The Passionate Hairdresser

Highlights & Lowlights....

2012-01-23T06:10:00.000-05:00

So, I was on the Smartstyles Facebook page the other day, and came across an angry parent, who posted pictures on HER facebook page regarding the color job her daughter received. Once I looked at the pictures, I could immediately tell what went wrong, all the way around.

Here's what happened: Client went in, with level 6-7 hair, wanting bleach highlights and red low lights. Sounds pretty simple, right?? Well, it is, if you know what you're doing and if you're up on the current education. By the looks of this color job, I'd say the stylist wasn't up on the current education

Highlights were done with bleach, pretty straight foreward. The only mistake I could see was that the stylist should have used a lower volume developer, so the processing was slow & steady, to keep the damage to a minimum. The red low lights?? Well, that's where the "fun" begins.

To start with, permanent color was used. How could I tell?? The regrowth area were a nice, vibrant color, then ends were washed out. Problem #1. Demi permanent color should have been used instead for a deep, rich color.

Problem #2: When mom dragged teenage daughter back to the salon to get her low lights "fixed", the stylist should have gone back in with a similar, if not the same formula in demi permanent color, and picked through the hair to locate as much of the red as possible to go over it again, to intensify the color. This also didn't happen. More of the permanent color was used.

The end result?? The girl's hair faded to a weird pinkish color. Her hair looks FRIED, too.

What should have happened (if it didn't already): A THOROUGH consultation, to determine what color was desired. Then, if we're dealing with a relatively inexperienced stylist, some assistance from a more experienced stylist to help formulate. Also, a conversation with the client (and client's parent) about the fact that reds fade the quickest, so what to expect should have been part of the conversation.

What to expect: Because "red" has a large dye molecule, it is the quickest to fade because each molecule covers a much larger area than molecules for blonde or brown. So, the rich, vibrant color will FADE to something weird, relatively quickly. To help combat this, using the right color safe (sulfate free) shampoo or smoothing shampoo (which closes down the cuticle, keeping the color intact) along with washing the hair in TEPID water (hot water pushes the color out faster) will go a long way to keeping the hair color intact. IF you're going to insist on washing your hair in the hottest water imaginable, (and you're in the shower) get your hair washed and conditioned, pinned up out of the way, and GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE WATER. The easiest way to do this?? Turn around and face the water spray. Usually, I'll leave the conditioner on my hair, pin it up, finish my shower, then drop my hair down at the last minute to rinse it before I get out of the shower. Doing all of this ensures my red lasts as long as possible. Works every time.

Reds are difficult to work with, from a client point of view. They require a lot of TLC in order to last as long as possible. If you're not willing to put in the care that must be involved, reds aren't for you.

Plotting and Planning

2012-01-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

I do a lot of plotting & planning in my life. When it comes to hair color, I MUST plot & plan--otherwise, your color doesn't come out as it should. When I finish your color, and I see the results of my efforts, sometimes I plot & plan for the next time you come in, so I can tweak the formula.

I'm also plotting & planning how to spend my tax money when I get it back (realize I haven't even received all the necessary paperwork to start this process). My income has increased, which means the few benefits I've received from the state have decreased. Therefore, what used to be (sorta) "disposable" income is no longer that. So, when my tax money comes back, a portion of it will go towards purchasing the sundry items that I need in order for my household to function.

Such as: Paper towel, toilet paper, laundry supplies, cat supplies, dish soap, sponges. I'm also spending a chunk on the car, if needed. The suspension type stuff (shocks, struts, springs) need a look-see to make sure they're not faulty, and my exhaust needs a look at, also. A chunk will go towards my latest educational needs. Michael Cole has a bunch of stuff I'm wanting, David Velasco has a second set of books that I want. And, of course, the child's birthday is coming in March. Since she's the only child I'll EVER have, her birthday is always a big thing. Birthday parties, for me, stopped when I was about 10 years old. I had sleep overs after that. Katie will have birthday parties until she tells me to stop. (which I don't think she'll do) And, I'm due for some new clothing, as well. My black shirts I wear to work are starting to look greenish. And, my pants are wearing OUT. I need new shoes for work, too. And new sneakers for walking as well as banging around. So, as you can see, my money is always well spent. Oh, yeah...vehicle registration and my cosmetology license will be up for renewal, too.

What are you plotting and planning??

The Legacy is over...

2012-01-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

At one point, there was a salon around here that everyone flocked to. They were the premier stylists in the area. Their education and expertise was unparalleled. I was lucky enough (in some ways) to work for this salon as a receptionist. It's where I finally felt like I belonged, and I've learned so much from all of my experiences there.

Notice how that paragraph is in the past tense?? So is that salon. On Saturday, December 31st, this salon became history. Being that I was on the inside track for a long time, it wasn't a complete surprise to me. When the owner was alive, he was clearly the business mind behind everything they did. When he past away, his wife and son tried to step up to the plate and continue where he left off. Nine years later, they are closed.

While I worked there, (the last time) there were some MAJOR differences between management styles. He ran a tight ship. Everyone knew what was expected of them and everyone worked as a team. Of course, there were hiccups along the way. Not everyone always got along with each other, and he was notorious for having it out with someone on the salon floor, including his wife. (it was embarrassing to be a witness to these things. I always felt so bad for the person he cornered)

At one point, there were a total of 19 people working in this one salon, including 3 receptionists. It was a wild, crazy time. Were there underhanded shenanigans going on?? Sure. There's nothing quite like being set up (by the person who lobbied hard to get you a job there) so they can fire you. But, it was still a fabulous learning experience. I actually worked there a total of 3 times, equalling just under 4 years . It's where I got bit by the hairdressing bug in a big way.

When I went back the last time, it was very different. His wife ran everything loosey goosey. Suddenly, it was okay to come to work in jeans, as long as you were dressed up. (which felt WEIRD...I did it exactly once. Never did it again.) The person who was established as Salon Manager was probably the worst person for the job. She was a back stabbing tattletale. Not to mention one of the biggest ass-kissers I'd ever met, in my life. Between her and the owner's son (who had NO CLUE) what he was doing, they both managed to run the salon into the ground. And, lord knows, the owner's wife did everything she could to salvage that business, including mortgage her house to death and spend through all her retirement savings. At 67 years old, she's having to start over and still work as much as she can, just to keep her head above water. I don't envy her one bit.

What does this mean for me?? Nothing, really. I was a part of the history of that place. And all my experiences there, both good and bad, have made me the stylist/manager that I am, both good and bad.

What a week!

2012-01-07T07:11:00.000-05:00

Each of us has a sales quota, based on how many hours a week we work, then it's broken down by each day, for both services & retail. I did this when I worked at my old salon, just using my previous sales figures & giving myself a 10% increase.

This industry is very much feast or famine. I went into this knowing that information. And, I went into this industry knowing there are certain times of the year when it's DEAD....Usually, it's from Labor Day to Thanksgiving, then January to March. We started getting quiet the week of Christmas...I was the only one who made commission, BARELY. The next week, I was the only one who DIDN'T make commission. This week?? I'm $100 away from getting into the next commission percentage bracket. Holy Crap!

Something else that is happening is that my reputation is getting out there. I've gotten two phone calls this week, with people telling me that I came highly recommended and that I'm the only one they'll let touch their hair. I've also had a Walmart associate (who used to go to the high end salon I was a receptionist at) tell me she'll be coming to me....it starts because of our price & the fact they get a discount. It'll end up because I specialize in fine hair.... WOO HOO!!!

Why do I specialize in fine hair?? Because I have a head FULL of it. I understand what it does, it's limitations, how it responds to chemicals, why it will or won't respond to anything you do to it. And, it's GETTING OUT THERE. Which, for me, is exciting. I'm aiming to specialize in three things: Fine hair, long hair, color. And not necessarily in that order!

Some other things I've been doing at work: I've implemented "the proper use of foils" program. Meaning this: There is a plastic box with foils in them. One box for 7 foils, one for 14 foils (two foil specials we offer), partial foil (26 foils) and full foil (52 foils). I've also typed up and created a folder of pricing and explanation to go with it regarding how to charge for these services. I'm trying like HELL to oversimplify the whole process so it's a no-brainer.

What I've found out is Rita isn't charging accordingly. She has a friend that works at another Regis location...a different branch of the company, therefore they price differently. And, because her friend tells her where to poop and what color it should be, she prices like they do at her friend's salon. Which means she's under pricing at our salon. Which means I need to get on her case about it, maybe even calling Tammy & getting her involved in how to properly charge our clients. Which is also why I separated out the foils the way that I did. And I may just get Tammy involved, anyway....Because I'm a snot like that...

With a little help from some "friends"

2012-01-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

We had an "incident" in the salon the other day. Rita was doing color on a client (a friend, really) and decided to cover her entire head in foils (instead of just doing the method I described for doing a 14 foil process) because, well, she's messy and wants me to tell her what to do, then decide against what I've told her because it's not what she wants to do.

Anyway...Monday was an extremely busy day (I doubled my daily quota, got to go to the bathroom exactly once, and didn't get a lunch). Shortly before 5pm, I finally came up for air and was cleaning up around the salon. This is when I noticed Rita's client's head was COVERED in foils. When I questioned what she was doing, her reply was "Oh, yes, we're still doing 14 foils. But, I didn't like how you described to me how I ought to do this, so I'm doing it this way instead, 'cause I'm kinda messy" (like I didn't already know she's a complete SLOB when it comes to color). I immediately felt my blood pressure RISE.

I finished puttering around the salon, cleaning things up, getting laundry taken care of, making sure there's change for the register, when Rita went into the back room to write down what she had done. That's when I confronted her. "By all that's right and holy, you need to charge her for a full head of foils, plus the two colors, plus her haircut. How do you think we pay for all the foils you just used?? The foil fairy??" I was so angry at her....a complete waste of money she had going on, right there. And, I know that she doesn't care about it. I guarantee you that if I were to ask her "Where do you think the money comes from to pay for our salon supplies??" She'd reply "Ummmmm, I dunno...Regis??" (our parent company). NO, Bozo the Clown, it doesn't. It comes right out of any profit our salon may have. And, I'm too sure, Tammy has an expense sheet portion of her P & L that breaks everything down for her....what is charged for each color, how many foils were done and how much foil was purchased.

So, the end result, on Rita's end?? Well, when I looked briefly at the sales screen, it appears that she charged her friend accordingly. I was so busy yesterday that I didn't have a chance to dig very deeply into her Monday night. I'll be going in a little earlier tomorrow to deal with that part of the program, as well as Mop & Glo the floors to make them shiny again!

The other end result?? I'll be creating, with the help of my "sister" Lisa, a chart to fill out, regarding how much of what has been used, and I've also created a guide to refer to, as to how much of what product needs to be used. Such as how much color & developer to mix to do a retouch, how much to mix for a 7 foil application, etc. There is an awful lot of waste going on in that salon. As manager, it's my job to keep that stuff under control. And, it seems, I've got a big waster of products & supplies on my hands. Sigh...

Two colors....

2011-12-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

Had two colors today...one came out just great, the other, meh...

Wing nut number one came in, wanting to know if I could fix her hair. She had pulled her hair through the cap, but only did the front (bought at kit at the store). Therefore, the back of her hair was very dark. And, (this is the best part) she was INSISTING her natural color was a light ash blonde. NOT. EVEN. CLOSE. Naturally, she's a warm level 5...medium warm brown. Which means, when her hair lightens up, it's got some amazing warm tones ("red" to those not in the business) going on.

My mistake was in not lightening her ends first. I dealt with her roots first. Big mistake, because by the time I got done applying the lightener to her ends, her roots were pale blonde. Her ends, not so much.
I then covered her ends (after rinsing & washing thoroughly) with 10A & 8N. (9NA) Also put SPV & SPN on her regrowth area, then feathered the 9NA into the regrowth area. (Hoping it would darken it up enough, which it did not)

This lady was a few sandwiches shy of a picnic. She was pleasant enough, overall. However, it wouldn't surprise me to know there's an official diagnosis of SOMETHING in a file somewhere. She's definitely "not right".

Her color didn't come out quite like I wanted it to. However, it was more like what she wanted. And I did tell her she could come back and get it fixed if she didn't like it. Just give it a couple of days. Something I've noticed about myself is that when I've spent that much time looking at the hair I need to fix, I don't always see the finished results correctly. When I redid Tina's hair a couple of weeks ago, even with the warm color I had put on her hair, I could still see all the mocha I was trying to cover up! So, we'll see.

Wing nut number two: Her daughter in law. Who SWEARS I am the best thing since sliced cheese. Not so much, really. Especially not today. Goofed her haircut up a bit....mistranslated what the cut was and gave her something totally different. Oh, well. Hair grows. It doesn't look bad, just not the cut she was looking for. It happens. I can't beat myself up about this stuff. She's still willing to come back and bring her child along for a haircut next time.

However, her color: A simple one, really. A richer shade of what she already had. She's a warm tone level 6, with some previous color growing out. So, Color Sync to the rescue! 7WN & 6N to give it the warmth she was looking for, and a richness her previous color was lacking. Gorgeous!!

Stealing another Monday Meme

2011-12-13T06:40:00.000-05:00

Since I've made a point of NOT complaining about what goes on at work with my co-workers, I've managed to limit my subject matter, just a bit. Therefore, I've been reading Wayfarer's blogs (because he's finally started blogging again) and shamelessly stealing from him my subject matter!!

Are you happy with the person you've become?
Yes. I'm always needing "improvement", but, over all, I'm happy with me and comfortable with who I am.

What sound do you hate? Small children screaming in pain/anger. Pay attention to your kid!!
What sound do you love? Small children giggling like crazy. Best sound EVER!

What is your biggest "what if"? Truly, if I'd stayed with Katie's dad. We had a dumb relationship, really. And now, we're both pretty successful at what we do. It probably wouldn't have worked out this way if I'd allowed things to continue the way they were. But, it's still a "what if".

Do you believe in ghosts? Yes. My house is full of them. They're all my family members, so it's not as creepy as it sounds. It's quite comforting, actually. I'm living where I'm supposed to. For now.

Do you believe in aliens? No. I love science fiction movies (Star Trek, Star Wars), fantasy movies (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter), but, no, I don't truly believe in that stuff.

What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?? I have two. Having Katie and getting my cosmetology license. They're pretty equal with one another. Both have changed my life in numerous ways. All good.

What is the worst place you have ever been to? Both driving through the George Washington Bridge in NYC and what a friend referred to as "Brown Town" near her southern hometown were pretty scary. Beyond that, I don't get out much...

Can insanity bring on more creativity? Having experienced mental illness first hand through my ex-husband, yes, it can. While he's not "insane", I have experienced him in some seriously manic moments crank out some creative stuff. Not always good, mind you, but definitely creative.

Most attractive actor of your opposite gender? Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. Incredibly lovely to look at, I like their acting abilities, and their voices are pleasantly deep. Sigh...

To you, what is the meaning of life? Not really sure how to answer this one. A comfy home, a decent car that runs well, enough money in my pocket to accomplish what I need to. Making sure my teenager still loves me (and I, her!)! Guess I answered it!

Define "art" What I do is art, what Katie's dad does (auto body) is art, what Katie does (pipe cleaner people, anyone??) is art, what my mom did (cakes) is art, what my dad did (2-D drawing) was art.

Do you believe in luck? I believe we have the power to make our own luck.

In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?? Communication and compromise. I stink at both, regularly. But, I keep trying.

What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it? "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson Orchestra, this time of year. "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins any other time of the year...I picture the feet, EVERY time!

Where were you yesterday? At work. Bringing in clients and making some good tips!

What's the worst injury you've ever had?? Luckily, I've managed to stay relatively unharmed in that way. However, I sprained my ankle by falling down a small flight of stairs with my then 3 year old niece in my arms...pretty scary. I was more concerned with whether or not she'd hit her head on anything when we landed, not what I'd done to myself. Also, the bumps & bruises I sustained from my very first car accident. The hemotoma on my forehead is finally gone (accident was when I was 19), but my breastbone still "tweaks" every once in a while (hit it on the steering column in my car). A "nice" reminder to not drive while ridiculously tired.

Ever had a rumor spread about you? Oh, too many to count. There are those who feel my life is terribly exciting. Still haven't figured that one out yet.

Do you believe in real magic? This kind of goes with the aliens question. No, not really.

Do you ever hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? If avoiding certain people because of how I was treated when I was young counts, then, yes. I steer clear of those that have bullied me. I'm not afraid of them, not by a long shot. I avoid them (most of them) so that I don't say things that don't really need to be said. There's one bully I cannot avoid completely, but, luckily, I only have to be around him 5 times a year....three holidays and two birthdays.

What's your favorite (non-pet) animal?? Elephants. Bar none. There is something about them that just gets to me, every time. I have no idea why. Must be a past life experience. I actually saw (on TV) an elephant give birth and I just cried watching that little bit of life come to be.

What is your secret weapon to get people to like you? It's a combination of things. Being honest, showing empathy, sympathy, a bit flirty, knowledgeable in lots of things (to be able to carry on a conversation regarding just about anything), and, at least at work, being a little bit easy on the eyes is helpful. However, those that know me the longest and the best have seen me without all the "paint" and they still like me, anyway!

Where is your best friend right now? Sleeping.

Visual Learner

2011-12-09T06:46:00.000-05:00

The fun thing about hairdressers (at least most hairdressers, anyway) is that we're visual learners. If you've got something new in mind, bring in a picture. It's so much easier to have a reference point when dealing with your hair!

The other part of my visual learning is this (and, of course, it's a drawn out explanation): I write down what I do for client services every day. I keep track of what, who, how often, retail sold, coupons/business cards handed out, and what they tipped. Partly because I'm nosy, but also because my employer demands it of me. I like knowing what I did during the day. The other thing I've started doing is tracking my day in an appointment book.

GASP!!! NOT AN APPOINTMENT BOOK!?!?!? Yes. An appointment book. We're not allowed to book appointments, so I don't use it for that, specifically. However, at the end of every day, when I'm at home, I transfer what I write in my little notebook into my appointment book. When at all possible, I try to record it in actual time (men's hair cut at 1pm, color at 3pm, etc), including blocking out how long it took me to accomplish each appointment. Why do I do this?? So I can see how full my day is.

When I worked for Ginger, I had a lot of down time. So, I spent a lot of time examining various things in the computer. Productivity being a big one. I'm between Ginger & Evelyn in terms of productivity....that being said, Evelyn is busier because I'm not there to"hog the clients". She actually inherited a bunch of my clients when I left. But, anyway....right now, with the staff I have, we're on par with my old salon. Which, for a new salon, I happen to think is pretty good.

Monday Meme on Tuesday...

2011-12-06T07:08:00.000-05:00

Wayfarer Journal has been a blogging madman of late, after taking a year off, and I'm stealing from him, AGAIN, because, well, I'm too damn tired to think of anything to write, currently...So, here goes:

If you were an animal, what would it be?? Why??
I would be a cat. They're one of my two favorite animals (the other is elephants). Why?? Because their needs are met almost instantly, and they get to sleep 22+ hours a day. Sleep would be good....

Hair color you like on someone you're dating?
I'm a sucker for tall, dark & handsome...EVERY time. Katie's father fit the bill (at the time, mind you): Chocolate brown, wavy hair, hazelly brown eyes, 6'6", great smile, moustache....basically, a young Tom Selleck or Burt Reynolds, complete with snazzy car....but, I'm digressing...moving on!

If you were suffering an injury, would you rather be blind or deaf??
Deaf....if I'm blind, I can't see to do my work, and I'm finally doing the work I LOVE...I can't create fabulous hair if I can't see...

Do you have any special talents?
I color hair. It doesn't sound like much, but I can look at your hair, look at you, talk to you, figure out what will work best and formulate like a mad scientist to make it happen.

What do you do as soon as you walk in the house?
Put down my bag, drop the coat, shed the shoes, hang up the keys, change the hairy clothes, talk to the teenager, figure out what's for dinner (because I'm not a plan ahead kind of gal--I should be, but I'm not)

Do you like horror or comedy?
I admit to liking both "Shaun of the Dead" and "Zombieland" (although "Zombieland not as much), however, "genuine" horror, NO. It's dumb and completely unbelievable. I'll take a comedy any day...

Are you missing anyone??
There are many people who are gone that I wish were back, if only for a day. Some good, and some not so good. Currently, my Gram (my dad's step mother) passed away almost a year ago. Her birthday is Dec. 23rd...I'm missing her a bit, even though we weren't terribly close once I became an adult.

Where do you want to live when you are old?
Well, I'd like to say some warm, exotic place. But, I like where I live. A home of my own, instead of renting, maybe...but I'm where I'm supposed to be.

Who is the person you can count on the most?
There's a huge list.....I'm not able to narrow it down to one person. I count on everyone for a variety of reasons. I think it comes with being a single parent.

If you could date any celebrity, past or present, who would it be?
Lately, it's been Matthew Perry....Katie has been watching old episodes of "Friends" lately and his sarcasm is just FANTASTIC!! I realize it's all scripted, so, it should really be Chandler Bing....

What did you dream last night?
Most of the time, I don't remember my dreams, unless they're graphic or scary, and even then, it takes a lot to get me to remember them. Must be I have too much in my head....

What is your favorite sport to watch?
No sports fan here....that being said, Figure skating was a favorite when I was a kid, as well as competitive gymnastics. Loved watching the Olympics as a kid....1980 Hockey team, Mary Lou Retton, Torvill & Dean...

Are you named after anyone??
My first name is because I was a small baby, therefore, I got a small name. My middle name is my Polish Great Grandmother's American middle name (boy, that's a mouthful for a small middle name, too!!)

What is your favorite alcoholic drink?
I used to drink wine spritzers, heavy on the spritzer, when I was dating The Drunk. I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 6+ years. I never was much of a drinker, anyway....I can be stupid on air...I don't need alcohol to intensify it....

Non alcoholic drink??
Juice & seltzer...Wayfarer House turned me onto this and it's how I drink juice now...straight juice tastes wicked sweet!

Have you ever been in love?
Yes.

