Day 71 ~ Foiled Again ~ 10/30/13

Day 71 ~ Foiled Again ~ 10/30/13

492 Hours

Today's Hair: Spin Pin Bun & some Halloween clips as decor.

Performance Floor:
Part 1: Mrs K from Wella was back this morning and our assignment from her was to do the same herringbone foil technique she taught us using manikin bleach. So here is an illustration I made to show what the process is.

Each line represents a sliced out parting for a foil placement. C & D represents 2 different color formulas being placed on the same strand, one at the new growth and one at the mid strand to ends with dry brushing in between to blend them. B is another color being used on that entire sliced strand. Then A's color would color the hair not in the foils if you were going to change the rest of the hair as well.
However we were not using 3 or 4 colors. Just one bowl of lightener with 20 volume developer. So all we were doing was lightening strands until we felt like stopping them. But that's ok. I had a chance to change the color of one of the two Lori twins so now they can be distinguished from each other.
Here's my results after I blow dried and round brushed her.

 

I did the blow drying after Ashlee and I went for a walk to lunch. Then it was time to get started on the class assignment of fingerwaves and pin curls. I was in a mood thinking that I wasn't going to get done in time to dry them anyway so I set up Angellina Anna with her almost uncut hair. I gave her a tiny sort of trim before. I wanted to challenge myself to try the fingerwaves on long hair. What happens if someone with long hair wants fingerwaves? I'm going to have to learn it right? So I gave it a try. Mrs C came over and was helping me remember how to get started. I gotta remember the pulling an inch forward part. That was my ah ha moment last time and it was this time too. I got down to the ears with my rows and then I started to make the pin curls. But I was struggling with getting the pins to hold the longer hair in place. So Mrs C asked if I had a shorter haired manikin which I just happened to have since I had a bag of them in the cabinet right there. So I handed Deborah to her and she went to prep her while I continued to give Angellina a try. Then she called me over to get me start on Deb. That's when I got the 1 inch reminder and after she showed a few rows I started it over and I got through it enough to do a row of curls and get her under the dryer. I got some good credits in the computer today. Apparently I'm already 22 out of 15 in blow drying. Not sure if that's for the next milestone or for graduation. Sp although I didn't have any guests today I did get a full day in. And Mrs K from Wella liked my foiling so I'm happy with that.

Fingerwaves & pin curls

I do have Friday and Saturday booked fairly solid this week now. I've got both Mrs M and Mrs D for roller sets on Friday since Mrs M's student is working the desk. And I was given a Shampoo & Thermal for Saturday 9:45 with a Haircut & Color coming in at 12 noon. Tomorrow is classroom day with haircutting theory and practical. Its also supposed to be costume day for Halloween. I'm going as Me for a change.

~ No Tangles ~

Day 70 ~ Shiny Fish Bones ~ 10/29/13

 Day 70 ~ Shiny Fish Bones ~ 10/29/13

485 Hours

Today's Hair: Polka Dot Band Bow

Classroom Day: Start of Haircutting 2 - Male Haircuts.
I went in today assuming it was going to be some sort of theory in the morning and then manikin practise later on. Not quite. First we had new transfer student from another location. Ashlee and I hooked up with B right away and had her at our table. When I looked at the board today I was a bit confused by the supplies it was telling us we needed. Tint bowls and brushes didn't seem like they were haircutting related. Well it turns out that it was in fact 10/29 and that was one of the days that the Wella rep was coming in to teach us something. So that was to take place 1-4pm. As for the haircutting theory all we really got today was the words to write down. And then Mrs J was showing us some cowlicks and growth patterns on one of the students. Then at 11:20 we partnered up to shampoo one of the pair and demonstrate combing the hair while wet to see the way the hair looks when combed. Um yeah so anyway I shampooed Ashlee and she shampooed B and then we came back to class. I combed Ashlee's hair a bit and looked at her growth patterns and then I dried and round brushed her. Then it was lunch time.

After lunch it was time to start setting up for the Wella class. The lady came in and talked about some pictures in the trend booklet. There were 4 seasonal and sound themed looks. She went through the formulas and application procedure for 2 of the 4. Then we were to try 1 of the 2. But we were using colesterol and not real color. So we were pretending that the same bowl of colesterol was actually 3 different bowls of color. We were standing in front of our manikins and we were putting foils in with a zig zag or fish / herring bone pattern going down the center from the forhead back. We were putting formula C near on the new growth area and formula D on the mid strand to ends. Then we were to dry brush to blend them in the middle. Then use another foil to cover the slice instead of folding so that if it were real the colors wouldn't touch each other. Then every third foil on each side was going to be formula B on the whole strand and that foil was foldable. Formula A was going to be put on the hair that wasn't foiled in between if this were real. The lady liked the work I did which swells my head a bit because I'm so new at this. I was hoping we were going to use actual color and I had one of the new Lori twins as my model so I could get one a different color to tell them apart. The Wella lady said she would be on the floor with us tomorrow. At the moment I don't have any guests coming in. I do know that the assignment out there today was fingerwaves and pin curls that had to be done, dried, and combed out. Just the drying time alone makes me leary about finishing that one. As much as I don't want to do the assignment for the concern of not finishing it there's more of me that knows I have to get the MPA credit for it anyway and that I want to learn the heck out of them so I'm not so discouraged by the thought of them. Its something I need to know. There are uses for the knowledge and abilities.

So we'll have to wait and see what happens. But that's part of the fun. The unknown is what I'm living for. Walk ins are part of the fun. Its always a chance to help someone.

~ No Tangles ~

Day 69 ~ Wash, Roll, Dry - Repeat ~ 10/25/13

Day 69 ~ Wash, Roll, Dry - Repeat ~ 10/25/13

478 Hours
15 Guests (1 has repeated 4 times)

Hair Today: Pink Scrunchie Higher Bun. I'm still working on getting my tails and buns higher. This looks a lot lower than it felt LOL. I used my spin pins to hold it and then put the fuzzy scrunchie around it as decor.

Performance Salon Floor: Friday Dance Day. 
Quote from last night's entry, "I have a pedicure booked at 11:45 with a friend tomorrow and that should allow me to also take care of Mrs D's roller set. So basically I'll have a bit of time before then to try whatever the assignment is for the day if the celebrations don't go too long. Hopefully they don't give me a guest in that small window. Unless its something I can get done in time. So lets see what kind of friday fun rolls my way." 
On the way in this morning I was thinking about how its Friday and that the chances were good that I would get a guest right away. I took my supplies inside along with Suzie still in her white bricklay rods. I figured I would need to remove them anyway if I did an assigned practical involving perms. So we danced and celebrated and one of my FB student friends graduated. She reached not only Master Designer status but she did it twice. Every card I hand out, every post I make somewhere trying to bring in a guest, is me saying, "it has been done, it can be done, and I should be able to, and I'm going to try" not because I want the school to make money or sell products. But because I need to know I'm worth taking the chance on. And As I type that its almost silly these days to even say that anymore. 2 people that I had never met in person have booked me. There's no reason anymore to doubt anyone else will. Those 40+ cards are handed out. The odds are in my favor and will continue to be. 

While I'm thinking of it I just gotta say how much I love that smell. Its not to say I enjoy having to smell it but I love the smell of the sulfur from the relaxers and perms. There's just something comforting in the knowledge that I'm supposed to smell that. It smells like Home. The home I'm going to have. People will be walking up a pretty pathway to a beautiful door to an enchanted place and they will be guests in my home. Not a little basement chair like some would assume I'd have. But a salon at my home. There are ways to do it and I will do them the way I need to. And its going to be beautiful. You know me and my visions and projects.

