Updates

Hello All!
I have been horrible about keeping up with this...but will be much better moving forward. I have now been "On The Floor" for over two months and have been learning so much! Here are some of the Updates on what I have learned
Color Blocking:
Amy, one of my firends, brought me a picture last week and asked if I could make her hair the same color as Sarah Jessica Parker's from Sex and The City 2. Now we did a darker version, but she wanted her hair to start out as her natural (Dark brown) color at the root and get lighter as it went down. Up till this point I had only done one color on the hair or highlights...so I was excited for the challenge. Her hair turned out AWESOME!!! We actually used three different "Neutral" Brown colors and I started painting the color onto the hair. Each section of hair actually had all three colors on it. We started about an inch away from the scalp with the darkest color and worked our way down. I was so excited to see the end result. Amy had to leave before I could blow dry the hair...but she sent me a pic and I have attached it for you to see. It is a very "Beachy" look!!

Triangular Layers:
This has been my favorite cut thus far! It looks good on almost everyone! I learned this cut about three weeks ago and have already been able to cut this cut on about five people. It is great for the people who want length in the front, but have extra weight in the back or people with fine hair and need layers for volume. This is the cut I am going to do on my mom this upcoming week. I will take a picture and post it.
Hopefully this next week I learn something else new :).

Days 57-60

Tuesday:
Every Tuesday we have classroom time. This week Adam gave us a great class on the "Be Nice or Else" book. This is the book that we are reading (on our own time) and it encompasses the "Paul Mitchell way of life". It is a really good book to read! I have gotten through the firs couple of chapters and am slowly reading it. It is great for people who want to own their business. Talks about different way of managing people and that type thing.

Wednesday:
I used PM shines for the first time! My roommate came in and she has VERY dark hair. She wanted red "highlights"...so I had to bleach out her hair first and then apply the 6RV PM shines. It turned out great!!! I am a huge fan! Now I have to learn to cut curly hair and I will be her all time hairstylist!!!

Thursday:
I was able to use another new product this day. Becky, my old roommate, came in for some highlights. She has fairly dark hair and wanted a carmel color...not blonde. This time instead if using DPL and 5 volume (which I have done in the past) I got to use one of our "high lift" colors. It turned out so pretty! This saved me time because I did not have to go back in and tone her hair. It was done all at once :). I think she is very happy!

Friday:
Today Kim (the twin) came in for a haircut. I had told her when I was in CORE that I already knew what style I wanted to put on her. I cut a triangular one length on her (looks like Posch Spice without all the extra layers. This works really well becuase it keeps the hair off her neck, but it is long enough in the front. Plus it is easy and she is pregnant...so anything to make life easier right now. I have attached a picture of her hair :).

Days 51 - 54

(I did not write on the other days...all you missed was review and test taking)
Day 51 - 54: FIRST WEEK ON THE FLOOR!!!
This week was crazy and great all at the same time!!! We were all so nervous to be taking real clients. I will recap the week for you below:
Wednesday:
Robby made an appointment and was my OFFICIAL first hair cut on the floor. I was so nervous! Mainly because I did not want to mess up. It turned out well and he was very happy with it. Right after him I had my first walk-in :). He wanted a very different cutm but it also turned out well. Now I know how to cut "Eurpean" cuts. :).
Thursday:
I had my first women's cut plus a highlight. It took me about two and a half hours to complete the whole process, but it ended up turning out really well. Today I started feeling more comfortable with the whole process. The cut I did was a round one length on the bottom and square layers cut in. Before we moved to the floor we had only "practiced" each hair cut once...so now it is becoming more clear :).
Friday:
I was able to do two women's haircuts. One was a round one length with round layers and the second was a square on length with square layers. So I definitely got some good practice. I will have to take some pictures next week and post them for you.
I am already filling up for next week...so it should be a good second week!!!

Days 35-40

We are nearing our end of "CORE", so we have been reviewing and going over everything we have learned...which is a lot! It is crazy to think I am almost two months into the program. Time has been flying! I am down to two weeks before we hit the "floor" running. I am afraid we are all going to be so nervous on our first day. The adaptive class reassured us that everyone is nervous and it will be ok. I am so excited for it!
Tonight my co-worker George is being very brave and he is my "test subject"...hahaha! We are doing our first set of haircuts on a real person. He should look great! I will take a picture and post it next week :).
Happy Friday!

