Get your California barber license by studying these state board exam questions. This guide covers sanitation and safety, hair cutting techniques, shaving, facial treatments, and California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology requirements.
Q: What is a steatoma?
Answer: Sebaceous cyst of subcutaneous tumor filled with sebum
Q: The cause of acne vulgaris is
Answer: Chronic inflammation of hair follicles and associated sebaceous glands, 1. hormone associated increase in sebum production and excess keratin production block follicles, forming comedones
Q: What are levels of color
Answer: Lightness to darkness
Q: What is seborrhea?
Answer: Severe oiliness of the skin
Q: What is a subjective symptom found during a skin analysis?
Answer: Inflamed skin
Q: What are subjective symptoms?
Answer: A symptom apparent to the individual afflicted but not observable by others
Q: Acid-balanced shampoo
Answer: Shampoo that is balanced to the pH of skin and hair (4.5 to 5.5)
Q: Set of the shears
Answer: The manner in which the blades and shanks of the shears align with each other and are joined at the tension screw or rivet
Q: Highest form on decontamination
Answer: sterilization
Q: Tinea favosa
Answer: (tinea favus) fungal infection characterized by dry, sulfur-yellow, cup-like crusts on the scalp called scutula.
Q: Good skin has a balance of
Answer: Oil and water
Q: pH of temporary hair color
Answer: 3.5-4.5
Q: Natural pH of hair
Answer: 4.5-5.5
Q: Sinusoidal current is used during:
Answer: scalp and facial manipulations
Q: Sinusoidal current is
Answer: A smooth, repetitive alternating current; the most commonly used alternating current waveform, used in the high frequency machine and can produce heat.
Q: Four types of muscle tissue
Answer: epithelial, connective, muscle, nerve
Q: To hone is
Answer: to sharpen
Q: The aponeurosis is found on what part of the skull
Answer: top of the skull
Q: Stages of hair growth
Answer: anagen, catagen, telogen
Q: OSHA stands for
Answer: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Q: What does OSHA do?
Answer: Sets standards for a safe and healthy workplace.
Q: MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)
Answer: Provides communication to workers regarding chemicals used in the office
Q: What is the shoulder of a blade?
Answer: back edge of the razor
Q: Your client has sensitive, irritated, chapped and blistered skin
Answer: Do not proceed with a shave
Q: What are the three layers of hair?
Answer: cuticle, cortex, medulla
Q: Alkaline solutions have a pH
Answer: between 7 and 14
Q: Acid solutions have a pH
Answer: below 7.0 (neutral)
Q: Alkaline solutions
Answer: Soften, swell the hair and open the cuticle
Q: What does a tail end of a surfactant do
Answer: attracts dirt and oil and repels water
Q: When do you not perform a face shave?
Answer: When cuts, abrasion, and rash are present
Q: Three types of nerves
Answer: sensory, motor, autonomic
Q: The grind of a razor refers to the shape of the:
Answer: blade
Q: What is the grind of the razor?
Answer: The shape of the blade after it has been ground There are 2 types of razor grinds: Concave and Wedge
Q: To avoid damage, massage should be directed
Answer: Towards the origin of the muscle.Origin fixed attached
Q: buccinator muscle
Answer: Thin, flat muscle of the cheek between the upper and lower jaw that compresses the cheeks and expels air between the lips.
Q: What bacteria grows in clusters that causes abcesses, pustules, and boils?
Answer: staphylococci
Q: Petrissage
Answer: Kneading movement performed by lifting, squeezing, and pressing the tissue with a light, firm pressure.
Q: What tendon connects the epicranius muscle
Answer: the epicranial aponeurosis
Q: What is used after a high frequency treatment?
Answer: Alcohol based toner
Q: Strand test
Answer: Determines how the hair will react to the color formula and how long the formula should be left on the hair.
Q: patch test
Answer: a test in which a substance is applied topically to the skin on a small piece of blotting paper or wet cloth
Q: How long before applying permanent hair color should you perform a P.D. test
Answer: 24-48 hours
Q: Name the types of cutting edges of the shears ?
Answer: Convex and beveled
Q: Blood spill procedure
Answer: -Put on gloves-Clean area with antiseptic-Apply bandage-Dispose of everything in double-bagged procedure, and place in trash (or sharps container if you work at a Dr’s office/hospital).
Q: What do you do if you cut someone during a service?
Answer: Stop the service, put on gloves, and treat the cut
Q: What bacteria causes disease of infection?
