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 :).