This is an all ears English podcast, Episode 1455 Seven Ways to Describe a Beautiful Woman's Hair.

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 150 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts. Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York Radio Girl coming to you from Colorado and New York City U. S a and to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to all ears English dot com forward slash subscribe.

Whether you're a man or woman, you'll want the skills we'll build today. Find out seven ways to describe a fancy way to do hair before a big event in English.

Hey, Michelle, what's going on? Hey, Lindsay, not too much, not too much. How are you? Excellent. I'm feeling good today. Excited to record. Yeah. Yeah, me too. Me too. When is the last time you went to a wedding or like a fancy event? Especially a while. Yeah.

No, I went to a wedding like the worst time right before coronaviruses kind of really realized it was a thing in Boston.

It was in Boston. Oh my God. Yeah.

I was in Boston the end of February and there was a big, huge wedding, but none of us knew what was about to happen. So anyway, side point. But, yeah, it was fun. It was fun. That was the death of innocence. Yeah, I know. And he kind of took a nosedive. Yeah. Really.

Really. Really. Yeah. I don't know.

Do you have any friends who were supposed to be having weddings or fancy events where they've had to cancel it.

Yeah, we ended up attending one wedding on Zoome so. But I personally wouldn't, wouldn't want to do that, you know, I would rather just wait, you know, wait a couple of years till all this blows over and not have to do a Zoome wedding. I just feel like it'd be a big letdown personally. What are that, Michelle.

Yeah. What were their family members.

Yeah, I think there were like ten or twelve people there and then everyone else was watching the ceremony on Zoome. And I think they're going to try to have a party later, but it all feels kind of disjointed. Yeah. So yeah. It's a bummer. Yeah.

Yeah that's tough. Yeah. I have some also friends in similar situations so yeah I feel, I feel bad so but hopefully you know, soon ish we can go back to these kinds of things. I hope so too. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you like, like if you, if you're going to a wedding, a fancy event, do you ever get your hair professionally done or do you like what do you usually do.

I have before like for my brother's wedding, if I'm in the wedding usually I'll be part of that because you know, if you're in the wedding in American culture, you usually are there the whole weekend with the whole crowd. You go out with the girls to get your nails done and her hair and all that mess. So you and you have the dress. But if I just go to the wedding, I generally would not get my hair done. I would just try to put, like, make it curly as much as I could and make it look good on my own.

What about you, Michelle?

I'm the same way. I don't like to pay for the stuff. Yeah, it's expensive.

WARMSLEY Oh, my gosh. Well, Guy is a key tip is if you're going to a stylist for a fancy event, I think don't tell them that it's for a wedding.

Why? Because I think I've heard I've heard that. Then, you know, if they know it's for like an event, I mean, it's sometimes it's hard to hide. Right. Like, why else are you getting your hair, like, super fence.

Yeah. On this random Saturday.

What are you going. Oh, nothing. Yeah. Yeah. But I've heard I've actually never experienced, but I've heard from people that sometimes there's just an up charge like a wedding up charge.

So I don't know.

Let me know if of you have ever experienced this but yeah. Guys on our Instagram I don't know why I seem to post a lot about hair. It's sometimes just comes up. I don't know why, but we we actually had a question from a post where because I shared a style from a wedding I went to. And so, yeah, we're going to we're going to talk about, you know, more things with hair. OK, very cool.

So should I read this Instagram followers? This listener is from Argentina. I love Argentina. So let me ask the question.

Here we go. Hi, Michelle. I really can't remember when was the last time I had my hairstyle? Because it's extremely straight and rebellious. Oh, good word. Could you guys record an episode about hairstyles? Thank you for everything you're doing for English learners. Greetings from Argentina. And it's twenty three Miss Metal. OK, awesome.

All right. Good question. Yeah. This is, it's always a fun topic, right. To talk about things like this.

Yeah. Yeah. So we have done a couple episodes about hair, so the first one was, it was eleven and one of Bob Layer's or bangs how to talk to your stylist in English. So that's one you could listen to. And Lindsay, what's the other one.

