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Options Like Beauty School Can Cut High School Dropout Rate

Published: February 28, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

After high school, you can go to a four-year college, take technical courses in a manufacturing specialty, enroll in a service-industry program like cosmetology school, computer programming or medical lab tech, or look for a job that requires no advanced training. That’s a lot of options. If a high school promotes only universities and doesn’t inform students about all the other choices like beauty school, what might happen? Kids might drop out.
Options Like Beauty School Can Help Cut High School Dropout Rates

Options Like Beauty School Can Help Cut High School Dropout Rates

Only about half of high school freshmen in many public city schools go on to graduate. This is a national disaster. The latest report, released earlier this week by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, focuses on the Chicago schools, but similar statistics have been found in Cleveland, New York City and other metropolitan areas. At the same time, there’s been a trend toward offering more advanced college placement courses in high school, even though the success rate is low when the students go to take the exam.

Some kids think that if they don’t plan on going to college—financial constraints, academic reasons or just no interest—they might as well look for a job instead of finishing high school. When you’re a high school student deciding about your future, your head is spinning in two directions: you want to make money, and you want to do something you enjoy. I wonder, if they were well-informed about programs like beauty school, whether kids would be motivated to stay in school—because that’s an option that can deliver on both counts.

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Life After Beauty School: More on the State Board Exam

Published: February 24, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

The first thing you’ll do after you graduate from cosmetology school is take the test to get your state license so you can do more than fold towels at the salon! Nadene Bruders, who coaches people preparing for the California exam, says, “Cosmetologists are artistic more than they’re book learners,” so more people pass the practical than the written section. Still, most beauty school graduates pass both. Hairdressers are typically fully licensed cosmetologists who pass the hair, skin and nails sections, while barbers may have to pass only the hair exam and estheticians and nail techs just take their appropriate sections.

For the practical part, some states use a mannequin head while others, including California, require a live model. Some What you need to know for your State Cosmetology Board Exam

What you need to know for your State Cosmetology Board Exam

requirements, like the finger wave set, may seem outdated, but Bruders finds it valuable. “That shows whether you know how to work with your fingers and a comb,” she explains. “That’s what our business is—dressing hair by working with what we know how to do.”

Remember the cosmetology school science classes I mentioned? Well, you’ll need them for the written part of the exam. “People would be amazed at what hairdressers have to study and know,” says Bruders, who co-authored A Shear Pass, which lays out all the skills Californians need plus sample questions. Fully licensed cosmetologists “have to know the biology, chemistry, diseases, disorders and complete breakdown for hair, skin and nails,” says Bruders. “People think all we do is cut hair. That’s a laugh!”

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Cosmetology School Graduates Are Good at Passing Their State Board Exams

Published: February 20, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that most cosmetology schools prepare their students very well for the state board exam, which you’ll likely take soon after graduation in order to get your cosmetology license. Because these tests vary from state to state, you might want to choose a cosmetology school in or next to the state in which you want to work. The faculty at those schools know their own state requirements backwards and forwards. Typically, a state will require students to pass both a written exam to assess their “book” knowledge and a practical exam to demonstrate their hair styling abilities. Many states grade the two sections separately so that you don’t have to take both over again if you fail only one.

To be accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (NAACAS), which allows their students to rece Cosmetology License State Board Exam

ive federal scholarships and grants, beauty schools must maintain a 70 percent state board exam pass rate among their students. States may set even higher standards, and schools have risen to the challenge. For example, in one month in 2007 the state of Arkansas recorded a 91 percent pass rate for the practical exam and an 89 percent pass rate for the written exam.

Despite the stats showing that cosmetology school graduates pass with flying colors, it’s not unusual to feel nervous when you’re preparing for the state board exam. So let’s talk about that! I’ll give you more specifics about what’s on the test in my next blog post.

Photo is courtesy of La’James College of Cosmetology in Mason City, Iowa.

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Sometimes Beauty School Is Your Science Lab

Published: February 16, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

Some students are surprised when they get to beauty school and have to take a science class. By senior year in high school or even earlier, you may have fulfilled your science curriculum requirements for graduation and hope never to see a petri dish again. But science does come into the picture of learning about hair and skin. Don’t let anyone tell you that cosmetology school is for dummies!

