In Which Bella Was Corrected on Plucking and Dying

January 7, 2009

A few years ago, as I chatted with my friend about which color I should dye my hair, I was given an unexpected lesson in beauty terminology. She was in cosmetology school at the time, and I knew she'd have some good ideas. Instead of guiding me towards something like, "chocolate brown with copper highlights," she said something more along the lines of, "You dye an Easter egg, not your hair. You color your hair." Well, excuse me.

It was something she had learned in school, she told me — the professional beauty lingo, you know. Oh, she also mentioned that when it comes to plucking, that's only for chickens, not eyebrows. Instead, it's tweezing, and tweezing alone. Righty-o then.

Source

Tweezers Hair Color

24 Comments

Tabloid 4 years 18 weeks

LOL! Same thing happened to me when I COLOR my hair last week. My hairstylist corrected me. She told something similar too. I was like "wtv.."

scissorz 4 years 18 weeks

when i was in hair school my teacher used to say similar things -- her favorite was 'its fringe, bang is what you do in the bedroom' i still say bangs though cause when i say fringe people look at me like they have no idea what part of their hair i'm referring to.

jenniferg 4 years 19 weeks

LOL! I think you´re absolutely right gbychan...and if Shakespeare would use those words, so should we!

eneriyma 4 years 19 weeks

My mother always corrects me on the dye/color differentiation. And she used to be a cosmetologist.

doogirl 4 years 19 weeks

I dye my hair, when I do, it's a different color, like dyeing an Easter egg, right? And I pluck my eyebrows, I pluck the hair out with tweezers! Seriously, this is a dumb thing to be corrected on.

jennjennnbubba 4 years 19 weeks

I say coloring from habit. As for plucking - I always say that

myystque 4 years 19 weeks

I think that's a little ridiculous.

gbychan 4 years 19 weeks

:roll: Yeah, lingo-crazed professionals exist in every discipline. But I wonder. Willful modification of eyebrow shape and hair color has been popular since ancient times (which just means archaeologists just haven't found prehistoric examples yet!)...What terminology was used before beauty schools were invented? Something tells me that Shakespeare would've said "plucked" and "dyed"! :P

a million suns 4 years 19 weeks

Meh, why does it matter if you're not "in the biz" like she is? We understand what they mean. I think it's a little ridiculous to get all uppity about the *correct terms* when you're doing anything other than working in a salon.

stoopeed 4 years 19 weeks

Depends what country you are from. Plucking eyebrows and dyeing hair is more common lingo in other countries.

POPSUGAR Beauty 4 years 19 weeks

Since then, I always pay attention at the salon. It's true — they never say pluck or dye!

JustSomeChick 4 years 19 weeks

I got the pluck lecture from one of my best friends too. Hah.

skigurl 4 years 19 weeks

they probably just use this terminology because "pluck" and "dye" have more negative connotations...old ladies with grey hair don't want to be known to DYE their hair...they are just simply "coloring"...and pluck also sounds harsh...the cosmetologists probably think it sounds more ladylike to "tweeze"...who caaaares!?!?!

elle619 4 years 19 weeks

Hahaha Bella, my very good friend gave me the exact same lessons, same examples and all :) Behind her back I still say dye :)

krae85 4 years 19 weeks

Yeah, I knew that. Why wouldn't you want to use the proper words? I think it's informative, don't take it personally.

jlynn818 4 years 19 weeks

two of my friends went to beauty school when we were in high school and they corrected me on this. They both said exactly the same thing with the easter egg. I just said "I'll say whatever I want, I don't care." Words have never been my forte haha

Talldiva45 4 years 19 weeks

Hahaha! That's funny. I have been known to use both terms but come to think of it - when watching a show with "professionals" they do tend to use "Tweeze" and "color" come to think of it. Looks like we all got "schooled"!

ThePerfectScore 4 years 19 weeks

PPFFT thats just a load... It's all about the connotation and people know what you're talking about so use whatever term as long as your point gets across.

ModernGraceKelly 4 years 19 weeks

I've come across those people... in beauty school and think they know it all. I had one of those friends. lol I explained and asked her what "colors" your hair? DYE.. Eyebrows don't come out on their own by a tweezer... you have to pull the hair out. It's plucked by the root.