The Cutting Edge

  Oh, cutting week! It was certainly the most technical, hands on week we've had so far. We were on our feet a majority of the time. You don't really realize how physical and tiring cutting hair is until you do it. The angle of the cut will mimic your body position, so if you are doing it angled your elbow it up to the ceiling, even a straight cut means elbows out straight to your sides! That being said, I adore cutting!

  Our first cut, the gateway cut, was a square one length. Cutting a straight line is more difficult than you would think, and for the square cut you really do put corners in. You can see them in my photos, if you look. The back and sides meet near where the shoulders would be and form a point.

The back. Note two points on one side, finished this over two days and lost my sectioning!

See those awesome corners??

  Our next cut was a tri-grad, which stands for Triangular Graduation. This is the hair cut you see most of the time the hair is short in the back and longer in front. It looks layered in the back. It's a really fun hair cut, it has a lot of potential. You usually see it shorter, but I kept mine long to preserve her length. You can still see the shape!

See the angle? The back would be the point of the triangle.

    Layers. Let's talk about layers. Our first day doing round layers was honestly the first day I left school feeling defeated. I felt like I was doing them right, I was almost certain I understood how to do it, but they just weren't coming out right! I asked Tabs what I was doing wrong, and she told me to think on it that night and we would talk about it when we started again the next morning. I literally spent all night contemplating those stupid layers! I was so mad that I was doing them wrong, and what made it worse, they actually looked good. I couldn't understand how it could look good and still be wrong. So I spent the night going over and over the stupid cut in my head.
  So, I get to school the next day, sleepy but resolved, and within a minute I know exactly what I did "wrong". A round layered cut should have a round one length to start with (in a perfect world). We were putting round layers on a triangular cut. Instead of relying on my guide from the previous section, I was using the angle at the bottom of the hair cut! I'm glad tabs made me figure it out, if she had just told me I would have known, but I wouldn't have understood. So, the other side I did them the right way. Which do you think looks better?

The left side has my correct round layers. The right my triangular-round layers. See how the layers get shorter with the angle of the cut??

  We started to learn the state board cut, too. And then we learned all sorts of blending and thinning techniques. Which we then practiced on top of that hair cut. Let's just say I really REALLY had fun point cutting. Tabs used Kylie and her gorgeous, perfectly colored extensions as a blending demo. It's amazing what a difference just a little bit of work with a razor can make!

Her layered extrensions are stupid pretty.

Honestly, I can't tell where her real hair stops and the extensions begin, and I was there!

  The last thing we covered this week was mens' cutting. I have been cutting Adams hair for years, but there is a lot I still don't know! It was exciting and a bit heart wrenching to chop all the hair off Addison. She is the mannequin I colored, and cutting off all those beautiful high lights was sad. Especially since what little blonde was left made my hair cut look like Nick Carter back in the 90's. Addison/Nick will soon be given to Adam to be used to further his shooting technique.

Hair today, gone tomorrow. (See that length difference? Like I said, point cutting.)

Everything out of the clips in the previous photo has been shaved!

That is a LOT of hair on the floor!

I present to you, my 90's boy band wannabe. Note: The hair at the ear has not been cleaned up.

  Cutting week was definitely intense. By the end of the week I was exhausted, my hands hurt, and I was so unbelievably ready for the weekend. And by that I mean I LOVE CUTTING HAIR! I can't wait to get on the floor and do it again. Every day I am blown away by how much I love this. Next week is spa week, so look forward to makeup artistry, nail art, and the downfall of my "adventurous" eyebrows.
xoxo Rae

P.S. No one in my class cut themselves this week! It's a big accomplishment, and Mama Tabs was so impressed she even faced us for it during Pow Wow!

Hey there, Curly Q!

  It's Texture Week! I want to start off by making sure you know that this is Mama Tabs absolute favorite week. Seriously, I told her to get the word TEXTURE as a tattoo. It was definitely an eye opening week. You don't always realize just how much you can do with hair. It has me even more excited for cutting week, now that we know what we can do with hair. I can't wait to see what I pull off with an amazing base style!