Do you sing in the shower?
No, although there's always music in the bathroom....I generally talk to myself in the shower, if I say anything at all...mostly, I'm enjoying the white noise and the peace...

Have you ever been arrested?
No. Pulled over? Multiple times. Been in car accidents, yes. Arrested, NO.

What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas. Even though I've worked in retail for a million years, I still love Christmas. The decorations, the gift giving, the whole festive thing. Christmas music, okay, specific Christmas music, always puts me in a good mood, for the entire day.

Would you ever get plastic surgery?
Yes. Boob job...in a heart beat. And some liposuction..I'm too damn lazy to diet.

Have you ever caught a fish?
Only from the meat counter. Dad took me fishing exactly once. I was 6. I asked way too many questions. He never took me again.

Giving Thanks......

2011-11-22T06:35:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful that I've got my health...could it be better?? Sure. I could actually work HARD to lose all this weight and work to become more flexible (I feel stiff as a board, most mornings), but, over all, no real complaints.

I'm thankful for my daughter. No, really. For all that she drives me crazy most days, I'd be lost without her, and I've told her so. (she never believes me, but I've told her)

I'm thankful I've got a job that I truly love, warts and all. My job is nothing if not a constant challenge, which is what I like most about it. I'm NEVER bored!!

I'm thankful for all of my clients....without them, I wouldn't have a job!!

I'm thankful for my given family, in many different ways.

I'm thankful for my chosen family, who are always there for me, in ways that, sometimes, my given family can't be.

And, I'm thankful for all the events in my life that have shaped me into who I am today. Without all those people and things that have happened, I wouldn't have the strength I have to get through each and every day.

What are you thankful for??

Updates....

2011-11-21T06:09:00.000-05:00

So, I rearranged the cosmos at work...Rita is now right next to me, and Tina is across the way. They both, previously, were where they could not be seen by the customer, so people would walk by and think no one was working. Not any more. At least, not when they have a client in their chair....Still haven't figured out a way to keep them out of the back room when they're by themselves...

We had a staff meeting last week and I just reiterated the basics, which is what we're focusing on right now. I restated company policies regarding cell phone usage, timeliness, etc. Whether or not they follow through remains to be seen, but not only did I state the rules, yet again, but they also got a copy of what we went over, so there's no questioning what I said, or how I said it. And threw Tammy's name out there every chance I got. How productive or not productive they are is all up to them.

I continue to gain new clients...I just wish I could remember them when they come in three months later, expecting me to remember everything from the conversation we had!! I feel bad when that happens...it's not that I didn't enjoy my time with them...I did. But, depending on how many people I've seen between then and now is what erases my memory of them!! I apologize profusely when it happens. Sometimes it means I've kept them as a client, and sometimes not.

I'm now also getting people that ask me to promise not to move to another salon without telling them!! That's a good feeling, I've got to tell you. I also had a lady (who suffers from OCD & anxiety) yesterday who loved what I did and who will be back...so exciting!!!

The girls aren't calling Tammy with their personal sales figures like they're supposed to...I've caught both of them not doing that this week. I suspect it goes on a lot more than it should. I'm just as guilty, however, I don't normally do it on purpose....I tend to remember right when the nightly paperwork is printing, which means the computer is "polling"...sending the information over the phone line to home office. If I pick up the phone, it breaks the connection...and I'm not supposed to call Tammy from home, either... (working off the clock, you know...)

I'm also looking forward to my two days off this week...Wednesday and Thursday (which happens to be the holiday)...I'm wiped out!! It's been so darn busy that my body is reminding me I need some rest...I get the feeling I will COLLAPSE on Wednesday...I've only got laundry on my list...and I'm hearing that we're supposed to have sloppy weather on Wednesday...hmmmm.....

And now we are three...

2011-11-17T06:53:00.000-05:00

So, Stephie gave her notice last week...Thursday, in fact. This past Sunday was her last day. I don't have a problem with her having left, except that she just should have told the truth. She gave me some song and dance routine about how this job opportunity just "fell in her lap". Of course it did. In this economy, hairdressing jobs, especially for someone without a genuine client base, do NOT just "fall into your lap". Sigh. Whatever. I do wish her the best of luck. She is a talented hairdresser. And in the right environment, she can really shine. Smartstyles just wasn't the place for her....it's not the place for anyone fresh out of school, really....

So, with that in mind, we had an emergency staff meeting on Monday, just to go over the basics, really. Because we're down to three, there is no room for error. No one can get sick, no one can be late. There is no one to cover. I outlined, yet again, the company policies that not everyone follows. I also stated that the only way you get to leave early is if you're either scheduled that way (say only til 3:30 instead of 5pm) OR if it's Saturday, dead, and you're not the closing person. And don't you know, Rita honed right in on that one. She's been whining about how the hours got cut, she now has more hours, and wants to know when she can leave early. Unreal. Not unexpected, just unreal.

I've got another application in the drawer...one I'd actually hire. Except right now, we don't have the payroll to hire someone else. We need to focus on everyone getting on commission and staying on commission, for a month or more, to even entertain the idea of hiring another person. Of course, if any of us get "letters" again, and any of them state that someone is all done, then I have to hire someone else. Thank goodness I've got someone in the "hopper"!!

I had one of my newer clients the other day....she had been going to the chi-chi salon over in Keene, getting her hair done by the same guy for years. She had gone to him about a month or so ago, asking him to take her darker, as she couldn't afford to maintain the blonde any longer. He had originally colored her regrowth her natural shade (just warmer, since she's ashy) and left it at that. ( My client thought maybe he was on something that day). When he was done, she looked like she hadn't had her color done in MONTHS....very dark regrowth, very light ends. She went back the next night and told him he was fixing it....she was ANGRY, as she had a right to be!! What he wound up doing (because approximately 2 weeks later, it was obvious) was putting permanent color over the top of the old highlights, then re-highlighting a couple of spots to brighten it up.

You know what happened 2 weeks later when she started asking me questions about it?? The darker color faded away (as I knew it would), leaving some very ashy sections behind (as I also knew it would) which is what told me he'd put permanent color over the top of the highlights.

When she was in the other day getting her hair trimmed up, she asked me what I would do to get her where she wanted to go. I explained it this way "I'd use permanent color on your regrowth to match what was already done, then I'd go through your ends with a matching demi permanent color, leaving out select pieces of your lighter hair to use as highlights, giving those pieces a nice deep conditioning in foils to isolate the hair and keep it in the best condition possible. You'd have the darker hair you're looking for, and natural looking highlights to break it up so it doesn't look so shockingly dark until you adjust to it. We may have to do your color this way for a few visits until the darker color stays on your fragile ends, continuing to to trim up your hair every other visit to help your hair to better condition, because the only cure for these fragile ends is to cut them off...product to smooth them is only a band-aid, not a cure."

She LOVED what I had to say!! She promised she'd be back (the hair cut was her third visit....first was wax, second was her son's hair cut, third, hers)..I can't wait to do her color!!

What a color I did today!!

2011-11-12T16:08:00.000-05:00

One of my regular clients, Kathleen, has been toying with going darker for quite a while. She's actually been dying her hair a light golden blonde for quite some time. But, because she's a level 6, the blonde she was using wasn't quite the color she was looking for. She wanted a paler golden blonde (maybe a 9 or 10) and what she got was a darker golden blonde (because she's a level 6 to start with and the hair color just doesn't have the ability to go where she wanted it to go). She was willing to trust me to take her where she wanted to go, just making sure I had it clear she didn't want to go too dark.

So, she's a natural level 6, fine hair, a smattering of grey (less than 25%). The formula for her regrowth is this: Socolor 7W + 7M + 7N + 15 volume. W is warm, M is mocha (which is mostly brown with a titch of coppery pink) and N is natural dark blonde. I used 15 volume (10 + 20 divided by 2) so that the color spent more time depositing than lifting. The color for her ends is this: Color Sync 10WN + 7MM + 8N + Color Sync developer. WN: warm natural. MM: Mocha mocha, N: natural. When using Color Sync, it's best to keep in mind that it's an opaque color, so you need to keep it on the lighter side of things to keep it looking natural. Otherwise, it can look like shoe polish on your hair. (dark, dense, one color)

How I applied the color is this: Mixed up the permanent color first, applied to her regrowth, feathering it down a bit towards the lighter color. (she had a good inch of regrowth, which means if I'd brought the color all the way down to the line of demarcation, there would be a distinctive bright band throughout her hair) Then, I mixed up the demi permanent color, and started applying it in the back, first, because natural hair color is always darker in the back than on the top or in the front. Once I got to the occipital (curve of the head), I used foils to isolate the pieces that were to remain blonde, using conditioner as the product, rather than trying to lighten her hair even more, thusly damaging the heck out of her hair...really, she got a deep conditioning treatment while her color was processing!! And then, in between the foils, as I'm working towards the front of the head, I'm painting the demi permanent color on the hair, feathering it up into the permanent color, so it all blends. She sat like that for 30 minutes (mostly because I took a hair cut in between). While I wasn't a bit nervous about how the color was working, Kathleen was. And, she didn't like what she looked like with the foils in her hair.

I rinsed her color out, and was pleasantly surprised at the results, even when it was wet!! Took her back to my chair, cut her hair, and watched Kathleen's face light right up as she watched her hair dry and reveal the color. I styled it, and she LOVED it!! It looks natural, it looks as she wanted it to, it was even lighten than she thought it was going to be....I love it when that happens!!!

An addition to yesterday's blog...

2011-11-07T07:44:00.002-05:00

If you're going to do these precise hair cuts, do NOT blame your struggles on making this hair cut accurate on the fact that your client came in wearing a hat....WASH HIS HAIR and get rid of the "hat head" issue.

I fixed yet another hair cut yesterday that I shouldn't have. Clearly, some of us aren't paying attention to what we're doing....lots of small bits of hair where it shouldn't be, and it needed some SERIOUS blending to make it happen. Sigh...

The upside to all of the mistakes and stupidity?? When the client comes back and I fix the hair cut, I wind up gaining a new client or two...YAY for me!! Not so much for the stylist who will complain I'm "hogging" all the clients....Oh, well...

Precise Hair Cuts...

2011-11-06T06:18:00.000-05:00

If you're going to blah blah blah to your client about how you like doing military hair cuts, you might want to make sure you do the as precisely as the client is asking for.

Something I've learned: When a guy asks for a "high & tight", he's done military time or is a police officer, which means A) he's had this cut a million times and knows what he's looking at (which means you can't bullshit him) B) he's a bit of a perfectionist and wants this hair cut done right. Take your time and do it correctly.

What does this mean, in case you didn't get my meaning?? Well, it means establishing where the guard change in your hair cut is going to occur, discussing exactly how long the top (where the only length to the hair cut actually is) needs to be, the shape of the hair line in the back and the clean up around the ears , as well, need to be precise. Get where I'm going with this yet??

When you do the initial cutting of the longer hair on top, and the desired length is "finger length", you can't just cut it in one direction and call it good. Nor can you walk away from that hair cut without checking the "corners" to make sure you left no unnecessary length behind. What "corners" am I speaking about?? The ones at the front of your hair line...kind of the "bang" (fringe) area. If there's any length left behind, not only does that hair cut look incomplete right then and there, guess what it looks like as it grows out??

What you must do when cutting the length is this cut is cross check it...if you start vertical, check it horizontal, THEN check it on the diagonal. There will be weight points (hair that was missed) EVERY WHERE. It's also important, and this was taught in beauty school, to not cut hair past your second knuckle. Why?? Two reasons. 1) you're more likely to cut your knuckle or the web of your fingers...NOT a pleasant feeling. 2) That's also where your hand is likely to curve to rest your wrist on their head to keep the angle of your hand where it needs to be. Which, in turn, creates a curve (and a weight point) in the hair cut. When you're cutting at the round of the head, you actually WANT this....when you're cutting the top, where it's supposed to be flat, not so much.

Thankfully, I saved the hair cut. Whether or not this man comes back to get his hair cut with us again remains to be seen. I made sure to chat it up with him, and to be friendly, just to help things along. I also made sure to ask him what he wanted and paid attention to the details to make the hair cut happen. The lines of the hair cut were there, just not complete.

Chemical Hair Cuts....

2011-11-05T06:12:00.000-04:00

Had a client come in yesterday, signed up to see one of the other girls, thinking she was going to get some color done. Thank GOD she asked me my opinion on what she wanted done!!

I had heard about this woman's hair (without knowing who it was) the week before. (One of my stylists can't keep "secrets") She had been getting her hair bleached for quite a while now. And she needed her regrowth done. Well, apparently, she had a lot of gold banding going on, because she waits too long between appointments. So, the stylist went through her hair with lightener and applied it to those spots. And left it on too long. So now, this poor woman has tons of breakage going on and WHITE areas in her hair.....which is destroyed hair waiting to break off.

She had come in last week, when I wasn't there, and spoke to one of the younger stylists, who told her she can do all kinds of things to her hair. When I heard about it from the blabbermouth, I flipped a lid. There isn't a damn thing you can do with hair like that, other than let it grow out and get regular hair cuts. There isn't a product out there that will heal that hot mess.

The poor woman cried. I felt so bad for her, but the hair cut needed to happen. The color she showed me (from the book) will look FABULOUS on her, once all that blonde is OUT of her hair, and I told her so. Her hair is fine, and she's tried to have it long for years and all it has ever been is scraggly. When she heard how much needed to come off, she started to bawl and comment about how the man at home was going to be upset because he loves long hair. I HATE hearing that. I whipped around, looked her right in the eye and said "Hey...does he love you or your hair?? " I'm sure she didn't appreciate that comment, but seriously...it's freakin' hair. It WON'T heal, trust me. The only cure is a hair cut, plain and simple.

Once the hair cut was done, and styled (which it will NEVER look that way, ever again), it looked beautiful, thick and full. And, we managed to convince her to let that color grow out, no matter how bad it looks in the mean time. She's got breakage so bad, some of the sections of hair are barely 2 inches long. We'll see how this one goes....

Crawling into bed...

2011-11-04T06:20:00.000-04:00

When I have a busy, crazy day....when it's "Beth Appreciation Day"...when it's so slammed I can't leave work on time....I crawl into bed early. Why?? You might ask....you just stand behind someone and do their hair all day long...what's so hard about that??

1. I stand, basically, in one spot, all day long....on hard cement flooring covered by vinyl.

2. I stand with my arms raised to shoulder height, ALL THE TIME...try it for a bit...see how it feels. My arms are like that for 1/2 hour at a time. I bet, if you challenged me to a "raise your arms for a long time" contest, I'd beat you....hands down...oh, wait, hands parallel, actually...

3. My head is usually tilted slightly to the side, which means my neck has a slight crick in it and my shoulders have permanent knots in them. There's these nifty cords that run across the shoulders....mine are twisted up like a tight rubber band most of the time.

4. Then, there's the mental exhaustion. For every client, I'm "on". I'm chatting it up, finding out what your haircut needs are as well as getting to know you if you're a new client, or getting caught up if you're a repeat client.

So, what gets me through days like this?? Pure adrenaline. There are days I skip my lunch because it's just not an option. I just keep moving until the clients stop coming. What's really funny about the whole thing is every time this happens, every time I stay later than expected, whomever is working the closing shift begs me to stay with them, and, at the same time, grumble that I'm taking all the clients. Which is really funny, because if I've got a client in my chair, that allows the other stylist to take the next person who comes in. And gives them an opportunity to charm the socks off them so they'll come back.

I'm sure you're saying to yourself "Well, you chose this job". No. I chose this CAREER. I absolutely LOVE what I do. Regardless of who is sitting in my chair. This is my "Barbie Dream Job". But, it does have a physical toll. Take a look at your hairdresser next time you're waiting to get in their chair...check out their posture...ask them how their arms are feeling....

The difference between lightener and toner....

2011-10-26T20:33:00.000-04:00

When you wish to lighten your hair more than 4 levels, a lightener must be used. The term "lightener" is used in place of the term "bleach". When you use lightener, you are lightening the hair. Lightener can be used on color treated hair or it can be used on virgin hair. It is fairly predictable in that it WILL lighten the hair. Exactly how much it will lighten is always open to question. Texture of the hair, how much previous color is on the hair, the consistency of the lightening product, how long the product is left on the hair, all factor into how well this adventure in hair coloring will turn out. Using a product that is too thick will cause the product to dry out, making it relatively ineffective. A product that is too thin will make a huge mess and won't spread evenly onto the hair. When you have previous artificial color on the hair, the lightening product has to break that pigment up first, before it can work on the natural pigment. And, sometimes, depending on how dark the artificial pigment is, you may not be able to lighten the hair to the desired shade before the hair disintegrates.

Lightener is a powerful tool in the hair colorists arsenal. Too high a developer on the wrong hair type can ruin even the best work otherwise. Knowing how to work with the product and being comfortable with the product are so vitally important. Knowing how to work with it, but being uncomfortable with it won't get you terribly far...in fact, it will get you one less client in your chair because once you screw up a persons hair color, you won't get them back into your chair. EVER.

Toner, on the other hand, is an entirely different product. It is a product you use AFTER you lighten the hair to the acceptable tone of pale yellow (either the color of the inside of the banana or the outside of the banana, depending on A) what type of toner you are using, and B) what tone you're looking for. Most toners currently in use do not have the ability to lift/lighten the hair what so ever. What they are designed to do is change the tone of the hair. For example: You've lightened your client to a pale, golden blonde. Her desire is to be platinum, which is a violet based, ash toned color...it's a cool tone. So, what you do is mix up the desired toner with it's dedicated developer, apply it to the hair, let it develop for the allotted time, rinse, and viola! You should have platinum toned blonde hair.

However, when you use toner because you either grabbed it by mistake instead of grabbing high lift color (which, by the way, won't lighten hair levels 6 and darker enough), or grabbed it not realizing what the color actually was because you have no interest in reading the directions, or you're apparently still "suffering" from the effects of what you did last night, it won't do a bloody thing except possibly put a different tone on you current hair color. And, as another "aside", mixing the shades of the toners together, particularly the violet toned one and the neutral/natural toned one won't really get you much of anything. Except the need to ask for help (which should have happened in the first place), and for not being able to charge the client for your mistake, because, well, it was your fault in the first place!!

Thoughts...

2011-10-25T20:37:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking of changing the direction, or even the "flavor"of this blog. It's occurred to me that I use it mostly to complain about my work situation, instead of what I originally intended it to be for, which was to talk about hair and hair color. So, I thought I'd change things up and see how it goes.

What I'd like to be know as is an "expert" in both hair color and fine hair. "Why??" you might ask?? Well, hair color is my absolute PASSION. I love to watch the chemical reactions I create, I love to learn from the mistakes I make (regularly, I might add), and I love to make people happy with the colors I create for them. Fine hair....I have a head FULL of it. I understand, better than a lot of hairdressers do (in my opinion, mind you) what fine hair is both capable of and not capable of.

So. Let's talk about fine hair, shall we??

What makes hair "fine"?? The diameter of the strand is what makes it fine, visually. What also makes it fine, scientifically, is this: Most hair has a cuticle, a cortex, and a medulla. The cuticle is the outer layer, if magnified, it looks scaly. On virgin hair, it's compact, and difficult for chemicals to break through to do their job. On chemically treated hair, the cuticle is slightly raised to extremely raised, depending on the condition of the hair. Slightly raised is okay....extremely raised is NOT. More on that in a bit... The cortex is where the natural pigment of the hair resides. It's also where the developer and artificial pigment in hair color need to get to to do their respective jobs. The developer breaks up the natural pigment, making space for the artificial pigment to deposit. The medulla is a straw-like structure, located at the very inside layer of the strand, giving it it's strength. All hair has this, except fine hair.

When it comes to chemically working with hair, medium texture is what all the color and perm companies presume hair is, and therefore, their products are formulated to work best with. However, most people don't have medium density hair. Most people actually have fine hair, with a few that have coarse hair.

When you have fine hair, you can have thin hair, medium, or "thick" hair. What does this actually mean?? I'm referring to density...hairs per square inch. Thin hair, or sparse hair means you can see the scalp, clearly, when the hair is dry. I encounter quite a few people that refer to their hair as being "thin" when they really mean "fine"...so I make sure to explain the difference between the two. Most people don't realize that they genuinely have a full head of hair. With the right hair color, and the right hair cut, you can make someone with thin, fine hair look like they have a TON of hair.

How do I know this?? While my hair isn't thin, it is fine. Baby fine, as a matter of fact. Always has been. When you hold a single strand of hair out from my head, you almost can't see it (even when it's flaming red). My hair is quite soft when it's clean and without product in it to give it some "oomph". The only time I never have any product in my hair is when I'm on a full-blown vacation and I'm not going anywhere. Then I'll just wash and condition my hair, but do nothing else with it, just to give my poor hair a break. Otherwise, at all times, there is some sort of product in my hair.

The bonuses to fine hair: Coloring it is fairly predictable. When I want pale blonde highlights for my client, I know that I don't have to use anything stronger than 20 volume, even on color treated hair. When I perm fine hair, it almost always "takes" tighter than the rod dictates the curl will be, which, in turn, means the perm will technically last a lot longer than in "average" hair.

Fine hair can be curly, wavy, or straight. Even when fine hair greys, it may get curlier, but it's still fine.... When fine hair is dense, great care must be administered when you are chemically treating it. Small partings must be used when applying color so all the hair is colored, and fine partings must also be used when wrapping for a perm, so all the hair takes a nice, firm curl.

When the cuticle is slightly raised, fine hair appears to be more voluminous. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, it's also too easy to push the hair into extremely raised cuticle very quickly, especially if the hair is over-processed. This becomes a huge problem for fine-haired clients.

Truly, the only cure for over-processed hair is a hair cut. You cannot "heal" hair, no matter how hard all the shampoo companies try to tell you different. I will say, that the ones who claim to deposit protein and /or keratin back into the hair work quite well at smoothing the hair by filling in the gaps. However, all the shampoos, conditioners, and styling products in the world will not cure your over-processed hair. They are all just "band-aids" to cover up what was done. I'm a big fan of recommending the smoothing products: shampoo, conditioner, and styling products meant to smooth, or straighten hair. They don't actually physically straighten the hair. What they are is an acidic product meant to help counteract the issues alkaline products do to the hair. All permanent hair color and permanent waves are alkaline...they open the cuticle. To counteract this, using acidic products works the best. What they actually do is help smooth the cuticle down, making the hair appear shiny, smoother and easier to handle. I'll even recommend them to my curly haired clients...they offer so much control over the hair.

