Cosmetology Licensing Examination: Scientific Concepts

1.A client has a round scaly patch of broken hairs and asks for a relaxer over that patch. What should you do?

2.While combing, you see insects and eggs cemented to the hair. The client asks you to apply a salon oil to kill them. What is the appropriate action?

3.A metal pusher is coated with skin debris after one client. What must happen before another client?

4.An emery board was used on one client and still looks unused. What is the safe choice before the next client?

5.A student proposes mixing household bleach and ammonia in one bottle to make a stronger disinfectant. What should you say?

6.Under the microscope, a bacterium looks spherical. Which name matches that shape?

7.A slide shows long rod-shaped bacterial cells. What are they called?

8.Spiral bacterial cells are known by which name?

9.A client thinks a cold virus multiplied overnight on a dry comb sitting in a drawer. Which statement is accurate?

10.Many microbes live on healthy skin and cause no disease. Which term fits those microbes?

11.A client's finger shows red streaks up the arm, and the client feels feverish, but still wants a manicure. What should you do?

12.Which statement separates disinfection from sterilization?

13.A classmate drops a brush still full of hair into the disinfectant jar. What is wrong with that step?

14.A disinfectant label requires the counter to stay wet for 10 minutes. The surface dries after 2 minutes. What should you do?

15.Which product choice is appropriate for a nonporous salon table?

16.A cotton pad is soaked with blood after a nick. What is the infection-control step for that pad?

17.What hand-hygiene step is required before a client and again after gloves come off?

18.During a haircut, when are gloves required?

19.A new lightener is delivered with a safety data sheet. What is that sheet for?

20.How should the client's neck be protected under a haircut cape?

21.Clean towels are piled beside a hamper of damp used towels. What is the safer practice?

22.Classroom theory describes the surface of hair and skin as slightly acidic. Which range matches that teaching?

23.An alkaline cosmetic is applied to the hair. What does that alkalinity do to the cuticle?

24.Oil and water are shaken together and then separate again. Before any emulsifier is added, what kind of pair are they?

25.Which description fits the surfactant in a shampoo?

26.Wax melts in a heater and later hardens with the same composition. What kind of change is the melting?

27.Oxidative haircolor forms a new color compound in the cortex and rinsing does not restore the old color. What kind of change is that?

28.A wet set is dried and the new shape holds until the hair is wet again. Which bonds were rearranged?

29.In classroom theory, which bonds does a cold wave rearrange when it creates a lasting curl? Do not describe a mixing formula.

30.Which layer of the hair shaft is the outer coating of overlapping scales?

31.Natural color and most of the hair's strength are associated with which layer of the shaft?

32.Which structure supplies the growing hair bulb?

33.A shed hair has a tiny rounded club at the root, and the client loses a similar small number of hairs every day. Which phase does that club suggest?

34.What is the classroom order of the hair growth cycle from active growth through rest?

35.Which skin layer contains blood vessels, nerves, and glands?

36.From the outside of thick skin inward, which epidermal order is correct?

37.A facial client points to a mole that has become larger, darker, and irregular since last month and asks you to scrape it off. What do you do?

38.Which part of the nail unit produces the nail plate?

39.What is the lunula?

40.A student is about to clip the living skin at the base of the nail plate to make a sharp line. What is that skin, and what should happen?

41.A client asks you to cut away the tender skin under the free edge of the nail. What is the safe response?

42.Which bone is the lower jaw?

43.Which cranial bone forms the forehead?

44.Which bones form the cheekbones?

45.Which muscle raises the eyebrows and creates horizontal forehead lines?

46.Which muscle closes the eyelid?

47.Which muscle turns the head from side to side?

48.Which tissue covers the body surface?

49.Cell division that produces two cells with the same chromosome number, for growth and repair, is called what?

50.Which structure is the largest organ of the body?

51.You nick the skin during a haircut and see blood. What is the stricter procedure?

52.The cord on a hood dryer shows bare wire, but the dryer still heats. What should you do?

53.A chemical splashes into a client's eye. What is the immediate step?

54.A client turns pale and says they feel faint in the chair. What should you do?

