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 ~

Day 56 ~ Are You Mocking My Board? ~ 10/8/13

Cosmetology School Journey ~ Day 56 ~ Are You Mocking My Board? ~ 10/8/13

387 hours - Not 388, explained later

Today's hair: No picture, just a pink & white striped pom pom band at the nape and 2 plain pink bands on the length of the tail.

Team Awesome Sauce reunited today to face a battle. Today was the first of at least 3 chances to take a Mock or Practise practical board test to prepare us for what the real State Board will be like. This means we have to do a series of services on our manikins and show that we know the procedures and can do them with proper sanitation.

Step 1: I went and picked up A and had another adventure on the way in :)

Step 2: We spent the first half of the day packing up our items and liquids into bottles and bags and putting them into larger bags so that we could put them all into our one large bag. Thanks to A's help we both got organized and ready to go.

Then came lunch. I took my stuff to the car that I wasn't using and grabbed 2 manikins to use and then the classroom door was closed so I went on lunch with them. So I didn't walk today. But I played some music. Then I went back in to put my phone in my locker and then to wait by the classroom door so I wouldn't be late. If you aren't in the room on time for the real State Board they won't let you in. So this is run the same. So we were all waiting for Mrs C to open it for us to let us in and we got in and went about starting the test.

Test 1 - Manicure: Using our manikin hand with acrylic nails glued on. We had to remove polish from one nail. I was cool and calm and ready to go, as much as I could be. Then the stupid little pump bottle took like 15 pumps to give me the polish remover and I thought here we go again with messing up my manicure test. But it came out and I only had the pinky nail to do and it came off easily. And while I was worried that I couldn't remember the steps, surprisingly I think I did it right.I only had to paint 1 nail too.

Test 2 - Facial: Got a bit flustered because I wanted to put a cape around my client and there wasn't one in the bag. It was in another bag for later. Mrs C saw me and got me back on track and I went about doing the cleansing and my cleanser happened to be the gritty stuff we had used for pedicures so I had to really wipe it off before I did the massage. So then I'm getting into the massage and remembering things well and Mrs Sherri comes in. She says something about needing to borrow this gentleman or something like that and says I'm not clocked in. So I lost an hour on the time but my board test still counts. Surprisingly as much as I was initially upset by that, I was so happy to have gotten through the manicure and about to get through the facial that I just didn't care. I mean I can't be perfect. So I finished the facial.

Test 3 - Part a head into 4 sections / quadrants.
Right front: we had to do at least half of it demonstrating a virgin lightener on the middle of the strands.
Right back: Color retouch
Left back: Relaxer retouch
Left front: not used

Test 4 - 5 white perm rods in the crown area. Demonstrate applying solution and testing a curl.

Test 5 - Round Layer Haircut, but cut the guide using a razor to demonstrate ability to cut with one. We only actually cut something with the razored guide. The rest was just pretend.

Test 6 - Blow dry with a vent brush and then 3 Marcel Iron curls. 1 on base, 1 half off base, 1 with a figure 8 inside.

Out of 123 points I got marked off for 7 for 116 total or 94%

Tomorrow is currently booked with a friend so I'm looking forward to some fun times. I also have someone booked from FB for a haircut next wednesday already. So other than Friday morning I'm pretty much booked until next Wednesday afternoon. Thursday is the Chemistry quiz. I don't think I'll struggle with that unless they do questions we didn't go over. Sometimes they do. I hope we can slow down a bit with the classroom project stuff because I'm really starting to come into my own with the performance floor. Studying is one thing but the buying and putting together and all that is a bit much. Next week the students who were new during my second month will be transferring over so I'll see some of them in class again. Because of the class size in Workshop we'll probably be switching rooms though. So I'll probably be back in the old room again. But that also means more new people too :)