So, how's that for my first, official fine hair article?? Make any sense?? Or, should I just go back to complaining about my co-workers??

Anti-climatic

2011-10-22T06:53:00.000-04:00

So, Tammy came on Wednesday. She showed up at 8am, left before 10am. Poof. Done. All the meeting was about was how things are supposed to be, so everyone understands the whole commission system. She also explained how returns/refunds are to be done. Which was helpful, because I've explained all the paperwork to the girls until I'm blue in the face, but what the hell do I know?? Tammy is S-L-O-W-L-Y figuring out that Becky didn't tell us/teach us ANYTHING....I suspect that, after a year, we won't be considered a "new" salon any longer. So, the "slack" we've been granted won't be lasting much longer.

In other related news: The "mojo" of the salon has been thrown off in a big way this week. Is it the HUGE full moon we had?? Or Tammy being here and us not knowing what she was going to do?? A mixture of both?? Who the heck knows. What I do know is I'll be glad when this week is O-V-E-R!!

Let's see....what else?? OH! We had an idiot drunk in the salon Wednesday night....that was a "good" time....The best part?? While his kids were in the salon (ages 11 & 9), receiving services, the dumb ass was out in the parking lot, pretending to go home to "get something to return", drinking some more. And the poor lamb is divorced...can you imagine??? (rolling my eyes here...)

At first, when he first came into the salon, he was talking to a guy friend just outside the door, so I chalked his stupidity to his buddy being nearby (some guys have to posture and act like an idiot to impress their friends...my brother is like that). I also tried to give him the benefit of the doubt...his daughter seemed like she had "something" going on, so maybe it was an inherited thing (speech pattern, lack of brain cells (in his case), something...) Nope. We were completely "shit-faced", "hammered", whatever you want to call it.

By the time he decided to go out to his vehicle to drink some more (he just wasn't gone long enough to have driven all the way out to Guilford Elementary School and back), I'd had enough of his stupidity. Apparently, he's never seen a short, chunky, busty red head before, and I fascinated the twit. To the point that he was completely IN MY SPACE while I was cutting his son's hair (who was a great kid, by the way). I almost stepped on the drunken idiot as I was moving around my chair, working. Ugh.

The best part?? Even if he was sober, he still wouldn't have been a nice looking guy or a guy I'd want to spend any time with. And, unknown to the little darling, I've had my fair share of drunks...all set. Where do these people come from?? Who has been tipping rocks lately to let these things out??

Gotta love full moon....

Just a little trim.....

2011-10-16T07:27:00.000-04:00

"I just want a trim, not a hair cut"...."A regular man's hair cut" ..."A regular boy's hair cut". "I've been growing my hair out...haven't had it cut in two years" "Just a quick dye job" "Just throw in a couple of foils"

Okay, lemme 'splain somethin' to you, Lucy....a "trim" is the SAME as a hair cut. We go through all the same motions to "trim" it as we do to cut it. What YOU, the client needs to say is "no more than 1/2 inch off".
"A regular man's/boy's hair cut"...as opposed to irregular hair cuts?? (of which I've fixed MANY, trust me) WHAT THE HELL IS A REGULAR HAIR CUT?!?!? Just give us the freakin' details....up over the ears to expose the ears, or not?? And when was the last time it was cut?? PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!

"I've been growing my hair out...haven't had it cut in two years"...Seriously?? WHY?? So that 4 inch section of hair can touch your behind and make you THINK you have long hair?? *rolling my eyes here* Again, if you schedule your hair cuts on a regular basis (1 month, 2 months, 3 months), work with the same hairdresser so you both know what the goal is, and agree on how much gets cut off at each hair cut, you'd be at your goal at the same time it took you to grow that mess out, than by leaving it alone. And here's a little bit of science for you: Hair has a growing phase, a resting phase and a falling out phase (catogen, anagen, telogen), and each individual hair is doing it's own thing. THAT would be why you get that v-shaped hairline when you want forever to get your hair cut. And it feels scraggly. If you and your hair dresser develop a regimen and stick to it, your hair will be long and healthy, all at the same time, knuckle head!!

"Just a quick dye job"...no such freakin' thing. First of all, if your stylist has half a brain, they're going to go through a complete consultation with you, writing down the important to them parts, such as hair type, condition, previous color, what is needed (grey coverage)and what is wanted.(red tones, ash tones, neutral tones). Even if this is accomplished in 5 minutes, it takes another 5-10 minutes to create the color you're looking for (sometimes we don't have the exact components and need to create it), and can take up to 30 minutes to apply it, depending on the density of your hair. Can a "quick dye job" be done at home?? Absolutely. You mix up the stuff in the bottle and start smearing it around on your head....which leaves blank spots at the back of your head where you can't really reach as well as damages the entire head of hair, all at the same time. So, go ahead, do it at home. I'll see you in my chair for a color correction. Which, by the way, will cost a heck of a lot more than the initial color job in the first place. AND dye is for clothing and shoes...COLOR is for hair.

"Just throw in a couple foils"...do you think any one would mind if I just tossed pieces of foil at them like Rip Taylor and his pail of confetti?? Using foils, even just a few, is all about placement. And every one's head is different. The difference between natural looking highlights and not natural looking highlights is a foil or two in the wrong place...that's it. All it takes.

These are things we hear all the time. And we all feel like a broken record, repeating ourselves all day long, educating John Q Public about how it's not as easy as we make it look.

Oh, yeah...my friend, Ami, brought this up on Facebook this morning...when we say we're closed, we're closed. If there's no money in the register, the register is locked, we can't get into it to do ANYTHING....as much as it's all about the customer all the time, cut us a little bit of slack, would you?? And don't tell us it's just a trim when it's an entire new creation....thanks.

Musings...

2011-10-15T07:27:00.000-04:00

So, I got to hear a little bit about what went on Wednesday when Tammy was here. Rita started in, asking a TON of questions, about how would Tina and I handle "X".

Rita just doesn't get it. And, I get the feeling, she's going to be asking a lot of questions during the meeting, which is exactly what Tammy doesn't want, even if she says "Any questions??" I even tried to explain to Rita "Everything you say, to Tammy, is going to be an excuse, so there's no point in saying anything other than "Yes, Tammy. I'll work on that to improve"". And she just doesn't get it. Sigh.....

Of course,what makes me irked is that when I had talked to Tammy a while back about cutting hours when the sales just aren't there, she had told me to go ahead and do that. Now, she's singing a different tune. Which is irritating, to say the least.

Hmmmmmm....Not sure what to think.....

2011-10-13T06:52:00.000-04:00

So, I talked to Tammy on Monday. Got quite a few of my questions regarding the "PIP" answered, which made me feel somewhat better. And she actually made the effort to get down to our store, by way of Leominster, MA. (Which is where she was scheduled to be, and made an additional stop to our store)

When I got home from errands yesterday (my second day off), there was a message from Tammy on my machine. She sounded drained and tired (part of that is she's fighting a cold, the rest is the drama that goes on), but let me know she did some changes to our schedules to get things properly covered (more on that in a bit), as well as scheduling a full staff meeting for next Wednesday, so she can tell everyone the same thing at the same time (which I much prefer, honestly, to telling individuals slightly different things), because there seems to be a lot of things we're not aware of. I was not home when this call came, so I did not get a chance to talk to her.

I did, however, call Tina and give her the heads up about things. Both she and I did the same thing...have a small panic, then go into question-asking mode. So, I encouraged her to write down whatever questions she comes up with in the next few days so we can, hopefully, get them answered.

As far as Stephie & Rita go: I can only imagine what those two said to Tammy. I'm sure I've been right and properly bashed by the both of them, regarding hours, not telling them things, etc., etc., etc. Does this bother me?? Somewhat. Why?? Because I care about the salon doing well, as a whole, I care about people doing well individually, and I care about MY job and doing IT well. While I'm not here to be every one's friend, everyone getting along would be a good thing.

Is there a definite line drawn between those who provide great service and those who don't?? Absolutely. Have I been effective in helping those who are not?? No, not really. Do I have a lot of things I could say to "defend" myself?? Sure, I do. There's almost no point in saying them, though, because all it will sound like is a bunch of excuses.

So, I go into work today with a bit of trepidation...not knowing what Tammy did, nor what she said to the others, nor what was said by the others. Ugh.

Commission...UGH.....

2011-10-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

So, the edict came down last week, as I've posted in "Letters" and "Letters, part 2". So, today, I actually got to talk to Tammy about the whole thing...what exactly we're supposed to be doing, how she wants us calling in our numbers, etc. What a screaming pain in the ass.

Now, there's an equation within the letter, explaining how to figure out what you need to be "making" an hour to be on commission.  Divide our hourly rate (which sucks, by the way) by 40% (which is our commission, unless we surpass $929 in services...next to impossible right now), and viola! You have your commission rate. However, when I talked to Tammy, she gave me a completely different amount to go by. So, consequently, it's a bit confusing.

At any rate....when I figured out what everyone needs to be doing every day for commission sales, I got pretty discouraged. The amounts are quite high. Don't get me wrong, we're fairly busy right now, especially for this time of year (which is typically slow from Labor Day to the week before Thanksgiving). However, not all of us are busy. And I'm certainly not busy enough in the eyes of the corporate "Gods".   Right now, I'm busy enough to make commission at 32 hours a week. To receive manager's status (officially, mind you....getting tired of these stupid hoops), I have to be working 38 hours a week, which I'm not too keen on. And, frankly, it was hard to not pipe up to Tammy this morning and say "Uh...in case you hadn't noticed, I'm DOING the manager's job at 32 hours a week. 38 isn't necessary". But, I managed to keep my trap shut. Only just.

I really do like my job, despite my Aunt telling me I'm dumb for doing it the way that I am. ( by being "acting" manager instead of MANAGER) I'm far busier here than I was at my old salon...by far. And my tips have tripled since I've been at this new job. I certainly don't want to lose my job over something so relatively trivial as commission or not commission.

According to Tammy, when you're paid hourly, it eats up a lot of payroll. I have issues with this theory, and I'll tell you why. When I worked at my old salon, I kept track of what I charged for services vs what I received for pay each week. At the end of the month, it wasn't uncommon for my former employer, Ginger, to clear a minimum of $350 a month or more off of me. Now, I realize that doesn't begin to cover my payroll , but she was still making money.   And Regis is making more, due to all the retail I've sold that I didn't receive a cent of commission from when I didn't make service commission. It may be a lousy attitude, but I don't think the company will go bankrupt just yet.

So, while I'm not stressed out about this just yet, it's coming. Sigh...

Letters, part 2

2011-10-09T21:59:00.000-04:00

So, from what I understand (by talking to Tina), Stephie seems to think I totally have it in for her, and that I hate her. (mind you, she's my Red Bull drinker and pot smoker, so there's some anxiety and paranoia going on here). Sigh....

It genuinely takes a LOT for me to hate someone or something. I can intensely dislike things, or people,for that matter, but to actually HATE something or someone, takes a lot. I feel it's the exact same intensity that love is....if you're saying it, you'd better mean it. Therefore, I don't "hate" things a lot.

Anyway. The Regis Corporation, much like any other corporation, is all about sales figures. We now know, finally, exactly what it is they're looking for. I've got how they want service commission to be figured out for each day, I've got retail commission for each day all figured out, I've got how many "combo tickets" need to be obtained for each day.

What are combo tickets, you might ask?? Well, in Regis-speak, it's when you sell retail behind the chair---meaning while the client is in your chair, you talk to them about the virtues of the products you've used on their hair...shampoo,conditioner, styling products. By endorsing them, you should manage to convince your client to purchase what you've used on their hair so they can get the same results at home. If you believe in the product, it's pretty easy to convince the client it will do what it claims. And, since Regis wants 8% of your weekly clients to be combo tickets (I believe it's weekly...could be mistaken on that one), it's pretty easy to achieve. It works out to roughly 4 clients a week. Now, if you see 20-30 clients a week (which isn't uncommon where we work) that's 2-4 clients a week you need to sell to, to make the "gods" at home office happy.

My goal?? To put this into easy to understand, written down goals, for everyone to follow, including Stephie, who will resist this every stinking step of the way.

What is truly frustrating about talking to her is she's such a passive -aggressive. For me, those people are so hard to deal with. I'm trying, but it's not easy. She's going to take everything as a personal attack, which makes me not want to talk to her, which, in turn, is exactly what she wants, so I won't talk to her about these things, so she can just go on her merry way. And, if you know me, there's no way in h-e-double toothpick I'm going to let her get away with that one!!

Letters.....

2011-10-07T13:09:00.001-04:00

So, we all got letters from home office regarding our job performance. It talks about tracking your daily sales, creating a sales goal for yourself (both services and retail), stuff like that. There's even a spot in the letter that states that "Those stylists who choose not to perform the required actions on the plan will have refused to improve, and necessary disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, will be taken."

What I'm curious about is this: Which of us will take this seriously, and which will not?? It will be interesting to watch. I've already put in a call to Tammy, with questions to ask her, however, in typical unavailable management form, she hasn't responded to my call. So, now, I'll start nagging.

The funny thing?? I've been tracking my own job performance for quite a while now. And keeping track (somewhat) of the others, as well. The fact that some of them may choose to not take this seriously?? Well, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

How to "fake" a haircut....

2011-10-01T18:54:00.000-04:00

A practice I've been watching, and need to address, is the practice of "faking" a haircut. What is "faking" a haircut, you might ask?? Is it waving the shears over someones head and saying "SHAZAAM! You have a new haircut!!"?? Unfortunately, no, that would be too easy.

"Faking" a haircut is this: wetting down the perimeter of the hair, or even going so far as to actually shampoo the hair, trimming up the perimeter so the edges are even again, maybe cleaning up the back hairline, and cutting the bangs so they're not heavy again. Now, in all fairness, sometimes, this is needed to be done, like when you are growing your hair out and just want the edges cleaned up. Usually, you and the client go into the haircut knowing that this is what you're doing. It's no where near the work you are doing when actually cutting someones hair.

However, when you and the client discuss the haircut they are wanting, and you tell them you have no problem giving them what they want, you had better darn well be actually cutting that hair, not "faking" it. Today, for example, my mother came in, just wanted her back hairline cleaned up and her bangs cut shorter. She's quite undecided as to what to do with her hair (I'm hoping she doesn't grow it out again....it doesn't look good on her), so that's all she wanted this time, which is fine. When I got done, and brought her to the register, Tina was at the desk, watching me ring her out. And, she questioned why it was so cheap (I only charged my mom for a bang trim, because, really, that's all it was). And I explained "It was just a bang trim". It didn't occur to me, until now, that she was thinking I would charge for a haircut.

I guess I'm part of a weird breed. If I don't cut someones hair, I don't charge them for a haircut. I'm rather honest that way. However, I know that I work with people who are shady enough (for lack of a better phrase) to do their best to get away with that practice. Personally, I feel that if you're going to start the process, you should complete the process. I had another client today who just wanted the back of her hair dealt with. She's working on growing into the "Kate Plus 8" haircut (lord help us....I don't think she's wanting the real thing....) and needed the back cut and razored out. Which I did. And she was more than willing to pay the full price. However, I also made sure the front of her hair blended with the back, so the growing out process is relatively pain free.

Are these two procedures different, or the same?? I definitely did work through her hair, cutting exactly what was essential to cut. There was no pretending to cut her hair, going through the motions to make it look good. There was a PILE of hair on the floor when I was done. And, to me, that makes the difference. When Rita did it to one of my clients, I couldn't believe she charged the poor kid for a haircut...unfortunately, I was with another client and couldn't get to her in time to stop it from happening, nor knew how to confront her about it. Definitely some things I need to work on.

And so it begins....

2011-09-19T06:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a fabulous day off. Really. Katie is going to her first semi-formal dance this coming weekend, so we were out and about, pulling together an outfit. So, we actually had a fun weekend. Found a dress & shoes on Saturday, however, the dress needs a "shrug", so we were off looking for one. Didn't purchase one, as we didn't have the dress with us (It's still at the shop...Gram is going to help pay for it, I put the deposit down on it. Not a ton of money, but more than I can shell out in one sitting...thank God for Gram!!)

And then, I had a Facebook message when I got home. And Facebook was being temperamental, so it took me more than an hour before I could access the message. My best friend, who works at Walmart, had messaged me to let me know that the salon didn't open on time. And that it was considerably later when it did finally open. So, I called the salon to find out what happened.

Rita answered the phone, and when I asked what the heck was going on, she passed the phone to Stephie as she was the one who opened and not Rita. The excuse I got was "I was running late". And when I tried to get into it with her a bit, she cut me off with "I've got a client in my chair". So, I said "Fine. We'll talk about this later". Then, after hanging up, I got in the car and drove over to the store.

When I got there, I made sure to clock in, so I would get paid for being there. I managed to find my best friend, who filled me in on what she knew. A customer, expressly for the salon (as he didn't have a cart of goods to purchase from Walmart) was waiting in front of the salon, for it to open. When the call came over the walkie-talkies (which all the supervisors at Walmart wear...looks like a blue-tooth thingy in their ears) for anyone to know what's going on at the salon, it attracted her attention, so she first tried calling me, but I didn't answer the phone (as I was out for the day), so she facebooked me with what was going on. About 15 minutes after that, she FB'd me again, letting me know the salon was now open.

When I spoke to Stephie on the phone, she let me know she'd clocked in at 9:56 and opened the salon immediately. This is where I started getting hot under the collar. We're supposed to be there 15 minutes before our shift starts. This isn't a Beth rule, it's a company policy. And, this is a conversation we've had before, fairly recently. When I got to the salon, Stephie did, indeed, have a client, so I waited patiently, for her to be done. It's actually mildly entertaining to watch people delay the inevitable. When she went to place her dirty towels in the laundry was when I asked her to step into the back room.

I shut the door, turned around and asked her exactly what happened this morning. I got the running late excuse, I got the "what time is the time I'm supposed to follow, the time clock or " real time"" excuse. She talked over the top of me, to which I started to raise my voice a bit, to be heard over her. To which she got even more upset and told me not to raise my voice. I informed her that 9:45 is 9:45. The time clock is the clock you go by, period. Cell phone time (which is considered "real time"), alarm clock at home, the clock on the wall, don't matter. It's the time clock that is the clock to go by. Did I mention this is a conversation we've had before?? I was angry enough that I also mentioned her not taking lunches when she's scheduled a long enough day to take one. And we went round and round about that one, too. I interrupted her (because I got tired of talking over the top of her and not being heard) to inform her that when you work 6 hours or more, you MUST take a half hour lunch break. This is not only corporate policy, but NH state law. And I wouldn't let her talk any further. She got angrier and ended the conversation. I did let her know Tammy was going to find out about this.

After I got home, I placed that very phone call. And spoke into the voicemail for 10 minutes before it cut me off. So, I'm hoping, between the message I left on Saturday morning about "Would you please call me on Monday around 8:45 so we can talk about the issues we're having...all attendance issues". I'm also going to bring up the fact that I'm not going to do the manager job any longer without receiving the managers pay (which increases my commission to 50% instead of 40, but, I believe, doesn't increase my hourly rate). If she doesn't want to pay me, that's fine. Then I'm not doing the manager's job any longer. Get someone else to do it or get an area supervisor in here to do the damn job. (I'll leave out the damn, though) It should be an interesting week.

Old School.....

2011-09-11T08:08:00.000-04:00

I was just reading a question on David Velasco's website, about filling the hair and using permanent color afterward. Some of the answers were mighty interesting. And most of them were from old school hairdressers who just won't change what they're doing. All are convinced that by using a lower volume developer or by even using distilled water, it's less damaging than by using 20 volume and permanent color.

Can you use water with permanent color?? Sure. Won't be as effective, but yes, you can. Here's why: The chemical composition of water is H2O...2 molecules of hydrogen to one molecule of oxygen. The chemical composition of Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2...2 molecules of hydrogen to 2 molecules of oxygen. So, what happens when you use water with permanent color is that it slows things down, making the color "safe" in the eyes of the stylist. But, here's why it's really not. The permanent hair color contains ammonia or an ammonia substitute. What ammonia does is swell the cuticle, allowing the developer (in this case, water) and the pigment inside the hair shaft, to work on breaking up the natural pigment in your hair and deposit the artificial pigment at the same time. Because water is missing that extra molecule of oxygen, it's not working as quickly as peroxide does. The ammonia is what causes all the damage and "dryness" in the hair when you use permanent color.

The ammonia swells the cuticle open. The cuticle remains open. Lets say you don't like the color you used, so you go out and buy another permanent hair color to change what you did. So, you mix the product up, and apply it all over your hair, looking for a change. Just for fun, lets say you waited a month to change your hair color, so you've got some new growth going on. Here's what happens: The new growth will be close to the color you want. It more than likely will be considerably brighter than what the picture on the box dictates you will get. The rest of your hair?? Well, it might be the color you're looking for, it might be darker. It will more than likely look "muddy" after a few shampoos. Why?? Because the dye load isn't permanent!! Just like when you polish your shoes, they look marvelous for a few days or even a week. Then, you have to polish them, again, because the polish has worn off.

Permanent hair color works much the same way. Should you be coloring your hair every week to make up for this?? Not with permanent hair color!! The other "fun" thing that happens when you keep applying permanent hair color on top of permanent hair color is that the cuticle not only remains open, it opens even wider, causing the edges of the hair shaft (cuticle) to resemble frayed jeans. Then, when you add water when shampooing, those frayed edges fuse together, temporarily, causing your hair to feel "dry" and for you to feel like you need a TON of conditioner (which won't work, by the way) to get a comb through your hair. At this point, the damage cannot be "fixed", no matter what product you put in your hair. The only cure for this kind of damage is a hair cut. And yet, hairdressers, particularly the old school ones, will continually blame the cheap product you use at home instead of realizing that THEY are causing the damage by dragging that permanent hair color through the hair every time or every other time they color their client's hair.