Day 32, 33 & 34

I am sorry I have been slacking on keeping up with this blog...I will be better :).
This week has been so much fun! All of us were talking last nigt about how quickly you get "used" to everything. For example, the first time we all picked up our cutting shears it was so awkward. Now, they are feeling like an extension of our hands. It is a good feeling :).
Day 32 and 33 we continued to work on our triangle cuts. This time we added in the gradutaion making the cut to look like a "stack". I definitely feel as though I need more practice on this, but I know it will get better over time.
Day 34 we started learning mens cuts. We watched a couple videos and all stared in awe at how they were cut. The people on the videos were doing crazy things with clippers. I will need LOTS of practice to be able to duplicate. I will post a picture of Step one. I am turning Donna into Dan...lol! So far we have only worked on a longer scissor cut. We will continue with the clippers today.

Day 30 & 31

The cutting saga continues. :). We are all really enjoying it! Everything is starting to fit together now that we are learning to cut. We can make FULL hairstyles now :). I am already thinking about what cuts would look good on different family members. The cut that we learned yesterday is the "Triangle one-cut". It can be done at any length. It is the base cut for the very popular stack. I am going to cut Kim's hair like this in June :). It is a very simple style, but looks really good! The back is slightly shorter than the front, so it looks a little more stylish than the other one length that we learned. Tonight we will add the layers...stay tuned for more pics :).

Day 28 & 29

Day 28 & 29
We did another day of "one-length" cut on a different Donna. We were very excited to move on to layers. On Day 29 we started the "Round layers". It is actually very simple to do once you figure it out. Every time we learn a new thing I always wonder who came up with it. I am just glad I am applying it. :). It took us all class period to finish one mannequin head, but we are learning! We were all very nervous to take the first cut. Thank goodness Brandy helped us through. I think my Donna turned out pretty well! I was quite impressed.

Day 26 & 27

Day 26:
We finished perms and relaxers. YEAH! We did not even get a "practice" run at relaxers. We just dove in. I have a before picture of Yolanda, and will update with an after picture once I finish styling her hair. I would hate to put a bad picture of Yolana on the web.

Day 27:
We started cutting. It was awesome!! We learned all about the theory behind the hair and how important body placement is when cutting hair. There is a lot more that goes into it than I originally thought. It is all about hip and feet placement and arm placement. There is also a particular way of holding the scissors. We will be practicing every day with "skills and drills" on how to hold them. It was completely awkard at first, but after a while there was a groove that you fell into. I should be able to post pictures tomorrow!

Day 24 & 25

We continued and finished our "perm marathon" :). This time we worked on spiral perms. These turned out so much better. The "regular" perms resembled a poodles head to me...if I was to get a perm, it would definitely be the spiral perm. That being said, they take FOREVER!! Hahaha! It took me almost three hours the first night to wrap Donna's head. The second night went much faster. We had another race, this always kicks us into hi-gear. I wrapped Yolanda's head in about an hour and a half...and that was booking it. The pictures posted are the before and after of Donna.
Next week we start cutting!! We are almost down to one month left in CORE...that means that I will be in need of clients shortly!. So, sign up :). My first day on the floor is May 28th! Hope to see you then!

Day 21 & 22

PERMS AND MORE PERMS!
Really, that is what we are working on. We did have a perm wrapping contest to test our "speed". I got third place...and lost by one rod. So close! The winners received candy bars...lol! Yes, high stakes :).
I wrapped Yolanda's head in about thirty minutes. I was actually quite impressed. It had taken me about an hour the day before...but when there is a compition...it is game on :).
We also got a nice surprise...Day 23 school is closed. See, it was a "nice surprise" to me because I apparently missed the memo that everyone else got about it because my entire class but me and Stephanie knew. So, from now on the third Wednesday of the month is a "day off"...I do not even know what to do with my new found time. :). It will be nice to go to bed early :). Looking forward to it!

Day 19 & 20

Day 19:
Today was a refresher on how to properly blow dry, round brush and flat iron the hair. It is amazing what I already forgot. It also took me FOREVER to flat iron Yolanda's hair. I defintiely should have taken a picture. It looks so good now...but I pretty much never want to wash her hair again. She should be getting a relaxer soon and that will definitely help.
As soon as I got home I decided to "spruce" up my hair a bit...and...are you ready...cut BANGS! They look really good actually. I was so nervous. I have not had bangs since I was in third grade. And in third grade I cut bangs one day and then the next three months after that I wore a pony tail with a head band EVERY DAY...to hold the bangs back. Needless to say, it was not pretty!

