Okay.
I'm a terrible blogger for real.
A month without blogging? I am so far behind that I don't know if I can catch up. I will try though, but not right now.
This blog post is pretty cool for me. as I can't believe that it's actually here. For those of you who remember me in November, not even thinking April would come, the fact that the end of June is now here is quite crazy.
As of Wednesday, June 22nd, I am able to take clients at the school. June 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and July 1st are my 'Family and Friends' days, after which I will be taking real clients that come in off the streets. Kind of scary, but I'm excited.
As 'Family and Friend' week is as close as next week, I'm putting it out there to those who read my blog that I'm doing free hair cuts, and 25% off already reduced colour services for the next two weeks at school, Wednesday-Friday. If you have a free day, please consider booking an afternoon with me? =
I PROMISE I won't screw it up! =D
For real though, I would appreciate you donating your head to my learning - and I won't do anything you don't want, so it's really just a super great, free haircut for you (or super cheap colour!), and a really awesome learning experience for me! Give me a shot - I know most of you are looking for a new hairdresser... right? (hahaha!)
Shoot me a message if you would like any information! I'd be more than happy to let you know the dealio!
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Week Four - Half way through...
So you may be thinking "Kyleigh, you clearly cannot do math. How can you be four weeks in and think you're halfway through?!" Well, here's the deal. We do 8 weeks of intensive learning on mannequins..... and then we work on real clients that come in and pay us to do their hair. I have 4 weeks until the school writes my name at the top of our salon program, and they start booking me for clients. Crazy.
Am I scared? Yeah... pretty much shaking in my boots. The fact that we have now gone through ALL of the haircuts that we need to learn before we go onto the floor is a little intimidating. I feel like I don't know anything at all, but I know that I do of course. It's just getting stressful. I'm not sure that I'm ready to work on the floor of a salon... it feels too soon, but I'm also excited to get my hands into colour and my fingers into hair and really learn, because mannequins only teach you so much before you need to just learn on people.
All of that being said, weeks 9 -10 (dates of which I'm not totally sure... but should be June 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and July 1st) are friends and family week (which I'm pretty sure most of you fall under) which gets YOU free haircuts and 25% off colour.... so if you're daring (and kind, as I could really use your help!) I would be more than happy to give you FANTASTIC haircuts... all for the low price of 0 dollars. =)
In other news, this post is about the last week that we did at school, so lets get started.
Wednesday:
Wednesday we did more grad bobs. Seriously, I should be a pro at them by now, yet they are SO hard, I know that I'm not. We worked on texturizing bobs... and we also worked on sexy blow outs (which as it turns out I am really quite good at!) If you need a very sexy round brush blow out... let me know. I am the queen of amazing blow drys!
Thursday:
Thursday we started women's shorts, doing fireflys. If you don't know what a fire fly is, it's kind of like a pixie cut, but more graduated (it had more weight in the back, not so cut to the shape of the head!) I can't find a really great picture of it... ACTUALLY. I can think of two people with great fireflys, one more modern than the other!
We did our cuts with a razor, which was lots of fun! I loved working with the razor, and it's something that I hope over time I will be really great at. It's fast, and it gives really nice, soft cuts that I love! Hopefully I'll get to do some great razor cuts in the future!
Friday:
Friday we did pixie cuts (women's verticle) and men's cuts. We learned how to do pretty much the standard pixie cut, and then we did men's cuts from longer square cuts to the scissor over comb to get the hair really short and create that buzzed look. I'm really glad we aren't using clippers, and that we do a scissor over comb, it's harder, but it's a good thing to know how to do!
We also did quick and dirty curl sets, and mine was beautiful! I was really excited that it turned out so nice. I love curling hair, and I think up-dos and curls might be my favourite thing after colour! =)
Friday was bad though, as it was the first time that I cut myself with my scissors. It was also my first burn from a curling iron... all on the same finger. By the end of the day I had two bandaids, and wanted to amputate it... but it's feeling much better now, so hopefully I've learned my lesson and I won't cut it too much anymore!
Saturday:
Saturday, my boyfriend sacrificed himself and became the first person to ever let me cut their hair.... and it was a success! =) I am quite proud of it because it took about an hour to do (which for my first haircut on a person is really quite good!) and he really likes it. I keep examining it because I'm not sure it's perfect, but it was good for a first try, and he's not miserable, so I suppose we both won!