Have I done this before?? Sure. Then I educated myself, courtesy of David Velasco and Beth Minardi. And I don't do color this way any longer. And because I don't do my own color like that any longer, my hair is infinitely more cooperative than it ever used to be!!

The 4 C's............

2011-09-10T07:03:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Redken NYC, for this topic!!

During your consultation, it's soooo important to go over these 4 subjects (and this applies to all services, really) concerning your color.

CONDITION: What condition is the hair in?? What does it feel like, both dry and wet?? What does it look like?? How is the porosity? Does the client have water issues?? Does the client take medications??

All of these are vital questions. If their hair is in poor condition, over processed, either by chemicals or by the sun, you'll need to do one of two things: Adjust the formula accordingly, or refuse to do the service. (which, if you have an ounce of integrity, you'll do if the hair is compromised).

Water issues: If they have well water, do they have a water conditioner/softener that equals out the mineral levels in the water?? If not, you may need to do an intense clarifying treatment (Malibu comes to mind) to cleanse the hair and make sure there's an at home treatment they can purchase to follow up with. Too many minerals in the hair can cause the hair to smoke (when introduced to hair chemicals), cause the color to be even darker than expected, or to not "take" at all.

Medications: All medication, all drugs, come out in the hair. Your hair is a part of your elimination system, like sweat and tears are. So, everything you put into your body (BP meds, blood thinners, illegal drugs, vitamins) all come out on your hair. Heavy doses of medications will coat the hair and prevent the chemicals from doing their job properly, resulting in an unhappy client who receives a free service (or two) to correct the mistake, costing both you and the salon, a bunch of money.

CHANGE: How much of a change are you looking for?? Subtle?? Dramatic?? You'd better be explaining what you have to do to take them from one color to another. Generally, it means using decolorizer (bleach) which changes the texture and porosity of the hair. It also means that to extract certain colors from the hair (black & red) will be very difficult and you man not get the results you're looking for.

COMMITMENT: To maintain the color, you must prescribe a routine for the client to come back in to get things touched up/adjusted. Some colors require serious maintenance. For example, lets say we take you to a fabulous pale blonde. To maintain that, you, the client, need to come in no more than 4 weeks from your last appointment to get your color dealt with so that it matches. Anything longer than that, and the stylist has to deal with the attractive gold band that keratinized hair creates. And , if the colorist doesn't deal with it (and charge accordingly, don't forget to tell the client this part well before the next appointment), the client will think you screwed something up and will expect you to fix it, free of charge.

COST: How much will it cost for this initial service?? How much will it cost to maintain it?? What if the color needs a toner?? How about adding highlights to break it up?? Is the finishing service (haircut, blow dry) included in the cost??

All of this requires a 5th "C"..COMMUNICATION!! If you, the hairdresser, do not have good communication skills, you will not be able to gain and keep your clients trust. They trust you, as the "professional", to not only know what you're doing, but to know what you're talking about. Which leads to:

HONESTY: You must, AT ALL TIMES, be honest with your client. Even if it means telling them: I may have to adjust the formula for next time if this isn't quite right this time. This also applies when you're selling at home care. If you don't know how something works, FIND OUT. DO NOT LIE TO YOUR CLIENT!!

I listen, daily, to hairdressers, who have no clue what they're saying, try to lie to their clients. We're in a powerful position because we have immediate trust placed in us. Lying to the client to cover your ineptitude just doesn't work. AND, it takes your credibility and flushes it right down the toilet.

READ: Do not rely on your coworkers to be able to answer all your questions. READ. Seek out more knowledge on your own. Then, when you don't understand something, ASK.

There is so much more to this job than the average person realizes. So, the next time you're thinking hairdressers are ditzy, or not very bright, or they only went to hairdressing school because they couldn't get into college, please think again. Our job is a lot more than just grabbing a head of hair and going for it.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2011-09-06T06:45:00.001-04:00

Not only have I hit commission twice in recent history, Stephie has actually gotten to commission, as well. Rita even got it. How did this happen?? Well, we got crazy busy, and Tina was on vacation for 4 days, so we were down a whole person. If we can manage to keep it going with 3 of us making commission and one of us not (doesn't matter who), it should keep things relatively under control. We'll see. It's not the plan I wish to stick with long term, but it may help things for a tiny bit. Lets hope things continue to trend in the right direction!!

Mostly, what I'm looking for is to keep Tammy off my back. Yesterday, I managed, in between clients, to get the ordering done, the schedules done, and faxed to her. Of course, the faxing didn't get done until 4:45pm, but, hey...they were on her desk by 5pm on Monday. (I'm betting she had yesterday off)

Last Thursday, I wound up pulling a 12 hour day. It was "Everybody loves Beth" day....I had a bunch of haircuts, then 3 back to back colors. All of them in the warm ranges. Two of them were on the more cinnamon side of things, and one was a bit brighter. That one, however, was also a p in the a. This client has some oddness going on. First of all, she has coarse hair. Not super coarse, but definitely coarse. Which automatically makes me formulate a little differently, to make sure the color does it's job. However, this is the second time I've done her color, and this is the second time her base color has lifted higher than expected, even though I've used 20 volume, which, in theory, isn't supposed to lift her regrowth as high as it does.

20 Volume, when mixed with the actual color, is supposed to lift no more than 2 levels lighter than the natural hair color. On coarse hair, you're supposed to expect it to lift less than that. Not on this client. Her regrowth is HOT...and not in a good way. On top of this, my client is someone who deals with a lot of anxiety. So, when I mess up her hair, her anxiety levels increase, which increase MY anxiety levels!!! Sigh....and she came back in yesterday for me to fix her hair. Which still pulled HOT, even though I only used demi on her regrowth to try to fix part of the issue. Luckily, it will all fade in time. However, I need to make the adjustments to her formula.

Also, she has "the" haircut...a stacked bob. Not the easiest haircut in the world to accomplish. And, especially, not on her hair. She didn't want it so severely stacked in the back this time, but wanted the angle in the front to still be sharp. So, I tried to accomplish this. Nope. Not so much. So, I fixed that, too....slowly, and carefully. She was a much happier person when she left yesterday. Which, in turn, made me happier, too.

My last client on Thursday was someone I've been trying to get into my chair for a very long time. And, thank GOD, I was able to deliver what she asked. I did a minor goof in that I tried to use her current hair color as highlights, and that didn't work so well. But, she was okay with whatever I did, really, which was nice. By the time I was done, she had a fabulous cinnamon red color. Now, if I could just figure out how to get her bushy hair under control!!

Some of that will happen when she switches to smoothing products and embraces her curl instead of trying to smooth it out all the time. Baby steps....baby steps...

Who knows how much longer.....

2011-08-25T07:44:00.000-04:00

So, I got a call from Tammy the other day...."Do the girls understand how commission works??" Then proceeds to explain to me how to explain it to them.

Here's the thing. You've got to CARE in order for all this information to work. I can look up & crunch numbers for them until I am blue in the face. But, if they don't care about these things, all that work is wasted. Both Stephie & Rita are perfectly content with sitting on their behinds, doing NOTHING. Rita will hang out in front of the salon, trying to get people to come in. However, they tend to take one look at her and mentally say "nope."

Stephie's health tends to hold her back, as well. I strongly suspect she has an eating disorder, which wreaks havoc with her entire system. She also smokes a lot of pot after hours to come down from all the Red bull she drinks all day long to keep her energy up. She doesn't realize that if she ate properly, she'd have the energy to get through her day and she'd feel a whole lot better, too.

And, they both have the attitude that "It will get busy soon....really, it will..." instead of doing what they can to make it happen.

I also strongly suspect, and I've had Walmart associates confirm this for me, that Rita is encouraging clients with whom she is friendly to come to her house instead to get their hair done, so she can pocket all the money.

I'm quite fed up with the "acting manager" position. I'm sick of being held responsible for a bunch of screw ups. And, I certainly don't get paid anything extra for being pseudo-responsible for these people, either. And Tammy doesn't get the fact that I'm entirely too busy some days to get done the things she wants me to get done in the time frame she wants them done in. Nor, does she get the fact that when I'm busy, and Tina is on as well, she's also too busy to get this stuff done. Should I be schlepping this work onto the two that aren't busy?? Maybe.

My best friend has encouraged me to keep this position because it means that I get to control the schedule. Well, here's the thing. To an extent, yes, I do. What controls the schedule is who makes how much money for the salon. And the money makers are myself and Tina. If my calculations are correct, I'll have a commission paycheck this week. Tina missed it by a measly $8.00!! (or by cutting an hour and a half, just to be safe). To say that I'm frustrated is a gross understatement.

It's been pretty hairy lately....

2011-08-19T06:56:00.000-04:00

I have been crazy busy lately!! Yesterday was my second all-time high for customer count...14 in one day!! Of course, I didn't get that done in the 7 hours I was scheduled....I was supposed to get out at 4 and didn't leave until 6...but, I raked in the BUCKS both in terms of services as well as tips!! WOO HOO Commission, here I come!! Let's hope Saturday is just a busy!!

Stephie has taken to complaining on Facebook about how she hates her job....she made the mistake of friending me, so I made sure to send her a private message, asking her to stop doing that. If there's a problem that I can fix, she needs to let me know about it. But, please stop posting on FB about it....she's a typical passive person...won't say anything to some one's face, but will complain bitterly behind their back about whatever it is. All set with that unprofessional stuff.

I had Tina cut my hair the other day..so far, so good. She also has had a great week so far....lots of clients coming in saying "I'm so glad you're here!!" It's going to be interesting to watch her career take off, in a big way....

And, then, there's Rita....who, half jokingly said to me yesterday "Will you go home so I can get some clients??" Which was both revealing and funny at the same time. Almost everyone that came in yesterday wanted me to cut their hair...too damn funny, really....

Part of me feels bad for Rita and Stephie...I know what it's like to be at the bottom of the pile, where no one knows you. That was me for two years at my old salon. Now, I'm in Ginger's shoes, Tina is in Evie's shoes (thank god she's not as obnoxious), Rita is trying Maude's shoes on for size, and Stephie is in my old shoes...not a great place to be....I remember it well....

HOWEVER.....I also worked hard for every client I did have at my old salon...wasn't able to keep them, but I worked damn hard for every one I had. That's the big difference, because I don't see Stephie doing that quite so much. Sounds like it might be time for a heart to heart with her...whether either of us likes it or not....Sigh....

Updates....

2011-08-05T11:11:00.000-04:00

So, what's been going on.....hmmm....It's gotten busier at work, I've handed out every one's sales goals for each week we're headed into....that way they know their numbers and can try to reach their goals. For what we do in volume every day, the goals should be relatively easy to obtain. August will be a good month for us because it's back to school time!!! However, some of us think that the busy bus will be dropping work off, so that will be okay, never mind the fact that you have to work pretty darn hard to keep the clients you've got!!

My bff, Sandy, reminded me (lectured me, actually) about my needing to put my bitch boots on at work. I'm the "manager" and I need to be managing the people, which I'm not, really. And, what's happened is that there's not much respect for me as a manager in that place. Rita continually goes over my head, calling Tammy about trivial things. Tammy didn't get into it with me on the phone yesterday, but I believe it has something to do with the scheduling. Sigh.... So, now I've got to copy down the schedules, and fax them to her, as soon as I can. Every Monday, as a matter of fact. Joy.

I know that there's whining about the schedule and the fact that no one is getting 40 hours. I don't even get 40 hours. I make sure that my hours get cut a bit so that the rest of them get hours. Something they don't see me do, and I don't say anything about it. So, I'll be switching around my Sundays so that I'm on with Stephie and Rita so they can WATCH me do the schedules, from pushing the forecasting button (which establishes the hours each day that I have to fill with people).

I've also started getting interested in "the opposite sex" again....Well, it's not that I've not been interested, there hasn't been any prospects, really. And, there's still not, at least not seriously. However, there are some changes that need to be made on the horizon, so, here goes....stay tuned!!

Some things that happened yesterday

2011-07-26T07:32:00.001-04:00

I had a mother bring her two boys in yesterday, one of which was hiding behind her (he was between 6-8 years old), requesting that I find a picture in one of the books and convince her son that he would look good in the haircut that I chose. She was a bit miffed when I refused. Why did I refuse??

A) The child was hiding behind his mother. Clearly AFRAID to get his hair cut (which was just sitting on his shoulders)

B) If chose a haircut, manage to convince him to cut his hair, and he doesn't like it, it's instantly MY fault.

C) Please stop foisting your parental responsibilities off onto total strangers.

I, initially, spoke to a lady about tea tree shampoo (fabulous stuff, by the way), then spoke to her about getting her hair cut, then potentially some color done...all in the space of less than 5 minutes. Not only did she come back about 20 minutes later for the haircut, she liked the fact that I was friendly, helpful, and HONEST with her. She's coming back in September, right before a family wedding, to get another haircut and color. Yay me!!

My last client of the day turned out to be someone who worked for me, years ago, in the Shoe Department. She was a very sweet girl, and I always liked her. Not only did I cut her hair the way she wanted it, I also taught her how to make frosting roses...how funny was that?!?!

How do I know how to make frosting roses?? My mother made cakes, for YEARS, as an extra income. Most of the time, we were banned from the kitchen, as it was tiny and my mom's fuse was pretty short. However, I used to love to watch her decorate the cakes and make roses from nothing...well, actually, starting with a mini marshmallow cut in half, stabbed onto a round, pointy tooth pick, then building your rose from there. She was so excited to try it!!

And how was your Monday??

The grass is always greener.....

2011-07-25T07:03:00.000-04:00

Stephie has been complaining, a LOT lately, about the schedule. Unbeknownst to me, (until she friended me on FB and I read one of her posts) she's also wanting to transfer to the store where Lindsay went to. She's got a raging case of "the grass is always greener on the other side" (of the septic tank...).

We had our first salon meeting yesterday, which I think went pretty well. It didn't turn into a bitch session, which was nice. I briefly went over all the stuff we needed to go over...the new program coming out in August, for which we will have another salon meeting about, and some of the stuff Tammy went over when she was here last week. It all went over just fine, until I mentioned all the stuff with the scheduling. At each remark, I made a point of making eye contact with Stephie, and she couldn't maintain eye contact with me.

All I did say was this : The complaining about the schedule needs to stop. When you need specific time off, get it to me, in writing, so I don't forget it. The sooner you find out about things, the better. I can only schedule what the system gives me, so please stop thinking I'm genuinely creating these crappy schedules.

When Rita was complaining about the schedules, she came to me and asked me questions, to which I showed her, on the computer, what was available and how I scheduled it. Once I did that, her griping stopped. So, I will be doing the same with Stephie. If that doesn't shut her up, then I will speak to her, directly, and privately asking her to please stop. And to please stop posting things on FB without talking to me first when it's in reference to her job. Can you see me rolling my eyes??

The Meeting.....

2011-07-20T07:28:00.000-04:00

So, Tammy FINALLY came down yesterday. Rita had called her (which doesn't surprise me) numerous times, whining about how mean I am to her, about how I'm targeting her. And we had a meeting between the three of us to "settle" things.

Rita asked her questions. Like a 16 year old, she asked her questions "I don't know what I did to offend you, but it really seems like you're targeting me......the other girls use their cellphones, too" (insert snivelly voice here). I reiterated, asking Tammy to correct me if I was wrong, the company policy regarding cellphone usage. Which, by the way, is only supposed to be used when you are clocked out for your lunch break. Whether or not this problem has been solved, remains to be seen.....Stay tuned.

Tammy and I had a great conversation otherwise. She likes the work I'm doing, I just need to tweak my delivery when I'm feeling stressed. It's something I'm aware of, and I know I need to work on it. She likes me being manager because she doesn't hear from me unless there's a question/issue. And she reminded me that there's always a "problem child" in every salon...and Rita is it.

Observations

2011-07-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

So, I actually got to do Stella's hair yesterday. Monday did NOT happen because we got busy and paying customers always come first. She was good about it.

So, I mixed my colors and got started. Did her base color first, making sure I got her regrowth covered. Then, I went in and customized her highlights, breaking up the big whoppers she had, making them more spread out and subtle, which is what she told me she wanted. Did I take pictures?? Heck no.

What did happen, when I got all done, was that, over all, she looked soooo much better when the color was finished. All that blonde just washed her out, in a big way. The dark hair color, which is a "natural" color for her (she's darker complected with clear brown eyes) is sooo much more flattering for her....perked her appearance right up! The best part, she was THRILLED with what I did. Which is what's most important.

What was amusing was that during the process, Rita piped up with the fact that she didn't understand some of what I was doing. When I asked her while I was working what it was she didn't understand, she brushed it off, stating she'd ask later. Her issue was why didn't I highlight her all the way to the root. My response was to keep the highlights looking as natural as possible. When "nature" highlights your hair, it isn't always to the root. It's down the hair shaft, to the ends. Truthfully, I don't think she understood why I did it that way.

Something I did notice about Stella and decision making. She's not very good at it. She had a LOT of blonde in her fringe area....enough that the color wasn't flattering to her complexion. I asked her, once I was done with the back of her hair and had moved around to the front, if she wanted me to eliminate some of the blonde. It took her FOREVER to finally say to me "well, what do you think??" And my reply was " I think the blonde is too much and that it washes you out." So, she let me eliminate some of the highlights in her fringe and front area. She's got plenty of highlights, and most of them are a nice pale blonde, which contrasts well with the dark hair. She now looks like a brunette with blonde highlights, rather than a blonde with dark lowlights. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Rita, Rita, Rita....I'm not quite sure just what to do with her. She has a complete disregard for company policies that is impressive to watch. Stephie is getting that way, too, because they're just not busy enough. I HATE micromanaging adults....what winds up happening is that I'm the one who can spout the rules and they get titchy with me when I enforce them. I get that they're bored because they don't have constant clients in their chair. However, there's PLENTY to be done around the salon. I get they're tired of doing it. I'm tired of doing it, too. And, I'm tired of babysitting them. However, it's my job. So, they're all going to get items to count and on hand changes to put in the computer, so things can stay up to date. Don't tell me you're bored.

The other thing that happens is that I'll get notes attached to my station, with clients requesting time with me. I still haven't figured out why they cannot tell the client themselves that we don't book appointments, so this is when I come in, if you want me right away, you have to come in just before I start my shift and wait for me. If the salon is busy, I'm supposed to take the next person in line, regardless of how many requests I have. This is a rule I dislike, intensely. If I have clients waiting for me, I should be able to take them and leave the new(er) clients for the girls that don't have a client base. I would really like to talk to Tammy about this, whenever she finally shows up in the salon.

And how was your week???

Color Correction

2011-07-11T06:55:00.000-04:00

So, today is the day Stella gets her hair fixed. I've got the formulas (and there are multiple formulas, trust me) all written down and ready to go. It's going to be a long, tedious process, as all color corrections will be.

What happened: Stella showed Rita a picture of what she wanted done. Stella is quite soft spoken (she has a speech impediment), so, I can just about guarantee that Rita didn't actually HEAR what Stella was saying. What Stella liked about the picture was the chunky highlights that were spaced far apart. What Rita did was not that. AT ALL.

Rita wound up attempting to put the red color that was in the picture (which Stella didn't want, yet didn't stop Rita from doing it) in Stella's hair. The front of Stella's hair is WHITE. The back of her hair is grey. She's roughly 85% grey/white...and there was no accommodation made for this. We didn't have the correct lightening product (order hadn't come in), so, instead of waiting, they plow right on ahead, using what we had. Which was Kaliedocolors. A 10 minute highlighting system which uses heat to attempt to accomplish what it says it can, give highlights with an automatic toner in it to get rid of any brass that shows up. Since Rita was using it as actual lightener, she didn't take into consideration that she would need to turn up the volume (use 40 vol developer instead of the 10 or 20 volume the product calls for). So, what Stella got was some seriously WARM looking highlights. Which, next to the cool brown color that's already in her hair....YUCK.

So, to accommodate for the white in her hair: All formulas involving deposit of actual color MUST have "N" in it. Period. You have to put back what is no longer there in order for the color you actually want to "take". Stella talked to me, in depth, over the course of a couple of different days, the color she'd had in her hair before she came to work with us. They'd used Goldwell color, which is known to be a muddier color line. The formula for her dark was 6NN & 7G. NN for covering her grey/white, and the G to make it a more natural looking brown, because the NN is really dull in color. And their levels are off from everyone else's. 6NN &7G (which makes 6.5NNG) in anybody else's line would have been entirely too light for Stella's hair, as she's a naturally dark person, and her hair used to be a level 3. (1 being jet black, 10 being pale blonde, 3 is pretty darn dark). So, my formula is quite a bit different.

Her ends that are dark will be covered by Color Sync extra coverage 5NW, to take the place of the 6NN & 7G. Her regrowth will be 6MM & 5N Socolor, to match. This formula will also go over the actual red that was put into her hair. It will still be a tad warm when it fades, but no where near as bad as it is right now. She also wants a lot of her previous highlights covered up. This formula will also do that (just the Color Sync one, though), and when it fades, it will still be in the brown family. I may actually take pictures of this one!!

Thank God, I'm nosy....

2011-07-10T07:27:00.000-04:00

So, my on-going self-training continues. We receive a book (an entire package, really) every two months (ish) with everything in it that we're supposed to cover (topics), what is the featured service this month, what's marked down, etc. I did not know what was in this book until I started actually going through the whole thing. So, now we have sale merchandise. It's very exciting.

I've also discovered paperwork that's supposed (I presume, anyway) to be filled out each day, week, month, including losses or gains. Again, thank GOD I worked for that other box retailer where I had to log all that stuff, all the time. It's enough to cross your eyes....

Rita came in yesterday with blue eye shadow all over her face. Apparently, the small lesson that Tina gave her A) didn't sink in, or B) she wants someone to feel sorry for her and take the initiative to help her out without having to ask. Sigh.....

