- published: 27 Jun 2015
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Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color. The Common Germanic adjective *brûnoz, *brûnâ meant both dark colors and a glistening or shining quality, whence burnish. The current meaning developed in Middle English from the 14th century.
The adjective is applied to naturally occurring colors, referring to animal fur, human hair, human skin pigmentation (tans), partially charred or carbonized fiber as in toasted bread and other foods, peat, withered leaves, etc.
In terms of the visible spectrum, "brown" refers to high wavelength (low frequency) hues, yellow, orange, or red, in combination with low luminance or saturation. Since brown may cover a wide range of the visible spectrum, composite adjectives are used such as red brown, yellowish brown, dark brown or light brown.
As a color of low intensity, brown is a tertiary color: a mix of the three subtractive primary colors is brown if the cyan content is low. Brown exists as a color perception only in the presence of a brighter color contrast:[citation needed] yellow, orange, red, or rose objects are still perceived as such if the general illumination level is low, despite reflecting the same amount of red or orange light as a brown object would in normal lighting conditions.
Vidal Sassoon, CBE (17 January 1928 – 9 May 2012) was a British hairdresser, credited with creating a simple geometric, "Bauhaus-inspired" hair style, also called the wedge bob. Due to the popularity of his styles, he was described as "a rock star, an artist, [and] a craftsman who 'changed the world with a pair of scissors.'"
His "wash and wear" philosophy liberated women from the "tyranny of the salon" and "revolutionised the art of hairstyling." Sassoon's styles became "emblematic of freedom and good health" and their popularity allowed him to open the first chain of worldwide hair styling salons, complemented by his hair-treatment products. He is also remembered for his television commercials in the 1980s. Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, a documentary film about his life, was released in 2010.
Sassoon was born in Hammersmith, London, and lived in Shepherd's Bush. His parents were Sephardi Jews. His mother, Betty (Bellin), came from a family of immigrants from Spain, and his father, Jack Sassoon, was from Thessaloniki, Greece. Sassoon had a younger brother, Ivor, who died from a heart attack at the age of 46.[dead link]