I have no school plans for tomorrow (for the first week in a while!) so I'm going to do some studying and working on getting myself caught up on reading and refresh my brain for Wednesday! I think I may need to book an appointment for a colour next week, as my roots are getting pretty bad... so I will let you know how it goes if I do in fact get it done! =)
I don't really have a secret for you this week, as I have been super busy and didn't really think of anything for you, but I will be sure to have a really great one for you next week! =)
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Am I scared? Yeah... pretty much shaking in my boots. The fact that we have now gone through ALL of the haircuts that we need to learn before we go onto the floor is a little intimidating. I feel like I don't know anything at all, but I know that I do of course. It's just getting stressful. I'm not sure that I'm ready to work on the floor of a salon... it feels too soon, but I'm also excited to get my hands into colour and my fingers into hair and really learn, because mannequins only teach you so much before you need to just learn on people.
All of that being said, weeks 9 -10 (dates of which I'm not totally sure... but should be June 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and July 1st) are friends and family week (which I'm pretty sure most of you fall under) which gets YOU free haircuts and 25% off colour.... so if you're daring (and kind, as I could really use your help!) I would be more than happy to give you FANTASTIC haircuts... all for the low price of 0 dollars. =)
In other news, this post is about the last week that we did at school, so lets get started.
Wednesday:
Wednesday we did more grad bobs. Seriously, I should be a pro at them by now, yet they are SO hard, I know that I'm not. We worked on texturizing bobs... and we also worked on sexy blow outs (which as it turns out I am really quite good at!) If you need a very sexy round brush blow out... let me know. I am the queen of amazing blow drys!
Thursday:
Thursday we started women's shorts, doing fireflys. If you don't know what a fire fly is, it's kind of like a pixie cut, but more graduated (it had more weight in the back, not so cut to the shape of the head!) I can't find a really great picture of it... ACTUALLY. I can think of two people with great fireflys, one more modern than the other!
 |
| Princess Diana had a GREAT firefly in the 90's when this haircut was really popular! |
 |
| But Meryl Streep really brought it back with a modern flare when she did The Devil Wears Prada! |
We did our cuts with a razor, which was lots of fun! I loved working with the razor, and it's something that I hope over time I will be really great at. It's fast, and it gives really nice, soft cuts that I love! Hopefully I'll get to do some great razor cuts in the future!
Friday:
Friday we did pixie cuts (women's verticle) and men's cuts. We learned how to do pretty much the standard pixie cut, and then we did men's cuts from longer square cuts to the scissor over comb to get the hair really short and create that buzzed look. I'm really glad we aren't using clippers, and that we do a scissor over comb, it's harder, but it's a good thing to know how to do!
We also did quick and dirty curl sets, and mine was beautiful! I was really excited that it turned out so nice. I love curling hair, and I think up-dos and curls might be my favourite thing after colour! =)
Friday was bad though, as it was the first time that I cut myself with my scissors. It was also my first burn from a curling iron... all on the same finger. By the end of the day I had two bandaids, and wanted to amputate it... but it's feeling much better now, so hopefully I've learned my lesson and I won't cut it too much anymore!
Saturday:
Saturday, my boyfriend sacrificed himself and became the first person to ever let me cut their hair.... and it was a success! =) I am quite proud of it because it took about an hour to do (which for my first haircut on a person is really quite good!) and he really likes it. I keep examining it because I'm not sure it's perfect, but it was good for a first try, and he's not miserable, so I suppose we both won!
I have no school plans for tomorrow (for the first week in a while!) so I'm going to do some studying and working on getting myself caught up on reading and refresh my brain for Wednesday! I think I may need to book an appointment for a colour next week, as my roots are getting pretty bad... so I will let you know how it goes if I do in fact get it done! =)
I don't really have a secret for you this week, as I have been super busy and didn't really think of anything for you, but I will be sure to have a really great one for you next week! =)
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Weeks Two & Three - A little behind...
So I'm a couple of weeks behind on blogging (whoops), and I NEED to post before I'm 3 weeks behind, because that post would be too big to deal with. So, here are the last two weeks of school for me! It's long, but I promise it's not so long that you'll want to die after reading it... I tried to keep details to a minimum as I ramble, and this post it kind of long already.