So anyway back to the quote from yesterday. We danced, well I sorta did. My way. My feet were moving. They're always moving these days. We were about to be done celebrating when the second graduate made it in so we got going again. At some point I looked at my watch and it said 9:37. That may have been before or after we started again. The student from the desk came up to me and said that she was giving me Mrs M the other friday roller set because her usual student hadn't come in yet. So tiny panic with knowing I only had 2 hours but hey its only a roller set right? Lets look at the ticket........Oh a haircut too?
____/\_____/\___/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\/\/\/\
Mrs C was there for the morning today since there's no part time afternoon on Friday. So I went and greeted guest Mrs M and got her to the chair and I went to Mrs C and asked her for help. I could have cared less if I stood and watched her do the whole thing if it meant getting done in time. As it turned out Mrs C cut a few of the guides for the round layer cut and then I did the matching and blending. So I cut at least 55-60% of the cutting. And when she checked it she only cut the equivelent of trimming two fingernails off with clippers. Then she rolled about 40% of the blue rollers and I did about 60%. We got Mrs M under the dryer and out the door at 11:30. So I got the pedicure area set up and then checked FB on my phone and saw that my friend was stuck at work and couldn't make it. So at least now I know how to set it up since I did have to ask some questions from the other students. Then I removed Suzie's perm rods. Then I went on lunch at 12:25. 
Mrs D came in for her 1:30 for the 4th time. We had another nice time. Its comforting to know that she's coming every week. I could probably try rolling her hair with my eyes closed and she'd be happy with how it turned out. Just gotta spray it good. I had Friday Fun. 

Tuesday is Classroom and we start the Haircutting 2 portion which is mens cutting. So I have two weeks of that. I hope I can find a way to get a male guest in for the rubric. No one had a guest for the relaxers in my group. Its a hurdle I want to jump. I mean its a free haircut. Gotta be someone who wants one. Maybe I could even get a lady in who wants short hair. Wish I knew where my friend from back in 2000 was. She wore short short hair.

 So lets see what the weekend brings. I already have a few plans.
 Thanks for reading, much appreciated, love you all <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 68 ~ Pressing Matters ~ 10/24/13

Day 68 ~ Pressing Matters ~ 10/24/13

471 Hours

Today's Hair: It was wear pink day with a donation to student council's fund. I wasn't wearing a pink shirt since I don't have one that's not my hoodie. But I loaded up my tail and still donated to the fund.

Classroom Day: Last day of the Relaxers portion of Rehearsal. We spent the morning going over some dress code rules and some other things and then reviewing relaxers. Then came the quiz and I got 100%. or 20 of 20.

For lunch I walked to Boston. Boston Market that is at the corner of the center. I gave a card to the lady at the register. I said "You know where that is right?" I had already bantered with her about my gravy choice.

After lunch it was time for the other half of the class to do their Relaxer rubrics. Since I had done mine that meant today was for me to do manikin practicals of choice. I had the new Lori twins with me as a possibility of cutting but I chose to start by trying out my electric pressing comb on the curls that were still in Veronica's hair from the white rod perm wet set she got before I used her for the 1950's kitchen scene for Salon fair.

So here is a before and after

I enjoyed using the comb. I also had several students who wanted to give using it a try so that was neat. So technically her straightening is a cooperative effort.
I think this is the first time I've done something with Veronica at this school not counting the salon fair. It was nice to find something to perform on her since its not always easy to comb through her hair. But her hair felt nice afterward. Not quite as coarse feeling.

I have a pedicure booked at 11:45 with a friend tomorrow and that should allow me to also take care of Mrs D's roller set. So basically I'll have a bit of time before then to try whatever the assignment is for the day if the celebrations don't go too long. Hopefully they don't give me a guest in that small window. Unless its something I can get done in time. So lets see what kind of friday fun rolls my way.

~ No Tangles ~

Day 67 ~ Another Brick In The Wall ~ 10/23/13

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 67 ~ Another Brick In The Wall ~ 10/23/13
But I do need this education ;)

464 Hours
13 Guests

Today's Hair: Briad with two pink bows

Performance Salon Floor Today: I did not see any sign of the cancelled color retouch coming in today. So it was going to be a manikin day unless someone called for an appointment since we only had about 3 guests already coming in. Today's assignment was bricklay perm wraps. We have to do whatever the assignment is and get credit for that before we do any other manikin stuff. Since I had just done her haircut and knew her hair was as close to even lengths as I could do I chose Suzie to do mine on. I had to first take the rods out of Kim's hair from the piggyback perm the other day. I ended up not getting credit for that because it wasn't done and I had to remove the rods so I couldn't keep it to finish. Oh well at least I got the practise. So I got a bit of a later start than some of the others today since I also sanitized some of my brushes and combs first. Mrs Sherri came over to our row and says "Those look good" to everyone and I said "Thanks" and I was just starting my carve out for the first rod. A short while later she came back and she and Mrs E were commenting on how I was catching up or something about how I had 5 placed. I was given 11:30 lunch time today. While on lunch Student T from the desk opened the door to outside to tell me that I had a shampoo thermal coming in at 12. When I read the name it was ringing a bell with me as though i might have had her already. Then when she arrived I noticed it was a lady that had been there on Saturday while I was working desk so I had seen her name on the computer then. She said she had a rare day off and just wanted a wash and round brush. She had tried a dry shampoo earlier in the day but for some reason it wasn't working for her today or something so she wanted to get a fresh start. So I helped her relax on her day off and with some pointers from Mrs C, I got to blow dry her pretty and shiny below shoulder length hair. As Mrs C was giving the final check with me I was saying something about how it was nice she came etc and she called me by some other name so I offered her my card. Its hard to describe the exact situation because I forget the words but it went well. And Mrs C said something a minute later about how she has my card. So we'll see if she requests me next time. I told her next time she comes I'll rock it out in no time.

I'm starting to get a bit more comfy with Mrs C helping out. The bottom line with her is she sees my potential and is trying to help me. And its not her I'm upset with when she helps me. Its those thoughts about the past that make me think things will be like the old school. They aren't going to be. For one thing I'm not the same. I have to remember that one of these days I'm not going to have these instructors to come help me or give me pointers. I may or may not have coworkers that want to help. But first I'd have to perform and get the job. I started over for a reason. I was right to do it. I just need to remember to learn what I came to learn while I can. Especially since I read on a salon's FB page how the owner is upset that the schools aren't teaching good blow dries, shampoos, and iron curls so I better learn from someone who is trying to teach.

As I was getting back to work on the bricklay Mrs L came in and she came over to point out how to wrap the back half. After I started doing it I remembered that I was doing the same thing I had done with the back of the hair on the curl reform last week.

At the end of the day I was cleaning up and putting some of my garbage in the cans down the row so I was strutting down the catwalk for the ladies. I told them i was practising for the next salon fair. I don't have the dancing down yet but I got the strutting. Most of the time when I'm outside on break I'm walking in figure 8's or in circles. One of these days I'm going to bring a walk in back in that door with me. Or at least have them come in and book me for later. I'm getting to that point where its going to be more than a card offer. I've found my voice.

Tomorrow is classroom day. We have the relaxer quiz and the other half of the class does their rubrics. That means I may get to do some other manikin practise while they do theirs since they got to while I did mine. My two new manikins came today that I ordered specifically for cutting. So here are the Lori twins and the pictures of the bricklay I took with my phone camera.