After this week, we'll be back down to 4 stylists. It should be interesting how that goes down until we get another stylist. On the up side, we'll all be busier than we've been because there just won't be enough people to spread the clients around with. However, we also don't have enough clients to keep 5 stylists busy, so this should be good. The only time we made commission was when there were 4 of us on the floor.

Stella asked me to do her color before she leaves. She wants the hot mess that Rita did to her hair fixed. Should be interesting, to say the least. I forgot, in choosing the colors yesterday, to create a permanent color to match the demi for her regrowth. That's okay....I'll take care of that today and add that to her color card so I have it. Hers will be a busy color. The back is fairly simple: take care of her regrowth, refresh the ends to make sure the color matches. The top will be something else. Essentially, it's a color correction, as Rita didn't listen to what Stella told her back when they did her hair the last time. The picture Stella chose had some block style highlighting, which is what she liked. What Rita honed in on was that she liked the picture. Which had bleach highlights (what she wanted), brown lowlights (also what she wanted) and red-violet lowlights (which she didn't want, but it's what she got).

So, I've started planning, in my head, how I'm going to go about highlighting and lowlighting the top of Stella's head. Since I haven't really pawed through her hair, I don't have a good, working knowledge of what happened in her hair. Luckily, she's got a good 1/2 inch of regrowth going on, so I've got room to work. I also remember when this whole thing happened, and Rita talked to me about it, I had told her you'll probably have to foil the entire top of her head to get the mess straightened out. I distinctly recall watching her eyes glaze over.

I wish there was a way to get her to understand that there's no quick and easy way to solve problems or to create what someone is looking for with one application of color. Color interests her, but not enough to get her to explore that particular world. And, I don't think I'll be able to get her there. There's just too much in her background, as far as how she chooses to learn things, to overcome. I haven't completely given up, but, it's getting close.

It's my "weekend"

2011-07-05T06:43:00.001-04:00

You can definitely tell it's my "weekend" off. The moment I clock out at work, on my last day prior to two consecutive days off, my body starts to shut down. I become quite exhausted and "cruise" on auto pilot until I managed to crawl in bed, quite some time after I get home from work.

I walked in the door, yesterday, to Katie and a barrage of "let's go do this" stuff...hadn't even put down my bag or kicked my shoes off. I finally looked her in the eye and said "remember the conversation we had the other day about how I need a few minutes to adjust from all the noise??" "Yeah??" "I'd like those now, please." and I walked into my bedroom to change my clothes.

The quiet lasted approximately 10 minutes, at best.

I get she's bored & lonely hanging out all by herself at home. Really. I GET IT. What she doesn't get is the fact that I spend my day talking, and that I have to be "on" for everyone. By the time I'm done with the day, I want SILENCE. Never happens though. Sigh......

Katie starts her "job" today...she's a junior counselor at our day camp. It's a volunteer job (READ: non-paying due to her age), but it will be good for her. She'll be outside and active 6+ hours a day, 5 days a week, for the next 6 weeks. WOO HOO!!!

And, now...work.

Rita took what I said to heart for approximately two days, maybe three. And only on certain things. Can you see me rolling my eyes?? I get she's ADHD...poster child, in fact. So, I guess, she needs a note to remind her what she is to be working on. Tina helped her with her makeup one day and she looked FABULOUS. But, back to the crappy old way she was doing her makeup ever since. She did really well with her clothing (at least her tops) for three days, then, she's wearing both top and pants that have bleach marks on them....her own doing, since she flings color everywhere.

Then, there's the damn cell phone. It was in her pocket, AGAIN, yesterday. "Oops..I forgot to take it out". Uh-huh...I've also discovered that she truly is ignorant. She reads absolutely NOTHING, so her education is very limited, and not just her work related education. There are words she does NOT know, has never heard of, because she doesn't read anything. It's just like working with a kid. Stella isn't much better. Neither of them knew what the word "continuity" meant. No lie. Neither of them could picture the word in their heads to see the word "continue" within the word. This is what I get for presuming that people are exposed to the same things that I am, or have been.

She also has taken my comments (directly from the policy manual) about conflict of interest LITERALLY. Tina also has a part time job working at a beauty distributor that is open to the public, so she'll make comments once in a while about it. Not a big deal, really, and clearly, Becky didn't think it was an issue, so I've let that one ride. Not Rita. With her, conflict is conflict. For someone who operates within the perimeters of "grey areas", this is the one she chooses to be "black and white" about.

And how was your week??

I did it....

2011-07-02T07:10:00.000-04:00

So, Rita and Stella finally pushed me over the edge the other day. I came in, on my day off, mind you, with a pan of birthday brownies for Tina (who turned 21). Rita and Stella started in on me the moment I walked in the door. Stella has given her notice (no great loss, really, other than the need to replace her), and Rita has decided to completely nitpick my job. Every time I come in when I'm not scheduled, she's got the manager's manual out, looking for ways to trip me up. Hasn't happened yet. I'm not perfect, and don't pretend to be. Just knock it off, really.

Anyway....I got with Walmart management to borrow some space from them (as we have no private space for conversations like this) so I could have a "sit down" with her. Made her trot along side me all the way out back. (not a nice person. At 5'2 1/2", I tower over Rita's 4'11"...not to mention the fact she's got at least 100 lbs on me). We sat down, I gave her what she's done for numbers so far (not bad, considering we have nothing to go by), and then, I let her have it. I didn't yell. I didn't cuss. I laid it all out for her.

Some of what I touched on, she had no idea, or very little idea that what she was doing was wrong. For example, soliciting a customer to come to her home so she could pierce their ear, as we don't offer that service. Had Tammy been there and witnessed that, she would have been fired, ON THE SPOT. Her cell phone usage. I had asked her if she'd actually read our policy manual. "I've been going through it". So, I read passages from it. Specifically, about cell phone usage. She is to leave her cell phone in her purse. It is to be OFF. The only time she can use her cell phone is when she is clocked out for a lunch break, PERIOD. Whether or not she's obeying this one remains to be seen. I'll trip her up...it's a matter of time.

Her dress code. How I addressed it is this: If you look the part, the clients will come. If you want the clients that actually tip and tip well, you can't come in to work looking like you got dressed with whatever was laying on the floor. It's great you've got clients already, but, they're all your friends. Who don't necessarily tip. Something to consider. So, your hair is done, your face is done, and your clothing improves. Period. She was there yesterday, dressed nicer than I've seen her, EVER, with her makeup DONE. (Tina helped with this. She looked MUCH better than what she usually does).

Your attendance. I get that you don't drive, so you're relying on others to get you where you need to go. However. 8:45 means 8:45. You can get here at 8:40, 8:41, 8:42, 8:43, 8:44, or 8:45. NOT 8:52, 8:53, 8:57, 8:59. This includes stopping at Dunkin' Donuts before you go into the salon.

The only thing Rita started to argue with me about was the cell phone usage. And I shot her down, immediately. She agreed. I was surprised, really, because I figured she'd put up one helluva fight. I also touched on the fact that it's MY job, as manager, to fix and help with haircuts. Not hers. This is one thing that I'm going to have to keep harping on, as she steps in on Stella's haircuts, quite regularly. I'll cure that ailment, yet!!

Stella, on the other hand, has been both very nice, and very snotty, usually in the same sentence. Thankfully, she'll be leaving, SOON. Truly, she's dragging the whole place down, and that needs to stop. While hairdressing may be what she's always wanted to do, she certainly doesn't show it. She's not methodical, she's just slow. When she gets a haircut that she has no clue about, she doesn't always ask for help, she'll just try to muddle through. There is truly no talent there, either natural or man-made. What a waste of money for her to have gone to school. So, now, I'm off on the search to find a new hairdresser!!

Reviews.....

2011-06-19T08:44:00.000-04:00

So, it's my goal to have reviews for everyone. And, I've been gathering the information from the computer at work. In order to print this information, it requires using up a LOT of register tape, which I hate wasting. And, since I had time yesterday, I went ahead and started collecting this information. To which some of my co-workers were wanting to know what I was doing. Now, my friend, Lisa, came up with the best answer (which I didn't happen to think of), which was "My Job." Instead, I told them "gathering information so everyone can have a review". The answer I got was "Oh". Guess who was asking??

Tammy is coming next week, alledgedly on Tuesday. I didn't tell the ladies when she was coming, just that she was coming. Suddenly, everyone is cleaning things. Quite entertaining to watch, really. I let the ladies know if they had any questions for Tammy, to write them down in the communication log and I'll pull them together to ask her when she comes. Should be interesting.

Friday night, Stephie was handling a return...an exchange, really, since the customer didn't have her receipt. She was working through the procedure just fine when Rita had to stick her big beak into it, again, acting all manager-like, because, gosh, she's done a return before. The end result?? The drawer appeared to be almost $30 short. Coincidentaly, the return (which was done incorrectly, mind you) was almost $30. Can you see me rolling my eyes??

I hear issues like this all the time. And, it's time to deal with them. ALL of them. They all center around Rita, too. Good times, they are ahead of me!!

First day as "The Boss"

2011-06-10T06:54:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday was relatively uneventful. Only one disgruntled customer, from the day before, even. Someone who works for Walmart and didn't like the fact that he was charged $15.95, less his Walmart 20% discount for a haircut that lasted approximately (according to him) 5-7 minutes when he can get it for less elsewhere. These are the frustrating things we hear about, quite regularly...even when I worked at a salon that charged more, we heard this. Unfortunately, for people who don't have a whole lot of hair (for a variety of reasons), we don't charge by the strand, or by the minute. Sigh....So, I get to talk to him later (I used to work with him), and offer up the 1-800 number for him to call to voice his complaint. The fun part?? He did receive a 20% discount for his haircut. And he paid for it, without protest, until after the fact. Can you see me rolling my eyes??

Stella actually asked me quite a few questions last night, from how to handle irate customers (which we don't get very often, really...you know the kind, verbally abusive, flipping out...) to what kind of haircut that requires little to no effort for her grown daughter to wear. She did suggest, and I'm inclined to agree, that a salon meeting should be done on either a Sunday (not at closing, though...I have no interest in staying late on a Sunday) or a Monday morning. So, I'll be looking at the calendar, deciding when to do this. I feel it's important, and I need to set the tone for everything. I need to let them all know that I'm watching, I'm aware, and that they need to come to me for help. I wasn't willing before because I didn't have official permission, and I'm not about to step into things on my own. (have done that before to disastrous results). Okay, wait a minute....what it really was is that I would see things and not step in and say something, as I felt it wasn't my place. I guess that's unwilling??

Anyway...it should be interesting how things go. I already had to get after Rita for having her cellphone on the floor. Going to have to establish the rules about that one, which are clearly stated in the Regis manual. And I'm going to have to be clear on the fact that while my delivery on some things may be on the more "playful" side, I'm serious when I'm speaking to you about these things. Good times, they are a'comin'!

Separating the positive from the negative

2011-06-08T06:32:00.001-04:00

So, after a long talk yesterday, Tammy made me acting salon manager. The way the money works is interesting, as that's where they "get" you. I will receive managers pay as long as I make commission. If I don't make commission, I don't receive manager's pay. Get to do the work, but don't get to have the pay. So, this may be only a temporary thing for me. We'll see. We did only just open slightly less than two months ago, so we're still building our client base. I also found out, from doing a small amount of digging in Facebook, that Becky got done with SmartStyles May 31st. So, when we saw her right before that, she was on her way out. Explains the "look" she gave me when I got all smarty pants on her and introduced myself to her.

Tammy and I talked about quite a few things, mainly the issues we're having with Rita & Stella. And, there's a LOT. With Rita, it's a lot of petty little things, from dress code, the constant sitting, her family/friends hanging around the salon...stupid things, really. Professionally (in terms of how she does her job), she needs to work on her finish of a haircut....cross checking to make sure the haircut is even, blended, things like that. We also discussed how to handle what happened on Sunday. Which won't be happening again. Partly because Stella and Rita are being separated in the schedule. I will wind up working two Sunday's in a row and one of them will have two Sunday's off in a row to straighten that part out. Teaching her how to conduct herself "professionally" will be a separate issue that may never be learned, on her part. Sigh...

Stella: She was the last one hired and may be the first one to go. She's prompt, punctual (as far as getting to work on time) and patient with children. A bonus in our salon, since we see a LOT of little kids (and I have almost no patience with them!!). From what I understand, she has almost no experience with anything. Her haircuts leave a lot to be desired, apparently, her color applications aren't the greatest. And, she's still under her 60 days probationary period. Which may be my saving grace when it comes to keeping her.

Bulletins as they happen...

2011-06-07T06:41:00.000-04:00

Tammy, the Regional Manager, called yesterday, and I actually got to talk to her, briefly. She let me know that she'd received Rita's messages. (which I found out what one of them was a tad later) She also wanted to know how things were going, which I said "Fine...it's a little quiet right now, but it's good" She also wanted to know if our direct deposit stuff had been dealt with, which it has not. So, she wants us to get all of our stuff together. I asked if she was coming down to take care of it, and she replied that we were pretty far away for her to just come here (she's up in Maine somewhere). She also asked who was taking care of some of the manager stuff, such as ordering and schedules. "I am", I replied. She seemed slightly surprised and yet pleased by my answer. At least, that's how I'm taking it!!

Shortly after I got off the phone with Tammy, Tina came in to work (scheduled) and promptly told me about the shenanigans that went on Sunday. The Rita and Stella show was at it, again. Stella needed her regrowth touched up. She's a full head of color, due to her hair being WHITE. So, she's had a level 5 all over with fairly heavy highlights through the top. What she now has is a hot mess. Rita had asked me what should she do about adding an extra color to Stella's mix...she saw some highs & lows in a book that had red involved. Seriously, I don't even remember what I told her, however, Rita knew she didn't do whatever I'd said, which is why Stella's hair is a mess.

Stella currently has very HOT roots (because the formula didn't have any N in it to accommodate for the white), and the bleach that was used a) wasn't left on long enough, and b) didn't have a strong enough developer involved. So, her highlighted areas are ORANGE. And, I refused to step in to help her fix this mess. Why?? Well, here's what happened Sunday.

Tina came in on time, for 9:45. Rita was due in around the same time. She was an hour late, with no phone call. Stella came in when she was supposed to. It was quiet for a bit, so Rita and Stella decided to do Stella's hair. Problem number 1: the rule book states you can't do each other's hair during busy times. While it wasn't busy at this particular moment, Sunday is one of our busier days. Problem number 2: Stella stayed "on the clock" to get her hair done. If she was getting a shampoo/blow dry, or maybe a wax, this wouldn't be such a big deal. But, she wasn't. Problem number 3: This hair color project (because that's what it turned into) lasted ALL DAY because frick and frack do NOT know what they are doing.

Tina was smart enough to continually feed haircuts to Rita all day long, keeping the bigger processes to herself. Stella wound up doing a whopping 4 clients to Rita's 8 and Tina's 6. Tina was quite upset (angry, really) while telling me this story. So, I suggested she call Tammy and leave her a message about it. At first, she didn't want to "tattle" on the girls. Then, I pointed out how much was wrong with the whole thing. That's when she called Tammy. What Tammy will do about it, I'm not sure. I'm hoping she calls back today, so we can get some stuff straightened out.

Sigh.....

What a fabulous red!!

2011-06-03T06:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was an incredibly busy day for me! Started out small, then built to the point I was busy all night!! WOOT WOOT!! What was funny was most of the time that I was hopping, others were, well, NOT. If the rest of this week stays on trend, I could hit commission this week!! (3rd time in 7 weeks!!) Not only was I hopping, I had request clients...YAY me!!!

My last client of the night was a new client. She's been coloring her hair red at home, and having irritating results because A) she's using permanent color every time, and B) Red fades. Her color closest to the root was this great deep red copper....not a natural shade of red, mind you, but a fabulous shade, none the less. When I brought out the swatches to get a match, she was mostly 6RC(red copper) on top, but, she was 8CG(copper gold) on the ends. Normally, I stay away from the R's because they tend to look purpley. This time, however, it's what the client wanted. So, I used 6RC, 6CG, with a titch of 7R. What a vibrant, vivid red!!

She came in just before 8pm. I got to her just after 8pm. After the consultation, (including price) I mixed color and started applying at 8:15pm. While her hair wasn't terribly long, she has a LOT of hair (and. thankfully, medium texture, too), so it took me a good 20 minutes and one remix to get her hair covered. Popped the cap on her head and let her process for 20 minutes. Rinsed her, shampooed her, conditioned her...BEAUTIFUL color!!! Got her back to my chair and gave her the cut she asked for...long layers, shagged out with the razor. I over quoted her on the price, so I adjusted it accordingly, and got a big, fat tip for my efforts because she loved the whole thing!! WOOT WOOT!!

I really do love my job.

Updates.....

2011-05-29T08:12:00.001-04:00

So, Becky came in Wednesday, not later today. I got to observe her doing schedules, a titch of training. So, now I get to do schedules. Becky tried to talk to me Thursday, however, there were too many co-workers around for me to talk to her about all the issues that are going on right now. She's supposed to be calling me back, sometime over the weekend, trying to catch me at an opportune moment...hasn't happened as of yet.

Doing the schedules isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've noticed, with my co-workers, that they all want to learn the manager stuff as long as it's "fun"...when it comes to the accountability and responsibility, they ALL back away, asking "Beth???? Can you help???" And, some, are unwilling to educate themselves any further, unless it's fun. Example: Rita had a client's mother asking questions about her hair color yesterday. She got it done in another salon, had it lightened, in fact. She was quite dark to start off with (has the dark brown eyes to prove it), and colored her hair dark to boot. Ideally, what happened is the hairdresser took her too far into blond. And it was a startling change for her. It's also on the warm side of things, and multi-tonal. Which bothers her because her hair, previously, was all one color. Ideally, what should have happened is that they should have started highlighting her, a light to medium highlight, instead of a heavy highlight, to break her in gently to the lighter color. Rita had called me over to consult with her, then walked away from the consultation, instead of staying and learning how to handle the whole thing.

Rita came in yesterday, looking like she got dressed out of the rag bag...Lindsey came in the other day wearing a tank top.....can you tell they haven't read the dress code??

On the upside: I gained yet another new client yesterday....very exciting. Stephie got a couple of requests based on people watching her cut hair from the doorway (happens sometimes)...for a new hairdresser, she's got it all going on...poise, confidence, skill and god-given talent. Over all, we were fairly busy yesterday. And, with Stella and Tina not there (Stella had a long weekend, Tina is out, having had her wisdom teeth pulled the other day.), we only had maybe a 15 minute wait for most people. Actually, I gained a second client yesterday...she had been in last month and had Rita. When she came in yesterday, she was quite glad that I wound up with her, and said so. Therefore, I gave her the hair cut she asked for, which was nice, for the both of us.

I'm hoping that Becky stops in the salon, SOON. I need her to check over the schedule I did, just to ease my mind, really, as well as have a private chat with her about what I see. Tina, once she's back, Stephie, Lindsay, and myself will do just fine. It's Rita and Stella I'm concerned about...lots of training needed there....and how she wants to handle it, too.

One of the things Becky made a point of stating when everyone was hovering over her, watching her do the schedules, is that the people who aren't consistently busy will get the crappier schedules...the productive ones will get the premium schedules. Which is something I need to find out exactly what a "premium schedule" is, and what a crappy schedule is. Is premium day shifts, consecutive days off, only one night a week?? And is the crappy side of things lots of evenings, shorter shifts, reduced schedule?? Because, as it stands, we're one hairdresser over the schedule. Should be interesting how it all plays out.

Believe it or not, over all, I enjoy the people I work with. Never a dull moment in there, even when it's slow. But, I have to have that talk with Becky about the manager position before I get all involved (more than I already am) in figuring out how to positively motivate those that need the most help.

Sunday....this Sunday...

2011-05-24T18:36:00.000-04:00

So, according to the "girls", Becky will be in the salon, for a brief moment, this very Sunday. Sigh....I'm both looking forward to it and not looking forward to it. We've had so many complaints of late, it's no longer a laughing matter (not that it ever was in the first place). And there are things that MUST be done.

First: Someone needs to be made manager and trainer. A thankless task, mind you, but it needs to be done if every one's reputations are going to be salvaged. There are far too many services being messed up for this to get swept under the rug any longer. I hate like anything to be the tattletale, but it's coming to that point. I have been documenting everything, as I hear of it, and not just here. It seems like the count is climbing, daily....and that needs to STOP, a.s.a.p.

Second: The manager/trainer needs to be checking all hair cuts before they leave the building. Period. No one, except for myself, had that kind of training when they started working in a salon. I'm not saying I'm perfect....far from it. However, my clients don't leave with an incomplete hair cut, either.

Third: Becky needs to make regular appearances in our store much more often than she does. I get that she's got a hot mess down in Providence,RI...apparently, all her stylists but one walked out of that store. And she's having a difficult time hiring more to replace the ones that left.

We're all getting lost in the shuffle, and it's not looking very good right now....

Oh, boy.....

2011-05-20T07:07:00.000-04:00

So, lately, it seems, all I've done or talked about is fixing someone's mistakes. The ladies I work with that have actually worked in a salon before didn't have a training program where they previously worked, so they were never taught the nuances of a hair cut. For example...when you take someone down to the skin on the bottom, and leave some hair on the top, the line around their head must be PRECISE. You have nothing to hid the mistakes with. Also, listening to the client and giving them what they ask for is a good idea...the clipper cut Stella did last night, not only did she mess up the line, not show him what his hair cut looks like, she also cut off his bangs that he expressly asked not to be cut OFF....trimmed up, but not cut off. Also, when someone comes in with a stacked bob they're trying to grow out, not only do you tread carefully with this haircut, you also need to explain, oh so carefully, what parts of the hair cut you're not going to touch and why, since the goal is to grow the stack out.

