Same as pony tail only the hair is parted down middle and each
section is cinched into its own tail above or below the ear

Pixie Female short cut; feathered around profile of face and onto cheek,
short at the nape line; usually with full bang and combed forward onto face; also
called an Italian cut; permed version called a poodle cut

Pompadour Style of wearing the hair high over the forehead usually in
some type of rolled affect; in 1940s women used rats (nylon mash) to roll the hair
off the forehead and puff it; a version of this also worn during the 1700s and early
1800s by most and women; name comes from a lady of this era called Madame
Pompadour

Ponytail Hair gathered together and cinched with a rubber band or barrette
to make a tail at the back of the head; worn high or low; worn low its sometimes
called a George (referring to George Washington) or a Paul Revere

Poodle cut Short, curly haircut

 Powdered hair/wigs Unisex style worn from about 1760s to 1820; after
1740 men were wearing shorter, simpler wigs and began to powder their own hair

Punk Usually short on top and styled with lotion to stand up off the head;
often a mohawk fashion from forehead to nape; sometimes dyed bright neon colors
of pink, purple, blue, orange etc.

Queue Pigtail, esp. that of a Chinese. (Chinese queue was braided) Men of
Colonial America wore these as well, usually tied back with a ribbon and in some
cases men wore a periwig styled with a queue

Roach Hair brushed into a roll

Sausage curl Long tube-like coils of hair; popular in early 1800s; in the
early 1970s these were piled on top of the head in a cluster, esp. for formal dress
for teens.

Shag Like a pixie, only long at the nape. Lengths vary from short to long
layered cut; popular during the early 70s

Skin heads Group of radical racist youths, men and women alike, who
shaved their heads

Spaniels curls Late 1840s into the 50s; long thick curls worn by the ear
(as worn by Elizabeth Barrette Browning)

Spit curls First seen in 1831; flat curls on women in front of the ear

Tonsure Shaven part of a monk or clerics head

Updo/upsweep Generic term for long hair styled high on top of head; hair
might petaled (layered curls), barrel curled, arranged in a chignon, backcombed
into a beehive or styled in French roll etc.
 Wedge cut Also called Dorothy Hammil cut; short cut worn mostly by
women; sides feathered off the face, back cut longer from the drown to the
occipital bone, where its layered into a wedge; nape is trimmed close the head and
short; a late 70s and early 80s style;