So that's it for today.
I brought Suzie home with the intent of removing her rods and remembering to bring the rest to school that I left at home.I'm trying to remember to bring the Lori twins with me tomorrow on the chance I may get to cut them in a class with Mrs J teaching to let her help me if she has anything to add. The next two weeks are mens cuts so I'll at least get something from her. But I don't know who is getting what cut. I might just let a Lori volunteer for something really short. They cost me less than the male manikins would.

Love you all <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 66 ~ Relax Its Just A Rubric.~ 10/22/13

Day 66 ~ Relax Its Just A Rubric.~ 10/22/13

457 Hours

Today's Hair: Banded tail with pink bands. I put these crochet flower clips in as decor that I got at Gymboree.

Classroom Day: Today is day one of two days this week for half the class to do their technical rubric for applying relaxers. We did half the head as virgin and half the head as retouch. I tried to get a model in to get a free relaxer but I didn't see anyone bite at the offer. No one else had a model today. We watched a relaxer related movie for the first part of the day. Then we did the rubrics after lunch. I did my rubrics today and passed them both. The real test will always be each and every time I do them for real. There's no assuming when it comes to anything hair related so it will always be a test and experiment.
Not much else to report class wise.

On morning break I offered a card to the lady coming out of the shoe store but she said her daughter is a stylist so i replied "Really? That's awesome"
On the way home I stopped at Aldi to get some canned goods for our food drive at school. I was second in line and when I put the divider on the belt the lady behind me said thanks. So I offered my card. She asked if we do something besides hair as she was holding it and I showed her that it had the whole menu. She looked and saw the mani's and pedi's and mentioned the price and said that's good. So we'll see if she comes in. :)

When I checked the computer today the color retouch I was scheduled for tomorrow was missing. I also see that I'm part of the kids party coming on November 16th. So I'm working on trying to fill the chair with smiling faces in the meantime. I like that practise better than the empty chair.

So lets see what happens tomorrow :)
~ No Tangles ~

Day 65 ~ That's Some Piggyback.~ 10/21/13

Day 65 ~ That's Some Piggyback.~ 10/21/13

450 Hours
12 Guests

Today's Hair: I ran short on time so I put two pink bands on my tail and put my spin pins and a pink clip in bow in my pocket to put in a bun later. But they stayed in the pocket the whole day.

Performance Salon Floor: With my car back in action I had the pleasure of Ashlee's company on the way in again. Always a fun adventure. When i arrived and checked the computer I still didn't see anything booked for me today. Today's assignment was piggyback perm wraps. This is where you use 2 or more perm rods on one strand of hair so you can roll longer hair on the small rods. Only a few people had even leanred it before because its not a requirement to learn. So first Mrs E did a demo of a strand or two and then we had to do a whole head before we could do any other practicals. That's how it is from now on. You do the assignment or you don't get credit for any manikin work of other kinds. Luckily I had enough gray rods in my trunk to do mine because I didn't realize I had brought the white ones home. I took most of my manikins with me including Kim and Suzie with her new cut. It was on the off chance that I would be able to practise a cut on one of them and show one of the instructors Suzie. As it turns out after grabbing one of the two bags and bringing it in I had a choice of Kim, Sequoia, or Suzie to do the piggyback on. I chose Kim. I got a bit of a late start with break coming so fast and having to go get my rods from the car but I did get going. Student N had a lady with long blonde hair getting her darker blonde new growth lightened. The lady had her toddler girl with her. I'd say no more than 3. So the whole time I was working on the perm I was being entertained by everyone interacting with her. Including myself. I got to take her to the lobby go get her a style picture book. And then later on she asked me for a perm rod so I let her keep a white one. Mrs E assigned Ashlee and I to take our lunch at 1. At about 12:30 Mrs E told me I had a facial wax guest coming in at 1. I asked if I should go to lunch right away but she said no because its just the wax and I thought "Yeah that's true there should be plenty of time after that." A few minutes later she came back and said the guest was coming at 1:30 so I went to lunch with Ashlee at 1 after all. And that was awesome.

When I got back the guest had arrived. As it turns out the ticket said not only the facial wax & tweeze but also haircut. So I kinda went into scramble mode since I wasn't expecting to have to get my station ready. The waxing cart is over by the shampoo bowls and that's where we do that since the chairs recline. But it wasn't too difficult to get ready since I was using the vacant station next to me for the manikin stuff. Mrs C had arrived for the afternoon shift then. The other day when I was on desk I had to call a lady and cancel her appointment because her student didn't show. This was a different cancellation than the one I mentioned in Saturday's entry. This lady called back and was asking if she could reschedule on Saturday or something. She then called again asking something about could she perm her hair since she just colored it and the instructors were tied up so I couldn't get them to talk to her on the phone. We asked her to call back in a few minutes but she didn't. Lets just say I was using my meat department experience with this lady and getting backup. Anyway long story short when I looked at my ticket today it was her. Mrs M wanted to have just some thin brows and a tiny bit of her bob and bangs trimmed. So I let Mrs C help me out with the procedure. After she did a bit of the brows and a bit of the chin she turned it over to me. So I cleaned up what was left with the wax and tweezing. And Mrs M was very nice and even after asking several times she kept saying I wasn't hurting her. Then I had a bit of a struggle to get her set in the chair right to get her neck aligned with the bowl so I had Mrs E help me. I got her shampooed and back to the chair and then Mrs C cut the guide. And then I did the rest. I had Mrs E check it and she snipped about 3 hairs. Then I got to just chip the bangs a tiny bit. Then it was blow drying time and Mrs C gave a few pointers on that. Mrs M seemed to like me and I think we are in agreement that she should request me next time she comes. She wasn't ready to rebook but I at least gave her my card. On my way out at 4:30 Mrs Sherri was talking to some ladies at the desk. It appeared as though they were asking some info and Mrs Sherri gave them some menu cards and such. They're potential future guests. I held the door open for them both and then when we got outside I offered them both my card so perhaps they'll request me. Plus I had an extra card to give so they can pass that on.

So while I didn't do the cutting I was going to do I did something and had a guest after all. I have just the top of my piggyback left to do. I'll have to do that on Wednesday afternoon if I get my color retouch guest done in time. It shouldn't be too difficult to do unless there's more than just brushing something on. I need to get myself out of the mind set that I'm slow. I'm not really slow anymore. Its just the odd things that pop up that are holding me back like the shampoo chair today. I was slow on the waxing and tweezing but its new to me. I'd only waxed once before and it was an arm. That's a much different surface with less curves and situations than someone's eyelid. I'm so thankful I got this guest today. I had no fear of doing this service today. I was glad to be having the opportunity to try it and help someone. And it turned out how it should. It really is magic. Its real. Its really real. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. I love this. Its Beauitful.

Love you all too
~ No Tangles ~

~ Sunday With Suzie ~

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Sunday With Suzie ~

This is an entry about what I did today at home on my Sunday off.
In last night's entry I talked about dealing with my lack of haircutting practise and what that did with Mrs D. I said I planned to practise somehow. I ordered 2 more manikin heads from Ebay and they should get here Tuesday the earliest. In the meantime I posted today on FB that I was going to give either my Suzie or Kim manikin a haircut of some length and let people vote who should go first. Suzie won the vote. So after being a wuss all day I finally got everything set up and went about giving her the haircut I've had the most trouble with that's also the one I tried on Mrs D. The round layers. I cut her nape guide at 7 inches or a comb length and that took about 6 inches off. Since her hair is layered already the way it comes its not really cutting that much off the whole head. But I'd say everywhere had at least 3 inches cut. I accomplished the cut and other than getting a tiny bit shorter on the first left back section I am very satisfied with how I did with no help or interruptions by someone wanting to tell me to move my arm or step back or something.

