How is Math Involved in Cosmetology?

Cosmetologists need math to calculate hair dye proportions.

Cosmetologists practice the art of caring for people's hair, skin and nails. Cosmetologists need a variety of math in their daily job to provide services to their clientele. Whether you aspire to be a hairdresser or a manicurist, you will need to know some basic math to be successful in your occupation.

Geometry

Whenever a cosmetologist puts makeup on a client or cuts her hair, she is using geometry. Hair is cut at certain angles relative to the head. Makeup is applied in specific locations on the face to enhance or diminish facial features and achieve balance. Cosmetologists must be able to shape square nails, compare angles and curves of nails to ensure they match and apply highlights in hair at regular intervals to achieve a balance. All of these skills require a foundational knowledge of basic geometry.

Arithmetic

Basic math includes multiplication, division, subtraction and addition. Cosmetologists must know how to account for supplies and order more when needed. For products like acrylic nails, a cosmetologist needs to track inventor, so he can determine how many nails he has in total and divide that number by 10 to calculate how many customers he can serve with that number of nails.

Ratios and Proportions

Ratios and proportions are the volume or number of things relative to each other. Cosmetologists must be able to mix hair color and other beauty preparations according to the directions on the package. They must be able to mix makeup to achieve the particular shades of color required by a client's skin type. These require the cosmetologist to understand the ratio of one type of makeup or beauty product to another.

Units of Measurement

Cosmetologists have to be able to recognize units of measurement. For example, a client may require a shade of hair color that requires you to mix two ounces of one color with three ounces of another, then mix in the correct amount of developer in as well.

Monetary Transactions

Cosmetologists must handle monetary transactions from clients, which means they need to count the products they gave and the services they rendered, multiply the quantities by the unit prices, add all the items up and finally calculate the tax by multiplying the total by the state tax percentage. Cosmetologists should know how to handle payments in cash and give the customer correct change. They may also need to tally the cash at the end of the working day.

References

• Style: Hair Coloring Chemistry