This particular client was almost in tears by the time she came in to talk to me about her hair cut. Another one that Stella cut...except she had Rita check it....the wrong person to have check a hair cut,as her only experience with cutting women's hair has been since she started working with us. At any rate, the client went home, dried her hair and discovered that it was, well, a hot mess. One side was longer than the other, and the back wasn't cooperating. She called the salon about getting a full refund (including the tip), to which Lindsay took her name and number down, but didn't pass it on to Becky, as she told the client she would. Mistake number 1. So, the client called back, wondering why Becky hadn't called, and was given the 1-800 complaint number to call, which she did. And was told by person she talked to there that she had to come back in and get the hair cut verified before they'd do anything like that. I talked to her, extensively, about how I wanted to make it right, this is what I'd have to do to fix the hair cut, that sort of thing. She was quite upset and didn't want to A) have to re-build the stack (which is what would have to happen, to a lesser degree, to fix the cut) or lose any more length over all (which would also have to happen to correct the uneven sides). She didn't come back last night, and I truly didn't expect her to.

What I need to do is call Becky and leave her a message, asking her what she wants me to do about all of this that I'm seeing, especially since I'm NOT the salon manager. I care about what goes on, and I don't want everyone thinking we're all a bunch of hack artists, which is what is going to happen if something isn't done pretty soon!!

Work, work, work

2011-05-15T07:48:00.000-04:00

Lately, it seems, all I do is work....not a bad thing, necessarily, just an observation.

I did finally put Rita the Manager in her place. I was okay about it, didn't slam her (verbally) against the wall, but I let her know how I felt. One of her friends (did I mention she lives in a low income housing project in the next town??) came in one night last week to have her little guy's hair cut...Tina and I were finishing up on two colors, which were taking some considerable time (mine has POROUS hair which was taking forever to dry), and being 8:40 in the evening (we close at 9), we both turned down the hair cut, however emphasizing that we're open 9-9 Mon - Sat, Sun 10-6. Here comes the "fun" part:

Now it's Tuesday, and I'm cutting the little guy's hair...Rita comes in with her friend...didn't think a whole lot of it, at the time. Then, I was off on Wednesday, came back on Thursday. Rita approaches me in the break room with a cockamamie story about the whole approach about cutting the little boy's hair on Monday night. Something about how the customer (mom) felt Tina was being snotty to me (what happened is I was blow drying my client's hair and didn't hear Tina speak to me, so she raised her voice (which she shouldn't have done, she should have walked over to me) and that's when I heard her), and copped an attitude herself. So, Rita took it upon herself to "deal" with the "issue" which wasn't there in the first place. During the course of her "discussing" it with me (I was on my lunch break, mind you) I wound up just shutting her down by reminding her that there were clients to take care of and I was on my lunch. Her reply was "Well, you think about it and get back to me"...WHAT??

After I got done with my lunch, I was stewing about the whole thing. Who, exactly, does Rita think she is to handle something like that?? No one, and I mean NO ONE is the manager in that place. The closest thing we have to a manager is Becky, who is only available by voice mail. I eventually took the deposit to the bank because I needed to get OUT of there before I said something I was definitely going to regret.

Right before I left for the day, home office called, wanting to guide someone through fixing some of the problems we've been having with the computer. So, since I was leaving, I passed the phone to Rita, stating to her, "Since you're on tonight, and you want to be manager so bad, go ahead and handle this installation" . She said "I don't want to be manager...you do this...you're good at it" "Rita, I have to go home now...and if you don't want to be manager, don't act like you are one." To which she back pedaled and said "I didn't mean to come across like that" , hollering it across the salon.

Was my reaction to her done in a professional manner?? Nope. It was a better response than what I was originally thinking about doing, but still not the right thing to do. She made me angry and she knew it. From when she "spoke" to me about her friend until I left for the day, she was trying hard to suck up to me because she knew she'd stepped on my toes. And the whole rest of the week, she was pussy-footing it around me, because she knew she'd messed up. It was mildly entertaining to experience.

What is really happening with Rita is her personal life is falling apart and it's spilling over into her job. Her boyfriend is being a jerk, and the ensuing drama is entering the salon. I had to fix two of her haircuts this past week, as well as take a phone call from a very angry client who referred to Rita as a "butcher" in no uncertain terms. I wound up taking his name and number and passing it along to Becky to handle. Who happened to call yesterday , and I answered the phone, so I got to talk (or listen, really) to her about it. She did handle it personally, but also directed me to the 1-800 complaint number to give to clients when that happens. I forget that number is there and have a slight panic when I get phone calls like that. It's all in the learning, I guess....

I also talked to Tina about the whole "thing" that was perceived between the two of us. She was pretty irked with the way Rita chose to handle it, too. So, the rest of us (now I get to tell both Rita and Stella) have agreed that when we see something like that, or a client mentions that they witnessed something like that, we are to call Becky and let her handle it as she sees fit, since none of us are managers. Can't wait to see how that goes over with Rita..Stella should be fine.

Rita, the manager....

2011-05-10T06:49:00.000-04:00

So, Rita is still trying hard to become the manager. She's decided to take the new person, Stella, under her wing. Which should prove to be interesting, since there's a lot of hair education Rita is lacking, purely because she worked in a barber shop for a while when she first got out of school, not a hair salon.

Speaking of which, Rita did a haircut on a lady and managed to mess it up. Not badly, but she clearly had NO idea what she was doing. I wound up fixing the haircut. Here's what happened (I got this from the client later on, when she brought her 8 year old back in for a hair cut): Nice lady has been growing her hair out for older daughter's wedding. She's had long layers. However, it's been at least 2 months, if not longer, since her last cut, so her lines are pretty much gone. Rita mentioned to her that she couldn't see her layers. Therefore, what happened, instead of stopping, re-discussing what happened, then continue to cut her hair, she just cut her hair, and didn't put any layers in the client's hair.

Now, let's jump ahead to when mom brings daughter back in to get her hair cut and she gets me for a stylist. We talk about the haircut, little one decides what she wants, I verify it, because she wants a significant amount of hair cut off, and commence to cutting. Mom watches me the whole time, then brings up the missing layers and could I at least look at her hair and determine what happened.

The end result is that I wound up re-cutting mom's hair, for free, fixing Rita's mistake. It wasn't truly bad, but she wanted layers and didn't get them. She has them now.

This is the second time in as many weeks that something like this has happened, although not to Rita. The other one was Tina, giving this elderly lady who had a hard time deciding to get her hair cut, a 3 minute hair cut. Granted, she only had a "0" haircut---meaning all the hair was cut to the same length, right to her chin. However, gathering her hair, and, effectively, hacking it to one length, in 3 minutes, is not what this lady had in mind for a haircut. Consequently, she has stated she won't come back, either to get it fixed,(which she said she had to do at home) or to have someone else cut her hair. When this was mentioned to Tina, she got a tad defensive, but I don't see her changing her methods when she has an elderly person in her chair. What I've also seen is that she cuts very BLUNT, which shows every mistake you make.

I know that this makes me sound like I'm a perfect hairdresser and everyone else isn't. So not the case. I'm far from perfect. But, here it is, a month into this, and I'm already fixing my co-workers mistakes. Some of us are getting very full of themselves....

Two new people

2011-05-08T07:17:00.000-04:00

So, we've finally hired the last two people...well, not "We", Becky has hired the last two people. All of us went to the same cosmetology school, all at different times, some of them overlapping. I'm still the one with the most "salon" experience....should prove to be interesting, since none of us are truly trained in the way things are supposed to be done. Sigh.....

Rita, I've discovered, is quite the kiss ass. She wants the manager position, BAD. I could rightly care less, really. The longer I work there, the less I want that job, especially if it means training myself and not getting a whole lot of guidance from my supervisor. Becky was in the salon for exactly half the day yesterday, barely spoke to anyone, then left. Seriously?? I guess, since she feels we all get along so well, she doesn't need to be there. Well, guess what, sister?? You do need to be there....we all have a lot of questions that aren't being answered. In a timely manner, or otherwise.

What's funny about Rita is she wants the leadership position, but has no idea how to lead. She doesn't have enough experience in hairdressing to be able to judge when to do "X" to someones hair and when not to. Here's an example. This nice lady came in the first week or so that we were open, wanting a perm. Rita cut quite a bit off her hair, noticed it didn't feel right, but went ahead and permed her hair, anyway. After the perm was done, she noticed the condition of the hair, which wasn't very good. So, I got the warning that this nice lady had called and wanted her perm checked out, because it has no curl in it.

A few days later, she came in and I looked at her hair, talking to her about her hair the entire time. Asking all the questions we're supposed to: Do you have well water or town water?? Do you take a lot of medications, specifically a high dosage of blood thinners?? Are you brushing your hair instead of picking it?? Did you wait 48 hours before washing your hair?? No, she didn't brush her hair (although you could clearly tell it had been brushed), yes, she's on medications, although no high blood thinners, she has town water. Okay. Let's go wash your hair and see what happens.

So, I washed her hair....once I got it wet, I could feel the permanent color in her hair. Saw it first and asked how long it had been since she colored it, which was quite a while, based on her regrowth. It was professionally done, by the very ladies I used to work with. So, that told me, right there, before I even felt her hair, what condition her hair was in prior to perming her hair. Trashed. Rita had even commented to me about how her hair felt trashed. I told her "If the hair feels that bad, refuse the service and explain why." So, I wound up showing this nice lady (who is around my mother's age---70) the curl that is still in her hair, and instructing her, even though she's already heard this, again, in how to take care of her hair. And the fact that she had pre-existing permanent color in her hair made the two chemicals not get along very well, so her hair feels pretty awful. And it will stay that way until the hair color is all cut out of her hair.

What people (including my co-workers) don't understand is that once you color your hair, even if it's been years, if the ends of the hair are a different color than the root of the hair, the color is STILL IN THE HAIR. And, just because a "professional" colored your hair, doesn't mean it was done correctly.

Whether or not we keep this nice lady as a client remains to be seen. However, I was professional, honest, and nice to her about her hair. It's all I can do.

What my co-workers need to learn is if the hair is in horrible condition, don't do the service. Quit thinking about making your paycheck bigger and think about the CLIENT. If their hair can't take it, don't do it. While we're all here to make money, we're not here to ruin hair.

I did also get the opportunity, finally, to tell Lindsay that when you have a child/teenager in your chair, you need to speak to the parent about what you'd like to do to the kid's hair, not the kid themselves. The kid isn't paying for the appointment, the parent is. Which means the kid shouldn't be making any decisions regarding their hair and what extra services they can get. Talk to the wallet. She understood what I said, but I'll be interested if she actually follows through with it. Oh, and Lindsay also broke our security gate...she struggles with the dumb thing (we all do, really) and instead of taking a deep breath, calming down, and figuring out how to operate the thing, she kicked the crap out of it and jammed the knob so we can't get it open. Sigh...don't know if Becky did anything about that issue or not...

Visitors....

2011-04-29T07:03:00.000-04:00

So, I get into work yesterday to hear that someone from corporate headquarters is supposed to show up. Whooptie doo.....I've dealt with so many of these people over the years, they just don't phase me any longer. Some of my co-workers, Rita in particular, got all worked up about it (not in a productive way, though, just worked up) and I reminded her that whoever this person is (turned out to be a woman named Dana), they put their pants on the same way you do, one leg at a time. I don't fawn all over these people. I'm respectful, I'll introduce myself, talk to them. But, I don't see them as the demi-gods they think they are. Which will probably get me into trouble. Oh, well...

However, that meant that both Becky and Tammy were supposed to be around. And, eventually, they did show up. Around 4pm. And promptly went on a cleaning tear. Is there clutter in the dispensary?? Sure...it's the smallest dispensary I've ever experienced..there's no provision for our purses/bags, our coats, food, nothing. The wall cabinets are HUGE...the height isn't a big deal, but the depth is...entirely too deep for the stuff that's sitting on the shelves. And, the spare chair we have usually winds up in the break room, because Rita can't handle standing on her feet all day long. Then, we have a 33 gallon silver trash can..which, really, we don't need. A smaller one would be more ideal. Maybe I'll ask later this morning...

The girls all had beverages out on the floor, too. (not me, I know better...I was never comfortable with that when I worked at my old salon) Which prompted Tammy to comment that the salon was the dirtiest she'd ever seen. I almost spoke up at that one. It was hard not to say anything.

Here's what I wanted to say: The entire time we've all been here, none of us has been trained in the Regis way of doing things. There is no reference book available, beyond the starting packet, to turn to to find out about x, y, or z when we have a question. Half the time, when we call Becky with a question, we don't get a call back. We've been left here, to our own devices, to figure things out on our own. No one has bothered to clearly explain how we're supposed to be charging for services, so, we're charging whatever, and managing to piss off quite a few people. No one has bothered to explain to the stylists that they need to talk to the PARENT when they're dealing with a teenager in regards to how much the service is going to cost. No one has bothered to explain to the stylist that when you're doing chemical services, you need to explain the cost BEFORE the chemicals are applied, not after (which means you need to read the waiver after the client signs it, to check things out). We've had no time set aside to watch the training videos, so, we're flying by the seat of our pants. And you're going to come in here and criticize what we're doing??

But, I wisely shut my mouth. I know, as it's common sense, not to have food & drink on the floor, in front of the clients. I've actually worked in a salon before...two of them, as a matter of fact. One with rules, one with none. And, most of the time, I'm blessed with common sense. So, there are a lot of things I just don't do. However, out of the 4 of us, I'm the only one who has worked full time in a "real" salon. Tina worked in a salon, but part time, and she's quite young. Rita worked in a barbershop, so she was exposed to a different atmosphere. And, her time in an actual hair salon was very short, with no guidance, either. And Lindsay has had no exposure, at all. She's a go-getter, and all about up selling to make her ticket bigger, but she doesn't get with the money behind the appointment. Just last night, she had a teenage girl in her chair, got the kid's permission to do all kinds of things, but didn't run it by the parent funding the appointment. So, when the time came to pay, and she called out "$26.95" instead of "$7.00", he flipped out, and rightly so. He paid it, but I guarantee he won't be back. And neither Lindsay nor Becky apologized or offered to make it "better"...I was watching because him shouting out "$26.95!?!?!" caught my attention.

Do I regret moving here?? No. I'm making more money, I'm working full time, I'm entitled to benefits...all of which I didn't have at my old salon. I just wish they'd actually train us in how things are supposed to be, to make the mucky mucks at Regis happy....

First paycheck

2011-04-25T06:40:00.000-04:00

So, I got my first paycheck this past Friday. It was on par with what I was making at my old salon, for 4 days worth of work. What made the difference was the tips!! I just about doubled what I made in tips in those 4 days. Add my last paycheck to my new paycheck and it makes a very nice paycheck compared to what I usually did!!

Becky is back today after 4 days off....and boy, have I got questions for her!!! For all of us, the way we charge people for their services wasn't really explained very well, so we're all a bit confused. Also, handling the request clients was never really explained, either, so, clarification is needed. I'm the only one with clients who may be looking for me from my old job, since Rita was a barber, hers is easier to accommodate. However, I had color clients and perm clients, so I need to know how I'm supposed to accommodate them without pissing off the other clients that have been waiting for us to cut their hair!

We also need to ask if the tv monitor and dvd player can be moved into the dispensary so we can watch the required dvd's off the service floor...clients don't need to watch what we're watching. And that way, when it's not busy, and there's two of us, we can get at least a couple of dvd's out of the way!!!

We were crazy busy on Saturday....last day of school vacation plus the day before Easter....But, from what a cashier friend of mine told me, Rita did a fair amount of wandering in the evening...I'll be interested if Amanda says anything about it to Becky....Look at me, taking control and acting all manager-ish...whoops...

It's all about control

2011-04-23T06:45:00.001-04:00

Last night, during the course of a conversation with my friend, Tod, on Facebook (you may remember him from my post about dipping my toe into the dating pool), He accused me of being a control freak and if I didn't like it, oh well. (Oh, well was not what he actually said, I cleaned it up for the sake of propriety) The whole conversation was quite odd, even though I will admit to starting it up by saying something to him that was mildly flirtatious in nature.

The lesson I learned with him, back in January, is to be careful how I respond to his complimentary remarks. Back in January, I responded in kind, and he, eventually, wound up "hooking up" with someone on the eve of our first date, effectively ending everything before it began. So, the end result is that I take his compliments with a grain of salt, because they're just words. He may very well mean them, but that's all they are to me. Especially when they're not said to my face, but typed on a page.

However, back to this control thing. He told me that I can and do control the room. Let's see. In my job, my client's trust me to be in control of the situation, whether it's in understanding how they want their hair cut, or in how they want their hair chemically processed. My professional opinion is highly valued. So, whether I feel confident or not (and 99% of the time, I do), I have to project that I do. Clients who are wishy washy on what they want expect me to take control of the situation and figure out what they want. It's my job. I'm also being looked at as a possible Salon Manager, who, ironically enough, also has to be in control of the room. I kind of need to know what's going on around me so I can pitch in and help out with whatever is necessary. Learning how to keep my big, fat beak out of things until asked is a separate issue and I'm working on that.

And then, there's my personal life. I'm a single parent, as those of you who read this already know. Therefore, I'm in control of things, ALL THE TIME. I get to make all the decisions regarding everything, although, at times, Katie is a part of this process (it's all about teaching her to be in control, too, so I can let go when the time comes).

So, I guess you could say, I'm a control freak. I'm the dominant, alpha dog. Queen Bee. Aggressive. A bitch. I could probably tone it down, to some extent, but, it's who I am. I got comfortable in my skin a long time ago. I guess some people envy that. I really don't have any interest in completely changing who I am, just so others are comfortable around me.

Back in the saddle....

2011-04-22T07:29:00.000-04:00

Of course, now I have Aerosmith stuck in my head! I managed to crank out two colors last night, back to back. What an interesting experience that was!!

The first, started out as just a haircut. Gail works for Walmart, and I've been dying to get my hands in her hair for YEARS...she has long, crazy wavy hair that she's been coloring at home forever. She used to be a darker auburn (brownish red) and switched to a light, almost strawberry blonde color, which works great with her complexion. She's also on a ridiculous amount of medications (for what, she still won't tell, except it's not fibromyalgia), so it's wreaking havoc with her hair...it falls out in massive amounts. However, the upside is that it also grows back in massive amounts, so it's an irritating side effect.

Anyway...her color was coming out relatively okay, except for the spots she was consistently missing, which happens when you color your hair yourself. However, I had suggested to her, years ago, to not drag the color through to the ends of her hair, and she really hadn't done that a whole lot. Her hair was a bit rough, but it's her natural texture, plus her medical condition/medications that are making the most of the mess.

We chose the color carefully...permanent color, regrowth only,mostly 9N (she's got a lot of grey/white), 9G with a titch of 9CG for that coppery tone she already had going on. A PERFECT MATCH!! Then, since her ends already had the pinkish tone that copper leaves behind, I used demi permanent on her ends, 9N (had to make it out of 10N & 8N) + 10G...I'm looking for tone, not color change, and wanted the underlying tones to do their job as well. And, it did!! WOO HOO!!!

The other color, well....always a work in progress. We matched up the color as best as I could, using what's already on her ends as a guide. She had gotten color and highlights from another salon, so I wound up creating a formula from scratch...not bad, but not quite right. Really, should have pulled some of the color through (as much as I hate doing that) so it would blend better...you can see the new color, the faded color, then the color on the ends, which weren't faded so much...luckily, it will fade and match quite nicely.

Now, I get to go in (in a bit) and finish cleaning up my mess in the sink and writing out my color cards...even with these two ladies, back to back, with some sit time in between, I still got home before 10pm!! WOO HOO!!

Poor Katie is feeling it, though...she goes to Gram's when I have to work late and Gram brings her home around 8pm, so I don't keep her up trying to get home from work (Gram has to work at 5am 4 days a week!!), and Katie was curled up in the chair, bundled up, sleeping, when I came home....this is after I spoke to her on the phone and suggested she go to bed, as she didnt' feel very well. Durn kid....

I've also run into quite a few clients from my old salon since I've left....and some have made the comment that they "heard" about me leaving...I can only imagine what's being said...I've been good, I haven't asked what was being said, just made the comments that I'm making more money, I'm busier, and this job offers benefits, something Ginger just can't really offer, by virtue of being a small, family owned business. It just is what it is. I didn't bash anyone, because I don't need to.

Stay tuned!!

Rita

2011-04-18T11:21:00.000-04:00

I worked with Rita yesterday. It was an interesting day. I discovered the bizarre way she cuts hair (doesn't palm the shears to hold the comb, which causes her to take extra movements, wasting time, really, while cutting hair) is because she's left handed, and was taught to cut right handed, which seems to slow her down, a lot. I might do some investigating into getting her taught to cut left handed....it may work better for her in the end!! Yes, I realize it's none of my @@##$$! business, but, we're all about productivity, and Becky won't always be there to feed clients to us. And that will show up, pretty fast. I discovered I was on my 4th client when Rita took her second one....and I'm not always the fastest cutter, either.

While Rita is a very sweet, funny person, she's also a walking train wreck....she managed to convey to me that she doesn't have a bank account of any kind because she owes her previous bank for bounced checks. Oh,boy. ( we were talking about direct deposit) She's also approximately 4'11 tall and about 5' wide...no lie there. While it's certainly not my place to say much, as I'm no slenderella myself, OMG...she's a big girl. And, I watched, oh so briefly, her hork down a fruit platter she bought yesterday. You know, the pre-made kind with the caramel dip in the middle. And she was scooping up that dip like she'd never seen food before. It's no wonder she's as big as she is....sigh....makes me turned off from food, I can tell you that...

Really, I shouldn't be talking about her like that...it's not nice, and mom always said "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", but, much like a car accident, it's just too fascinating not to watch or comment. And yet, she's got this skinny, tiny boyfriend that she's had for 11 years and 3 kids, to boot.