  First thing we did this week was get our hands in some real, living, non creepy barbie head hair! We were put into pairs and got to do a wash and blow dry style on each other. It was really different to have a real person to work on, and honestly it just makes me that much more rabid to get on the clinic floor and do it for real!

"How does your hair hold this much water??"

Getting my hair done by the fabulous Kelly!

Artistic shot of Emelie's hair, taken by Tabs.

  We also wrapped Perms and learned about Chemical Relaxing this week, and unfortunately I don't have any photos of that. Perming hair is...intense. If you've every put curlers in your hair take that and multiply it by about 100. That is how difficult it is to wrap a perm. And if you haven't seen the HBO movie Good Hair, watch it IMMEDIATELY! We also did Perm Songs, we had to take a song and then rewrite the lyrics to be the 19 steps of a perm. There is video, so once that is uploaded by the FABULOUS Tracy I will post the video, along with my lyrics, here so you can enjoy my total embarrassment, amazing lyrics, and failing voice.

  My biggest challenge this week was the Marcel iron. I am absolutely terrified of getting burned, I think it is the absolute worst thing that can happen to your body. So, when I'm handed this insane looking curling iron immediately after seeing some rather impressive burn scars I was ready to bolt. Never fear, faithful readers, I managed to get through not one but two days of using it without burning myself. It really does take some getting used to, but the curls it makes are stunning. Now that I am comfortable with it I'm kind of in love with it. (Yes, Tabs, you read that right.) We also got to do Updo's. It was a bit of a competition, the goal being as much accuracy as possible. Mine didn't win (probably didn't help that my picture had a very different cut) but I am really incredibly proud of the finished look.

Jazz, Queen of Marcel

Side view (awkward front piece was put there to look like side swept fringe)

Other side, tucked in

Some of the other entries.

The back of mine. Check out those highlights!

  The last thing we did for Texture week was a French Twist. I'll be honest, I never really understood the full range of possibilities you have when doing one. I'm hoping I get to do one for Prom. Prom season starts the week we get out on the floor, and I can't wait to do some Updo's!

French twist with a little sass.

  Texture week was amazing. I absolutely cannot wait to get into cutting, so I can really do an entire hair style from start to finish. I feel like I am learning so much, but at the same time I'm dying to learn even more. If I thought I was passionate about being a stylist before I was wrong. I cannot imagine loving it any more than I do now, but I know I will. Until next week, which will be packed full of hair cuts, information, styles, and love!
  xoxo, Rae

Color Me Fabulous!

  So, this last week was, you guessed it, Color week! Thinking about it now and looking back at how much we learned amazes me. Just a week ago I was skimming through just the book work and I was so overwhelmed! It didn't seem possible to me to learn so much in a week, but we did, and I feel so confident with it! I'll detail a lot of what we learned, and introduce you to my fabulous class, Mama Tabs six-pack.

  So, you met our fearless Learning Leader last week, now it's time to meet the girls. Like I said, there are six of us. Kehls, Ky, Livvy, Jazzy, Em, and me, RaeRae. The names will make sense next week, so just roll with it. All these girls are incredible, I feel like I've known them forever. It's amazing to me how quickly we all came together as a unit, there are no cliques. These pictures are of my lovely classmates applying color to their mannequins (weave and slice foils highlights). Without further ado, the six-pack!

The six-pack. You'll see this again periodically, it is our "before" picture.

Jazzy! She asked that I not show her lovely face (hence the star in our group shot) but trust me, she's stunning! She is an amazing young woman, and she instantly finds something beautiful about everyone she meets.

The lovely, sweet Em! She and I have already become close, she is so positive and just an amazing person. If you ever get a chance to hear her sound effects consider yourself lucky!

Ky! Let me tell you, she is a speed demon! She is so wacky and open. We will have a fun surprise for you at the end of the week!

Livvy! I admire her drive so much, no matter how frustrated she gets she never gives up. Plus, she's a sweetheart and obviously gorgeous!

Kehls is the person who knows everyone, knows the right thing to say no matter what, and honestly spoils us rotten. If I grow up to be like her I'll be a lucky lady!