Answer: Pathogenic
Q: Blood borne pathogens
Answer: Disease-causing organisms transferred through contact with blood or other body fluids such as Hepatitis or HIV
Q: What is required for hospital grade disinfectant?
Answer: Effective against bacteria, fungi, and viruses
Q: Two types of immunity
Answer: natural and acquired
Q: EPA
Answer: Environmental Protection Agency
Q: Evironmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Answer: a governmental agency with environmental protection regulatory and enforcement authority
Q: Who regulates product safety?
Answer: EPA and state
Q: What is tinea?
Answer: Medical term for ringworm
Q: What chemicals do not mix?
Answer: Bleach and ammonia
Q: What is used to clean barber head rests, chairs, and hard surfaces?
Answer: EPA registered hospital grade disinfectant
Q: What happens when you mix aniline derivative and hydrogen peroxide
Answer: Oxidization
Q: Galvanic current
Answer: Constant and direct current, having a positive and negative pole, that produces chemical changes when it passes through the tissues and fluids of the body.
Q: What does galvanic current do for the skin?
Answer: Creates chemical desincrustation and ionic iontophoresis. Used to create a chemical reaction that emulsifies or liquefies sebum and debris
Q: What are universal precautions?
Answer: Treat all blood as if it’s contaminated
Q: What do you put on a cut?
Answer: Styptic powder
Q: Quatts
Answer: Quaternary ammonium compounds
Q: Amp
Answer: Measures the strength of an electric current
Q: Volt
Answer: Unit of electric pressure
Q: Watt
Answer: Unit of power
Q: What is alopecia?
Answer: Abnormal hair loss
Q: Ideal face shape
Answer: oval
Q: Reverse freehand
Answer: razor position and stroke used in 4 of the 14 basic shaving areas: Nos. 5, 10, 13, and 14
Q: What is the pigment of hair called
Answer: melanin
Q: Can’t be made by mixing colors
Answer: primary colors
Q: Secondary colors are
Answer: orange, green, violet
Q: The primary colors are:
Answer: red, yellow, blue
Q: Tertiary colors are
Answer: yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, red-orange, yellow-orange
Q: Pityriasis capitis simplex
Answer: Technical term for classic dandruff; characterized by scalp irritation, large flakes, and itchy scalp.
Q: Bulla
Answer: Large blister containing watery fluid
Q: Sepsis
Answer: Dangerous infection of the blood
Q: What do the colors of the barber pole represent?
Answer: Red-blood, blue-veins, white-bandages silver pan-catch blood
Q: What does acid do?
Answer: Close the hair
Q: What are sudoriferous glands?
Answer: sweat glands
Q: Histology
Answer: study of tissues and their structures
Q: Osteology
Answer: Study of bones
Q: Hyperdrosis
Answer: excessive sweating
Q: Three stages of matter
Answer: solid, liquid, gas
Q: Before sodium hydroxide processing hair should be analyzed for
Answer: Texture, elasticity, porosity
Q: How many bones make up the skull and face?
Answer: 14 bones
Q: What are the layers of skin?
Answer: Epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous
Q: Spirilla
Answer: Spiral or corkscrew-shaped bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases
Q: dermal papillae
Answer: a fingerlike projection of the dermis that may contain blood capillaries or Meissner corpuscles (of touch)
Q: arrector pili muscle
Answer: Causes hair to stand on end and goose bumps to appear
Q: The diameter of a single strand is called
Answer: Hair texture
Q: What is a conductor?
Answer: Any substance, material, or medium that conducts electricity
Q: Direct Current (DC)
Answer: Electric current that flows in only one direction
Q: Alternating Current (AC)
Answer: A flow of electric charge that regularly reverses its direction.
Q: Haircutting involves individualized and precise?
Answer: Designing, cutting, and shaping
Q: How do you apply color to mustache?
Answer: From nostrils down
Q: Inactive stage
Answer: or spore forming stage; coat themselves in wax-like outer shell and can be blown and not disturbed by heat, cold or disinfectants. When conditions are favorable they can become active again.
Q: Three levels of decontamination
Answer: Sanitation, disinfection, sterilization
Q: What is alopecia senilis?
Answer: Loss of hair at old age
Q: How many bones are in the human body?