Week 2:
Wednesday:
Wednesday we did up-dos, which were actually a lot of fun! They were a little bit difficult at first, but they got easier. We learned how to do real editorial style, Bumble and Bumble pony tails, which were really fun, but hard at first as when you do ponytails in hair school, you us bobby pins connected to hair elastics instead of just hair elastics. Figuring that out at first was difficult, but man does it make a difference in hold and how nice the pony tails look! I have changed my way of doing pony tails for the rest of my life.
I looked to try and see if I could find any photos of the up-dos that we did, but I couldn't really. They were slightly out of date, but it was really cool to do a curl set and do something fancy. Cutting hair is fun, but styling it is ever better! Hopefully we'll be able to do some that are a little more relevant, but it's a good base anyway, so it would be easy to make them a little more modern and desirable by brides and grads and what not!
Thursday:
Thursday we did full on highlights with lightener and everything! I was pretty stoked because of all my classmates, mine definitely lightened the best and turned out looking pretty good. While I need to work a bit on saturation and sectioning, I feel like I might actually be able to get my highlights down to 45 mins by the end of the course. It'll be tough, but I'll do it!
We also spent a lot of time talking about colour, and the amount of information you need to know is crazy. Every time I think I'm figuring it out, they throw a giant wrench into it! Oh well. I'm quite certain that I'm going to get it sooner than later. I'm one of those people who asks a lot of questions until I understand it. I will understand it!
Friday:
Friday we did square layers which is so HARD! Oh my goodness! But I figured them out quickly enough and I don't want to say I mastered them by the end of the day, but I'm pretty confident that I could do a really square layer hair cut... maybe! It's amazing me that we have moved along so quickly!
I don't really have pictures from last week as I was so far behind that I didn't really get a chance to take any before we did more to the mannequin heads... but I know that we do these cuts again, so I will be sure to take pictures when we do highlights and square layers again! =)
Week 3:
Tuesday:
While I don't have class on Tuesdays, I went to school to get my hair done by a student who is in the Sunday-Tuesday group, and she did an amazing job! I got a much needed haircut and a cellophane done and it turned out great! I was super happy with the result, and 4 hours later, I left there happy and with a healthy head of hair! =D
Wednesday:
Wednesday we did more square layers, and we did all over colour, which was awesome. We did fast application all over hair colour, and we were colouring with reds (which is my new fashion statement if you haven't see my hair recently... it's all about the reds this summer!) Some of the colours we ended up with were amazing! I can't wait to go get my hair coloured to get one of the super vibrant reds we have at the salon! Maybe in a couple of weeks I will go back in to get my hair re-coloured, and I'll do something really fun.
Thursday:
Thursday we started graduated bobs, which are extremely time consuming, and very difficult at first, but easy once you get the hang of them. I used to have a grad bob, and I ADORED it. It was super cute, and awesome for summer... but as I'm trying to grow out my hair (which is very difficult having such talented classmates, I just want them to cut it all off!) I'm avoiding going back to a grad bob right now. Maybe in the future though!
Friday:
Friday we did grad bobs yet again. It's something that takes a lot of practice... two whole days and I think I've finally got a hang of it, but I know there are several more to come. We also got to play around with long hair mannequins, and do some long hair round brush sets, which was really cool. I like working with the blow dryer because you can do a surprising amount of stuff with a good brush and a blow dryer. Surprising as it sounds, you don't really even need flatirons or curling irons (although they do make life much faster and easier!)
Finally, today (Tuesday, May 17th) I went to a Bumble and Bumble workshop at Space Salon. We went there to watch some great demos of some really great hair cuts, and we learned a lot of product knowledge about the new line they just released called Shine On (and on).
This product is AMAZING. We got samples of the spray (as pictured) and the shampoo and conditioner... man it makes your hair SO shiny! I love the stuff! As a launch, they've put together a 'travel' pack of the three sample sized products, so if you'd like to give it a try, go buy it at your local bumble and bumble salon (or drop by Caramel Salon or Space Salon as I know they will have it!) and try it! It's really a great product, and I am excited to work with it in all the applications that I can! =) (plus, it smells AMAZING, which is really enough for me!)
So, my salon secret for that amazing, light catching hair I know will be in style this summer? Definitely Bumble and Bumble's Shine On finishing spray!
