Beauty & Personal Care Specs Explained

Plain explanations of beauty & personal care specs on Wiki Shopping, such as sizes and ratings, and what each one changes when you choose a product.

Bar chart of Wahl clipper guard numbers 1 to 8 by hair length left, from 3 mm for a number 1 to 25 mm for a number 8.

Clipper Guard Numbers and Lengths, Explained

A clipper guard number stands for the hair length it leaves; on Wahl's guards a number 2 leaves 6 mm (about 1/4 inch), and each step up adds about 3 mm.

Bar chart of curling iron barrel sizes by the curl style Hot Tools pairs them with, from 1/2 inch for spiral curls to 2 inches for body curls.

Curling Iron Barrel Sizes, Explained

The smaller the barrel, the tighter the curl; Hot Tools pairs 1/2 inch with spiral curls, 1 inch with beach waves and 1 1/2 to 2 inches with big, loose curls.

Bar chart of electric shavers on Wiki Shopping by stated feature. Cordless is the largest group with 277 shavers, followed by wet and dry with 207, foil with 149 and rotary with 67.

Foil vs Rotary Electric Shavers, Explained

A foil shaver swings blades back and forth under a thin metal screen, a rotary shaver spins blades under round heads, and wet and dry models work in showers.

Bar chart of maker-rated wear time by nail coating, from up to 7 days for regular polish to 3 to 4 weeks for gel.

Gel vs Regular Nail Polish, Explained

Regular polish air dries and OPI rates it at up to 7 days of wear, while gel hardens under a lamp and lasts about 3 weeks; gel-like polish skips the lamp.

Bar chart of hair dryers on Wiki Shopping by stated wattage. 1875 watts is the largest group with 47 dryers, followed by under 1600 watts with 36.

Hair Dryer Watts, Ionic and Ceramic, Explained

Watts are the power a hair dryer draws, ionic means it gives off negative ions to cut static and frizz, and ceramic is a heater that gives off infrared heat.

Bar chart of hair extensions, wigs and accessories on Wiki Shopping by type. Wigs are the largest group with 53 listings, followed by hair extensions with 11 and hairpieces with 8.

Lace Wig Sizes and Hair Extension Types, Explained

A lace front wig has lace only along the hairline, a full lace wig has lace over the whole cap, and 13x4 means a lace front 13 inches wide and 4 inches deep.

Bar chart of blades per head for well-known razor lines, from 1 for a double-edge safety razor to 7 for the Dorco Pace 7.

Razor Blade Counts, Explained

A safety razor uses one double-edged blade, cartridges stack two to seven; Gillette puts a Mach3 cartridge at about 15 shaves and a 5-blade at about 20.

Bar chart of the 210 electric toothbrushes on Wiki Shopping that state a brushing motion. Sonic is the largest group with 183 brushes, followed by oscillating or rotating with 19 and ultrasonic with 8.

Sonic vs Oscillating Electric Toothbrush

Oscillating brushes turn a small round head back and forth, sonic brushes vibrate an oval head side to side; sonic is the most common motion we list.