Answer: 206
Q: Hair is composed of
Answer: 90% protein
Q: A.B. Moler
Answer: wrote the first barbering textbook; opened the first barber school in Chicago in 1893
Q: Journeymen Barbers
Answer: Barber employee union
Q: tonsure
Answer: A shaved patch on the crown of the head
Q: Cocci
Answer: Round shaped bacteria that appear singly or in groups
Q: Dipolcocci
Answer: Round shaped that cause disease such as pneumonia
Q: Fungi
Answer: Plant-like organisms (molds and yeasts) that can cause infection such as ringworm
Q: Human disease carrier
Answer: A person who is immune to a disease, but harbors germs that can infect other people
Q: Parasites
Answer: An organism that lives in or on another organism, deriving nourishment at the expense of its host, usually without killing it
Q: Pus
Answer: A fluid that contains white blood cells
Q: Scabies
Answer: Contagious skin disease transmitted by the itch mite
Q: Solute
Answer: A substance that is dissolved in a solvent
Q: Orbicularis
Answer: Muscle surrounding the eye
Q: Corrugator
Answer: a pyramid-shaped muscle of facial expression which draws the eyebrows and raises forehead
Q: Risorius muscle
Answer: Muscle of the mouth that draws the corner of the mouth out and back, as in grinning.
Q: Supinator muscle
Answer: Turns the forearm and hand outward so the palm faces upward
Q: Sensory nerves
Answer: carry messages to the brain & spinal cord from a receptor; afferent nerves
Q: Motor nerves
Answer: Controls movement; efferent nerves
Q: What part of the fingers should you to shampoo and massage the scalp?
Answer: Cushion of the fingers
Q: How does a barber clean a hone?
Answer: Water and pumice stone
Q: What lesions should barbers be aware of?
Answer: Primary and secondary
Q: What is the pH of conditioner?
Answer: 3.5-5.5
Q: What is the characteristic of low porosity?
Answer: Absorbs less moisture
Q: A client has red-violet hair and wants a natural brown, what color should you use to neutralize the unwanted tone?
Answer: green-yellow
Q: What area should you apply relaxing cream to first?
Answer: Most resistant area
Q: Where should you hold a razor when changing out the blade?
Answer: Shank
Q: Acne is a disorder of what gland?
Answer: Sebaceous gland
Q: During a facial treatment what part of a client should be covered?
Answer: Clothing and hair
Q: Microbiology is
Answer: The study of microorganisms
Q: What is the method used when the hair at the crown is longer than at the nape?
Answer: Tapering
Q: In a chemical waving service, how do you apply the solution?
Answer: Crown to nape
Q: If you spot dry patches of skin prior to a facial treatment, what type of service do you recommend?
Answer: Exfoliant conditioning
Q: What should you do to hair that is dry and brittle before a hair color service?
Answer: Hair conditioner
Q: What style of mustache would you do for a client that has very small lips?
Answer: Small, medium mustache
Q: Prior to a shave, how should you sanitize the headrest?
Answer: Disinfect and cover
Q: What protects the brain?
Answer: Cranium
Q: What parts of the face consists of the t-zone?
Answer: Forehead, nose and chin
Q: What is the texture of a hair strand?
Answer: Diameter of the hair
Q: How to do make long necks appear shorter?
Answer: Hair that is left longer, fuller at the nape
Q: What are the secondary colors?
Answer: orange, green, violet
Q: Blood borne pathogens
Answer: Disease-causing organisms transferred through contact with blood or other body fluids
Q: What percentage of alcohol may be used to disinfect?
Answer: 70%
Q: Trichology
Answer: Scientific study of hair and its diseases and care.
Q: Polypeptide chains are
Answer: A chain of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds.
Q: Three type of side bonds
Answer: Hyrogen, salt, and disulfide bonds
Q: Density
Answer: The amount of hair per square inch of scalp
Q: What is ammonium thioglycolate (ATG)?
Answer: The main active ingredient or reducing agent in alkaline
Q: What is glyceral monothioglycolate (GMTG)?
Answer: The main active ingredient in true acid + acid balanced waves
Q: Soft water is
Answer: best for a barbershop
Q: What are the three types of infrared light?
Answer: White, red, and blue
Q: What do antiseptics do?
Answer: kill microorganisms in the environment
Q: An applicator used to direct electric current from a machine to the client’s skin is a(n):
Answer: Electrode
Q: Clippers have a cutting blade and a
Answer: Still blade
Q: Pediculosis is caused by:
Answer: head lice
Q: immunity
Answer: the ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitized white blood cells.