Day 183 ~ Nails: 35 - Check ~ 4/25/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 183 ~ Nails: 35 - Check ~ 4/25/14

1272 Hours
96 Guests

Its getting late so I'll make this a quick one.

My friend I met around New Years who came for the haircutting rubric / test and also had her husband and brother in last week for haircuts, came today for a manicure and pedicure. When the credits get updated tomorrow after the 24 hours pass I will have all 35 of my mani / pedi credits done for graduation. If you helped me with that thank you. :)

 Looking forward to tomorrow but I'll save the further mention of that for the next entry :)

Thanks for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

Days 180, 181, 182 ~ Brushes With Color ~ 4/24/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Days 180, 181, 182 ~ Brushes With Color ~ 4/24/14

1265 Hours
95 Guests

Tuesday Classroom: I received a pedicure from a newer student who I've become friends with. Thanks D
Then in the afternoon I did manicures on the two manikin hands that I had to try to get closer to finishing my nail credits.

Wednesday Performance Floor: I originally had two guests coming for mani and pedi but one had to postpone. But my friend from Kroger did come and we had a nice day. In the afternoon I got credit for some marcel curls on the manikin.

Thursday Classroom: Quiz day - got 100% on Anatomy & Nails 2.
Then it was time to do services on each other. My friend B let me do a pedicure for her. And then after lunch I wasn't sure what I was going to do so I had my manikin ready to go with something. Another student was done with color they were using and had a big batch left in their tint bowl and asked if anyone wanted it. So I jumped at it. Timing seemed to say do it. I'm not sure if it really did anything to my manikin. It slightly colored some of the lighter hairs but I don't think it had enough lifting power left to get at the darker ones. I was using a red violet color on dark brown hair. I took before and after pictures but used my phone so that doesn't tell the story very well. But here they are.

As of right now I am pretty much booked solid next week. There's a chance I could fit something quick in on Saturday but hopefully its something I book and not given. I have a color involving foils and second colors to do plus a cut. But first I have to see what happens tomorrow....... 235 hours left........ less than 7 weeks

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it.
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 179 ~ PB Rockin Out At Ya On The All Request Line ~ 4/21/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 179 ~ PB Rockin Out At Ya On The All Request Line ~ 4/21/14

1245 Hours
94 Guests

So I left off last week with having 8 requests for the week.
Right now I have this entire week booked solid with requests. 2 came today.

First up is a new FB friend who came for a donation haircut. I cut at least 11-12 inch tails off and gave her a graduated wedge type cut that's still behind the ear tuckable. The pics are on FB
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152390902000799&l=40ebdb7bf1

Second, my friend from Kroger had to cancel his color for today but that gave my friend from the vendor shows a chance to come in after her errands to get a manicure before she moves later this week.

Right now I have Wednesday and Friday booked with more mani & pedi and a trim and looks like I'm going to booked next wednesday all day already. Just gotta get it into the computer tomorrow.

I also met some nice people yesterday and there are some nice possibilities to just go visit my new friends and learn from them so I look forward to that.

Thank you for reading
I Love You all <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 178 ~ 30 Little Piggies Got Pedicures ~ 4/19/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 178 ~ 30 Little Piggies Got Pedicures ~ 4/19/14

1238 Hours
92 Guests

This awesome week came to an end yet with next week already 50% planned out its keeping this Positive Train rolling pretty well right now. This was a week of firsts. First time I had 8 requests in one week. I met two gentlemen for the first time on Wednesday. I did the first trim of a major cut yesterday. I did my first ever pedicures on children. 2 at the same time. I also did 3 in one day. Its the first time I've had 3 mens haircuts in one week. Its the first time I've had someone return for their 4th time who isn't Mrs D.

I truly do cherish everyday. I know that I am being presented with some amazing opportunities to meet people and get to know others. I wish you all could feel what I'm feeling right now. As I type this I have already met a handful of new people today.

I needed to get my 3 pedicures done today by 12:30. I got them out the door at 12:15. The Regency computer tells me I had 3:45 to get them done and I finished in 2:51. Its probably no where near the speed of the Luv salon a few doors down from the school. But for me it was like winning an Olympic medal.

