Hair Care Products Key Terms

Brush up on your terms for hair care products

By Raechel L. Conover

A specific niche in the beauty and personal care industry, hair care products are huge. With a wide variety of products on the market, many people strive to make their hair look salon-perfect every day. It's important for you to know the ins and outs of hair care products to help your clients in their beauty routines. For starters, brush up on the basics like hair dye, conditioner and natural; learn more about silicone, serum and ions.

Hair dye

Hair dye products include ingredients such as color additives and dye intermediates. Hair dyes are mixed shortly before application, and the active ingredients adhere to the hair shaft, dying the hair. The permanent, semi-permanent and temporary categories that hair dyes are divided into describe the ingredients involved and the length of time the treatment will last.
Try: The Food and Drug Administration discusses the categories of hair dyes.

Natural

Any hair care product advertising as natural is claiming that the ingredients in the products come directly from plants, the earth or animal products. None of the ingredients used in natural products have been synthetically made.
Try: Check out UK Hairdressers for its definition of natural hair care products.

Conditioners

Conditioners work to coat the hair shaft, smooth down damaged hair, add protection to the hair from styling tools and the elements, while providing moisture and manageability. There are many types of conditioners for different types of hair.
Try: To learn more about conditioners, visit Best Hair Care Guide.

Silicone

Popular in hair care products, silicone is a non-reactive substance found in sand or silica. Silicone seals the hair's cuticle to produce enhanced shine.
Try: Salon Web includes silicone in its hair care glossary.

Serum

A product that works to smooth, straighten and keep hair frizz-free is called a serum. Serums can be used on wet or dry hair and come in a variety of formulas for the many different types of hair.
Try: To read a definition of serum, take a look at Lee Stafford.

Ionic

Natural ions are energy sources that help rebuild, repair and retexturize the hair. To do this, hair care products that use ionic systems push negative ions into the hair where they break up large clumps of moisture into smaller parts that are then absorbed into the hair to restore moisture and seal the hair cuticle.
Try: Folica offers a description of how the ionic process works.