Anyway....we also had two ladies come in yesterday, wanting the complete works for a haircut: shampoo, cut, and style. Which is 8.95 more than the haircut special that's going on right now. They both picked out the same haircut, short in the back, long in the front. My client had wavy hair, her client had curly, over processed hair. So, we set to cutting. Before I go any further, let me add that neither of these ladies chose to speak English...they were speaking Spanish. Some of it was on purpose, because the teenagers with them spoke English and "translated", while omitting a lot. You could tell because the youngest of the teenagers had a hard time not telling everything they were saying, which told me she was being told the whole story, but to shut up at the same time. The end result, my client was okay with her haircut, I explained to her (because I knew she understood what I was saying) that the layers around her face would need to grow out in order for the haircut to look the way she wanted. Her daughter, on the other hand, gave Rita a hard time. She told Rita to go ahead and cut after Rita tried to explain the issues with the cut versus the texture of her hair. The moment Rita was done, the client instantly didn't like the cut. She made all the dramatic faces and started spewing in Spanish about how she didn't like it. Becky stepped in to try to save the day, but the end result is neither of them paid for their haircuts. The extra people they had with them were creating a lot of noise and chaos, which is a shoplifting trick...I'm betting they're quite good at that, too....

Rita was not amused when the whole thing was done. I just looked at her and said "Don't take that stuff personally...they were looking for a free haircut". And told Becky the same thing. There's not a whole lot you can do when that crap happens. Yes, we're in this business to make money, no doubt about that. However, sometimes, you've got to cut your losses and call it a day. And that's what we did.

My new co-workers

2011-04-16T06:52:00.000-04:00

I'm working on day 4 at Smart Styles. Phew!! Am I tired!! And I've still got two more days after this until I'm off for two days!! Katie is on vacation this week, so I won't have to get up early either of those days, nor on my 1-9 days...I'm going to get spoiled this summer...I can already see it..

So, here are the cast of characters at my new salon: *most names have been changed to protect my sorry hide* Becky is the Area Supervisor. She floats from store to store, has 12 stores in her district, and 6 of them don't have salon managers. She's particular about who she hires. I'm starting to appreciate that about her!!

Rita: she did primarily barbering at her old job...meaning strictly haircuts. She went to the same school that I did, which means she got primary training, and that's it. And, at her barbering job, she didn't get any kind of additional training by her boss. So, her cutting skills are exactly the same as they were when she got out of school. She asked me to step in last night and save her on a haircut (which I wound up getting credit for) because she had no clue. She tried to pass it to me at first, but I said "Nope...time to learn!!" then wound up doing it anyway....She's eager to learn, which is a good thing, and she's not afraid to ask for help. The only thing she needs to work on is to not convey her fears in front of her client....last night her client expressed she felt afraid while Rita was cutting her hair....never a good sign. She'll get there.

Lindsey: She's young, tall, and cute. She's got the whole hairdresser thing going on, and is taking her state boards on Monday!! She's a hard worker and will do well. Great personality, too!

Tina: She and I went to cosmetology school together, although I was ahead of her. She's fearless, which works....unfortunately, she's a tiny little thing, so she looks about 12 years old. Eventually, she'll learn to drop the cutesy way she's talking so she'll be taken seriously.

Over all, we have a good crew. No divas, no attitudes. We all get along really well, and we're all genuinely happy to be there.

Stay tuned!!

Smart Styles

2011-04-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

So, I went to work on Tuesday, and didn't get a chance to talk to Ginger until 1:45...we were both booked solid, and running around like crazy people. Needless to say, I might as well have dropped an anvil on her head. She was totally not expecting me to look for another job, nor give my notice. So, when she asked me when my last day was, I told her "I'd like it to be the 23rd, I've got clients on the books, I'd like to say goodbye, let them know where I'm going. I'd also like to take the time, HERE, in front of you, to call my other clients and let them know where I'm going"---that was a mistake. She looked at me and said "No, I need to think about that...I don't want to lose any clients".

So, I went home at my usual time, said good night to everyone, see you tomorrow. Ginger barely spoke to me. I know I whomped her a good one, and she was thinking of how to handle this. See, when Michelle left, it was handled very poorly. They just shifted clients over to whoever had the time and let the stylists deal with the fall out from it. And, trust me, that fall out lasted a LONG time. Ginger called me that night, at 8pm (after the last client left) and let me go. Said she understood my decision, as I have to do what's best for Katie & me, but she couldn't afford to keep me on for the next two weeks. So, poof. Just like that, I was done.

So, in between when I left work and when Ginger called me, I went to Smart Styles to meet and greet with the regional manager, because they're thinking, based on talking to me and by my multiple resumes, that they want me for Salon Manager (I don't know that I'm quite ready for that, but it won't be for a while, anyway, since I have a 90 day probationary period, like every one else). So, I did that, and they both warned me that my boss could very well let me go, very soon. So, Becky, the Area Supervisor (district manager) gave me her card to contact her if and when that happens. After it happened, I called her and left a voicemail for her. Which she didn't get, I was to find out Wednesday morning.

After a sleepless night of panic, I called Becky in the morning to let her know what had happened. Her response was "are you okay??", then, "What would you like to do?" and I said "come to work!". So, that's what I did, after I went over to Ginger's salon and got my stuff.

Which was interesting...when I walked in, some of my stuff was already unplugged, and waiting for me. Ginger did speak to me, but not like she normally did, because she was ANGRY. So, I packed my bag (stuffed it to the gills, actually), and circled the salon a couple of times, to make sure I didn't leave anything laying around. I picked up my stuff, and waited to speak to Ginger about my last paycheck, which, of course, wasn't ready for me when I walked in the door. Ginger had Frannie in her chair, who was talking up a storm. I told Ginger since I didn't know when I was working the rest of this week, and I had to go into work that day, it would be better if she just mailed my check. When she turned to face me, oh boy...it's a good thing looks can't kill, because I would have been a grease spot, RIGHT THERE.

As I was walking away, Frannie speaks up and says "Hey! You're not working today??" "Nope, I'm not working today" "Where you going?? To work at the new Walmart??", laughing while she said it "As a matter of fact, yes, I am". Then, I caught the eye of the sales rep who was sitting, waiting for Ginger, winked at her, and left. I had talked to the sales rep the night before on Facebook (we're "friends") and told her what happened. Then, I went home, and frantically pulled myself together to go to work at my new job!!

Wednesday was a chaotic day, all the way around. I went in at 10, and hit the ground running. I got to have a 1/2 hour lunch break, and that was IT...10 haircuts in 6.5 hours. I might have done that once at my old salon, and definitely not that many haircuts in that much time!! My first two days at Smart Styles, I've done almost $300 in services, and $85 in retail....That's an average week for me at my old salon....I need to tell Becky that...

My body feels beat up, like I've spent the whole week at the gym, Biggest Loser style. I've made as many tips in two days that I used to make in a week, also. The new schedule is going to take a bit to get used to, both with the fact that I'm working 40 hours now instead of 24, and that I'm working 2 nights a week instead of just one. But, I'm liking the money in my pocket, I'm liking the fact that my clients are finding me, and I'm having a helluva good time doing this!!

Job offer

2011-04-12T06:38:00.000-04:00

So, I went to my interview yesterday. It took about 2 hours, total. Both of my models were present for a majority of the interview, which I thought was a tad odd, but, hey, what do I know??

Over all, it went really well. Once I started talking to her, then started cutting hair, I totally relaxed and got into the groove. She liked what I did, she liked how I did it, she read the novel that are my 3 resumes (hairdressing, school, and my entire job history), and watched everything I was doing.

Initially, as I had told her, I went in there just as an exploratory thing...wanted to know what Smart Styles is all about, the pay structure, etc., because I certainly don't want to jump ship without knowing what I'm getting into.

Couple of things I'm not fond of, currently: Starting rate of pay: Minimum wage...Yuck. However, the commission off services starts at 40%, which actually matches my pay right now. So, okay. Plus, the salon has guaranteed traffic being located in the front of the store. Then, there's the schedule. It fluctuates, so no one has a set schedule, except by how many hours they are working. The days change. And, there's no booking ahead, either, beyond 3 weeks. On the upside, most of my clients call in, anyway. The only one affected by that is my nice lady on Saturdays. But, we'll work it out.

The commission on retail is pretty cut and dried: 8% off each item you sell. If you are on the desk, and a customer comes in to purchase retail only, you get the retail. End of story. There are no grey areas. I LOVE IT!! There's contests with prizes (which I don't really care about) based on your sales, product of the month, Style of the month, stuff like that. Dress code, I'm fine with, except with not being allowed to wear my smock all the time. I wear the smock for multiple reasons: A) to keep the hair in my clothes down to a minimum, B) to prevent chemicals from getting all over my clothes, C) to discourage unwanted attention from clients. So, that part stinks...no security blanket.

Becky asked me a bunch of questions, like what made you want to be a hairdresser? I've wanted to be one since I was 5 years old, and that the opportunity never presented itself until 4 years ago. What's your favorite service? Color. What would you do to pull clients into the salon on down time?? Hang out in the hair color aisle and start talking to people, luring them into the salon. She perked right up when I said that!! She also asked me how I felt about advancement in the company. I let her know I wasn't opposed to it, as long as it didn't require me to travel. I've done my share, I don't mind helping out once in a while, but not all the time, as I'm the only parent.

So, the end result was that I was offered a job, with the possibility of being salon manager before all is said and done. So, now I get to go to work, talk to Ginger, make up a small white lie about the whole interview thing (I'll just tell her they had stuff out at the open house for walmart that interested me and I went in to talk about it, with two models I scrounged up, as requested), give my notice, and tell my clients. I'm hoping she won't get upset about it and let me contact my clients from the salon. I've got some clients already booking for next month that I'll need to take care of. I've also got all my pedicure clients that I'll need to tell I won't be taking care of them any longer, which isn't going to be fun. I know they'll all be understanding, but it won't be fun. I'm hoping I can get Chrissy to take them all and get over her issues with their feet...at least it will help build her book.

Stay tuned!!

Nervous Energy

2011-04-10T15:51:00.000-04:00

So, the phone call I was waiting for came last Monday---"They" called. I have an interview tomorrow---one, since the grand opening is Wednesday, that is 2 interviews condensed into one---the verbal interview & the "interactive" one...with two models for me to demonstrate haircuts on.

By yesterday morning, I was feeling pretty desperate---I had my female model--Mom always wants a free haircut. However, the male model was being elusive. So, I reached out, a tad desperately, to the guy I went to breakfast with back in January. (really, he owes me, and he knows it.) And, he agreed to be my model. So, all I've got left to do is pull my stuff together for tomorrow. A friend of mine is going over my "professional" resume later this evening, to see if we can edit for content. It's the standard, basic resume, but it's long (2 pages), and repetitive, because I've done the same work for a long time at different places of employment.

Needless to say, I'm a nervous wreck. I know that I'll do fine through the whole thing, over all. I'm confident in my skills, and it's clear that I love what I do. I'm not worried about that part. I'm worried about the decision making part. If I get the actual job offer, and I decide, with all the information in front of me, to go with "Them", then I get to sit and have a long chat with Ginger about it. THAT'S what I'm worried about.

I'm finally starting to fill in at work--It's still not consistent, but it's getting there. Part of it is totally my fault because I don't insist my clients reschedule before they leave. If I switch jobs, and my clients come with me (which would be IDEAL), I will need to INSIST they pre-book--otherwise, they won't get what they need and all the walk-ins will take over my schedule.

I just don't even know what I'm going to say to Ginger. I've got somewhat of a plan as far as contacting my clients goes--I've got quite a few booked this week and next, then it's empty until the last Saturday, so I can tell all of them in person, and let them decide what they want to do. Hopefully, I'll have some generic kind of business card to give out with the correct contact info on it that I can give to my clients.

Then, I'll need to contact my clients that are booked for the next month. Tricky, tricky, tricky. I'd like to send them a note, explaining what's going on and their options, all done AT WORK, so Ginger doesn't think I'm being sneaky about anything (even though, right now, everything is a covert operation).

That's the part that is going to be the worst--I've worked SO hard for the last two years to gain Ginger's trust--I've got the keys, for crying out loud!! And, now, I might be doing this--Talk about feeling guilty!!

I shouldn't feel guilty--trusting me never should have been an issue. I'm not Michelle (the woman I replaced)--she should have seen that from the start. And, if I leave, I won't do it like Michelle did, leaving them high and dry. What's funny, is that when I briefly talked to Chrissy about it, she commented she was thinking about doing the same thing, for many of the same reasons, plus a few extra---she hasn't had an easy time of it, either.

Now, if I don't get a job offer (she had TONS of interviews, and as of last Monday, had only hired one person), all of this worry is for nothing. In the mean time, I'm going to try hard NOT to eat too much junk, bite Katie's head off for breathing, and use this nervous energy to do something constructive: Clean house, blog, walk 4.1 miles.....

Stay tuned!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes???

2011-04-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

We have a Walmart Supercenter about to open in my hometown. Attached to it is a SmartStyles Family Salon (just like SuperCuts...owned by the Regis Corporation). I am seriously considering filling out an application & sending in my resume along with it. Why, you might ask?? Knowing these types of salons attract some serious traffic, that's appealing, even if it is all walk-ins, all day long. Knowing that since this branch of franchised salons is a part of a HUGE corporation, they offer BENEFITS, such as health/dental insurance, 401K, 529 for college---all the things my current employer does NOT offer, and really can't offer because of the expense. Oh, and paid vacations, which my employer DOES offer. They also pay by the hour (which is how I get paid now), so what is appealing here is the opportunity for FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT. They also offer commission on services (not sure of the exact structure), as well as commission on the product you sell. AND, they offer EDUCATION. Exactly what, I don't have the particulars on. But, again, being a major corporation, they have the funding to offer a lot. Specifically, REDKEN education--I've worked a little bit with Redken color and I like it. They also have a master colorist program (Redken does), which interests me, A LOT. There's also the money issue in general. While things at the salon are going much better, and Ginger is reaching out to me more, trusting me more, etc., etc., etc., I will never be as much to her as Evelyn is. Which bothers me a lot, because I still feel she's put her money on the wrong horse. I'm not saying she needs to leave the salon to me when the time comes (as she has done with Evelyn), because inheriting someone else's mess is not my idea of a good time, but just as much faith in me as she has in Evelyn would be nice. But, she's molded Evelyn into the hairdresser she wanted her to be...I'm a bit more resistant to that, since I'm considerably older than Evelyn was when she started out. So, it is what it is. Those that read my blog know I haven't always been happy at or with my current employer. So, wanting to go elsewhere isn't really a surprise to those that know me well. However, it's going to be a HUGE surprise (particularly if I actually do it) to my boss/co-workers. Especially since things are starting to turn around a bit. So, yet again, stay tuned.......

Box Color, Part 2

2011-03-27T19:58:00.001-04:00

So, I've been experimenting with box color. Some of it, I've done on swatches, and some I've done on mannequins. It's been an interesting experience, so far. One Mannequin was originally a level 5 (which most usually are) that I had lightened up (with bleach & 20 vol) up to a level 9, then toned one half with 6NG (neutral gold) and the other half with 6BV (blue violet). My next experiment was with Clairol Natural Instincts---their demi permanent line of color, stating in the directions that it would give great color and coverage in just 10 minutes. Okay....I decided to lowlight the mannequin rather than do an all over color. While her hair is possibly a shade or two darker (the color was 12 light golden brown---more like a level 6 or 7 when I got done), the over all effect was what presented itself...meaning it almost looked like I had just applied the color all over instead of adding shots of dark color. And the top of her head didn't appear to "take" at all...could be because it literally didn't sit on the head as long as the rest of it had. I also used a new (to me) foiling technique, called the Sandwich technique: where, instead of folding the foil into an origami paper packet, you lay on foil down under the hair, paint the product onto the hair, then sandwich the next layer of foil on top of the saturated hair, with no folding. Having never done this procedure before, it took me a full 75 minutes to do a full head of foils, instead of 45 minutes... I'll get the hang of it, eventually. Anyway...After the prescribed 10 minutes of processing time (from when the last foil was finished), I pulled out all the foils and rinsed the hair. Against manufacturer instructions, I also shampooed and conditioned the hair...a big no no according to the directions, but, it's habit. This is where the pigment spread all over the hair, leaving an over all darkening of the hair, instead of selected pieces. The product was also quite liquid-y, which made it tricky to work with inside the foils. Overall impression?? Don't care for this product. I let the hair dry over night, then got ready for experiment number two! Experiment Number 2: over all color, using Clairol's Perfect 10 permanent hair color. Again, a 10 minute hair color. This one comes with a special applicator tip, kind of comb-like, to apply the color with. This tip actually has 14 strategically placed holes in it, meant to aid in the complete application of the color. Uh-huh. I used the same mannequin, expressly to mimic what people tend to do with their hair before they finally give up and come in for us to fix it. The color I used was 4G--medium golden brown. The experience: It was a tad tricky to get the right rhythm down for squeezing the product out and running it through the hair at the same time. The hair was already compromised, which made dragging a comb-like tool through the hair more difficult. Over all, it took me 10 minutes to apply the color, then 10 minutes to process. When I rinsed it off, I noticed a greenish tinge to the water as it was rinsing through the freshly colored hair. Which tells me the color had extra green pigment in it to tone down the gold effect. A lot of color lines do this. It does not always make for a pretty color. End results: the applicator tip actually prevented you from getting right down to the root to apply the color. I made sure to follow the directions, as a customer coloring their hair at home would. Some spots saturated darker than others, depending on how much I squeezed out of the bottle at that time. And, the ammonia scent was quite strong...something I don't normally experience in the salon. Over all: Again, not impressed. Experiment Number 3: I took out a different mannequin...this one had her natural hair color, a level 5. I decided to use an ultra light neutral blonde color (which is a high lift color) on her dark hair. It actually did what was predicted on the back of the box: Lighten the hair up to two full shades lighter. The ammonia scent was unbelievably strong. I actually wound up with a headache from it. And clients put themselves through this!! Because the mannequin head has no body heat, I covered the head with a processing cap, then placed under a regular table top lamp to simulate body heat. It was neat to watch the color oxygenate. End results: Her hair was visibly lighter...enough that she could support a really nice, rich red color. Which probably won't happen, as I'm planning on using another blonde hair color on it, just to see what it does! For all of these color products, they all came with a tube of special glossing conditioner, meant to be used once a week instead of your regular conditioner, to help keep the hair healthy and shiny. This is not a product I would use, nor would I recommend using it. The conditioner actually dried my hands out!! What I am learning: the results I've seen have been fairly predictable, for a professional colorist. I can see where the average customer would be disappointed in the product, though. Between the intense aromas, the cumbersome applications, it all isn't worth the $8 it cost for each box of product! (most cost $7.97 apiece...I will be getting others, in different prices, using coupons when I find them, soon!!) Stay tuned for more exciting experiments!! (one of these days, I'll figure out, again, how to upload my pictures!!)

Color Class

2011-03-22T06:21:00.001-04:00

So, I had a color class at a local salon yesterday. My cousin's salon, in fact. More on that part in a bit... The class was a Goldwell color class. Because the majority of us were new hairdressers (less than 5 years in service), the class was a basic class with product knowledge. Which was a good class, but, boy, my brain was FRIED when we were done...lots to process, even though I knew all this stuff. And, what I find happens when I go to these classes is A) I clam up and don't say a whole lot B) I, inadvertently, say something moderately stupid, and then clam up after that. I can formulate colors, and do it fairly well. Previous color still messes me up, but I'm getting there. It's helpful that I know to use demi color on the ends when doing a color change, unless we're lightening up the color over all. But these classes always make me feel like I know NOTHING...I hate that!! My next class is in May, for Footlogix...all about pedicures. Should be a good class. About my cousin's salon: It's a HUGE cavern of a salon...it accommodates up to 11 stylists, a nail technician, and an esthetician. In the 3+ years that she has had this salon, she has chewed up and spit out employees, to the point that the only ones she can attract are people fresh from hairdressing school...people with no client base to help pay the bills. And it's sad to watch. One of her sales reps is trying to convince her to attract booth renters, but she's not wanting to do that because she thinks they won't follow her "rules" and do things her "way". This is what holds Karen back...her ego...in a big way. So, her salon is floundering, she can't afford to keep the place open. It's a beautiful salon, although it could use a bit of updating, it's not bad. Very spacious. She's not overloaded with product, which is good from a financial standpoint, but from a consumer standpoint, she has nothing for variety to offer the consumer. So, they'll go elsewhere to get their products. And eventually, go somewhere else to get their services, too. I sneaked a look at her books...of the 3 employees she has (including herself) only one is booked with clients, and it's not her. Part of her book is because she had emergency gall bladder surgery over the weekend, so things had to shift. But, the rest of it is she's just not booked. Karen has been doing hair for 15 years...she should have a client base, even if some of it has dropped off. It's really sad to see. Times like this, even though Karen isn't my favorite person, where I wish I could help. She had wanted me to come work for her when I got out of school, and I said NO WAY...our personalities are an awful lot alike and I know we'd have butted heads, regularly...I've worked with her before, and have even sat in her chair to experience how inconsistent she is, what her attitude is like...that's how I can say her ego is holding her back. It's going to stink, big time, if she has to close her salon.