And then eleven seventy four guys don't like your haircut. How to request changes at the stylist and elsewhere. So guys. Yeah I mean after thirteen hundred episodes or however many 4500 we must have done hair a few times. Right.

Yes. Yes they are. Absolutely. Absolutely. So those are good ones to listen to. And you know, we're going to take this in another hair direction today, OK? Since the post was about wedding hair, we are going to focus on fancy hair today.

Oh, yeah. So, guys, this is important.

So to be able to connect, to be able to get your hair done and discuss your style with a stylist, so. OK, yeah, maybe we're not going to weddings right.

In this moment. Right. So but I want you to keep this episode in your back pocket and, you know, use it to practice and use it also.

You know, another good way to practice is if you were looking at, like, a friend's photos from their wedding, even if it.

Was it now, you know, you can kind of describe these things, so it's good because then you could describe what you see in a movie, on a TV show, whatever it is.

So this isn't this episode is not just for you if you're going to a wedding tomorrow, you know. Yeah. This is a lot that you could do with it. Yeah.

And of course, this episode is actually more focused on women, I guess, you know, female hairstyles. But for the men listening for you guys, I mean, it's good to be able to have this vocab, as Michelle said, in your back pocket, to, you know, to let your or wife or girlfriend know you like they're they're do. They're up to.

Right, right. Right. To talk about it. So just keep that in mind, too. Right. Right, right. Yeah.

Again, this episode is definitely for everyone to find the best way that it works for you. And yeah, I mean, I'm not that knowledgeable on short hair style. So that's these are mostly for longer hairstyles with people with longer hair.

Now guys have it easy. They don't get their hair done before a wedding. They just rent a tux, throw it on, shine their shoes a little and show up at the wedding. Sometimes I wish I were a guy. It's like so easy, you know?

You know, it really is. It really is. And I feel like I'm pretty low maintenance or I don't know if the maintenance is the right word. Just maybe not good at not good at that stuff.

I'm not good at hair and things like that.

I'm exactly. Yeah me neither. Michelle, think about how many dresses you have in your closet from being like a bridesmaid. How many would you say how many times have you been a bridesmaid.

Yeah, probably like someone to like probably like five. Yeah. What am I probably. Yeah you probably have those all in your closet.

Right. And can't really be reused. I mean two or three, three times maybe. And we just accumulate these dresses. That's why you guys do have it easy. They just rent that tuxedo, show up, return it the next day. Very simple and straightforward. Yeah. Yeah.

And alterations are expensive and. Oh yeah.

So anyway so before we get into some good vocabulary for styles, guys, we want to remind you to subscribe to get the transcripts by email.

Right. So you can get that at all in English dot com slash subscribe or on the iOS app and all those English dot com slash bonuses. Yes, definitely.

We're having a lot of kind of breakout conversation in this episode, Michelle, today, very natural going off on tangents, which is gold for you guys if you want to learn natural English. But the missing piece is the transcripts. So go over and get them. Subscribe to them. You say fifty percent when you subscribe by email off the normal price of buying each week separately. OK, so go over and get those. Michelle, let's get into these vocab pieces right now.

OK, so the first one is half up. Half down.

Mm. OK, so yeah this is something where. Yeah. Woman would have the top part of her hair up in kind of probably a ponytail or like a bun type deal. Right.

Right, right. And then the rest of it down.

So I always kind of I'm not like one to put the whole put my hair completely up. So sometimes I like half up. Half down. Lindsey, would you do this? No, I kind of would.

I don't know. It depends on how good the stylist is. Yeah, I, I kind of like because I have kind of a longer neck so I like to show that off sometimes when I do like a fancy dress.

So I would like to put it up if I'm going to put it up fully, put it up in a bun like a tight bun, you know, or just really keep it down and let the loose waves and curls show, which is our second vocab.

Yes. And Lyndsey, next time I see you, I'm going to be looking at your neck because I guess I never noticed that. But that's cool. Yes.

All right. So you mentioned loose waves and curl. So sometimes, yeah, that's what we use you. Well, you can say tight or loose, actually, like the tighter curls are more like the ringlets you want to say. Tight waves, right.