I'm thinking of doing a must have list for summer on my other blog Don't Forget to Write, and I know for sure this product will be on it!
As this week is starting tomorrow (I am being a horrible blogger lately! Ugh!) I must leave this post here, but I PROMISE I will blog religiously from now on. A two week update is just too much... I know I left stuff out... but somehow I've made it through nearly a month of hairdressing school, and I LOVE it. I will blog. I will!
I'm going to leave you with one last thing, and it's Lady Gaga's new single, Hair. I'm only posting it because of it's title... (and it's kind of catchy too!)
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Week 2:
Wednesday:
Wednesday we did up-dos, which were actually a lot of fun! They were a little bit difficult at first, but they got easier. We learned how to do real editorial style, Bumble and Bumble pony tails, which were really fun, but hard at first as when you do ponytails in hair school, you us bobby pins connected to hair elastics instead of just hair elastics. Figuring that out at first was difficult, but man does it make a difference in hold and how nice the pony tails look! I have changed my way of doing pony tails for the rest of my life.
I looked to try and see if I could find any photos of the up-dos that we did, but I couldn't really. They were slightly out of date, but it was really cool to do a curl set and do something fancy. Cutting hair is fun, but styling it is ever better! Hopefully we'll be able to do some that are a little more relevant, but it's a good base anyway, so it would be easy to make them a little more modern and desirable by brides and grads and what not!
Thursday:
Thursday we did full on highlights with lightener and everything! I was pretty stoked because of all my classmates, mine definitely lightened the best and turned out looking pretty good. While I need to work a bit on saturation and sectioning, I feel like I might actually be able to get my highlights down to 45 mins by the end of the course. It'll be tough, but I'll do it!
We also spent a lot of time talking about colour, and the amount of information you need to know is crazy. Every time I think I'm figuring it out, they throw a giant wrench into it! Oh well. I'm quite certain that I'm going to get it sooner than later. I'm one of those people who asks a lot of questions until I understand it. I will understand it!
Friday:
Friday we did square layers which is so HARD! Oh my goodness! But I figured them out quickly enough and I don't want to say I mastered them by the end of the day, but I'm pretty confident that I could do a really square layer hair cut... maybe! It's amazing me that we have moved along so quickly!
I don't really have pictures from last week as I was so far behind that I didn't really get a chance to take any before we did more to the mannequin heads... but I know that we do these cuts again, so I will be sure to take pictures when we do highlights and square layers again! =)
Week 3:
Tuesday:
While I don't have class on Tuesdays, I went to school to get my hair done by a student who is in the Sunday-Tuesday group, and she did an amazing job! I got a much needed haircut and a cellophane done and it turned out great! I was super happy with the result, and 4 hours later, I left there happy and with a healthy head of hair! =D
Wednesday:
Wednesday we did more square layers, and we did all over colour, which was awesome. We did fast application all over hair colour, and we were colouring with reds (which is my new fashion statement if you haven't see my hair recently... it's all about the reds this summer!) Some of the colours we ended up with were amazing! I can't wait to go get my hair coloured to get one of the super vibrant reds we have at the salon! Maybe in a couple of weeks I will go back in to get my hair re-coloured, and I'll do something really fun.
 |
| A poor picture of the colour that we did! Haha! |
Thursday:
Thursday we started graduated bobs, which are extremely time consuming, and very difficult at first, but easy once you get the hang of them. I used to have a grad bob, and I ADORED it. It was super cute, and awesome for summer... but as I'm trying to grow out my hair (which is very difficult having such talented classmates, I just want them to cut it all off!) I'm avoiding going back to a grad bob right now. Maybe in the future though!
 |
| This is my third grad bob attempt. It looks MUCH better than my first one, but still not perfect! |
Friday we did grad bobs yet again. It's something that takes a lot of practice... two whole days and I think I've finally got a hang of it, but I know there are several more to come. We also got to play around with long hair mannequins, and do some long hair round brush sets, which was really cool. I like working with the blow dryer because you can do a surprising amount of stuff with a good brush and a blow dryer. Surprising as it sounds, you don't really even need flatirons or curling irons (although they do make life much faster and easier!)