I don’t mean to scare you, though. The science you’ll learn will relate to your passion, so it won’t seem as tedious as it may Science lessons in Beauty School

have the last time you took a science course. Biology and chemistry will be the two main areas. While you don’t have to learn enough to become a doctor, you will need some biology of the human body. As a hairdresser, you’ll have to know about hair follicles and scalp conditions. You’ll also study the chemistry of hair, which is very interesting! Applying perm solution and mixing color formulas are really chemical procedures, and you’ll need some science of color theory as well. If you choose esthetics, you’ll study the different layers of skin, how they change over time, how products work and what conditions affect skin. That brings in a little climatology and environmental science, too.

You may not think of yourself as someone who’s much into science, but by the time you graduate from beauty school you’ll be a bit of an interdisciplinary scientist!

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Start Building Your Client Base While Still in Beauty School

Published: February 12, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

As you progress through your curriculum, most good cosmetology schools require students to work on real people. Some even operate a mini-salon with the beauty school students serving as the technicians, under the supervision of licensed cosmetologists.

I was picking up a prescription at Walgreen’s the other day, and I noticed that the pharmacist taking care of me looked very young. But she went about her duties with such confidence and competence that I soon forgot about her age. Only when I was leaving the counter and noticed her “pharmacy student” name tag did I realize that not only was I right about her youth, but she wasn't even licensed yet! Yet, through words and body language she communicated that she had knowledge and expertise, and I quickly came to trust her as a professional.
Building a client base while still in Beauty School

Building a client base while still in Beauty School

Clients at the training salons housed within beauty schools often develop a short-term, but regular, relationship with one of the student technicians. These clients can feel really sad when their student cosmetologist graduates and leaves. Some ask for students’ cell phone numbers so they can call them several weeks down the road to find out where they’re working. As I did at the pharmacy counter, these clients put their trust in anyone, young or old, who impresses them as having the skills to do the job. So keep your confidence on display, treat your earliest clients respectfully and you may have a small clientele in place before you even start working!

Photo courtesy of Cosmetologists Chicago

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Enjoy Peace and Quiet? Esthetician Schools Know Your Type

Published: February 08, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

Some people want to get into the beauty business but aren’t really attracted to hairdresser schools. If you feel that way, when you begin to explore esthetician schools you may relate to the field of esthetics.

Walk into any full-service spa, as I did earlier this week, and you’re likely to find two separate worlds. There’s the hair salon, with its high energy, lively Esthetician Schools offer a peaceful Career in Skin Care

Esthetician Schools offer a peaceful Career in Skin Care

music, bright decor and constant buzz of chat just a decibel below the whirr of blow-dryers. It’s a fun environment—really amazing in the way it can instantly transport you to a happy place. Now look for the spa. Up an elevator, down a staircase, behind a door, across a vestibule or out on a secluded patio you can escape to the privacy and calm of esthetics.

Estheticians aren’t necessarily shy and reserved, but they do typically spend their days in a relatively small, unadorned room with one client at a time. The lighting is low, the music soft. There’s still an energy, but it’s charged with relaxation, tranquility and healing. As an esthetician you’ll have one foot in beauty and one in the medical field, and you can choose to pursue either side more than the other. Skin care schools teach students how to do everything from therapeutic massage and corrective facials to luxurious pedicures and exotic seaweed wraps. It’s not for everybody, but it’s just perfect for some people.

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Barber Schools Offer Sharp, Edgy Options

Published: February 04, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

While everyone talks about going to hairdresser school, the buzz on barber schools doesn’t hit the same volume. Yet barbering is an interesting profession and, if you change your mind, it provides an easy entry to other cosmetology careers The choice between Barber Schools and Hairdresser Schools

The choice between Barber Schools and Hairdresser Schools

because most states require licensed barbers to have as many hours, or nearly as many hours, as cosmetologists.

Barbering’s obvious distinction is that the clients are almost exclusively male—not 100 percent, but close enough. So you have to like being around guys. Doing men’s hair means that you’ll specialize in cutting. In fact, some of the most precise hair cutters started out as barbers, even if they ended up doing both men and women. You’ll also trim beards and provide full shaves. Of course, there’s some styling involved as well; you have to know your way around a blow dryer and products like mousse and gel.

The great similarity between being a barber and being a hairdresser is that all the clients who sit
in your chair are there to freshen up their look, and they almost always feel better when they leave than when they walk in. Whether you cut hair in a beauty salon or a barbershop, your workplace is a happy, upbeat environment. If you think cutting hair is what you love, check out barber schools.

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