Looking at her and running my hands through what I created is an amazing feeling. Its beautiful but its also one more doubt that I've overcome. I can do this right. I can handle the hair and cut it. This is the cut I have to do for State Board. I'm no longer scared of it. Its just one more beautiful thing I can do.

I will not let anything be hard. I will practise it. I will make the mistakes and learn not to do them. I will enjoy this. If I have to go to the pro stores and buy the color and practise with it to learn it I will. I have signed up and paid to go to the extension class in November. Its one more thing I can learn and then find out I love to get to do.

I don't care if I get credit or not. I'm going to practise when I can. The practise is what matters. Not the credit.

Here's the pictures for the journal. I've also put them on FB already.

Day 64 ~ It's Another Great Day At Regency, Robert Speaking, How May I Help You? ~ 10/19/13

Day 64 ~ It's Another Great Day At Regency, Robert Speaking, How May I Help You? ~ 10/19/13

443 Hours

Today's Hair: 2 small black bands on my tail and twisted into a bun held with 2 spin pins. No picture but it held all day. I like spin pins. 2 for $1 and they're working like I spent $40.

So this journal entry has been made possible with the help of friends from the grocery store I worked at who gave me a ride to school and student J who offered to drive me home. I also had the possibility of elementary school friend D helping me get home. I had what I assumed to be a brake line leak so I took my car to the corner gas station this morning and co-worker friend followed me and then drove me to school. The car was done while I was still at school so I just had to get dropped off and pick it up after school. The mechanics had gone home by then but since its a gas station that part's open til 10 so I was able to pay at 5 and get it. It was a brake line.

I worked the desk again as I was supposed to. Which was good since I did not have my equipment with me. It was not as hectic today so I did get to answer the phone on my own and I did some checkouts so for the first time ever I handled cash and cards at a business. So that can go on my resume along with the actual answering of phones in a salon atmosphere.

There's two stories for the day.
1: We had a student absent and we were fully booked so I had to call her appointment to cancel it. I called the number and talked to a guy and told him. He said ok he's give the message. Just after the time came for that appointment the lady calls and says she's running late and on her way. I tell her I called and left the message and she says she didn't get it. She arrives and calls whatever guy she knows and they say they didn't get it. Mrs L comes over to help me out and as she's handling it I tell her that someone that was scheduled for a half hour ago hasn't showed yet so that student can probably take her and that's what happened. So I at least helped save that situation. The no show didn't come.

2.: The kids party that had at least 5-6 kids scheduled that I would have been a part of if not on desk ended up cancelling and that freed up a few students for some walk ins later in the day. But otherwise it helped slow things down.

According to my schedule I was given one of the regulars on Wednesday for a color. I looked at her history and she's been coming for retouches every few months so most likely I'll be doing a retouch. Her info is in the computer so I should be able to get her proper formula as long as we have it in stock. And I have Mrs D on Friday.

With the car issue I really didn't get to talk much about what happened yesterday with the haircut. I think the best thing for me to do with my haircutting is to just start cutting away on the manikins. I'd like to do that at school where I can get help and credit. However they recently started giving us assignments to do on the floor because too many people weren't doing anything. So that means instead of doing what I need to practise I'll be stuck doing some other thing first. Which I'm ok with in the sense that I'll need the credit for whatever it is and the practise. I really need haircutting practise and I need it on manikins. It doesn't help me to have instructors taking over because its a person. It never will. My hands have to do it. I mean I can carve out a perm with good sections without measuring with a rod. That helped me do foiling. When I get to actually practise something I am knocking the heck out of it. I need to get more manikins. They cost money and it bugs me to have to chop them to nothing but in order to practise short cuts I have to cut them short. I have to get over the whole cutting lots at a time thing too. I can't find my guide because I'm too focused on trimming barely anything all the time. Its like "Robert, some people actually want to have a bunch of hair on the floor" I'm not scissor happy but I'd settle for satisfied. I know I have the gift. I just have to open it up. I need to cut loose I guess. Its not a good feeling to mess up a haircut. Makes me feel like I'm cutting the dog again. I'm off tomorrow so maybe I'll give it a try at home. Or at least cut one longer to clean their layers up. I gotta do something. Getting a surprise guest for a cut on monday isn't the answer. I've got my work uncut out for me.

Love you all
Thanks for reading
~ No Tangles ~

Day 63 ~ It's A Great Day At Regency, Robert Speaking, How May I Help You? ~ 10/18/13

Day 63 ~ It's A Great Day At Regency, Robert Speaking, How May I Help You? ~ 10/18/13

436 Hours
(Gosh almost been another 100 since I reached 350. That went fast)
11 Guests - 1 has come 3 times.

Today's Hair: Purple Hairstick Bun. I redid this several times and thenaround noon took the sticks out and left my 2 banded tail loose. I was trying to wear something fancy for being behind the desk. Tomorrow I'll probably use the spin pins again.

Performance Salon Floor:
Desk Duty today. It was my first time being at the reception desk and thankfully there was a veteran student with me. Especially since today turned out to be one of the most hectic days at those phones and computers. I spent most of the time watching her and the instructors trying to shuffle things about on the computer than I did learning or doing. But I did get to answer some phone calls and I learned a few things that I was able to do without help.

When Mrs D came at 1 for her haircut and roller set I tried to step on the gas and not fiddle fart around. I shampooed her and went about trying to cut a uniform / 90 degree round cut all by myself without asking for help or a guide. I did the back. Unfortunately It ended up looking more like the square layer cut and got a bit too short back there. So I stopped myself and went to get Mrs L. I had the choice between her and Mrs C so i gave Mrs L a try. I told Mrs D it might be shorter than I meant and she really didn't care. And Mrs L didn't seem upset by anything either and just went about doing the top and sides and showing me how to rest my hand next time to get a better finger hold. The rollers were a bit more difficult to do with the shorter hair but I ended up not doing much of the back. Mrs C helped with the comb out. She really misses doing them. I'm going to have to step up my card handing out to potential roller sets to help satisfy her needs :)

Had this been any other person in the chair I probably would have had a rotten day and made someone really mad. But Mrs D likes me and she's still got me booked next week. And I love walking her out that door and seeing that its another nice day out. That's 3 sunny days so far for us to talk about. This week marked her 2 years of coming to Regency.

I've got some car issues that are threatening to keep me from being able to go to school tomorrow. So we'll see what happens tomorrow night as to whether you see Day 64 yet.

~ No Tangles ~

Day 62 ~ Extended Relaxing ~ 10/17/13

Day 62 ~ Extended Relaxing ~ 10/17/13

429 Hours

Today's Hair Part 1: I gave wearing a banana clip a try. I just bought this one at Glitter at the Mall.

Classroom Day: We started the day by going to the floor for roll call and some announcements. One of our product lines is changing some of their products so Mrs L told us about the changes.
Then we returned to the classroom and according to the board it was going to be mostly a theory day. We did some theory review and quiz review and a trivia type game. Then Mrs J set up to demo a relaxer on a Naomi manikin. She asked for a volunteer to comb her out and I jumped at it literally. So I combed and sectioned her.