Thank you for reading
I Love you all <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 177 ~ Makeover Over Again ~ 4/18/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 177 ~ Makeover Over Again ~ 4/18/14

1231 Hours
88 Guests

Performance Floor Friday:
Today was a day of returning guests.  We started the day off with a few celebrations and it was rainy out. But I told everyone that the sun would be out in the afternoon when Mrs D arrived and sure enough it came out. It has been out about 95% of the time when she has come even if just a peek from behind clouds. She's coming for her third haircut with me next week but I told her not to bother with coming earlier because I've been getting her out early enough now that I have enough time to get it done with the roller set. I returned from walking her to the car at 3:20 so that leaves me plenty of time to get the cut done. A cut I've done before on her and have more confidence to do now.

But first up this morning was the return of my coworker's mother. She came in January for a bit of a major cut. She was mid back at the time and I gave her a cut like the local news anchor had, Monica Gayle
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/18427200/monica-gayle
So this was a bit of a first for me. A returning trim of a major cut. I'm happy to say that it was a nice visit and I was able to figure out what I did last time and what to do this time to give it a nice tidy up. Without any help.
I'm up to 4 guests this week that are requests. Tomorrow I have another 4 possible. I've already got at least 2 booked for next week with 1 wanting to book and 2 trying to check their availability. So we'll see if this works out.
In the meantime I'm plotting my next strategies for how to promote myself a bit more on FB and get some new people. I've been thinking and one of the qualities I'd like to find in the salon I go to work for is one that is open to using social networking or will at least allow me to continue on this path I have put myself on with trying to hand out cards or flyers or something. I've come too far to just have a bunch of walk ins handed to me all the time. Its just something I need to keep challenging myself with.

Thank you for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 176 ~ Hey ~ 4/17/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 176 ~ Hey ~ 4/17/14

1224 Hours

Yeah its not the most clever title I've come up with so far but it does mean something. So today was classroom day 2 of Nails and Anatomy part 2. We spent the day working on cornmeal glove hands with fake tips on them. We were making acrylic nails on those like we did for Nails 1. In the afternoon Mrs V showed us how to do a French tip with polish so I practised that a bit.  I made sure to get all my tips done last time so this time I could take it easy and try to do my work a bit nicer. Mrs V said I did a good job on the ones I did today. I checked the computer for my quiz scores from the other day and not only did I pass the Professional Image and Laws quizzes, I got 100% on both. Which surprised me because I was kinda stuck on one or two guesses. I guess I chose right.

During lunch I checked my phone and there was a message from someone wanting some help coming up soon and I was happy that it should work out that I can help. So being in a good mood after that I was going to go outside for a few minutes at the end of lunch. I was walking towards our front door and there was a man in the lobby. I only glanced enough to know it was a man. I pushed the first door and as I did the man says "Hey Rob hows it goin?" and that voice jumped at my memory as a voice I'd heard many times and as I looked at the face it looked somewhat familiar but the clothing and the hat were different. But a split second later I realized it was the man who I'd called boss for 3 years. My department head from the Meat Department was there while his wife was getting something done. So I got to chat with him a bit and introduce him to Mrs L. Had I not decided to go outside for a minute I would not have known he was there.. If you had told me there was a chance he would have been there I would not have thought so. But its one more of those little signs I keep getting. I just gotta keep doing things however they happen because its working. I've got two very busy days ahead of me.

Thanks for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 174 & 175 ~ Perfection ~ 4/16/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 174 & 175 ~ Perfection ~ 4/16/14

1217 Hours
86 Guests

 Ok that's as in the game Perfection. I feel like I'm playing the game where you have to put the shaped pegs into the game board before the timer goes and springs the board up throwing the pegs. I don't think I've actually played that game before. But now I'm playing it in a different way with booking guests. I do enjoy it. It has its moments of the board jumping and throwing pieces on me but I just have to try again.

Today was an example of some unexpected pieces being placed into the board. One of my guests that came for the haircutting rubric had me book her husband and brother for haircuts. Starting at 10 and they wanted to be gone by 12. Now if you're already a stylist in a salon this probably seems like enough time for 10 haircuts. But in my case this seemed like biting off more than I could chew. And I was doing it anyway. Because I am not who I was. Mrs E has been complimenting me lately on how fast I'm getting done. The key is the fear. I'm not letting fear of time matter. Its fun now. I did a clipper cut that I'd never done before with 1 on the back and a 4 on top. I then did a square male cut for the first time on a person who happened to be a male. It looked to me like it was the right choice to use for trimming what he already had. I guess I can step on the gas a bit now. I've got my hands on the wheel. I finished both cuts by 11:30.