Day 20:
It is the end of month 1. CRAZY!!! Each week seems to move a little bit faster. We found out that our "official" start date on the floor is May 28th. It is just around the corner!
We also started our lesson on perms. I had just enough time to do a full head of rollers on Donna. Don't worry...I am sure by the end of next week I will be a master. Brandy let us know that we will do about 6 full sets of roller per mannequin. Yeah! Lol!

Day 18

We officially ended our color time in CORE. The end of color was for us to divide into groups and dye each others hair. Stephanie and I paired together. I dyed her hair a nice red/brown color. It looks really good! The pictures are of the process.
Stephanie did a great job dying my LONG hair. She put in two different colors, but my hair did not lift as lite as I would have liked. Silly hair...it is too dark! Boo! O, well next time we will have to use bleach or a bright red or something. At least we get discounts on color now...lol!

Day 16 & 17

Day 16:
We did our last foil application until we get out on the floor. I am defintiely going to have to practice before I get to the floor. I am still too slow. LOL! At least the mannequins don't know...haha.

Day 17:
Our owner, John, came to talk to us and gave us a pep-talk about starting school. He is so excited about our new class and we are all thrilled about it. He is a great man! Very uplifting. I can now see how and why the school is run the way it is run. He is a very caring man and is a huge advocate for helping others less fortunate than us.
The second part of the night was deciding the hair color that we want. I chose a nice warm golden brown and a slightly darker brown. It should be pretty. I will post pictures tomorrow after it is complete.

Day 15

Today was extremely exciting for our whole class...we got to use real bleach for a highlight on Donna. I know what you are thinking...real bleach? Well we have been using conditioner and gel up till now. It was our first true highlight. We used a VERY low volumizer because it takes us a while to do the higlight process and we did not want her hair falling out. That would have been awful.
It took me an hour and a half...lol! Definitely need more practice. We started the real highlight after our "Dinner" break...so I did not have enough time to wash out the product, so I took her home and washed her out in my tub and then blow dried and straightened her hair. I will post pictures. It was funny to say the least.

Day 13 & 14

We are conitnuing to become "Masters of Foiling". :). We learned a different part, called the "Diaganol part". This part is commonly used when doing highlights or lowlights on someone who has lots of layer. The VERY popular "Posh Spice" haircut falls into this category. I have done four total applications of this technique and I am still not very fast. Brandy promised us by the time we leave his class we will be masters of this process. This means...lots and lots and lots and lots of practice. YEAH! I think I know what my next week holds for us. :)

Day 11 & 12

Day 11 & 12
We learned the "Horizontal" Part and foiling. I will NEVER use a cap again. Foiling is so much better! Sure, it takes longer...but the results are so much better. The main reason a person would use the "Horizontal" part over a different form is if their hair is one length. Then you only have to highlight the top portion of the hair instead of the whole head. It is easier on the hair and easier for up keep.
A normal application of foiling should take a total of 45 minutes...well the fastest time I had on a mannequin head was one hour and thirty minutes. Clearly I need to speed up a bit or the hair is not going to bleach/dye evenly. This is why we have 15 months of practice :).

Day 10

Tonight we watched a video all about color and application. I am so excited to start working with our color line. The video gave us a snapshot of different color styles that we could try to duplicate. I of course like the "Mai Tai" and the "Cosmopolitan" options. They were both red! I took notes, but will definitely need to re-watch the video to get everything straight. It was so cool watching them transform the looks of the models. I can't wait to start!!!
Next week we will learn applications for highlights. We have already learned so much thus far. It is crazy!

Day 8 & 9

Day 8 & 9:
We started color today! I am so excited. We even get to practice on each other in about a week. I am already deciding what type of color I want. I am thinking something dark and red. I have always wanted to be a red head :). They have more fun right?!?!?
We learned application processes for darkening and lightning hair. Both with virigin application (hair that has never been colored) and then "retouch" application. We applied both versions to Donna and Yolanda. Both of these girls have the cleanest hair ever. I have spent more time washing and blow drying their hair than my own hair...by far! Lol! I can't wait to start cutting!

Day 6 & 7

Day 6:
We learned the "Paul Mitchell Way of Blow Drying". I definitely normally blow dry my own hair incorrectly. Lol! It was a very long process that is going to require some practice. There were 4 complete steps of blow drying the entire hair before you are done. It took almost an hour and a half. Sorry no pictures on this one :).

Day 7:
All of the Paul Mitchell Schools are invovled in a huge fund raiser. We listened to a conference call with the top 10 schools who have raised the most money. We are ranked #4 among all the schools. Our schools money is going to "Hunger in Africa". We have three weeks left in the fundraiser and are almost halfway to our goal of $80,000 total. Please ask me how you can help!