  So, color week! I know you all are dying to know the chemistry and book work, so the rest of this post is going to be a science lesson. I'm kidding, I know you want to see some color! Tabs had an amazing surprise for us last week, she let us use real product on our mannequins! I chose Lighten Up, one of Paul Mitchells amazing blonding systems. The nice thing about Lighten up is that it stops processing after 45 minutes, so there is next to no risk of over processing your hair, and the blonde you get is perfect!

On the left is a virgin application (aka single process) and on the right is a two inch retouch. This was done with cholesterol, which is basically a heavy conditioner.

So, the front part in the clip was some practice foils done with cholesterol. The rest of the front I used a Weave technique, while the back I did slicing. All these foils are done with Lighten Up.

Back view of my six (added one after this was taken) slice highlights.

Back view, you can really tell the difference between where I did the weave (more natural) and the slices in the back (more dramatic).

Front view. What do you think of my weave?

  So, that pretty much covers the coloring we did this week. There is one more thing I wanted to tell you about. Dr. G, the Dean of our school, came in to talk to us Wednesday (same day we had a pancake breakfast to welcome the new core!). It was really amazing to talk to him. He wasn't originally in this field, he was a doctor. He was so inspired by the drive and this industry that he left that behind to run my school. I was amazed to see how passionate he was about our education. He really loves this company and believes in every single one of us. The people in my Paul Mitchell family honestly never cease to amaze me.

  This next week is texture. I'll be back with many, many pictures and a lot more knowledge for you next week. Until then,
xoxo Rae

And so it begins...

  I cannot believe my first week is over already, it went by so fast! I honestly cannot begin to tell you how amazing my school is. The atmosphere is infectious, everyone is there to learn and is excited about it Everyone I've met, future professionals and staff, has been so nice and helpful. The "Paul Mitchell culture" is a real, tangible thing and I love being a part of it.

  Okay, let's get started! First I want to tell you about my CORE learning leader, Tabs. She is Ah-May-Zing. Just sayin'. She is so funny and personable and really knows everything we are learning. She is excellent at making everything easy to understand and knowing when we need a break or change of scenery. She has extremely high expectations that we learn. Tabs also likes to burst bubbles, which is both funny, scary, and informative. Trust me, you would love Mama Tabs!

The beautiful Mama Tabs -  move over Jennifer Hudson!

  The main thing I am sure you want to see is my kit. Now, I'm going to be doing a separate, in depth post with a lot of pictures, but I do want to tell you about Kitmas! Our first day we got all our books and a "bonus present", a foll set of rollers! The next day we came back from lunch and in the theater Christmas music was playing (Alvin and the Chipmunks) and seven huge decorated boxes were waiting for us! We all ran in like kids on Christmas morning, it was hilarious and great.

Merry Kitmas!

A look at the tools!

A quick look at it all.

  It's not all fun and games, we did a lot of book work this week, too. Mostly we worked from our product knowledge work books, learning about all the Paul Mitchell products. I can't wait to use them all and see how they interact with each other and different types of hair. We also started to learn some basic anatomy of the hair, skin, and bone structure. It's a lot to learn, and it will only get more intense when we start color next week, but I can't wait!

  Towards the end of the week we got to do what I know all of us were dying to from the second we stepped in the building, get our hands in some hair! Tabs did a wash and style demo yesterday when we learned about draping. We did pin curls, roller sets, and finger waves, oh my! Actually, I loved every bit of it. Pin curls was probably the easiest thing we did collectively, but we spent the least amount of time on them. Roller sets probably got the most amount of time, we did them for two days. Yesterday we actually got to do a full roller set and left it for Tuesday to see what they look like finished and styled.  Okay, finger waves. From what I can tell they are the viewed as the most difficult thing most people do in cosmetology school. They came so naturally to me! I honestly loved doing them, and can't wait to try them again.

My very first finger wave!

A full finger wave side view.

Finger wave front view.

My roller set, front view.

My roller set back view, I promise it was less crooked when I finished!

  We also had our first Pow Wow this Saturday. The entire school gathers in the theater and we hang out, dance, and have "facings" where you can get up on stage and recognize anyone, future professional or staff, for absolutely anything. It was a wonderful experience. A few of our CORE girls got up, and our class was faced by quite a few people, including Mama Tabs. She also faced me for rocking finger waves, and for showing everyone how I did it and trying to help. Honestly, I left that Pow Wow feeling invincible, it was so empowering.