Finally, today (Tuesday, May 17th) I went to a Bumble and Bumble workshop at Space Salon. We went there to watch some great demos of some really great hair cuts, and we learned a lot of product knowledge about the new line they just released called Shine On (and on).
So, my salon secret for that amazing, light catching hair I know will be in style this summer? Definitely Bumble and Bumble's Shine On finishing spray!
I'm thinking of doing a must have list for summer on my other blog Don't Forget to Write, and I know for sure this product will be on it!
As this week is starting tomorrow (I am being a horrible blogger lately! Ugh!) I must leave this post here, but I PROMISE I will blog religiously from now on. A two week update is just too much... I know I left stuff out... but somehow I've made it through nearly a month of hairdressing school, and I LOVE it. I will blog. I will!
I'm going to leave you with one last thing, and it's Lady Gaga's new single, Hair. I'm only posting it because of it's title... (and it's kind of catchy too!)
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Week One - Overwhemling.
I am so excited to post my first real, important post to this blog! I am also stoked that I can post and say that I am officially a hairstylist in training! While this week was overwhelming, scary, and kind of stressful, it was overall extremely productive, and I learned a LOT more than I ever thought I would in three short days.
Day one.
Day one was especially scary of course because it was the first day. We pretty much got thrown right into things, getting our kits which come filled with so much stuff it actually comes in a small suitcase! (which it really quite lucky, because it's very convenient to roll it around everywhere!) So we went through it all, and our kit has everything from a hairdryer and flat iron, to 5 combs, 6 brushes and, of course, scissors. Most of the stuff I don't even remember what it's truly for. It was pretty much a day of blurry orientation... that is, until the afternoon when they got us cutting (already!) on mannequin heads. We were working on a blunt perimeter cut (which is really hard) and a top layer (which is also really hard!) I actually did my first haircut on Wednesday. It was scary, and nerve racking, but successful! It took quite a bit of the day, but after a while we all figured it out, and managed to get the cut done with a little help from our instructors! Day one: relatively successful, but scary and overwhelming.
Day two.
Day two was also sort of scary, but not as scary as the first day. We learned the computer system in the salon (as the school is a working and functioning salon as well as a school!) which was quite interesting, and a little confusing, but with practice will get easier. We then went back to the mannequin heads and did the same cut we were working on the first day, again, with a few added things. Day two was much easier than day one, as we got to work so much of the day just cutting and getting help doing it. We did a blunt perimeter cut to get a straight base, and then worked up to a top layer, which I'm sure everyone has had or seen on someone at some point or another. We then learned how to do face framing layers, which was kind of confusing and difficult... and then we learned how to round brush. As it turns out, I am the queen of round brushing, and I love to do it. Getting all that crazy, curly volume is not only incredibly fun to do, but it actually looks amazing. If I could round brush my hair the way I can round brush a mannequin, my hair would look amazing everyday! But alas, this is not so. We then learned flat ironing, which was pretty easy, at least for me, as I flat iron my hair quite often.
I know it doesn't look like much, but this is a days work of cutting, blow-drying and flat ironing! This is my first real start to finish hair cut, blow-dry and style. You may not be able to really tell what's going on, but I needed to post it for my satisfaction!
Day three.
So, day three we were suppose to do up styling, which I was pretty excited about because I think those can be kind of fun, but due to conflicts with the senior students, and the fact that the DVD had been apparently misplaced, we decided to do foiling instead. Full head foils are hard. They are time consuming, and they are kind of scary to do the first time. We were working with conditioner, so we weren't actually making a giant mess of the hair, but it was still quite difficult, and a bit frustrating the first time. I managed to do a full set of foils by the end of the day in less than an hour and a half, which by salon standards is apparently pretty good, but by school standards is about 45 minutes too slow! I'll have to work on my speed, as to graduate we have to do a full set in 45 minutes or less. Seems impossible now, but it apparently gets faster with time.
So, that was the first three days of hairdressing school. I can, as of today, do one haircut, round brush blow-dry, flat iron and foil (but only with conditioner! hahah!). Who knew that 3 days would yield that much stuff? Am I overwhelmed? Yes. Am I defeated? No. Not at all. Some of my classmates over the week have been defeated, covered in conditioner, cut up their fingers or burned themselves on the irons... but me? I'm taking my time, I'm learning the craft, and not butchering myself (yet!). It's hard, and it's time consuming, and I know it will only get harder... but I am so proud of what I'm able to do as of today, and I am also SO glad that I now have a day off to absorb the work and try and make sense of my notes and the days that have past.