Ashlee and I both walked down to Boston Market and back and had lunch together. On my way a lady was about to enter a store and I slowed us up just enough to grab the door for her. And then as she was saying thanks I offered my card and she accepted. Then on the way back A lady was entering Ulta and she got into the store before I could get to her but I said "Pretty Curls". I was in quite a mood today and she did have pretty curls. They looked like they were fairly moisturized or something was making them shine and had a nice dark color. Maybe a chocolate color. This was the second time I had shouted out a compliment. A week or so ago when I was outside for break a lady with an awesome braid was walking towards Sally and I shouted out "Awesome braid" and gave her a thumbs up. I was on break so I couldn't technically approach her with a card since we're supposed to be on campus.

After Lunch Mrs J did a few brushes of the relaxer on Naomi and asked if any of us wanted to try it and I was standing right there so I jumped at it again and did a few strands and then handed off to Ashlee and then another student took a turn. Then Mrs J finished off the back. She's saving the front portions for tomorrow's group. So after the back processed I got to do the rinsing and neutralizing shampooing too. So I got a few extra credits for my part.We took an earlier break before 2 pm because we had a guest speaker coming in.

While on break I did what I usually do and noticed a lady wheeling a suitcase towards the door so I opened it for her. My hunch turned out to be correct when it was she who did the demo for us. She was showing us some items for learning hair extensions of different types and talking about an upcoming class in Detroit on Nov 3. Then she let us each get a strand to either put in someone's hair or get put in. I received a piece but didn't put one in. But that's ok because I'm going to the show and I'm going to get whatever certification they're offering. She said they will stay and work with us until we learn it. So I'm in. I may never do a head of extensions but I'm going to learn it. She said something neat about if someone with long hair came in and got it cut short I could save their hair and give them their own hair right backas extensions if they didn't like the cut. So I guess the old "can't put it back" is kinda out the window now. Because all you have to do is feed the hair through the little bead and crimp it or use the keratin fusion or another method.

She didn't have Purple but here is the Red strand that Ashlee got to put in for me.

Tomorrow is Performance Floor Day. I have to work the reception desk for the first part of the day and then I'm supposed to be allowed to do Mrs D's cut and roller set. But we'll see what happens.And then I'll probably be on Desk again Saturday.

Thanks for reading
~ No Tangles ~

Day 61 ~ Keep Calm and Keep Calm ~ 10/16/13

Day 61 ~ Keep Calm and Keep Calm ~ 10/16/13

422 Hours
10 Guests

Today's Hair: Bun held with 2 spin pins. Clip in Purple bow with white hearts. Got it at Glitter at the mall this weekend. I have 2.

Performance Floor:
Today's schedule was supposed to read 10 am friend H coming for a haircut. 12 noon Mrs B coming for a curl reformation. I had asked H if she could come before 10 and she was able to. When I arrived today I was ready and not in a rush. I unpacked and set up. As I was taking my empty bag to my locker Mrs E who is now on the floor with us tells me "Robert did you know you're assigned to desk today?" to which I was caught off guard and responded "I have a request coming in and another assigned to me." She said she would talk to Mrs Sherri. I must say that I'm not the same person I was because while I was very very concerned that my friend would be turned away or given to someone else or rescheduled for a day other than a few minutes from then, I was upset but in control. I told Ashlee about it and I was just trying to let the powers that be sort it out. A few minutes later Mrs. Sherri came out of the office and said that the computer must have scheduled me for the desk before I was legal and that I could keep my requested appointment for this morning and Mrs D on friday but I would work the desk the rest of the floor days this week. Which I was ok with. It meant I would miss out on the curl reformation and the kids party and Ashlee had told me that I was also scheduled for another updo on Saturday. But those were gone. So I was back on track and had enough time to get my stuff cleaned that I was intending to clean. And H arrived early like we had planned.

Except now I was not in any hurry to get her done because I didn't have a 12 noon coming for me. H is probably the best guest a student could get. It would have taken a disaster to get her to even be a little mad at me. Mrs E is a by the book type instructor. And I had only had her in class for a few hours so far. I was in the process of putting on the strip and cape and she came over and basically told me the procedure of take her to the bowl and then we'll consult about the haircut and such and such. It threw me off a bit because I was wanting to just sit H down, go to work, and do what I need to do. I need to practise my consultations and such and get on my game. So I was kinda, not fumbling this time, but hesitating because I didn't want Mrs E getting mad at me or taking over or something. So I was like "is it ok for me to start shampooing?"
And then when I got H back to the chair it was kinda more of the same with "Section her out in 4 and I'll be back to show you........" and I sectioned her and we were having a great time. But I decided that I was going for it. I can trim hair. I was doing the blunt trim before the long layers. I cut the bottom back, dropped some, cut some more. Then she came over and wasn't upset. She basically guided me to the next section up and then left. Then she came back and noticed I was doing the move around the body trim and she said it was better to just do the pull back and trim. Then she showed me how to do the first part of the sides and walkd away. I finished the two sides and as I was Mrs E was basically running the floor like a classroom and asking perm theory questions. So I was answering a few as I was cutting. Next she came over to show me how to do the top guide and asked if I wanted to point cut or use a razor and I chose point cutting because I hadn't tried it before. And then she showed how to blend the sides on a few bits and then had me do the rest. Then she came back and checked it and fixed some. She showed me how some students slide their fingers a bit too much and end up missing some and I thought to myself, Yep that's what I did. And then she showed me how to do the longer face framing and then it was time for me to blow dry. She helped me figure out which product to try and in this case we tried a light weight mousse caled Whipped Cream by Sebastian. So what I thought was going to be a State board type experience turned out to be more like her merging into my lane a few times and then exiting out. So I'm trusting her. I had a ball and a half with H. Glad I get to have her come back. It really was a pleasure to have her there and meet her and then add in the pleasure of working with such a beautiful lady. And That's how my day was going to end.........

Oh wait, Mrs E told me to take my lunch and then come right back and take my morning break. So I lunched at 12:40-1:09 and then took the break. I came back from break and asked if I was going to the desk. Mrs E says ask Mrs L who had arrived.

After I explained the situation of the morning to Mrs L and asked what I'm doing today she responds "You're going to come over and do these curls" or something to that effect and I knew what she was talking about. So I walked over to where almost graduating student J was doing the haircut on Mrs B who I was supposed to have curl reformed. And after the cut I got to wrap most of the pink rods of it. This was the same but different. First you put the wrapping solution on which is like a conditioner type liquid. So we put some on a small area so I could have time to wrap it before adding more. I bricklay wrapped the whole from the ears back portion. I was wearing black gloves and they were coated with the white somewhat sticky lotion. And I'm trying to grab the perm papers with my fingers like that. It was a fun challenge but nothing too hard once I got going. I then wrapped the right side and as I was about to get the last 2 in on the right Mrs L came over to do the left and I didn't mind that at all. I was like, "I don't mind sharing with you Mrs L cuz you shared with me. (when she helped me with my first guest and the flat ironing and let me finish it)"
Then Mrs C went through the processing and rinsing steps with me and helped me out and that was nice. And then we took the rods out, led her back to the chair and I put a finishing type product in with some very light scrunching. And I made curls. That was not the hair I was wrapping. The lady who was barely able to speak said enough to let me know she was having a ball and when she saw those curls and then went to show her sister she was really really happy.

And That is how my day finished.
My day started to be broken down but in the end it was reformed beautifully.

I love this. <3
Thanks H for being you :)

~ No Tangles ~

Day 60 ~ Relaxin & Gellin ~ 10/15/13

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 60 ~ Relaxin & Gellin ~ 10/15/13

415 Hours

Today's hair: Ponytail with just the purple velvet scrunchie at the nape.

