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HAIR: The American Sign Language (ASL) sign for "hair"
 

The concept of "hair" is often understood from context and thus doesn't need a separate sign. If you are describing someone and you do the sign "STRAIGHT HAIR" there is no need to also do the sign HAIR.

 

The general sign for "hair" starts as an open-"F"-hand held near the head and then changes into a regular "F"-hand as the flat of the thumbnail comes near and/or makes contact with the head. 

HAIR:

 

 

 

HAIR (g-handshape version):

 

 

 



The sign HAIR uses a "close, open, close" movement, but during high speed signing of sentences it is common to use just a single movement. Especially in compound signs like "brunette."

 

 

CURLY-hair:

 

 

Or to show LONG CURLY-HAIR:

 

 


 

WAVY-hair:

 

 

 

 

Here is a general way to say, "straight hair."
Move an upside down "4 hand" (straight fingers) downward however long the hair is. In this example the hair would be straight and rather long.

STRAIGHT-HAIR:
 

 

 

To comment on the length of hair (without commenting on whether it is straight or curly) you can use a "bent hand" to show the length of the hair. Start at the head and then "drag" the hand down to the length of the hair.

LONG HAIR:
 

 

Sometimes you'll see the length done with two hands.  Usually you wouldn't need to use two hands but if you were describing complex hair styles or uneven hair lengths you would use two hands to be more clear and precise.

HAIR-LENGTH: "Hair down to the shoulders"
 

 


 

 

Medium length hair:
Movement: Twist your forearms twice
 

 

 

 

SHORT HAIR:
Use a firm, decisive movement.
 

 

 

Shoulder length hair:
 

 


 

 

BUZZ-CUT:
 


 

 

Here is another way to say, "Hair down to here."  If you added a side to side wavy movement it would mean "wavy hair down to here." As it is below though, the straight downward movement and the straight fingers refer to typical "straight" hair.

 

 

Straight hair parted down the middle:

 

 

 

 

 

When describing the color of people's hair you can simply combine the sign "hair" and the color of their hair. For example, "brunette" would be "HAIR+BROWN."

BRUNETTE:
 

 


Note:  To sign "blonde" you do the "Y"-hand version of GOLD but you start the movement by pointing at the hair above the ear rather than by pointing at the earlobe.

 

BLONDE:

 

 

 

 

GRAY HAIR:

 

 

 

 

RED HAIR:

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, yes, that's right, I saved the best for last!  Here is the sign for "no hair!"

BALD:

 

 

 




More "bald" versions (since I know you can't get enough):

 

BALD (back of palm version):

 

 

 

 

BALD (rub head version):

 

 

 

 

BALD (cue ball version):

 

 

 

 

 

Hair styles:

 

DREADLOCKS:

 

 

 

 

HAIR-in-a-bun:

 

 

 

 

HAIR-ponytail:

 

 

 

 

HAIR-braid-long-one-side:

 

 

 

 

FRIZZY HAIR:

 

 

 

 

 

Concepts related to HAIR:

 

If you wanted to discuss a "hair dryer" there are variations:

 

HAIR DRYER (h-hand version):

 

 

 

 

HAIR DRYER (g-hand version):

 

 

 

 

If you wanted to discuss "shedding hair" or "hair falling out" you could sign:

 

 

 

 

COMB HAIR:

 

 

 

 

WASH / SHAMPOO HAIR:

 

 

 

 

ELASTIC HAIR BAND / HAIR TIE:

 

 

 

 

BARBER:

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to convey the concept of "by a hair!" a common sign is:

 

 

 

Sample sentence: Do you think long hair or short hair is pretty?

 

 

Notes: 
See: BALD

See: FACE

See: BODY

See: BEARD

See: MUSTACHE

See: HAIRCUT

See: WIG

See: CURLY-HAIR

See: BUZZ-CUT


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