Now, I have one thing to add that I learned about yesterday, which as an avid hair colourist I was pretty interested in learning about! I don't know if you have ever heard of hair Cellophanes, but they are super handy, and really cool, and I'm quite excited to go get one done (hopefully soon!!)
A cellophane, as I have learned, is a clear or coloured coating that gets added to your hair in between colourings, or right after a colouring to lock in color and make it REALLY shiny. I had an instructor tell me that I should get a red cellophane done on my hair, and I was like "huh?" so I went and talked with her about it, and she explained it all to me. It's isnt harmful to your hair because it has no ammonia in it, as it's not colouring your hair but putting a coating over top of it, closing your hair cuticle so that the colour can't escape. It also makes your hair look SUPER healthy and shiny... and I'm working on getting myself one asap! Apparently many salons do them, so you just have to ask... otherwise, if you'd like a super inexpensive hair cut and colour (or cellophane!), the Vancouver Hairdressing Academy has ridiculous rates, but talented learning stylists who would love to help you! =) I'm working to get myself down there as soon as possible to get one of these done, and I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out! There is, apparently, something by John Frieda which is similar, but it's more of a gloss as I understand it, and doesn't last quite as long. If you wanted to give something like this a try before spending a lot of money getting it done at a salon, the John Frieda Colour Glaze is available in places like London Drugs!
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Day one.
Day one was especially scary of course because it was the first day. We pretty much got thrown right into things, getting our kits which come filled with so much stuff it actually comes in a small suitcase! (which it really quite lucky, because it's very convenient to roll it around everywhere!) So we went through it all, and our kit has everything from a hairdryer and flat iron, to 5 combs, 6 brushes and, of course, scissors. Most of the stuff I don't even remember what it's truly for. It was pretty much a day of blurry orientation... that is, until the afternoon when they got us cutting (already!) on mannequin heads. We were working on a blunt perimeter cut (which is really hard) and a top layer (which is also really hard!) I actually did my first haircut on Wednesday. It was scary, and nerve racking, but successful! It took quite a bit of the day, but after a while we all figured it out, and managed to get the cut done with a little help from our instructors! Day one: relatively successful, but scary and overwhelming.
Day two.
Day two was also sort of scary, but not as scary as the first day. We learned the computer system in the salon (as the school is a working and functioning salon as well as a school!) which was quite interesting, and a little confusing, but with practice will get easier. We then went back to the mannequin heads and did the same cut we were working on the first day, again, with a few added things. Day two was much easier than day one, as we got to work so much of the day just cutting and getting help doing it. We did a blunt perimeter cut to get a straight base, and then worked up to a top layer, which I'm sure everyone has had or seen on someone at some point or another. We then learned how to do face framing layers, which was kind of confusing and difficult... and then we learned how to round brush. As it turns out, I am the queen of round brushing, and I love to do it. Getting all that crazy, curly volume is not only incredibly fun to do, but it actually looks amazing. If I could round brush my hair the way I can round brush a mannequin, my hair would look amazing everyday! But alas, this is not so. We then learned flat ironing, which was pretty easy, at least for me, as I flat iron my hair quite often.
Day three.
So, day three we were suppose to do up styling, which I was pretty excited about because I think those can be kind of fun, but due to conflicts with the senior students, and the fact that the DVD had been apparently misplaced, we decided to do foiling instead. Full head foils are hard. They are time consuming, and they are kind of scary to do the first time. We were working with conditioner, so we weren't actually making a giant mess of the hair, but it was still quite difficult, and a bit frustrating the first time. I managed to do a full set of foils by the end of the day in less than an hour and a half, which by salon standards is apparently pretty good, but by school standards is about 45 minutes too slow! I'll have to work on my speed, as to graduate we have to do a full set in 45 minutes or less. Seems impossible now, but it apparently gets faster with time.