Just like curls, because by definition, waves are looser curls in a sense. Right. Right, right. Right, exactly. So that might be something fun for somebody who typically has, like, very straight hair, like our listener who said that her hair was straight and rebellious.

Yeah, for sure. For sure. And you have entire salons that specialize in waves and curls. So, for example, when I moved out here to Denver, I had to find a specialist who specialized in wavy hair because out here, the air is so dry, Michelle. It's killing me. It's killing me. Oh, any waves or curls you have, they just go flat.

Oh, my gosh. Bad.

I actually miss the East Coast in that sense. My gosh. Well, I think I was telling you earlier that I was walking outside and when I walked outside, my hair was straight. And by the time I came back in, I mean, I literally it was so wet from the humidity that I had to blow dry it again.

And it still was curly.

It's like, yeah. So anyway, you know, there are ups and downs still have their ups and downs, both five minutes, but. All right. What's another, what's another word. OK, so. Brayed And now what is a brade, or it could also be a verb to braid someone's hair.

Michelle, what is so abrade is like it's a bird. It's it's like that where you have where you have a section of hair and you, like tie it in a way to make it look.

Yes.

And there's like a French bread and a regular braid and a braid that goes across the forehead. And then I don't cry.

There's lots of there could be tighter braids, but I feel like the traditional braiders has like three sections to it. Right. And they're all interweaved. It's kind of interweaving of the hair, part of the hair.

I never I never can. I, I don't know. I don't like braids.

No, I do not know how to break. I, I'm just waiting. When I go to see my niece this fall, I'm sure she's going to ask me to braid her hair and I have no idea how to do it. I'm just like, I don't do these things, you know what I mean?

I just don't know me either. Me either. Lindsey Yeah. It's like so oppressive sometimes when you see people and they have like they're done French braids on themselves, like just for a random day. And you're like, what, like, yeah. Oh my gosh, how do you do that. So I don't know. That's awesome. I mean, I wish I could that be kind of fun if I could, but I can't. The next one is updo, which is kind of a general term.

And that's kind of what you were saying, that you like to have more of an updo.

Well, this is kind of what. Yeah, I mean, this is kind of what I would ask for. And again, maybe now I won't because I'm going to get up charged again. Guys, use the bonus for anyone again. Any time that something's increasing sometimes in English, we add the up right at the beginning of the verb right. To be up charged. Yeah. Or to get an updo. I'm sure we could do a whole nother episode, Michelle, on that.

That's a great topic by the way, up to.

Oh yes. Yeah that's fantastic. But so I would like for example, before the prom, in American culture, you have a junior and a senior prom and that's another place where you'd get your hair done if you're a girl. And I would always call and schedule an updo. And that's how they knew that they were going to be doing something fancy, not just a regular con.

That's what I would call that general term for that type of haircut. Yeah, I don't know if an update was considered just all up or if the half up. Half down. I don't know if that's considered an update.

I'm not really sure I, I kind of think of as more a type of job that the stylist has to do. Like they're not cutting your hair. They're getting you ready for an event.

Mm hmm. Yeah.

And one of those kind of updo or a kind of hair, um, you mentioned this the word bun. Yeah, exactly. A bun. Right. So abundant is kind of a blob of hair. Well, it doesn't look like a blob looks better than that. Usually the top of the head or near the back of the head usually pulled tight, but not always.

You could also have the stringy hair coming down to frame your face. Right. So I'm sure our listeners can picture what that looks like. And if you look at the red carpet, you look at the Academy Awards, you see women wearing beautiful dresses and their hair in a bun sometimes. Mm hmm.

Right, right, right. Exactly. That's a very popular one. And then you have ponytail or a low ponytail. So either it's just up in the back with the tail hanging or you can have it lower closer to your neck, which is also popular. Yeah.

Mhm. And then what's the last one. You should wear it down. You can, maybe you can have it blown out. Right. So how does that mean. It's where you have a blow dryer. And so maybe it's you didn't just let it air dry, you had, you had somebody like very nicely usually then it kind of gets very with a lot of volume. There's a lot of volume in your hair.

And so it looks so even I just wear it down. Interesting.

