Hairdresser
Describe the cut, colour, and length you want — and speak up mid-cut before it's too late.
Describe the cut with length and direction words: más corto por los lados y largo arriba (shorter on the sides, long on top), or solo emparejar las puntas (just even out the ends) for a trim. Soften every request with the conditional — ¿me lo podría cortar…? sounds right where a tú command like córtalo is abrupt with a stranger. And you don't have to wait until it's over: creo que por los lados ya está suficientemente corto lets you adjust mid-cut, gently. In the salon, cabello sounds a touch more polite than pelo.
Below: the phrases for booking, describing, and giving feedback, what locals really say, the words not to invent — and a way to rehearse the whole conversation out loud before you're in the chair.
The warm-up pack
The phrases that get your cut right the first time — from booking the appointment to the tip you hand over on your way out.
01 · Book it in one line
Hola, quisiera agendar un corte para esta semana.
Hi, I'd like to book a haircut for this week.
Quisiera is the soft version of quiero — the shape a salon expects from a stranger booking cold, on the phone or walking in.
02 · Ask what's open
¿Qué días y horarios tienen disponibles?
What days and times do you have available?
One question gets you the whole calendar, instead of you guessing at a time and hoping it works.
03 · Check in at the desk
Tengo cita a las cuatro, a nombre de Carlos.
I have an appointment at four, under the name — swap in your own.
A nombre de is the fixed phrase every front desk uses for a booking, in a salon or anywhere else.
04 · Say the cut, not just "shorter"
Me gustaría algo más corto por los lados y largo arriba.
I'd like something shorter on the sides and long on top.
Por los lados and arriba are the two landmarks that turn a vague request into a cut a stylist can actually follow.
05 · Hand over the photo
Aquí tengo una foto del estilo que busco.
Here's a photo of the style I'm going for.
Stylists expect this. Showing a photo beats describing a haircut from scratch, and nobody will think it's cheating.
06 · Ask her opinion
¿Cree que este color me quedaría bien?
Do you think this color would look good on me?
Handing her the decision is normal here — a good stylist will tell you honestly, which is exactly what you want from one.
07 · The mid-cut correction
¿Podría dejarlo un poco más largo por atrás?
Could you leave it a bit longer in the back?
Podría plus the request is how you correct her gently, mid-service, without it sounding like a complaint.
08 · When it's already right
Creo que por los lados ya está suficientemente corto.
I think it's short enough on the sides now.
Creo que turns it into an opinion, not a command — the same line that stops the scissors before they go too far.
09 · Ask what to use at home
¿Qué champú me recomendaría para cabello teñido?
What shampoo would you recommend for dyed hair?
Ending on recomendaría keeps it a suggestion, not a demand — and it's the question that gets you real product advice.
10 · Ask before you're asked
¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta o prefiere efectivo?
Can I pay with card or do you prefer cash?
Asking upfront saves an awkward moment at the register — plenty of small neighbourhood salons still run cash-only.
11 · Hand over the tip
Esto es para usted, por el excelente trabajo.
This is for you, for the great work.
Said with the cash in hand, this is the line that gets you remembered next visit — not just a good cut, but a good client.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/hairdresserRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Hairdresser pack, the conversation lesson sits you in the chair at a neighbourhood salon — and Isabella is the stylist: ten years in, chatty, honest, and she swings a mirror over her shoulder to check after every section. You've a wedding next month and a photo of the cut you want, but she thinks it won't suit your face, and halfway through the sides come out shorter than you meant. You have to steer it — negotiate the style, speak up about the length. Out loud. And she talks back:
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Hairdresser is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Combine length and direction: algo más corto por los lados y largo arriba (shorter on the sides, long on top). Bring a photo — aquí tengo una foto del estilo que busco — and comparisons help too: como esto pero más corto.
Solo emparejar las puntas — just even out the ends. Add no quiero que me quite mucho (I don't want you to take much off) so there's no misunderstanding about length.
Gently, with the conditional. Creo que por los lados ya está suficientemente corto (I think it's short enough on the sides now), or ¿podría dejarlo un poco más largo por atrás? (could you leave it a bit longer in the back?). Lead with a compliment first and it never sounds ungrateful.
Both are correct, but cabello is a little more polite when you're talking to the stylist — cabello teñido, for example. Pelo is perfectly fine in casual conversation.
In most of Latin America it's el flequillo (some countries say el cerquillo). Don't translate it literally — there's no golpes for hair. Try me gustaría probar un flequillo, ¿qué opina?.
