Second generation hairdresser....

So, Katie-Katherine has expressed a fairly serious interest in becoming a hairdresser. I'm both thrilled about this and cautious about this. Thrilled, because I'm glad I've inspired her! Cautious, because, well, she's 13 years old. Things change as she gets older. There's very few things, in her life, that she's been consistent about. Her love of cats, horses, wolves. That's about it. The rest of it changes faster than you can say "Gone With The Wind"! She's also had an interesting summer, my Katie-Katherine. She didn't want to go to day camp, so I told her that's fine, but you're going to do stuff around the house. Especially if you expect to get paid for doing some of these things. So, I've started a "Katie-Katherine Do" list. It's not terribly complicated: wash, dry, & put away the dishes, fold all laundry, clean out the cat box (not the big clean, just the basic clean), collect all trash and take to the dumpster. There are also jobs she doesn't get paid for, like putting her own laundry away, making her bed, things like that. She hasn't actually gotten paid yet, because, well, money is at a premium, and she knows it. However, there IS a running tab going. I collect each chore list she does and assign a monetary amount to each chore, based on the quality of work performed. She also knows this, although she doesn't know the monetary value of each chore. Now, being Katie-Katherine, she has most definitely tried to get out of doing things. The first chore list, she tried getting out of doing the dishes, until "later". When I got home from work that night, and discovered what she'd done, I had her come right back out into the kitchen and get the dishes done. And, explained that the list is written in order of importance, and there's no negotiating what does or doesn't get done. If the chore is a paid chore, and she chooses NOT to do it, she doesn't get paid. Conversely, if she only does a half-way job, she only gets half pay. She understands all of this. Whether or not she remembers all of this when payday finally comes is a completely separate issue!!

Tired.....

I worked 9a-7p yesterday...I don't do these very often. I usually work til 3. I changed my schedule this week because my niece's graduation is this Saturday. By the time I got home last night, I was FRIED. Ate my dinner, talked a little to Katiekatherine, talked to the bff on the phone, soaked my feet, went to bed. And I'm still tired today. I can hear you: You're just a hairdresser. All you do is stand behind someone and do their hair. Yup. I do. I stand in one spot, with my arms raised to roughly chest high and keep them there until I'm done with what I'm doing. If it's a first time haircut, I'm like that for an hour, with my arms up and moving back and forth, moving through the hair. If' I'm doing foils, same thing, only I'm also plotting which piece of hair to capture in the foils next. If I'm doing a cap highlight, then I'm attacking some one's head (while encased in a plastic cap) with a crochet hook, picking out "random" pieces of hair to be colored/bleached, again with arms raised at about chest level, for at least a half hour. If I'm perming or setting hair, I'm creating sections of hair to wrap around a rod of some kind, again with my arms up at chest level for at least a half hour, if not longer (depending on what I'm doing). Oh, did I mention that during any of these procedures I'm also chatting (most animatedly) with my client about whatever we wish to talk about??? Sometimes I'm bent over a sink, either washing the hair, or waxing eyebrows, moving back and forth while bent over, making sure I've either thoroughly washed the hair or thoroughly removed the hair! So, now you see why I'm tired. But, I'll recover. I always do. I do these things because this is the career I love and waited 20 years to have. I wouldn't trade all these experiences for anything !!! And, tired means I've been busy!! :)

I've been busy!!

I really have!! Last week, I was actually in demand!! So much fun!! While I wasn't booked out straight, I had enough clients that I didn't have time to work on my swatches!! So, that's what I'm trying to work on this week. I've gone through the cupboards at work, and have written down what's available for colors. Then, I've gone through my pile of pre-torn foils and written on them the formula for what I'm going to work with next...truly, that's half the battle...the paperwork!! The CHI swatch book is thisclose to being done. I finished up the very last of the swatches today...they're drying out right now. All the rest of them are on white file cards, with the formula, as well as what the hair swatch is. For example: Level 6 (the color of hair...darkest blonde) Color treated (what has previously been done to the hair) CHI High Lift (product I've used) BB & 30 volume (the color & the developer) 2 hours (how long it processed) No heat (conditions in which it processed) I've had to accommodate for the fact that the hair is not connected to a human head, so I've extended the processing times for certain products. The high lift/no lift series actually requires heat for 25 minutes, cool for 5 minutes. It's kind of difficult to put swatches, encased in foil, under the hood dryers and not have them blow around! Especially when the dryers are being used all day long!! The swatches are taped onto white file cards,with this information, then glued (with that scrapbooking glue tape) to black cardstock paper, then three hole punched, and (eventually) put into two 3" binders...one for the no lift colors and one for the high lift colors. I've gained a lot of education throughout this particular experience. While I would work with some of the colors...I wouldn't work with all of them. Next?? Bleach!! :)