I've never really had a blow out. I don't like to blow dry my hair. Makes me think of beauty bar. You know that bar in New York? Yes, I do. I mean, it's like my 14th Street.

So what is this store? I've only been there in the evening for parties and that kind of thing. Is that do you actually get is it a salon where you would get served drinks? Well, what's the deal with beauty?

I actually don't know. I've only been there once also and it was a night, but I really feel like I saw people getting their nails done at night. Yeah, I maybe.

Do you remember that sounds I think I feel like I saw that, but it's been like a year.

Yeah, it's been a while. I hope it's still around. Guys, if you are in New York City, go check out Beauty Bar. It's a fun bar. You know, people really enjoy it. But I'm just curious. It is an actual salon during the day in a bar at night or what the deal is. Let us know.

But, Lindsay, have you ever had your hair done, like for an event and just hated it?

Have you ever had any bad experiences?

Yeah, I've had a bad haircut, but I don't know about a tear. I've never had a terrible updo for an event, but I've had some that I'm like me.

I probably could have just done it myself. It doesn't even feel like they did anything and they charged me a hundred bucks for it.

You know, that kind of that's how I feel about sometimes sometimes when I've had my makeup done for an event. Oh, yeah. It's like I feel like I don't look like myself. I don't really like it. I'd rather just do it my own, you know, totally.

I feel like sometimes makeup people, makeup artists, I guess they put on too much makeup on some women sometimes. So they show up for the event and they look different from who they really are and they don't need that much makeup. I'm not a big believer in a ton of makeup, to be honest.

I don't know. And I think part of it is just that I don't know how to do it. So I yes, I. And even if I did, yeah, I it's just not my it's not something that I want to spend. It's not your time on line.

Yeah, yeah I totally agree. Yeah, I agree with that. All right.

Well, Michelle, should we do a little role play for our listeners? Should we skip ahead?

I think we should, yeah. So all right. So in this role play, we are going to a wedding and we're talking about how we're going to wear our hair, OK?

We're not going to use every single one of these, but let's give it a try. All right.

So I'm thinking of an up to what about you maybe. Yeah, I might do like half up. Half down.

That would be nice. Maybe I should wear it down and get it blown out. You could do that, I think with mine. I'm also going to have a small braid that would look great.

OK, so here we used a lot of the vocab guys. So I said I'm thinking of I'm thinking of an updo that means I'm thinking of getting. So that verb is kind of taken out. Right. But I'm implying the verb. I'm thinking of scheduling or of getting it up do. Exactly.

And then I mentioned getting it half up, half down. OK, and yeah, I was going to say instead, but now I'm thinking that that's a kind of updo. So anyway, yeah. Lindsay, what's the next song.

And then I said maybe I should wear it down. So that just means not up at all, not any kind of styling going on and get it blown out. OK, well now. Yeah, yeah. And I said I'm going to get a small braid with mine. Yeah. Very cool. Very cool.

So very typical conversation that we might have before going to a fancy event. And guys, member for our male listeners out there, if you really want to impress the ladies, you know, learning this vocab would be really cool. I think it'd be really cool to be able to have that kind of conversation between a couple in English. What do you think, Michelle?

You know, I mean, does Danielle you want to you want to be able to have a compliment. You want to be able to talk about it? You know, there's a lot you know, guys, this is this is not an episode only for people who are going to a fancy occasion with long hair. This episode can be helpful to everybody. So, like I said, try and describe hairstyles you see on TV or in movies for practice.

And, you know, listen to those other episodes. Maybe one day we'll do a short hair episode. Yeah. And also, Jessica could lead that one. Oh yeah. For sure. For sure.

And another way to practice this, guys, is watch any of the award shows that I mentioned before. You don't watch them. They always have like a little bit of time where they show the red carpet. All the stars come in with their dresses. You could sit with someone, a native English speaker, and talk about what you're seeing, like, oh, I like that person's updo. This person has their hair in a bun. What a cool way to practice.

Definitely.

Definitely lots of opportunities to practice this vocab. So thank you to our listener for that question again.

And Lindsey, thanks for chatting about this. Absolutely. Michelle, thanks for hanging out today. I'll see you soon. Thanks. Bye bye.

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