Today's assignments were a virgin color application and a relaxer retouch application. I was able to get both of them done in the afternoon after my lunch.

Yesterday we started on Nails and Anatomy part 2 and we took the Laws exam and Professional Developement quiz. I don't know my score but I passed them both.

Thanks for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

PurpleBubba's ~ Periodical Prose of Ponderings ~

PurpleBubba's ~ Periodical Prose of Ponderings ~

I'm trying to collect my thoughts a bit here. Time is going to start really flying by here and it feels like I'm going to get swept away by the winds that are outside. I've got my Positive Train going forward but one thing about trains is they are hard to slow down. 

The questions are:
What do I want?
Where do I want to be?
Where do I see myself short term and long term?

These are major questions because employers ask them. And some of those I cannot tell the truth on if I'm trying to be careful. But I know me. I have a hard time lying.

I need to be careful because just because a carrot is in front of me that I may have wanted before it does not mean its the carrot that's right for me now after I have done what I have done. I know where I would like to be. I know the type of place I'd like to be in. The problem is I don't know if that place exists or if they exist where I want them to be location wise. I have to be careful with getting jobs just anywhere. People don't want to hire me and put time into training me only to have me walk out the door on them.

What do I want?
This used to be a much simpler answer. For years I've simply wanted to be the stylist that listened. Who only trimmed what was asked for or less. Nothing has changed with that. I want to earn trust no matter what I am doing for my guest. But that's one of my issues. The What I am doing. I've just spent 8 months finding out that I not only can do more than help people with their hair, I want to help with more. There are salons and chains that do just haircuts. There are some that do cuts and colors but no perms. There are some that do nails but not facials. But even if I find one that does all of them the question is do I get to do them all for the guest who comes in to see me? Or does the manicure table and facial bed belong to the person at that station? Its probably one of those things that is different from place to place depending on what the place is like. But I don't want to have to give up doing things I found out I enjoyed for the sake of making a dollar behind the chair only. I found out that I enjoy being a cosmetologist. Its one of the few words I feel comfortable using to describe my profession. I'm a long way from doing all of those things well. But I don't want to miss out.

Where do I want to be?
Ok I'm going to be as honest as I can here. The fact that I have to walk on eggshells with this question really bugs me. I understand that a salon owner and the other employees don't want to train people who aren't going to stay. But I don't like that I would have to avoid this question nor try to lie about it. I know that long term I'd like to be somewhere other than where I am. But I am also realistic that I cannot predict that far ahead. I cannot even predict next week. I do know that there are some things and situations in my life that need to change or I'm going to fail. There's also that ever present possibility that I'm going to meet her and get married and have children. How is that going to change things? Will I have the same dreams and goals then? Will they be able to happen?

So I applied to a salon that's nearby. Its been a few days. They haven't called. And I'm left wondering to myself what happens if I get hired there? For 5 years I've wanted to have the chance to work there. But I know nothing about them. There's not much to research online. All I know is they are within walking distance. But here I am wondering what happens if I do call them or they call me and the owner wants to train me? I've got this whole big world ahead of me that withint walking distance may or may not be what I want right now. I may want a different within walking distance. And I don't want to waste anyone's time let alone mine.

All I can do is keep my Positive Train going forward. If I miss out on this or another salon because I don't call them, it is what it is. It was meant to be. I hope everyone understands that. Because everyday I get a sign that tells me that no matter how changed my plans get I am still on the right track. For better or worse I am supposed to do or not do the things that will or won't be done. It just is. And I'm not going to spend my time regretting. I have too much to live for to spend my life flipping through the channels of nothing good is on.

Make no mistake about it, I want to work for what I get. I want to earn it. I want to learn it. Your time is always precious to me. No matter how you spend it with me. The best way for me to pay back those I love is to not give up. To not live in the past. I've already elminated so much regret and pain. But I have more to do.

If you are a potential employer and you've read this, thank you. And the best way for me not to waste your time is to be honest.

