The HairColor-pedia

A hair color with an undertone that's a cooler-toned greenish-gray, as opposed to warm gold. Some people have a natural dishwater-blond base that's ashy, says Negin Zand, a colorist at the Sally Hershberger salon in Los Angeles.example: Let's warm up your roots—they're looking a little ashy.

From the French word for to sweep, balayage is a technique where colorists hand-paint highlights directly onto the hair. A lot of people think balayage is really chunky, but I paint it on finely at the root and thicker at the end—mimicking the way a child's hair looks, says Zand. (See Giselle Bündchen.)example: I'm going to do balayage instead of traditional highlights for a more natural look.

An orange-based hue. Red should always be a little brassy, says Zand. But blondes can get really brassy from water, sun and certain products, and then you may need to tone it down. example: How brassy do you want your auburn to be?

A dark brown with warm undertones. It's rich, says Zang, not the dark, flat brown people think it is.example: Chestnut brown would make your skin look less sallow.

A scale measuring the degree of darkness in hair. The range goes from one to 10, with level one being jet black and 10 denoting platinum.example: Your hair is around a level three, but we're taking it to a level five.

Lightening or bleaching the color out; a term that's usually tossed around when someone's hair color is several shades darker than what she wants it to be—so the starting color is lifted out.example: We're going to lift the color just around your face.

Darker, richer color in sections; the opposite of highlighting. It's not about going darker than your natural color, says Zand. It's about adding depth to the overall color.example: We can add some low-lights around the crown of your head.

Meaning shadow in French, ombre is used to describe color that transitions from dark to light as you move down the hair shaft. (See Drew Barrymore and Sarah Jessica Parker.)example: Let's do a subtle ombre effect on your hair by keeping highlights super-fine at the top and chunkier at the bottom.

A condition in which strands absorb color quickly, due to bleach damage, chemical treatments or oxidation from the sun.example: We may not want to leave the color on long—your ends are really porous.

A semi-permanent, low-peroxide tint that changes the color of your hair slightly after it's been bleached or dyed, says Zand.example: I'm going to apply toner on your highlights to neutralize the orange.