  It was such a wonderful and reaffirming week. Everything we did felt so natural and comfortable to me. I know that can't continue, and that I will have my challenges, but having a good week right off the bat was exactly what I needed. No matter what the rest of this journey brings I know I will love it. Here's to the next five weeks of CORE, and the rest of my life!

It's All Happening!!

  Sorry I've been MIA, things have been quite hectic for me lately. I do have some big news! my loan money came today, and I am setting my appointment up to go and finalize everything and settle up with finance at my school! It's funny, it officially feels real to me. I got the mail and started crying, it all just hit me, this is really happening. I'm going to school and nothing can stop me. I am officially a Future Professional at Paul Mitchell the School Schenectady!

Paul Mitchell the School - Schenectady

 I am finally starting Cosmetology School! I want to tell you all about my tour at Paul Mitchell the School Schenectady (PMTSS). This is really where everything feels like it is real, for me, and I want you all to be able to experience it too!

   I submitted my information to PMTSS admissions after doing a LOT of research. Later that day I stumbled across their Facebook page, and of course I liked it and posted on their wall about how excited I was to hear from them. Very shortly after I got a call from Elvita in admissions and I was on my way! All I had to do was get through five days of excitement and anticipation (absolutely the hardest part!)

  So, Wednesday before last I made the drive down to Schenectady. After an adventure with parking (read: not bringing change and running out into the cold to stuff quarters into the meter repeatedly) I was there!  Walking in I instantly noticed the décor. It’s like a mix between a cool NYC loft and a high end spa. Beautiful brick contrasts the cool white plaster perfectly. The wash room is separated by a water fixture that takes up the entire wall. The salon area looks very professional, I absolutely could see myself taking clients there, building my career.

  Even with all that, it was the atmosphere that really drew me. There is a cool confidence you can feel right away. When Elvita was showing me the salon I got to see something I thought was really special. The Future Professionals were gathered together with the Learning Leader, and they were playing telephone!  Throughout the day the students gather together for various energizers, anything from chants, sharing your triumphs, and yes, things like playing telephone. The sense of community is amazing, everyone was incredibly inviting. I can’t wait to be a part of the PMTSS family, because that is what it is, a family.

  At this point we left the salon area and continued on to the “school” portion. Elvita took a lot of time to answer my questions and explain the teaching philosophy at Paul Mitchell schools. I was very excited by the way they are adamant that their students always be learning something. This is actually one of the main things that draws me to Cosmetology.  “The day you think you know everything there is to know in this industry is the day you need to pack up your scissors,” she told me, and I couldn’t possibly agree more.

  The first thing I noticed in the classrooms were the dream boards. When you start the core class you take a poster board and decorate it with your goals, dreams, and inspirations. These boards are hung up in your classroom the first seven weeks when you are in there full time. I love the idea of being able to see that as a reminder of why I am there every day. My inspiration staring me in the face is going to be such an incredible motivation.

  In the basement is the student area, along with more classrooms and some of the staff offices. There were a lot of great details that I loved. A cork board hangs up for Future Professionals and Learning Leaders to post notes to each other congratulating them on successes, thanking them for going above and beyond, or just to leave a nice thought to brighten someones day. The walls are gorgeous exposed brick. The lockers are in the hallway, and at the end it opens up into an amazing lounge area.  Here are tables for students to eat lunch, as well as the café. I feel like a picture is worth a thousand words here, you’ll see what I mean!

  So, I went in on Tuesday and put down my deposit. I am officially enrolled as a Future Professional at Paul Mitchell the School – Schenectady. I start march 20^th, and absolutely cannot wait! All I have to do is get my loan sorted out and I will be completely ready to go. Look for posts about why I chose Paul Mitchell in the coming weeks, and posts about my experience as a student coming in March!
  xoxo Rae

p.s. All photos of the school were taken from their official facebook page here. There you can find their information if you want to look into the school!

Back on Track

Well, I have some exciting news! I am finally on track to start school. I am officially enrolled, all I have left to sort out is my loan. Look for a post all about my tour of my school in the next few days!