55.A coworker wants to pour two chemical-service products from different companies into one bowl to make a stronger formula. What is the safe rule?

56.How should salon chemicals be stored?

57.A predisposition test for color is red and itchy the next day. The client still wants the color. What do you do?

58.The scalp has open sores, and the client wants a relaxer the same day. What is the appropriate decision?

59.Why is a closed bin of damp towels left overnight a sanitation problem?

60.A client has itchy peeling skin between the toes and wants a pedicure before an event. What should you do?

61.Which statement about a parasite is accurate in salon science?

62.A client asks for a scalp treatment that works like a vaccine against salon infections. What is within your scope?

63.A bottle of disinfectant is labeled only for hard nonporous tools. A classmate wants to pour it on a scraped knee. What do you say?

64.The disinfectant jar is cloudy and full of settled skin and hair. It was mixed several days ago. What is the stricter practice?

65.Phenolic disinfectant and a quaternary disinfectant are both in the dispensary. What is true of using them?

66.A dirty nipper is placed in an ultraviolet cabinet without being washed. What is the limitation of that cabinet?

67.After disinfection, tools are stored wet in a sealed box. What is the better practice?

68.You remove gloves after a color service. What do you do before touching your face or the next setup?

69.Your finger has a fresh cut that is still weeping, and a haircut is booked. What is the stricter choice?

70.A client reports a latex allergy during the consultation. Which glove choice fits that history?

71.A client asks you to name the disease causing a painful scalp rash and to treat it during the appointment. What is your scope?

72.In a salt-and-water classroom example, which substance is the solute?

73.Which statement about water fits basic salon chemistry?

74.A client wants a relaxer finished with household bleach because the bleach will stop the product. What do you do?

75.A chemical service is on the hair. The client asks you to leave it on far longer than the instructions so the hair will be extra straight. What is the safer decision?

76.A nail product warms as it cures, and the client says the finger feels like it is burning. What should you do?

77.Which statement about matter and energy fits a basic salon-science lesson?

78.Iron filings can be pulled from powdered sulfur with a magnet. After the two are chemically combined, the magnet no longer separates them the same way. What happened?

79.What is the slightly acidic film on the skin surface often called?

80.A conditioner coats the hair. Which claim is honest?

81.Natural hair color comes mainly from which pigment in the cortex?

82.A disinfectant label allows reuse for several days, but on day two the jar contains hair, skin, and cloudy debris. What should you do?

83.A client has an open cold sore on the lip and wants wax and massage directly over it. What do you do?

84.A client develops trouble breathing after a cosmetic product touches the skin. What is the emergency step?

85.Which statement matches the scope used in these safety items?

86.Which structures are in the dermis rather than in the dead outer epidermis?

87.Sebaceous glands release which secretion?

88.Sudoriferous glands produce which secretion?

89.A classmate says the dark tip of an open comedone is dirt that must be scrubbed out with a stiff brush. Which correction is accurate?

90.Keratin is the main structural protein of which salon-relevant structures?

91.In a basic chemistry lesson, which description of an element is correct?

92.How does a compound differ from a simple mixture?

93.In basic cosmetic chemistry, oxidation can be described as which change?

94.Which change is reduction in that same basic lesson?

95.Miscible liquids are liquids that do what?

96.Glitter polish must be shaken because the sparkle settles. What kind of mixture is that?

97.Which description fits an emulsion?

98.Why does a higher temperature often speed a cosmetic chemical reaction?

99.What should be running during a service that releases chemical vapors or monomer fumes?

100.A patch test for a product is positive. The client offers to sign a card waiving any injury. What do you do?

101.Which statement about the pH scale is correct?

102.Hard water has left mineral buildup, and a chemical color is planned. What is a sound prep?

103.A pregnant client asks you to promise that today's chemical service is medically safe. What should you say?

104.A hot tool burns a client's skin and a blister forms. What first aid fits the salon setting?

105.A breaker trips when a hot tool is plugged in. You reset it, and it trips again immediately. What should you do?

106.Which statement about bacterial spores is accurate?

107.A salon exposure plan for bloodborne pathogens is mainly meant to do what?

108.A porous orangewood stick was used around one client's nail fold. What should happen to the stick?