So, that was the first three days of hairdressing school. I can, as of today, do one haircut, round brush blow-dry, flat iron and foil (but only with conditioner! hahah!). Who knew that 3 days would yield that much stuff? Am I overwhelmed? Yes. Am I defeated? No. Not at all. Some of my classmates over the week have been defeated, covered in conditioner, cut up their fingers or burned themselves on the irons... but me? I'm taking my time, I'm learning the craft, and not butchering myself (yet!). It's hard, and it's time consuming, and I know it will only get harder... but I am so proud of what I'm able to do as of today, and I am also SO glad that I now have a day off to absorb the work and try and make sense of my notes and the days that have past.
Now, I have one thing to add that I learned about yesterday, which as an avid hair colourist I was pretty interested in learning about! I don't know if you have ever heard of hair Cellophanes, but they are super handy, and really cool, and I'm quite excited to go get one done (hopefully soon!!)
A cellophane, as I have learned, is a clear or coloured coating that gets added to your hair in between colourings, or right after a colouring to lock in color and make it REALLY shiny. I had an instructor tell me that I should get a red cellophane done on my hair, and I was like "huh?" so I went and talked with her about it, and she explained it all to me. It's isnt harmful to your hair because it has no ammonia in it, as it's not colouring your hair but putting a coating over top of it, closing your hair cuticle so that the colour can't escape. It also makes your hair look SUPER healthy and shiny... and I'm working on getting myself one asap! Apparently many salons do them, so you just have to ask... otherwise, if you'd like a super inexpensive hair cut and colour (or cellophane!), the Vancouver Hairdressing Academy has ridiculous rates, but talented learning stylists who would love to help you! =) I'm working to get myself down there as soon as possible to get one of these done, and I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out! There is, apparently, something by John Frieda which is similar, but it's more of a gloss as I understand it, and doesn't last quite as long. If you wanted to give something like this a try before spending a lot of money getting it done at a salon, the John Frieda Colour Glaze is available in places like London Drugs!
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The First Post - An Introduction.
I am too excited about this new blog to wait until April 27th to start posting, so I decided I would do an "introduction" sort of post, although chances are you know me, or you at least read my other blog. This is more or less the set up of my new blog, and the ideas around my new adventure. I'm really excited to be taking this step towards a great career, and I'm going to kind of give you a bit of a background on my change of career goals, and where I plan to end up!
I went to Simon Fraser University for 6 semesters as a Music and Sociology student with really no goals, no ideas on what I was going to do when I got out of school, and to be perfectly honest, not really enjoying school very much at all. I was wasting my money going to a school I thought I needed to go to, but in the middle of my last semester, I realized there was something out there better than what I was doing.
I had a bit of an epiphany, if you can call it that, while I was dying my hair one day. Changing my hair has always been something I love to do. I started streaking my hair when I was in grade 5, which means I've been in the process of chemically changing my hair for the last 10 years. I realized that I loved doing stuff with my hair, I loved being the person my friends go to when they are thinking about changing up their hair, and to top it all off, I'm GOOD at those things. Not only am I good at it, but I love doing it. I love talking about hair, I love changing my hair, I love buying new products and doing new things... I realized this was a logical move for me (although some people thought it was a strange move), and with some encouragement from friends and family, I began my search for the hairdressing school I wanted to go to.
I looked at so many hairdressing schools I can't even begin to tell you. I did research on the best places to go, the kinds of products used, the amount of hands on time, how much money it would cost me to go.... after much calculating, several interviews and tours of different schools around the Lower Mainland, I made up my mind. I saw so many people, did so much searching, and I found the place that was absolutely the best choice for me. The Vancouver Hairdressing Academy
So I applied, I was accepted, and now I start on April 27th! I'm very excited to get a move on into my new career, and to start planning my life with a real job in the picture! I'm hoping to be working in a salon by the end of the year... and maybe once I have some experience under my belt and some money in my pocket it's my dream to own my own Salon. This is a long term goal, but I think it's good to have those kinds of things! I think this is a great change for me, and a good chance to explore a whole new world of practical skill vs. degrees, and I'm sure I'm going to love my move!
As this blog is called Secrets of a Salon Student, I figured I should offer up one of my secrets that keeps my hair amazing despite all the colouring, product, and heat that I use on my hair! I may not be a salon student just yet, but I do have a few great tricks up my sleeve that keeps my hair pretty dang soft, smooth and healthy.