Day 6

Friday night was "Free-Style Friday". We were asked to find pictures of different Up-do's that we wanted to try. I brought in four, two of which incororated different things we had learned through out the week.
As soon as class got going we watched an hour long video on Up-do's. It was all about bringing "the streets" to the chair. It was a cool video! I probably would never wear any of the up-do's but it was crazy to see how easy they were. Most incorporated a couple ponytails and some bobby pins. They did not even curl the hair before hand. One of the styles even had suede thread incorporated into the hair.
After the movie, we worked on Yolanda and learned Corn Rows. I am good at braiding and learned how to french braid at an early age from my mom, so I figured it would be pretty easy. Corn Rows are the exact opposite of french braiding. For my first time they turned out great. Brandy, my instructor, even said it looked like I turned Yolanda into Snoop Dog...lol!
I have no idea what is in store for us next week, but am so excited to find out. We already learned: Finger Wiave, Pin Curls, Shampooing, Corn Rows and Roller Setting. WOW!

Day 5

Today we learned how to do Roller Sets. It was probably the easiest thing we have done thus far. I rocked it! I am ready for all the old ladies who want to come in and get their hair set :)! The class period flew by. We all had fun setting and then styling our mannequins. Not much else to tell about today. I will post some pics and tomorrow I should have more for you.
Spoiler Alert... :)...tomorrow we are learning about up-dos and corn rows. Yes, a random combination :).

Day 4

We had plenty of time to perfect the Finger Waive and Pin Curls las night. I started out on Donna with the Finger Waive and after about an hour and a half had her entire head done. Then I moved onto Yolanda and her hair was so much easier. I was very surprised! Her hair held the waive so much better and she became my friend :). Donna and I are on the outs right now, but after more practice I am sure it will get better...lol!
We found out that at the board, we only have to do one row of the Finger Waive and ONE Pin Curl. That is it! I spent about two hours working on Donna's Pin Curls last night, so I think I am good :).
I am not sure what Day 5 holds for us...but I will keep you updated. :)

Day 3

On the third day of hair school, my instructor taught me... (to the 12 Days of Christmas theme)
Anyways, we learned how to do the "Finger Wave". It is a hair "design" that women used to wear in the 1940's. It looks like a Wave through someone's hair. I have attached a picture to give you an idea.
It was a lot harder than we were all expecting. Brandy, my instructor, kept telling us to not get frustrated becuase it took him almost a year to master. I guess this is why they teach us week one...lol! I was able to complete one side of my mannequin. When I was done it sort of looked like a Finger Wave after a 10 year old played with it. It will get better!
The craziest part about the whole procedure was the amount of gel you we had to use. On half of my mannequins head I put enough gel to be the size of a good size bagel...and it was not enough. By the end we all had gel and water everywhere! My new friend, Stephanie, even slipped one time on the gel we had all over the floor. Needless to say, we had a mess to clean up at the end of the night.
The other important thing that we learned was how to properly wash clients hair. It seems like such a trivial thing, but in the end can make or break the whole "experience". I think I was pretty good at this part, but will need more practice. Any takers?!?!

Day 2

I am now the official owner of three "Donna's" and three "Yolanda's"...for those of you that are confused they are my new mannequin heads! School was like Christmas. We got every type of brush and comb you could imagine plus clips galore and a whole bunch of "hot" tools. We are also getting makeup, which I love, and a ton of other stuff. It was a little overwhleming to see the amount of stuff that we have and will use almost daily. My CORE classes are 12 weeks long and then I will start cutting/coloring hair. It is hard to believe that by June I will beautifying people :).

Day 1

Here is a little bit of a back story:
I have wanted to go to Cosmetology school since I was 19. Instead I followed someone else's "plan" and got a job in Corporate America. I convinced myself that it was where I needed to be and I enjoyed my job for the time being. After about three years, I realized that it was not where I needed to be. I decided to visit different Cosmetology schools and pursue my dream of one day owning my own hair salon. I chose Cosmetology Career Center in Carrollton and waited in anticipation until March 20, 2010 arrived.
Today was March 20, 2010:
It was everything I could ever imagine and more! Today I entered my Orientation class with 12 other people. This will be my "CORE" group of people for the next 17 months. Yes! Seventeen months. It seems like a long time, but in the long scheme of things it is a very short amount of time.
I learned today that I am not the only person in the situation that I am in. Over half my class has been wanting to pursue cosmetology, but did not for one reason or another. We are now all together fighting our way through life, school and work. It is going to be hard but together we will all figure it out. That was the best realization of today...I Am NOT alone :).