First things first, getting your haircut in Italy is probably going to be expensive and it’s probably going to take at least two hours. Granted, I did get highlights and a full-on haircut, so if you’re going in for a simple trim you probably won’t have to clear your schedule for the day.
To find a good hairdresser in Italy you can either ask around or Google parrucchiere which is Italian for “hairdresser.” Some places will even list their prices online and allow you to make a prenotazione (reservation). I always prefer to book things online so I don’t have to subject people to my poor Italian, but there are also a few places that accept walk-ins.
Once you arrive at the hairdresser, you may be asked to sit in a nice living room-like area where your hairdresser will conduct a short interview with you to determine what you would like done with your hair. In America, I’m used to showing a quick screenshot of some celebrity with amazingly styled hair to my hairdresser and saying “anything remotely close to this will do.” However, in Italy, people seem to take style much more seriously. I am by no means a fashionable person, but I do appreciate the attention to detail here when it comes to appearances.
Essential Haircut Terms
Cut
short – corto
long – lungo
trim – spuntatina
bangs – frangia
split ends – le doppie punte
layers – capelli scalati
- Quick note: “hair” in Italian is plural so if you want to describe it, you will need to use the plural form of the adjective with “i” at the end, such as capelli corti or capelli lunghi
Color
highlights – mèches
hair dye – tintura (per capelli)
brown – castani (singular castano)
black – neri (singular nero)
red – rossi (singular rosso)
blonde – biondi (singular bionda)
General Terms
blow dry – piega
blow dryer – fon (pronounced like ‘phone’)
color – colore
shampoo – shampoo
conditioner – balsamo
the part – la riga
Hairdressers in Italy usually provide services à la carte, so you typically have to pay extra for a blow dry or styling. To get highlights, a cut, blow-dry, and style I paid €120 and the process took somewhere around 3 to 4 hours.
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