I one thing that I swear by are hair masques and hot oil treatments. I've always used masques and hot oil, but a couple of days ago I went out and bought some Bumble and Bumble hair product (which is now available at Sephora if your salon doesn't use or sell it!) and man, this stuff is the real deal! I bought the Creme de Coco hair masque, and it is amazing. It smells like cocoa butter (which means it smells like vacation!) and it left my hair SO SOFT.
I just realized I never really explained what a hair masque is. It's really a conditioner that you leave in for an extended period of time rather than rinsing out right away like regular daily conditioner. This one says to leave it in for 7 minutes or more (I left it in for about 10) and it feels amazing, it smells amazing, and my hair has really never been softer after a deep conditioning masque! If I could suggest any hair masque, at this moment in time it is FOR SURE the Creme de Coco Hair Masque from Bumble and Bumble.
I also bought Bumble and Bumble's Prep. This stuff is also amazing, but for a different reason.
Prep does what it sounds like, it preps your hair for styling by helping to detangle, condition, and refresh hair before you put the rest of your daily product in. It helps to equally distribute product through your hair, and it doesn't weigh it down (which is great for people like me who have really fine hair!) Prep also does another great thing... it helps to reactivate product already in your hair throughout the day when you feel your hair going flat, or if the rain and wind destroy all your hard work! This stuff is a god send for people with fine hair like me who have a hard time keeping the volume or style that you worked so hard for!
In any case, I was so excited to post to this blog, it feels great to know there isn't a big empty space on my blog now. In 26 days, you will start to see a lot more from me on this blog! I'm looking forward to sharing some great tips, tricks and secrets of a salon student!
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
I went to Simon Fraser University for 6 semesters as a Music and Sociology student with really no goals, no ideas on what I was going to do when I got out of school, and to be perfectly honest, not really enjoying school very much at all. I was wasting my money going to a school I thought I needed to go to, but in the middle of my last semester, I realized there was something out there better than what I was doing.
I had a bit of an epiphany, if you can call it that, while I was dying my hair one day. Changing my hair has always been something I love to do. I started streaking my hair when I was in grade 5, which means I've been in the process of chemically changing my hair for the last 10 years. I realized that I loved doing stuff with my hair, I loved being the person my friends go to when they are thinking about changing up their hair, and to top it all off, I'm GOOD at those things. Not only am I good at it, but I love doing it. I love talking about hair, I love changing my hair, I love buying new products and doing new things... I realized this was a logical move for me (although some people thought it was a strange move), and with some encouragement from friends and family, I began my search for the hairdressing school I wanted to go to.
I looked at so many hairdressing schools I can't even begin to tell you. I did research on the best places to go, the kinds of products used, the amount of hands on time, how much money it would cost me to go.... after much calculating, several interviews and tours of different schools around the Lower Mainland, I made up my mind. I saw so many people, did so much searching, and I found the place that was absolutely the best choice for me. The Vancouver Hairdressing Academy
So I applied, I was accepted, and now I start on April 27th! I'm very excited to get a move on into my new career, and to start planning my life with a real job in the picture! I'm hoping to be working in a salon by the end of the year... and maybe once I have some experience under my belt and some money in my pocket it's my dream to own my own Salon. This is a long term goal, but I think it's good to have those kinds of things! I think this is a great change for me, and a good chance to explore a whole new world of practical skill vs. degrees, and I'm sure I'm going to love my move!
As this blog is called Secrets of a Salon Student, I figured I should offer up one of my secrets that keeps my hair amazing despite all the colouring, product, and heat that I use on my hair! I may not be a salon student just yet, but I do have a few great tricks up my sleeve that keeps my hair pretty dang soft, smooth and healthy.
I one thing that I swear by are hair masques and hot oil treatments. I've always used masques and hot oil, but a couple of days ago I went out and bought some Bumble and Bumble hair product (which is now available at Sephora if your salon doesn't use or sell it!) and man, this stuff is the real deal! I bought the Creme de Coco hair masque, and it is amazing. It smells like cocoa butter (which means it smells like vacation!) and it left my hair SO SOFT.
I also bought Bumble and Bumble's Prep. This stuff is also amazing, but for a different reason.
In any case, I was so excited to post to this blog, it feels great to know there isn't a big empty space on my blog now. In 26 days, you will start to see a lot more from me on this blog! I'm looking forward to sharing some great tips, tricks and secrets of a salon student!
Love your hair!
Kyleigh.
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