Thank you all for reading.
I Love You <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 171, 172, 173 ~ Salon Fair ~ 4/11/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 171, 172, 173 ~ Salon Fair ~ 4/11/14

1203 Hours - 297 left - 8 weeks 3 days
84 Guests

Its been an interesting week. Salon Fair was on Wednesday. As Monday morning approached it was apparent to me that I was not prepared for it. My original plans were changed so I had to go into costume making mode. I only had Sunday off and I had plans for it. Plans that got changed and I found myself sitting in Port Huron along the river doing some thinking instead. I called in on Monday and took the day off. I then proceded to go about town creating. Or at least searching. I went to the thrift stores first hoping to capture some of the magic that came about with finding the pie at Salvation Army in September. I found one item at that same store. But after that I had a hard time finding themed items. At the end of the long day I came home with a few items and enough to make it work. But my friend and model said she could do some shopping with me on Tuesday so I called in again. So that makes 3 days I have missed so far. But it was worth it. We worked together and I feel we came up with something unique and I don't think I'll ever see it again. So here is "The Queen Of Wishful Thinking" with a cape of Stars held together by Stars, and butterflies and flowers and ladybug stickers. And a fountain with coins on her head. I glued a plastic blue cup to a head band and then used clear hair gel as water. For her hair I did the spiral marcel curls that I did on a manikin and then again on her a few weeks ago.

I did not win any prizes. But I don't mind at all. Everything I wanted to do is in that picture. I finished the hairstyle I was trying to do in the amount of time given. I did a theme that no one else did. But most importantly I somehow found a model. More importantly I made a friend. Oddly enough we had met before. It turns out she had shopped at Kroger when I was in the meat department. It was just a few less than a minute interactions. But when she mentioned that she had been there I remembered them. As I type this I know she's facing something scary and I wish her the best.

Thursday we had a chance to work on some practicals and such in class. I got another credit for a pedicure and one for more spiral marcel curls on the manikin.

Friday morning I had one of the regulars that was new to me. She was in for a hair color retouch. She was a nice lady and I'm hoping to see her again before I graduate. And then in the afternoon I once again had the pleasure of Mrs D's company for her roller set.

There are some things I'd really like to write that are on my mind. But I'm having trouble with saying them. I'll see if I get my thoughts collected by the time I write next.

Thank you for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 170 ~ Coloring Head To Toe ~ 4/5/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 170 ~ Coloring Head To Toe ~ 4/5/14

1182 Hours
81 Guests

Saturday Performance Floor:
As of yesterday my day was to be me blocked out on the computer from 11 am till about 3 for my model to come and see what we could come up with for salon fair. I wasn't expecting to get a guest because of that but as we were celebrating the part time students this morning I was handed a ticket. But not just any ticket for something quick. A hair color. I had 1.5 hours. 40 minutes of that alone is processing. Plus the rinsing. But when I asked about it to Mrs C we realized that no one else was available to either take it or trade with so I said we'll just have to get started and see how far I get by the time my model arrived and possibly have someone take over. I'm at the point where I don't want to not do the service for someone. That's so 14 years ago. So Mrs C helped get me started and showed me a few shortcuts to get through it faster. And other than having to wait for the water to warm up at the sink I was right on time to at least get the color done. But I knew this guest was also going to want a thermal and not just the blow dry on the ticket. I was not able to check my phone to see if my model / friend was sending me messages or not nor was I able to tell her my situation. All I could do was keep going with my guest. And I completed the service. I had been checking at times to see if my friend was in the lobby but she wasn't yet. But as I was checking my guest out I saw that she had arrived. So that meant that the day was going to be positive. As it turned out she had left me some messages saying she'd be a little late and she had only been waiting a little bit in the lobby. We sat and talked about possible plans. And she asked if we could do a pedicure and perhaps talk more while we do that. Sounded good to me. Especially since I was originally going to be doing pedicures today for my other friend.

As far as Salon Fair goes, I'm participating. I have a model. I'm gonna just wing it. I'm not competing. I'm not trying to impress anyone. I need to remind myself that I didn't go to school to put on a show. I just want to do something nice for my model and hopefully do something that makes her feel beautiful when she walks down the catwalk carpet. I guess its more important to me that she feels like a Queen than to be check marked into the role. If I have to I'll go find an old wooden clothes pin and go old school Robert on them all.

Thanks for reading
I Love you all <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 168 & 169 ~ Gotta Keep Rolling ~ 4/4/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 168 & 169 ~ Gotta Keep Rolling ~ 4/4/14

1175 Hours
79 Guests

Thursday Classroom Day: Professional Image Day 2 - We went over how to work on our resumes a bit. I need to redo mine a bit so it has more fancy words. Gotta at least do that before Tuesday in prep for Wednesday's Salon Fair. In the afternoon my friend B let me do a manicure for her for a credit.Shout out to my friend J for bringing some cupcakes in to celebrate my birthday which was Monday when we weren't in school.

