Cosmetology School Journey ~ State Board Exam Part One - Practical - 8/4/14 ~
I'm still stunned that it happened. There are always going to be key dates in the history of this journey. Such as these
8/2/2000 - Started Virginia Farrell School
7/22/2013 - Started Regency
6/12/2014 - Graduated Regency
I
have two more dates to add. The first being yesterday, 8/4/14. I first
want to say that I am thankful that my school, Regency had us do mock
State Board tests. I am glad I did mine all 4 times I could. The reality
is that those prepared me for the doing. It was always the packing that
made me nervous and well scared. But I got that bag packed somehow. So I
woke up yesterday morning and I had a 50 minute drive to get there. I
left in what I thought was plenty of extra time. I envisioned myself
sitting in a parking lot somewhere drinking some coffee waiting to go
in. So I drove. And then the first road I wanted to turn to head south
was backed up so I kept going west. The next road was closed and both
west and south were blocked so I had to turn back north and then head
west. And then when I finally turned south it was a road that's supposed
to be fast but there's just too many lights so I turned back east to
get to a better road. I was trying to get down to the freeway so I could
at least get on it. I finally got on and then a few miles later got
onto the other freeway to go west again. Then I see an electronic sign
saying 17 minutes to get near where I need to be. I didn't have 17
minutes and the freeway was a parking lot so I got off onto Woodward and
headed down to 8 Mile and then went west again. Then I made my turn
onto Greenfield so I could turn onto Northland Dr. Um No. Northland is
closed there so I found myself on 9 Mile heading west trying to find a
way back south. I turned south and found myself back on 8 Mile and
obviously on the other side of the building and I was at this time
probably late and now a bit lost. So I turned back east on 8 Mile and
then saw it. A turn lane to get onto Northland Dr and right there was
the building. So I parked and headed up to the third floor and right
there in front of the elevator sat a group of people with bags that were
obviously there for the test. And they said that no one had been
checked in yet and that they were told to wait till the people came to
get them. So with my heart racing already with the thought that I had
already forfeited the test and the money I suddenly had to calm down and
breathe before the thing that was supposed to make me nervous began. I
had made it. I was going to take the test. It seemed like about 10
minutes before they came for us so I did get to calm down. After 14
years it was going to happen. I had been imagining all along this darker
room without windows. I guess my image was like that of a dressing room
backstage somewhere. Instead it was a bright white themed room with
windows of an office building with blinds. Honestly it was like Virginia
Farrell was. They asked to examine our manikin head and hand. And then
the tester who did the talking says she will answer questions as long as
its not something you should already know in which case she would say
do as you have been instructed. So it was time for pre setup and setup
for the manicure. I was going along pretty well with my manicure and
then I did something dumb. I hadn't started polishing yet and I threw my
bag of cotton in the trash. My orangewood sticks didn't have any on
them yet. So this meant that I would have to do the best polish job of
my life without being able to clean up any polish that got on the skin. I
don't know how but with my hands shaking more than they ever have
before I put thos 4 coats of base, polish, polish, top coat on with only
a tiny bit getting on one finger. And I could do nothing about it. And
time was running low. So I raised my hand to signal I was done.
Next was the facial. I don't recall any issues with it. I think I was the first one done. Mrs E taught us well.
Next
up was the 3 Part Chemical. You section the manikin in 4 quarters and
use 3 of 4 to demonstrate. Here I had my second big scare. I didn't put
any gloves in the bag for this. I thought I did. But it hit me that when
I packed my bag for the perm wave I put an extra set of gloves in there
"just in case". Like maybe one would have a hole or something. So I
opened my duffle and got that pair out of the perm bag and zipped em up
and used that hand sanitizer. And I had gloves. :)
The first
section is Virgin Lightener / Bleach. This is done in the middle of the
hair strands only, not the roots or the ends. The second section is Hair
Color retouch of just the roots. The third section is a relaxer retouch
which is basically the same procedure except you have to put gel or
pretend protective gel on the rest of the hair strand because
overlapping relaxer onto hair that's already been relaxed is bad. Even
if you don't cause the hair to break off its gonna be extremely damaged.
When she asked for questions right before this part I asked if we were
doing half of each section or the whole sections. She said at least
half. I was able to do the whole section for each with time to spare.
Again I'm not as slow as I think I am. But doing those 13 heads worth on
that last day of class helped.
Next up was
shampooing. Gosh that stuff is hard to wash out of hair. I don't know if
we're supposed to or not but we were taught that State Board wants the
sinks cleaned after you use them. I took my manikin back to the station
and then grabbed my disinfectant spray and some paper towels and I went
back and cleaned my sink. I don't think anyone else did. But I didn't
care. Either I was doing what I was supposed to or I was getting extra
credit. I mean even if there aren't points for it maybe it would send
the message that I care about sanitation.
Permanent
Wave - I bet those who know this journey by now would think this would
be a cake walk for me. I can laugh about this now. But I was far from
it. My manikin almost went for a plunge out a three story window. Ok
first I was trying to drape the manikin. I went to unpack my two towels
and one of them fell. Onto my garbage bag which was now no longer
hanging from the counter but on the floor leaning against the cabinet
with the tape on the door. What do I do? Its now considered a dirty
towel isn't it? But I have to towel, cape, towel to protect the client.