Classroom Day: Starting month 2 of Rehearsal.
Since there are a ton of new people in the workshop class they had us switch rooms so I am now back in the room that we used for workshop. But oddly enough it was not as Deja Vu as it should have been because I was on the opposite side of the room and the tables were in rows more like I'd just been sitting at in the other room. So it was more like being in a new room. But we have Mrs J again so its like the more things change the more they repeat. And with that comes this next two weeks of study.

Relaxers: We had relaxer theory and practical with Mrs J in workshop so this is like a really soon review.
We started the day by first having a fire drill and then by having a tornado drill. That pretty much got us to break time by the time we got settled in. After break it was some theory and some asking about relaxers and such that students had actually already done on the floor. Then the purple color I did last week was brought up and we brought the swatch book in and I wrote down the formula they mixed up so I can get it entered into the info for the friend I did it for. Plus I can mix it myself next time if someone wants purple. I also mentioned that I have the curl reformation to do tomorrow. Its a perm. I mean its not supposed to be any harder to do. I wrap the hair on rods. I use chemicals. Its supposed to take a curl. I'm going to do what I have to and I'm going to make it happen. As much as I can. I'm probably putting more expectation and pressure on myself than anyone else is. But I'm starting to calm down a bit out there.

For lunch I was out of my usual store bought stuff so I walked down to Boston Market at the end and got a bowl and walked back. I love being able to walk down there and back in only a few minutes. It took me 10 minutes total with having to stand in line for a few minutes. The standing took more time. But I didn't have to wait for them to make it so it left plenty of eating time when I got back.

After lunch we did book theory a bit. But we were basically highlighting stuff we had highlighted a few weeks ago. After break we did timed applications. We parted into 4 sections. We're out of colesterol so we were using gel. We had 7 minutes to do one section. I got it done before the buzzer. We had 5 minutes to do the next section. I had finished applying and was pulling my strands back down like a banana as it went off. Then we had 4 minutes and I only had the two front sections left with half as much hair. I beat that. Then we had 3 minutes and I beat that. Wiht the time that was left we were free to do manikin practicals or work on each other if it was something simple. I went and got the only manikin I had left in my locker with long enough hair to use and it happened to be Deborah with her shorter yet long enough hair. I decided that I was going to go ahead and do another head since we had plenty of time for it since we'd just done a head in less than 30 minutes. So I set the timer for 20 minutes. I finished in 21 because I had to go get a bit of gel to finish the last section. And that pretty much finished off the day. I brought Deb and Suzie home and I just finished shampooing them and also Reese and Angellina who still had the foils in from the other day. Then I dried them. Took me just under 2 hours for 4 heads. My purple hair dryer is not as good as the one from school. It was not drying the hair even after going over and over the same area. I pulled my school dryer out of my bag and it got the job done fairly fast. I still think the purple one is just messed up from sucking my hair into it the first time I used it.

Over the weekend I went to the Mall on Sunday and I gave out 4 cards there and 2 more at the gas station so I'm up to 41 given by me and I've given several to friends and family to hand out. I need to restock. I'm down to about 3. I've got plenty of the card itself but I need more of the knockers or menus to attach them to. Hopefully some came in.

I get to walk in tomorrow and get right to work on a haircut for my new FB friend. I think we're gonna have some fun. :)

~ Mirror Reflections ~ Consultations ~ Ponderings ~

Cosmetology Journey: ~ Mirror Reflections ~ Consultations ~ Ponderings ~

I'm on the other side of that barrier again. Its time to show why I am who I am and do what I mean to do. I am not going to Cosmetology School to learn to do things the way it has been done. I've been saying that for 13 years in one way or another. I hear the words Hair Show and I cringe inside. Or I get angry. Or something other than "Yay there's a hair show". I'm not going into the "Hair Industry". I cannot do that. I see the need for change. But I can't stand on a tall soapbox forever either. I can only put myself in my shoes and pick up my comb. I must be the change. I must be strong enough to be the change. It took quite a purge and a few months of learning how to twirl that comb but I've found my footwork. I have my balance. I'm not afraid to be knocked down anymore. I have better things that need doing than to wait for the ref to say 10. I'm going the distance.

So that's the strong side. But what am I getting at? Its about the soft side. I am going to be strong so that I can be gentle. I am going to not care about the way it is so that I can care about how it should be and care for those in the chair.

Its simple. It really is. "Why is someone coming to sit in these chairs?"
Is it so I can play with their hair?
Is it so I can show off a picture to get more clients?
Is it because I like to Do hair?
Are they just bored and want to get out of the house?

There's probably some very good reasons but the one that I was reminded of twice yesterday and in all 8 examples so far is that they want someone to help them feel and look good. The first guest had a right to feel the way she did about not really wanting me to style her hair. However she didn't give me the chance to show I could not do it. The second let me try and I was not yet up to her standards. I appreciate them both for letting me do what I was given the chance to do. My friends came in and I further learned some valuable things. I was able to please the mother of the 12 yr old. It was hard to read how the 12 year old felt though.
Mrs D is a lady that knows what she wants and I'm more than happy to hand her the brush and let her do her own magic after she's let me try it. She's not fixing it that much.
My first guest yesterday has had an impact on me. It was a nice reminder. Regardless of how she has been to anyone in the past or how difficult, (and yes it would upset me if she was mean and a bully to others before) but regardless she walked through those doors, sat in the chair and just wanted to look pretty. She let me help her. She helped me too. I can't let some reputation of previous visits of anyone throw me off of my mission of care. I can't let their words of doubt directed towards me stop me either. That first guest last week still got my care. When I went to put that flat iron in her hair last week after Mrs L calmed things down the lady did not jump out of the chair and throw a fit and leave. So she got my best. The best I could do up to that point. And I cared.

I was going to write out a bunch of stuff about consultations but the point of that was to remind myself that I want to talk to them more about what they want and their goals etc. I'm still a bit caught up in the rookie bit with having to ask for help and I'm not getting to the heart of the matter yet. I need to look in that mirror more.

I do love this so much. It really is worth it.

Day 59 ~ Love Hurts ~ 10/11/13

Day 59 ~ Love Hurts ~ 10/11/13

408 Hours
8 Guests so far, 1 repeat.

Today's Hair: Dark Purple Flower with gator clip. Also purple fuzzy scrunchie behind it. I did a bun and put 2 spin pins in it. Then I put the scrunchie around it. Then I clipped the purple flower to the front. Then I used some bobby pins.

Performance Floor:
My BFF and Team Awesome Sauce Partner, Ashlee told me it was ok to say her name here so I will as you just saw ;)
I have been having the pleasure of driving her to school over the past few weeks and did so again today. Such a great start to the morning when the team arrives together. Today was celebration day. Congratulations to Ashlee for reaching her Workshop Milestone. :)
I got a 100% attendance butterfly for last week. Mrs Sherrie said something about how I'm going to be able to trade in my butterflies and wear jeans for the rest of my time at this rate. Funny thing is I don't own any jeans and prefer not to. I could go for wearing my purple shirt though. We had 2 graduates today that started at the same time. One was the grad who was doing the roller sets for Mrs D. The other was the one who did the set two weeks ago to show me. And we did dance today.

