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A rambling anecdote as well as some vocab to help you get through a visit to the parrucchiere.
I made a New Year's resolution in 2008. I'm not usually one to do such things, in fact this is the first that I have ever had any intention of keeping up. It was an unconventional resolution, but for me it represents a big step; I resolved to stop cutting my own hair.
It goes back to when I was still at school. In those days I used to be trimmed by trainees at the fancy salon of a good family friend - everyone was happy with the arrangement, especially the 17-year-old me. Not only was I doted on by eager-to-please beautiful young women but I also felt that they were somehow beholden to me for the future success of their careers. I pictured myself giving a Caeser-like thumbs-down to anyone who displeased me during their trial. As it turns out, being 17 and in the company of glamorous young ladies meant that I was never displeased, the thumbs stayed up and my fantasy was never unravelled by the reality of events.
Then, barely 18, I left school and moved to Italy on my own. Florence is ideal for masking some of the harsher realities of life, but sooner or later even I knew that my hair had to be tended to, especially as it grows in a floppy, curly mess that only a mother can love. I was afraid. I could stumble through life in Italy with my grasp of the language but I have always hated being unprepared, caught in a language gap with all of the encumbent risks of public humiliation. Combine that with a passing Fiorentine trend of horrendous fashion mullets and I feared going in the barbers more than anything else. In the end I never took the risk, I did what many 18-year-olds would do and shaved my head with a friends clippers.
As a hairstlye, it took. I spent the next several years shaving my head myself - extolling the benefits of saving money on barbers and shampoo, while priding myself on my self-reliance. Times change though and as I felt the urge to grow my hair out, my attempts at home grooming became more and more risky. A few botched jobs later and here I am, ready to accept the fact that I needed to be stopped, not just for my own sake, but for the sake of all associating with me in public. I had, almost without knowing it, acquired the requisite vocabulary for surviving the barbiere in tact, so boldly I go...
The
Vocab
Hair
salon - parrucchiere
Barber
- barbiere
Hair
- i capelli
Dry
hair - capelli secchi
Greasy
hair - capelli grassi
Curly
hair - capelli ricci
Straight
hair - capelli lisci
A
haircut - un taglio di capelli
A
hairstyle - una pettinatura
A
trim - una spuntatina
Highlights
- colpi di sole
To
do someone's hair - fare i capelli
To
trim - spuntare
To
wash - lavare
To
comb - pettinare
To
dye \ tint - tingere
Phrases
I
would like to make a reservation for a haircut - Vorrei fare una
prenotazione per un taglio
I
would like a trim, but to keep the style - Vorrei spuntare i capelli
ma mantenere il taglio
For further language assistance, write in the comments below.
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