HALOWEEN!!!!

For the last week of school that we had in October, we celebrated Halloween. We had a guest artist, Somica Spratley on Tuesday to show us spooky Halloween makeup. Somica specializes in special effects makeup. She owns Poison and Passion Makeup Artistry and she works at the MAC counter in the Birmingham Galleria as well. It was interesting because last year I took a Theater makeup class, and I learned a lot of the things that this woman showed us on Tuesday. I will post pictures of her work and then some of mine as well. That Friday, we had a makeup competition in our specialty class for Halloween makeup! We won in our class!! Well, we tied for first place, but we all got the same reward. I will post those pictures as well!

Now, here are some pictures from my stage makeup class. They are no where near as professional as Somica's work, but it's a good attempt!! The first two pictures are from our "Blood and Gore" day and my character was in a domestic dispute. The other two pictures were my final project and my character was a creepy marionette.

Here are the pictures from our makeup competition!! Our model is Kacy. Heather did her makeup and I did her hair!

<<Kacy and her stylists!!                                       

<<This picture is not of us, obviously, but of another group. they did an amazing job!

Perms!

The first week in Core was introductions to Xcell and the 2nd week was texture week! We learned pin curls, roller sets (pictures and instructions to come), perms and relaxers. 

Here are pictures and instructions on how to do a standard, nine-section perm.

First you need to know the 19 perm steps:

1. Consultation

2. Double Drape

3. Release Form

4. Clarifying Shampoo

5. Wrap

6. Cotton

7. Process

8. Check Curl

9. Rinse

10. Towel Blot

11. Paper Towel Blot

12. Air Neutralize

13. Cotton

14. Neutralize

15. Drop Rods

16. Rinse

17. Towel Blot

18. Style

19. 2-Minute Plan

First you need to shampoo your guest. In the Paul Mitchell world, we shampoo with Shampoo Three, which is a clarifying shampoo to break down all the dirt and buildup in your hair. Next you need to double drape your guest: 1 towel underneath the cape, the chemical cape, and then a towel on top to protect the guest’s neck and clothes from the chemicals. At Paul Mitchell Schools, students are not licensed professionals, so as a guest you must sign a release form basically saying that you can’t sue us if we mess up.

Part the hair into 9 standard sections. A mow-hawk section from the hairline to the apex, then from the apex to right below the Occipital bone,  and from the Occipital bone to the neckline. From the apex you will split the hair to the Mastoid Process on both sides. You now have 5 sections. From there you will connect the Mastoid Process to below the Occipital bone. This will give you your 9 sections.

 You will then wrap the perm. You use "perm papers" to protect the ends of the hair from frizzing out. Make sure they are straight and have no fish hooks for this will hurt the ends after the perm is processed. put cotton around hairline and neckline to protect the face. Apply the perm solution and let it process according to the manufacturer's instructions.

 

After the timer dings, you will do a test curl, or curl evaluation. You will pick rods from each section on the head and see if the curl is processed. Unwrap the curl one and a half times. You are looking for a S pattern. After you have deemed that the perm is ready, you will rinse it. The rinsing rule is to use the hottest water that your guest can handle for 5 minutes. For hair over 5 inches long, you will rinse the hair an additional minute for each additional inch. For example, if the hair is 10 inches long, you will rinse the hair for 10 minutes. Another way to tell that you are finished rinsing is when you can no longer smell the perm. You will then towel blot the hair to get out all the excess moisture. To make sure the hair is still not soaking, you will paper towel blot it as well. Let the hair air neutralize for 5 minutes. Apply the cotton along the hairline and the neckline again and apply the neutralizer to the hair. Let it process according to the manufacturer's instructions. You will then take out (or drop) the rods from the hair and rinse again. You will then towel blot the hair again to get the excess moisture out and then style the hair. I, personally, use Paul Mitchell Sculpting foam and Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Texturizing Sea Spray in my perm. 

You then follow up with your two minute plan, which is what Paul Mitchell Professionals use to show and educate their guests on take home (product) and make them feel loved and important as they check out. This is the time to prebook your guest's next appointment and "hug" them goodbye.

Introduction

Hi y'all!
I'm so excited to be starting this blog. I feel like it's a much easier and better idea than making a work log and showing it to my advisor. I hope you enjoy what I have to show/teach you and you take away some of it. I have LOVED being at Xcell. It has honestly made me want to drop out of college and just do that. But that's against my better judgment. I know that I need to get a 4 (or 5) year degree. I've come so far, why not stick it out! Anyway, I have come to love this place. The other day when someone asked me about the commute I said, jokingly, "I don't live in Tuscaloosa, I come visit for a couple hours and to sleep then I go back home to Birmingham." That's obviously just a joke for  me, because I know Tuscaloosa is my home away from home home (Arkansas).

Here is how Xcell works. When you enter Xcell you go straight into Core, then Protege, then Adaptive, then Creative. Core is the first 6 weeks of school. It is basically a crash course in cosmetology. Each week has a specific topic to focus on, anywhere from bacic hair shaping to coloring to cutting. Protege is a 4 week period that slowly eases you to work on the clinic floor and on Saturdays you get to shadow a creative mentor. As you get into adaptive and creative, you will get your own guests. The only difference between these two steps in the program, as I have gathered thus far is that when creative is on the clinic floor in the moring, adaptive is in theory class, and then creative has theory class adaptive is on the clinic floor in the afternoon. Another difference is Creative is more like the salon world, so you get to learn more tricks of the trade.

So here's how I'm going to set this blog up: I am going to write a post, or two, depending on the length, for each week we did in core, not necessarily in order, and then a post every few days I will have as I get into protege, adaptive, and creative. Now that I have to catch up a bit I'm going to have to compile a lot together. I hope you enjoy it!