When I checked the appointments this morning it said I had Mrs D at 1:30 and that there was a shampoo & thermal coming at 11. So while I was happy that I wasn't in such a rush to set up it still looked like a tight time squeeze for this rookie. But eh whatever. We'd have made it work had there been an overlap issue. I took manikin Veronica with me to try out my pressing comb. She's the one that I had the perm rods in for the 1950's kitchen picture. But because of the extra time we took for celebration today I didn't feel like I should chance trying to set her up for that because the 11 guest could come early. Because there's fewer of us on the floor at the moment I was using station 24 along the wall for my station but I had my extra items and my rollers for later over at 25 next to me. So that sorta helped me get set. I had plenty of time to get mentally ready plus a 10:30 break so I was ready this time. I told Ashlee that it reminded me of the scene from Glory near the end when their singing and talking about getting ready for battle the next day. So that's why I posted that on FB if anyone saw that. To my surprise my guest was not coming to get her hair straightened. She walked in with dark straight coarse hair below her shoulders and she wanted a wash and then some spiral like curls on the ends. I walked her over and she had like 4 magazines from the lobby and then put her two bags over on 25's chair. After consulting a bit about what she wanted and Mrs L suggesting some products to try for the shampoo I led her over to the shampoo area. The lady seemed nice. I got her set in the chair at the bowl and went to dispense. It was there that one of the instructors whom I won't mention their name as to not cause any issues should someone get the wrong idea by these words, they told me in code based on what I had experienced last week to "hurt the client" This was code for difficult client in this instance. Wheras usually its supposed to mean they like to be scrubbed hard and brushed out firm. Anyway I got the hint and mentally was already ready for that possibility anyway. So I just went about my job and shampooed her nicely but scrubbed well. But not mean. Mrs L had told me to leave the conditioner mix on for a few minutes. I did that but I didn't just stand there for a few minutes and let it soak in. I kept massaging and running my hands through the length to try to make things as pleasant as I could. The guest wasn't complaining and she responded well to my are you comfortable and temperature questions. I didn't accidently soak her. So thankfully I got the job done. Then I got her back to the station and then cleaned up the shampoo bowl and then came back to her to start blow drying. I went to work with my dryer and handled the longer hair pretty well. I had turned on my marcel curling iron to warm it up. But just to make sure I asked her how they usually do them and she said with the flat iron. So I got that turned on before I finished drying her. She did point out that some was still a bit damp so I calmly remedied that. While I was drying her she had been reading and also checking her phone. She was keeping busy. Here's where it got a bit, and I mean just a tiny tiny bit tense. I excuse myself to go get some instructor help to figure out how to do these curls since I didn't know yet. Mrs J said she'd be right over. I went back and grabbed the flat iron and tried it on her side front hair and it sorta curled but not much. Then the guest says something like "Are you going to section" or "You should section" and I thought to myself "Oh yeah duh"
And it was right about then that Mrs J got over and said to section her out with the diagonals like I had done last week which oddly enough are the same thing I was doing with the foils. Then she showed me that the trick to getting the curls is to put the iron on by the scalp and then flip it but instead of doing the outward or downward arc, you turn the iron as you lift the strand up and slide it upward through the hair and that basically ribbons it. So I was set to go and went to work. And I'm just working along back and forth. Turning her chair back and forth. And she read a bit, phoned a bit, and then she grabbed one of her two bags and she went to work doing her makeup. I mean she did the works. Just a normal natural type look but she used all the tools. Even the lash curler. She said she didn't have time to do it at home. So I said I didn't either. I said I barely had time to put my hair in a bun. I was liking that she was relaxed and doing her own thing. Also made me feel like I was getting her ready for something special. I worked my way to the top and finished it up and then got the mirror out for her to look. Mrs Sherri came over when I called for Mrs L to come check. I wanted an instructor over with me in case the Monster came out that I hadn't seen yet. As Mrs Sherri is about to look the guest says there's a few spots in back that could use a bit more curl. So I said something like oh yeah lets get those, trying to keep the mood loose. And then after those she found a few straight bits in the lower front sides. And I took care of those and then fixed a few I found. And then she was ok with it. We went to the desk and she was happy and Mrs J told me to offer her a card and I did. The guest said, "He's a fast learner" and I was tipped. And I gave her the card. She's coming back tomorrow for something else but I don't have school then so it won't be me. But I feel there's a possibility I'll see her again.
I went on Lunch at 1:08. She had also arrived after 11 so I would say it took me less than 2 hours. I clocked in from lunch and Mrs D hadn't arrived yet so I didn't keep her waiting either.

Mrs D arrived. We had another nice time. It was much easier to do today now that I knew how to do it. And Mrs L helped a bit and showed me a trick. Next week Mrs D is coming at 1 so she can get a cut first. She asked me if it was ok if she got it cut out of concern that it would make it harder for me to roll. But I didn't hesitate to say it was fine. Its her hair. Oddly enough it did seem longer today. But I think that was because I had already worked with it and wasn't such a task to figure out. Plus I knew the results I had gotten last week with the less than my best job and this week I was getting some nice rolls with less struggle. 

At one point during the afternoon I was near the desk and Mrs L was talking to another guest. She intorduced me to the guest and said that her sister was coming next week for a curl reforming and that I could do that since its just a perm wrap. It's also known as Jheri Curl. That's booked for Wednesday at 12. I've got my FB friend's haircut at 10 so Wednesday is now booked solid.

On Tuesday when I go to Rehearsal class we're having Mrs J again and Mrs C comes to the floor. But here's the fun part. Since there's so many new students coming in we're switching the rooms. So I'll be going back to the old room for class again. I think we're going into haircutting again but with Mrs J this time.

Thanks for reading
~ No Tangles ~

Day 58 ~ 400 Hours Reached ~ 10/10/13

Day 58 ~ 400 Hours Reached ~ 10/10/13

401 Hours complete

Today's Hair: Rainbow Pom Pom ribbony bands. I wore one at the nape and one at the ends. This older picture shows them both at the nape.

Classroom Day:
Quiz Day for Chemistry and Properties of Hair & Scalp. 20 out of 20 for 100%
 
After the quiz there was still time before lunch so Mrs C had us practising our figure 8 curls with a Marcel iron. This is where we click and turn the iron so that the hair feeds into the curl as its wound down with the iron. When the curl is done and the iron removed if you split the curl in the middle you'll see a sidways figure 8.

I will now move on to more of what happened yesterday because I left something out that did kinda bug me. and I needed some time to chew it over. I was on top of the world yesterday at school and that whole place was having a purple party. At the end of the day I went in to the Rehearsal class to tell Mrs C what I had done and to show her the picture and before I could get it out she says something like "So what did you do today? Color? I saw you over there yik yaking and your hands weren't moving. How long did that take you?" And I told the truth about it being like 4 hours. I didn't need her to tell me I was using too much time. If you've been reading this journal you know I already know I need to improve this. This happened to be a brand new service for me to do. So I didn't show her the picture. But it didn't kill my joy either. 