After school I needed to stop at CosmoProf and while there I bought some OPI Purple With A Purpose polish. So here's the left hand. It does seem to dry a lot faster than some of the others I've been trying. I hope. Everytime I put polish back on I feel re-energized a bit. Its like I'm the guy from Superman 4. Only not so negatively charged.

Performance Floor Friday: My model was supposed to come today for a prep day or practise run but she couldn't make it. My guests for tomorrow had to cancel as well. So I was in a bit of a scramble mode today trying to see what I could do. But as it turns out I might have my model come tomorrow so we'll see what happens. While I was waiting to hear from her I was trying to fill the time since I'd been blocked off from having other guests. I was attempting a few things with my manikin to see if I could do what I'm thinking of doing theme wise. Mrs E came by and saw me messing with a plastic / magnetic roller and suggested I try the hot rollers. I didn't tell her anything about my real plans but since I was in a state of Blah I figured I might as well. So I did some things with them and she gave me a credit. Which I needed. I was originally going to have Mrs D taken care of by the other student A since my model might have been there long enough to cut into Mrs D's time. But when Mrs D arrived all parties came to agreement that I would perform. So I did and it was another nice afternoon with my buddy. I like that I get to walk her to her car. Its one of those things that I want to keep doing when given the chance for any guest. That's the kind of resume I'm trying to build.

Thanks for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~

Day 166 & 167 ~ Soft Hands ~ 4/2/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 166 & 167 ~ Soft Hands ~ 4/2/14

1161 Hours
78 Guests

Tuesday Classroom: We started Professional Image and Laws & Rules. This is now my second time having Mrs V for class. Last time was for the highlighting haircolor. I only had her for that portion because of the way the holidays played with the curriculum timing. It was a theory day all day but we did some activities to go with it. The timing for this is good because tomorrow / Thursday we'll be going over resumes in prep for Salon Fair when the owners visit.

Wednesday Performance Floor: I was going to bring my friend for a facial today but she wasn't feeling well so we'll try again soon. But I also had been given a pedicure to do with a regular Regency guest. It was one of two people under the same name so it was a toss up as to which I would get. This was the first pedicure I have done for someone I'd never met before. I had a few that were supposed to happen for people I had met on FB that would have been a first in person meeting but this was the first unknown stranger one. But I knew they had been here before for other pedicures so at the very least I knew they knew it was a school etc. I'm happy to report that things went well. Because there were two guests it meant that another student was right next to me and there were four of us. So that would have helped a bit had things been a bit more nervous. But this was a great first chance. The guest was very helpful and at ease. And I wasn't being a klutzso I got through it just fine. I actually did a good job with the polish. I barely had to clean up anything from the skin. Heck I get more on my own fingers painting my own fingernails. While I was giving the massage she said "You should do physical therapy. You have soft hands" both to me and telling her friend. I'm hoping she books me again. I gave my card. I really do enjoy giving these non hair services too. I hope I can get in at a salon that will let me do the whole range that I'm licensed for. I don't want to miss out on any chance to do something nice for the people who would let me. Because I'm not holding myself back. I love what I do and can do.

Today's assignment was partial foils. According to our service menu that's up to 20 foils so I counted out 20 to make sure I got em all. Then I decided I wanted to use real color. But I didn't want to have to lighten first so I used Sabrina, a manikin I got from eBay that already has blonde hair. I was in a mood to experiment. Going through the box of leftover color tubes I pulled out 44/65, 0/66, 0/65, and 77/45. Basically anything that said something about violet on them. However the tubes did not all have the same amount in them so I couldn't do equal parts. So I started out by squeezing .37 oz of one trying to get .36. The small tube only had .15. That gave me a total of .52. So I decided to take .26 from each of the other two to get another .52. Then I put in 1.04 of 20 vol developer since I was using the Koleston colors and its a 1:1 ratio. When I first mixed it in the bowl it had a bit of a peach color to it and then started turning pink. I was wondering if I had made pink. It got a violet red color at the end. Which made sense since some of them are violet reds. But the bit that got on my finger was an orange color so I was wondering if it would be orange. But in the end after it started drying I saw that it had a dark purple color to it similar to the purple that was made before. Only this had the red showing too. So here's some pictures I took at home. They aren't the best lighting. One is from my phone the others are from the camera.

Thanks for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~