In my mind it was "Oh well it is what it is" I picked the towel up and
set it on the counter. Sanitized my hands. Then put it on the manikin.
Protecting the client from a chemical is better than the dirt. Maybe? It
fell on the bag but not quite in it. Ok so lets get to doing the thing I
know I know how to do. The manikin's hair was not evenly cut. I went to
wrap that first rod and couldn't keep the hair from falling out of the
paper. Lets just say I probably made at least 3 attempts at each of the 5
rods. And I probably had fish hooks / bent ends. And that first rod had
me on the edge of melt down. But I wrapped them somehow. And I took
whatever score they were going to give me. I raised my hand and
demonstrated squirting the solution on and the test curl.
Haircut
- You must cut at least an inch off of all the hair. You must do a 90
degree uniform round layered cut. In other words any strand you grab if
you hold it out from its spot it must be the same length as any other
strand held out from its spot. So you cut the hair in a stop sign like
pattern. After the morning I had had so far there was no way this
haircut was gonna scare me. I had this. I was two procedures away from
being done. So I got the razor out and the shears and all those extra
combs just in case and I started cutting. I want to thank everyone who
has let me do this haircut on them so far. Some of you may not even know
I did it but I had a lot more practise on it than most in my class. I
don't like using the word chop but that's what i did. I chopped away. We
had 40 minutes to get it done and when the 20 minute chime came I was
in checking mode. I brought a manikin with at least 8 inches of hair. So
I didn't have to worry about cutting her too short. Every piece was
going to be at least an inch. I did not cut myself. I did not drop a
comb. I was probably the first one done because you can hear it when
someone grabs the broom and dust pan and I was the first to make the
noise. I'm not going to say my haircut was perfect. But I know I cut it
all. Including those strands that I had to wrap on perm rods.
Thermal
Curls - Each bag for each procedure has to be labeled Pre Sanitized
______ in this case Pre Sanitized Blow Dry & Thermal Curl. I know I
wrote out that label. But they come over for each task and check those
bags and this one was missing the label. There goes a point. Then I
noticed a few minutes later the label on the floor. It must have peeled
off when I pulled the haircut bag out. Blow dry just the top middle
section and demonstrate 3 curls using a marcel iron. First curl was on
base but stuck out so that was gonna be a Figure 6. Second curl was
walso sticking out but was half off base. Third curl, well I had the
third curl going just fine until I noticed that other hair was getting
grabbed by the handle of the iron and I lost control a bit so I stopped
trying to curl that one before the hair was burned. So I sectioned out a
new curl instead of trying redo that one because you're not supposed to
recurl hair right away like that. And this time I made a decent curl
and I think I got the Figure 8 in there. And that was that. I raised my
hand and let the chips fall.
I had three garbage bags.
One marked trash, another marked soiled implements, and another marked
soiled linens. About halfway through the test I noticed that I was
putting implements into the linens bags and vice versa. I don't know if
I'm even supposed to have seperate bags for those two for sure but it
had me worried if they knew I was mixing them. I mean maybe towels are
considered implements too and perhaps some schools don't even teach
three bags. When I did mock board I only used two bags. Implements and
trash. So it had me concerned but it was what it was.
Then
comes the most scary part of it. I've heard so many stories of how
someone didn't put their trash bag in the right spot or touched bags
together or somehow not packing up to go home the right way and possibly
failing because of it. Some sort of sanitation reason. But my
classmates were telling me that they had put all three of their bags
back into their Regency duffle bag and didn't fail so that's what I was
doing. I put my Implements and linens bags into the duffle bag. And then
came the decision. Do I put my trash bag in there? This is critical.
They said they did but is it right? Ok I decided to go for it. I tried
to squish it in there but the other two bags had too much air. So I took
it out and zipped up the duffle and walked out with a duffle bag and a
trash bag in hand. But I was Done. I had done the test.
Those
who have taken this test and are still yet to take this test may think
I'm crazy but I had a blast. I seriously thought that towel on the trash
bag doomed me but I was having fun. I had been taught how to do this
stuff and had practised it. I was just doing it in a different room in a
different place. I had one thought though. "I would love to do this
again but it would be nice if I don't have to come back because I failed
this one"
My plan was to leave there and drive up
to Port Huron and sit by the bridge and then check the website to see
the results. I made a stop at McDonalds to get something to drink and
use the restroom. When I washed my hands it was as if that half a bottle
of hand sanitzer was being washed out of my skin.
As I pulled in at the bridge the ship "American Courage" was passing under. So it was time to check and the website said PASS.
I passed. I ........ really passed?
On
8/9/14 I go for round two. This time I sit in front of a computer and
answer 100 multiple choice Theory questions. I scheduled this one for 1
pm. It was the earliest available date and time. But I took it because
that gives me a heck of a lot more time to get there. And that will be
the date. The date when I can say Licensed. Just gotta do it. :)
Thank you for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~