This morning I was preparing myself to tell her how I really felt had she felt the need to use me as some sort of lesson. For months she has been using the "Start at the salon or place you want to end up" money lesson on us. I was going to tell her that there's no way I will ever not talk to my guests and that I'm starting from the heart and finishing there. My speed and skills will come. I went into the classroom and settled in and wasn't celebrating or any of that. I just settled in and got ready for quiz review. She came in and first she had us write out 5 things we could do to improve how we did on the Mock State Board. And then we shared those. Then she started asking people if they had any stories to share from the floor and I kept to myself. A few others told a few. Then she brought up mine and asked about how it went and I simply said, "It went well and it was a team effort." and I left it at that. The second half of the day was going to be for personal services or makeup quizzes so I pretty much knew what I was going to be doing. But first I went to Sally Beauty next door during lunch and I stocked up for home practise. I got a big jug of colesterol cream, foils, some extra metail tail combs for doing foils because I dropped mine yesterday, a couple small hair brushes in case I have more than one guest before I can wash the one I have. And I went ahead and bought the plug in pressing comb. I got back from lunch and set up to do foils. I didn't say I was doing them. I just went to work. We were out of colesterol so I was using our bulk pink gel which spreads a lot easier. This time I started properly with my sectioning to do the diagonals. I put a few in and then she offered to show me an easier method. So I let her. Here's interesting part. After hearing don't use a regular rat tail comb in the other class with Mrs J now Mrs C is saying she prefers them over the metal one. So she showed me her way and I had a bit of an ah ha moment when I was getting the hair to once again stick to the foils when I brushed on the gel so I could then hold the foil instead of the hair. So I went to work and she left me alone. Not another word after that so I musta been doing it good enough. Break was at 2 and I finished at about 2:30, maybe after. But I still had some time to kill so I set Angelina aside and draped Reese and went to work on her. I still had a full second bowl of gel and plenty of foils. And I got her done before 4. When I was almost done Mrs C said something about "goes much faster without the yik yaking" and I just smiled and nodded type thing because I was back on track. Mrs C did have a bit of a rough day otherwise so I'm glad I did not have to part of that. Today was the last day of her being the rehearsal teacher for us for a while. I heard we're getting Mrs J again and Mrs C told me she's going to the floor. So we'll see how things go. Especially on Wednesday morning when my new friend comes for her haircut appointment. In the meantime I will be on the floor tomorrow with an unknown morning facing me and Mrs D coming in for my second roller set with her. And then I'll have a few days to recharge and perhaps practise something. But this is not the old me who sits and sulks about being slow. Instead I will beat it like I did with my perm wraps. And I will still strive for quality to go with my hair Care.

They were in my tote bag on the front seat and then it spilled into the leg area as I pulled in the driveway so they got a bit messed up.

~ No Tangles ~

Day 57 ~ The Right Mix ~ 10/9/13

Day 57 ~ The Right Mix ~ 10/9/13

394 Hours
6 Guests

Today's Hair: Pink Scrunchie around my Bee Butt bun. Bun held by 2 spin pins. I put a few boby pins in after the picture to tuck some of those sides in.

Performance Floor today: Last night a friend of mine confirmed with me that she had called the school during the evening to make an appointment with me today at 10:30 for color. And we chatted and made plans. The first plan was to try some aqua color. I picked up A today and I was happy that she would get to be out on the floor with me when my friend came so we could all enjoy and have fun. Plus she has some experience with using funky colors and lightening her own hair so that was a bonus to have her there. 
I walked in the door and I was passing by the desk and the student says, "You have a 10:30 appointment" and I said something like "Yep" and then I went about trying to get my stuff resorted into my station. Today A and I chose the back wall to give ourselves a bit more room and I wanted to get some good natural lighting. So I was using station 24 today although I was also using 25. My friend arrived earlier than 10:30 so I got done and went to greet her and get started. She was looking at a Inspire type hairstyle book and pointed out a picture that had dark hair with purple chunky streaks. Plus one of the aqua pictures she had shown had a big purple streak too. After I got her seated and such I spoke to Mrs V to see if we had any blue color to make the aqua. Our brand does have a darker blue green color available but we didn't have it today. (Some of the exact details of this are fuzzy as to how they happened but anyway) Somehow the conversation turned to purple. This might have been after Mrs V and I both went to tell my friend or we may have still been at the dispense counter. Either way she said we didn't have Purple either. I broke the news to my friend who was game for doing whatever we could do today. As we were looking through the books again Mrs V said we did have a way to make purple. So it was back on the table to do. Lets just say I was calm but not so calm. I had plenty of determination and confidence. But I was lost on what to do. A was helping out and telling me to do the color block a certain way to get a peek-a-boo something or other and I was thinking yeah sounds good. "What's a color block?" and then A explained it and it was making more sense. And this whole time Mrs V was coming back and forth and being involved so I thinking this was part of her getting involved with the consultation like usual, like I assume it goes. So since I now know I need to do foils and I'm going to weave some I'm starting to get my game face on. I belly up to the bar to get supplies and Mrs Sherri is there asking me if Mrs V had told me what to get and such and now I'm like well actually not really. I knew that we were going to be doing the purple and that I was going to be lightening some strands. But now I was feeling like I messed something up and it took a few more back and forth trips and having Mrs Sherri coming over and getting involved to sign off on what we were doing and what the cost would be etc. We were doing a full head of lightening with a toner to come later aka the purple. Then a haircut / trim later.

It took me a bit to get going because this was only my third time doing foils. I did some in class to learn it. I did Penny's copper front hair. And now here's a whole head on hair that's longer than shoulder length.
So I started doing some and then Mrs Sherri came over and gave me a refresher on how to do one or two. And then I went from there. I had just dropped my metal tint tail comb on the floor when she came over so when she asked where it was I said the floor. I haven't had a chance to buy my extra combs and brushes yet like I've been meaning to. I'm not going to lie about it. It took me quite a while to that whole head. Because of some confusion earlier I started doing the them on the right front area because at first I thought we were just doing those two front areas. So I got through it and then started the right back and then remembered that I was supposed to start back there. Because it was taking me a while the first section was already lifted well enough to remove. So I had some help from the other half of Team Awesome Sauce. While I was doing the foils the veteran student working the dispense was working with Mrs V to mix an even better purple than the one she had said we were going to try. I heard them over there getting all giddy over it and the test strands they were doing. So I was quite happy about that. So My friend and I were having a nice time and since I had help removing the processed ones while I was still going I was relaxing a bit about not being super fast yet. Long story short I got the last of them done at 2:30. Told you I wasn't going to lie. About 4 hours. However my newer batches of lightener needed more liquid to them and that slowed me down a bit with my brushing. Next time I'll know what consistancy I would like and get it. I then got to take my lunch while A took care of the shampooing and applying the toner. And then since I had gotten to that point after all and we still had time I came back and did a slight trim. Nothing fancy and might not have been completely even. But she was kinda excited to see how it looked because everyone was ooing and ahing about how it looked. So I got her blown dry and then the fun part. By then Mrs J, Mrs L, Mrs V, Mrs Sherri were all there and other students were coming to look and we went outside to look at it and of course to let my friend look at her own hair. We were having quite a purple party.

I was getting a lot of praise and it felt good but I loved the team effort it took. I titled this The Right Mix not just because of the purple mix but because that student saved the day. My friend would have been ok doing something else but I'm so glad we didn't have to settle for that. And to have A being such a big part of this too was Awesome. I don't care how much money I make or what the salon charges etc if I can have the Team experience I had today. 

And I'm left once again asking myself "Did I really do that?" "Did today really happen?"
But this picture is now part of my portfolio. It may not be the best weave job to a professional eye. But there's so much that went into this picture from our team effort that I can't help but be proud. And it does not do justice to the color. The color pops. Its there if you can't see it. Trust me it's there.

Her natural color was a medium brown in the crown area similar to mine. She had copper color and some lighter blonde bits on the mid strands and then the bottom third in back was black. She has the after lightening picture so if I get it I'll share that. But for now here is the after.

If I can take a perm from 2 hours or more down to the 45 minute time limit then I know I can get this down too. I just need to find my groove now that I know what to do.
I hope she knows how much this meant to me letting me learn this. I said so. 
I hope others who saw her afterward like it. 
History will record that the first guest color I did was purple. I PurpleBubba did purple. I mean same as Grape Juice purple.
And to think I could top this somehow? Maybe but I'd consider everything a tie if it could.
This was the best.

Thanks for reading
~ No Tangles ~