Box Color

2011-03-20T07:45:00.000-04:00

Box color has a bad reputation. I see, on a regular basis, the devastation box color winds up causing because people don't understand what they're messing with. Every single person I've come across, in my chair, with a science experiment on their head has said the same thing. "I dyed it too dark, then tried to lighten it up with a lighter color. Now I've got this mess" or something relatively similar. So, I've started, as part of my education in general, experimenting with box color. What I have to remember is that I can't approach it like a colorist...I have to approach it as a general consumer, reading the directions and following them...which is what happens by the time I see them in my chair. How I've prepared for this: I've gone through my collection of hair (yes, I have a hair collection...plastic shoe boxes full of lunch bags with hair in them, all categorized and ready to go), determining which hair is good for the new way I do swatches, and which is too short (needs to be a minimum of 5 inches long in order to be usable, however, some of it, like grey hair, I'll make an exception so I can use it!!). Then, I started actually making the swatches, which is pretty easy compared to how I used to do it, and it involves duct tape. Lay a long strip (at least 24 inches long) out on the counter, roll the sections of hair onto the tape, making a thin layer of hair and pressing it into the tape so it sticks, going from one end of the tape to the other. Lay another piece of duct tape (get the cheap stuff from the dollar store...it's wicked sticky!), pressing it down firmly to stick to the hair. Measure off 4 inch sections, then cut them. Then cut small pieces of duct tape to enclose the cut ends so the swatch doesn't fall apart, and viola! (sorry, I don't know how to get the accent mark in there properly..) you have a functioning hair swatch. Some of them are quite long, and those I use for creating porosity issues, so you can effectively see what the product does on various stages of trashed hair. And some of them are fairly short, 4 inches long or shorter, which will just show how the hair color changes the hair. Welcome to my world. Creating the porosity swatches takes a fair amount of time...and it's done like this: One inch from the top of the swatch, apply a high lift color (should be a blonde one for dark hair, dark one for blonde hair, for contrast) and 40 volume developer (high test, if you will)to the entire length of the hair strand and let process (sit) for 40 minutes. Rinse off, let air dry. You'll notice, when you comb through this hair, that it doesn't really feel or sound (and sound is important later on) any different. This is stage 2 porosity, stage 1 being virgin hair. Next, once the swatch is dry, move another inch down from the first application, and apply another application of high lift color and 40 volume, all the way down the strand, and let process for 30 minutes. Rinse off, let dry. Again, combing through this hair, there is a definite color change, and it's slightly more trashed, but not terribly so. You won't hear much yet. This is stage 3 porosity...the level we professionals generally deal with on a regular basis. Now, you get to apply, again an inch or so down from the last application of color, lightening powder (bleach) and 40 volume, all down the length of the strand, and let process for 60 minutes, making sure to cover the swatch with extra foil so the lightener doesn't dry out. Rinse, let dry. When you comb through this one, you'll actually HEAR the comb pass through the hair strand. This is stage 4 porosity. And it's not pretty. When people have been coloring their hair at home for a long time, following the directions in the box, or they have a hairdresser who does things "old school", this is the porosity I run into. It's not pretty, but it is salvageable. With a fair amount of work. This hair will feel "odd" when it's wet...fragile and delicate, tangles pretty easily, and when dry, it will seem "dry" to your hands. (under redundant, it says "see redundant") For the last application, again an inch from the last one, you're going to use the lightening powder and 20 volume (think unleaded gas), apply it to the ends of the hair, and let process, covered up so it doesn't dry out, for 3 hours. Rinse, let dry. When you rinse this one, you'll notice the hair feels slimy and it looks clear when it's wet. When it dries, it will appear as if it's got styling gel in it...it's clumpy and stiff. When you pull a comb through this hair (when dry) you will hear the comb go through the hair...it is quite loud and sounds like you're combing through tangles, even with tons of conditioner on the hair to try to compensate for it. This is stage 5 porosity...loving referred to as HOT MESS. More often than not, your hair will get to stage 5 before you give in and go to the salon to get something done. Naturally, you want to have your color done. If your hair is quite long, you're not willing to sacrifice a whole lot of length to help fix the damage, which becomes a major discussion between you and the stylist. The best way to deal with stage 4 & 5 hair is to cut it off. You can use a demi permanent color over the top of it, which will help close down the cuticle (which is what is causing all the noise and mess, a thoroughly damaged cuticle), and use smoothing shampoo, conditioner, styling products, stay away from heated hair appliances as much as you can, but all of this is just a band-aid, not a cure. The only CURE is to cut the hair off. Which isn't always feasible. I'm also quick to let the client know it's NOT their fault the damage happened. All they were doing was following the directions on the box. There isn't enough room on the piece of paper for the manufacturer of the hair color to explain all of these details to them, such as JUST DO THE ROOTS and have someone help you, since you can't see the back of your head!!! And, DON'T drag, run, apply the color to the ends for the last 5 minutes of developing time, because it really doesn't "freshen up" the color...it will eventually DARKEN the color and create more damage. Which will force you into the salon. Which may be what the manufacturers are looking for in the first place.

What it costs....

2011-03-15T06:11:00.000-04:00

I touched on this in my last post: What it actually costs to do your hair. I will probably be shot, drawn, and quartered for this, but, here it is. On average, it costs the salon $7.00 to color your hair...this is a color retouch, where just your regrowth is dealt with, and includes the shampoo, conditioner, water usage, electricity, haircut, styling products, and time involved. We happen to charge $40 for this service. Commission comes off that, which, in most cases, is 50%. So, the stylist gets $20 of it. The $7.00 gets deducted from the remaining total,(to pay the bills) making it $13.00 that the salon makes off that particular service. There's a chi chi salon I know that charges $60 for a color retouch, and the haircut is both extra and the price of that is based on how many years the stylist has under her belt. A friend of mine gets $32 for her haircuts, which means she gets $30 off the color and $16 off the haircut. And she's booked up to 3 months out (which is a personal goal of mine), so she cranks in the money...when I worked with her 6 years ago, she was pulling down $70,000 a year in services, which means she took home $35,000...I'm sure it's more than that by now. You are also paying for the fact that we, as licensed hairdressers, actually went to school, graduated, passed our state board exams to work on your hair. But, knowing what it actually costs makes it hard for me to over charge people. I get that Ginger is in this to make money, and I'd actually like to receive a commission paycheck. (I'm paid by the hour, which isn't a bad thing, just a different thing) But, I just can't justify soaking the client, all with the theory that "I'm worth it" going on. A pet peeve of mine is the fact that we don't have a true set guideline for quoting prices. We have base prices to work from, but there's no consistency. And there's no provision for corrective color, either. I'm confident in what I do, in the services I provide, and I understand the chemicals enough to know what they're capable of doing and what they're not capable of doing. But, I keep in mind that we work in a low income area. Do we have people who have a lot of money and don't look the part?? You betcha. Most of the people who come in are hard working people who either own their own business, or worked in the factories (which are now closed, for the most part) or mills in the area. And, in this economy, everyone is looking for a value. The fact that the haircut or blow dry/style is included in all our chemical prices is a good thing, but we have to justify that, every single time. I keep all this stuff in mind, as I continue to move forward in my education. Once I have my actual certification, I can justify, both to myself and to my client, having a higher price. I've also mentioned to Ginger, several times, that we need to re-vamp the menu of services, but, it never gets done. I also keep this stuff in mind, if I ever open my own salon (still a dream, at this point), all of the issues that I complain about will be addressed, from the start, so there are no "grey areas". I hate grey areas!!

Conversations overheard...

2011-03-13T06:44:00.000-04:00

My co-workers are entertaining to listen to. They never cease to amaze me as to what's right and wrong, what's acceptable and what's not. Here we go: When I walked into work yesterday, I over heard Ginger griping to Evelyn about how some guy was parked in "her" space, just hanging out, reading a newspaper. HOW DARE HE?!?!?!? So, Ginger waited patiently, for about a minute, then got out of her car and kicked him out of "her" spot. Here's the funny thing....we park in a free parking lot...no meters, no marked off spaces for anybody, as there's 9 businesses that use that parking lot. And her name is not painted onto any particular space, nor is there a sign stating "This space reserved for Ginger Brown"., soooooo, she doesn't "own" a space. She is a creature of habit and parks in the same space, and has probably done so for the 26 years she's worked there. Doesn't matter. And, of course, Evelyn fed right into it....ass kisser. The second occurrence: Due to lack of business, I had Friday off. Which worked out fine for me, as I was doing all kinds of experiments. However, Evelyn actually did some cleaning around the salon...something Chrissy and I do EVERY DAY WE WORK. It's to the point where she and I don't always do the cleaning, because we're tired of always doing it. There are days, frequently, when Evelyn has lots of time on her hands, and does nothing constructive with it. Her station is always FILTHY, her tools are disgusting, there's color blobs all over the floor (we have floating floors and they're light colored), and slop marks from people spilling their beverages that don't get wiped up. She also almost never sweeps up her hair, so there's always that debris laying around. But, apparently, she cleaned her station, the retail fixture next to her, the tile floor in the shampoo area, (including prying up all the spilled wax & dropped waxing strips that stick to the floor) and the floor space behind the dryer chairs. I was actually led around and shown these things. Seriously. Like I was supposed to sing praises of the fact she actually cleaned something. I just said a lot of "yup, uh-hmms" throughout the entire 5 minutes (that I'll never get back, mind you) of Gingers diatribe. Whatever. By the end of the day, Ginger was actually doing the call back list, Chrissy was taking care of her last client, I was taking care of my last client, and Evelyn skipped out early, instead of hanging around like she usually does. Must be she had "date night" with her wonderboy husband. (he's just as lazy as she is) Something else that happens in the salon that I can't stand (and I've probably mentioned it before) is the whispering that goes on when everyone is still around. You know damn well they're talking about one of us that is still working. And neither of them has the class to take the conversation OUTSIDE so no one can notice what they're whispering about. One of these days I'm going to speak up and say "HEY! Quit talking about me!" just to see their reaction!! Or, better yet, "If you're going to talk about me, at least go out into the hallway where I can't hear you". Talk about childish and unprofessional.... And, finally, my fabulous color from yesterday. Katie's bestie, Vanessa, was in yesterday to get her highlights re-done. I did a partial...from just above the occipital (the top of the curved part of the back of the head) and down the front of her head. Vanessa has a ton of hair, which is, thankfully, fine in texture, and STRONG. Her highlights came out pale blonde and BEAUTIFUL!! WOO HOO!!! And, of course, Ginger had to grill me on how many I did. Must be we're hurting for money. If she questions me again, I'll just explain that she's Katie's bestie and I owe that kid a lot for always being there for Katie (and me, too!). See, I don't believe in overcharging people for the services I provide. The biggest thing in this industry is the tremendous mark up of the services versus what the materials cost, which includes water usage, electricity, time, my education, the chemicals, tools used. I'm all about making money, don't get me wrong. However, I don't think it's necessary to soak the client, all because I think I'm worth it. Right now, everything I do is still in the realm of learning experience, I've only been there two years, so my prices should reflect that, in my opinion, as should Chrissy's. However, I don't think that Evelyn, even with 13 years of experience, should be charging the prices she does, because, well, she doesn't do superior work. She's sloppy, she ruins hair, she never tries anything different, and she never does what the client wants...ever...I haven't heard her arguing with a client lately, but I'm sure she's still doing it. I just can't soak my clients. If we had a posting of what our starting prices were, that would be good. I'll be doing some digging on some down time this week, writing down what the starting prices are, so I will have them available to quote people. Then I won't be hanging myself out to dry!!

Experiments & Explainations

2011-03-11T10:37:00.001-05:00

So, I've had my study materials for just about a week now, maybe two. The latest batch of supplies came this week, and I've been playing!! First on the list was to make the required swatches, which I did. Then, next was to do the porosity examples. The last part of that one is developing right now. I've got swatches prepared for permanent color examples (the lower half of the swatch is bleached to gold, the upper half is natural), which I will be taking into work and taking care of them there. Now, I'm also creating porosity examples with lighter hair. The first batch was done on level 3 (dark brown) hair, the newest batch is on "Soft Brown" hair...level 7, blonde hair. What are porosity examples? Well, it's like this. Porosity refers to the condition of the hair, whether it's from the sun, heated appliances, chemical services. A child's hair, which hasn't been exposed to as much life as an adults, has excellent porosity in reference to the overall health of the hair. Hair has a cuticle, just like your fingernails do. When it's "virgin" hair (no chemical services, no sun damage, no heated appliance damage) the cuticle is compact and tight. It helps their hair to dry relatively quickly, because the water wasn't absorbed into the hair shaft, but remained on the surface. It's also what makes it hard for a child's hair to take to a curl (when you set their hair on rollers, in a curling iron) or to accept a chemical service, like a perm. A perm, on a child, won't "take" because the waving lotion spends all it's developing time trying to break through that tight cuticle. By the time the perm timer is done, the chemical has only just broken through. And, even with the help of the neutralizer, and not washing the hair for the required 48 hours, the perm "falls out", because the chemical couldn't do it's job properly. In my world, that's BAD porosity, because it doesn't work with the chemicals, it works against the chemicals. GOOD porosity, in my world, is slightly roughed up hair, either by sun, heated appliances, or a few chemical services, but not an overload of any of these circumstances. When the porosity gets bad again is when the hair is TRASHED. You've seen these people...usually walking around in a discount department store, or on your main street....orange root area (regrowth), white white ends (this is if they're trying to be blonde), fuzzy like cotton candy, edges looking frayed like a pair of cut off shorts. OR, if they are never happy with the color of their hair, it's lighter on top, and BLACK on the ends. Porosity has to do with ALL of that. Here's how it works with the chemicals, specifically, permanent color: When you apply color for the first time, and your hair is maybe a level 2 for porosity (roughed up slightly, but not trashed), the ammonia in the permanent color swells the cuticle to allow the developer inside to break up your natural pigment to allow the strands to accept the artificial pigment properly. You get to do this maybe once or twice before the hair starts to protest. The ideal way to handle this is: once the initial color is on the hair, and the client comes in to get their regrowth dealt with, permanent color is only used on the regrowth, not down through the entire strand of hair. What you do with the now "old" color is create a demi permanent color to match the original formula and apply that to the ends to "refresh" the color. However, most of the time, this does not happen this way. Whether the color is done in the salon or in the kitchen, the ammonia based color is applied all the way through the hair to "freshen up" the color, which it does, temporarily. What's happening to the hair is this: The ammonia will still swell the cuticle and the developer will still go in and break up the pigment located inside to allow the strand to accept the artificial pigment. However, the developer doesn't work as well on artificial pigment, so it winds up depositing the color more that it lifts or lightens the existing pigment. So, the cuticle is pushed open (envision a partially open rose bud filling with water from the rains) some more, which gives the color a little more room to deposit, which helps keep that cuticle open. So, now, when your hair is wet, it gets kind of clumpy and a bit more difficult to run a comb or brush through, so you heap on the conditioner, thinking that will help. And, when you come into the salon, your complaint is that you hair is dry. Your hair isn't actually dry...it's starting to fray like a pair of cut off shorts. Invariably, the stylist, not understanding the job that the components of artificial color performs, questions you about your water (well water or town water), about your shampoo & conditioner (professional or over the counter), readily placing blame on those things, instead of squarely on themselves. So, the damage continues. Your stylist sells you a ton of product, convincing you it will help your hair. Eventually, you complain that your ends seem really dark, and your top seems really light. And your stylist really can't explain this phenomenon. Now, one of two things will happen: A) a lightener solution(lightening powder, shampoo & developer, equal amounts) will be applied to your hair, lifting out/lightening the hair, but still compromising the integrity of the hair, because lightening powder does the same thing as hair color because it also contains ammonia. Then, your stylist will again apply the permanent color to your entire hair strand, to match the color again, adding yet more ammonia to the hair to swell the cuticle some more. OR, your stylist will highlight your hair, using lightening powder and probably 40 volume developer (like using high performance gasoline in a beat up car) to lighten up those pesky ends, still swelling the hair shaft. Let's go back to that rose for a minute. Adding all that permanent color to the hair shaft is like the rose being subjected to a torrential down pour. The rose keeps opening and opening under the pressure of the rain and the weight of the water, until it eventually is open all the way and the petals start falling off. This is what happens to your hair. Except instead of your hair falling out, it's actually breaking off...what we call a "chemical haircut". Now, let's go back to the nice lady with the hair color. We're going to fix this hot mess. She doesn't like the dark ends, but wants to keep the original color we started with. You, as the stylist/colorist, have no choice but to lighten up those ends using the lightener solution, because permanent hair color uses 20 volume developer, the equivalent of unleaded gas. It doesn't have enough "oomph" to get the job done. You let the nice lady know what you're doing to her hair, that it's necessary. You apply this solution to her hair,making sure to not apply to the regrowth, watching it closely, waiting for it to lighten. NEVER put this corrective color client (because that's now what she is) under the dryer for any of these procedures. The heat from the dryer also opens up the cuticle, which will only make things worse. Once the hair has reached an acceptable level of warm orangey color, rinse the stuff out, shampoo, condition, trim, and dry the hair. Since she's decided to keep the color she had, you apply the permanent color formula to her regrowth ONLY, paying attention to where the other color is, careful to not overlap them. When you are done applying that color, mix up the formula you created in demi permanent, and apply to the lightened ends of the hair. What will you have when you're all done?? Seamless color, the ends of the hair will feel MUCH better. Why, after all those chemicals?? Because the demi color is acidic and the permanent color/lightener is alkaline. Alkaline opens the cuticle, acid closes it down. For take home product, she needs shampoo and conditioner meant to smooth the hair. It's not a cure, by any means, just a band aid, depending on how much damage is done. You'll also need to explain to the client how much it will cost to just do her regrowth, how much it will cost to have to refresh the ends (properly) and that, depending on the shade used, you may not have to refresh every time. What do you have when all this is done?? A happy client who will keep coming back because you saved their hair, or because you never damaged it in the first place. This is why understanding how permanent color works and how porosity plays into all of this is so important to my job.

Work, work, work

2011-03-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

So, Evelyn is forever snagging the corrective colors that come through the door. I'm not sure if today's exciting episode was scheduled in advance, or walked in, but she snagged it. (I was pedicure girl today....such is life, taking care of feet) This nice lady had lots of built up color...her ends were downright BLACK (her hair wasn't terribly long, maybe to the middle of the neck, and layered), her mid-shaft, brown-ish, and her regrowth, WHITE. So, obviously, we've got white hair that we're trying to cover up. And one of two scenarios has happened. A) We've been coloring our hair at home and following the directions (always so NOT the person's fault), or B) a hairdresser, possibly one of my co-workers, is doing this to this nice lady. At any rate, a hot mess on her head. So, Evie worked her magic and mixed up a batch of "Color Balancer" (shampoo, lightener powder & developer) to bring her up to a nice coppery color with screaming white (with hint o' gold) regrowth. And then proceeded to re-color her hair, using 20 volume & ammonia based hair color all over. Just a refresher: The 20 volume, combined with the ammonia based hair color creates up to 2 levels of lift on already previously lightened (to brownish orange) hair. She's using Paul Mitchell color, which states that to make their permanent color line demi permanent, just use 5 volume instead of the 20, creating more deposit than lift. In theory, that's a fabulous idea. The reality is this: Any time you use ammonia based hair color, no matter what strength the developer is, you are creating "lift"--lightening of the hair underneath the hair color. In the case of this coppery color to start, now you're lifting/lightening it to orange. Underneath the cool based color that is ammonia based. And, another refresher: What is permanent about permanent hair color?? The lightening action, not the depositing action. So , what will happen in any where from 2-6 weeks (depending on how often she washes her hair, what she uses, and how hot her water is) from now?? The CB(cool blonde/cool brown, depending on the level) will fade away and what will be left behind?? Another hot mess. The first client we did this experiment on will be coming in, fairly soon (saw her name in the books) for a retouch....should be interesting to hear what has happened with her hair since she was in last. The color ought to be reeeeaaaallly interesting...

Totally forgot yesterday's color....

2011-03-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

Whilst busy reporting on my education and my co-workers, I completely forgot yesterday's color client!! She's one that bounces from one to the other in our salon, which is fine...all of us know her and all of us do something different. She naturally has quite dark hair...easily a level 2. She used to home color it, and thank god she has STRONG hair!! She came in quite a while back, with Chrissy, for foil highlights. Since then, she's seen me twice for cap highlights (which I hate doing). She was going out for her birthday last night and wanted to splurge a little on herself. So, I pulled her through the cap, mixed up her formula, and applied it. What I do when I apply the color to capped hair is I treat it just like a regular color...deal with the regrowth first, since that's brand new hair, hit the dark spots through out the strands next, then through the rest of it. When working with hair pulled through the cap, it's impossible to not pull the product through to the ends. Like I said...thank god she has strong hair! I put a plastic cap over this mess (made her look like the cafeteria lady) and let her process for 20 minutes, with no additional heat. Her hair is strong, but it also pulls up so nicely!! And she still has enough of the dark(natural plus a whole lot of artificial pigment) to create a nice contrast. Ginger commented twice on how good her hair looked after I got done...sounded surprised, too...I hate it when she does that. Seriously. I don't think she'll appreciate my color abilities until after I leave and open my own shop...swear to god!!

Education

2011-03-06T07:27:00.000-05:00

Continuing education in this business is SO important. If you don't educate yourself, you stay woefully behind the times (which is evident when you watch me versus my co-workers). That being said, I have my latest education. I received my package last week, FINALLY. A textbook (always amazes me how expensive those things are), practice mannequin head (to go with the 3 other ones I have), and DVD series. Hairdressing dvd's always crack me up....sometimes they're so poorly done it's funny to watch. Of course, they're also mind numbingly boring, too....mindless repetition is boring, mindless repetition is boring, mindless repetition is boring. However, it's also how the technique/information gets drilled into your head. I've also started prep work for applying what I'm learning to real life, and for the exam I'll be taking (hopefully) in August 2012. What a pain in the rear to re-rip foils so that they're 4 inches wide, because that's the method this system uses. It's a good thing I can get foils on the cheap at the local dollar store!! I did, however, learn a different method for making hair swatches. And I'll be practicing that one, too....it will be much easier to handle the bags of hair I've gleaned from the salon, too... And, thank goodness, I still have my other "hair connection" in the event I need something different for hair. God love him, he always comes through for me!! On a different, yet same, note: Evelyn had rack 'em stack 'em going yesterday....(must be her "bank" is a tad short again), so I wound up rinsing one of her clients out. This nice lady has hair just like mine...baby fine. I truly wish she was my client, because I'd straighten out the hot mess Evelyn has made of her hair by "refreshing" the ends with the permanent hair color. Of course, this poor lady's hair is TRASHED already....I'm betting she can't get a comb through it without using a ton and a half of product. While this sells product (conditioners, mousses, silicone sprays), you shouldn't need a ton of that stuff in order to get a comb through your hair. The crappy part about rinsing her client out is that Evie handed me the bucket of color and said "would you run this through her hair to freshen her ends??"...and being that she is Evelyn's client, I have no choice but to do this. I won't argue with my co-workers about what they're doing to their cilent's hair. When they see my clients continue to come back, and not have any complaints about the condition of their hair, that will, hopefully, be enough to convince them they should try something new. I doubt it, but, hey...one can dream...

Another glorious color

2011-03-05T08:06:00.001-05:00

So, I had another corrective experience yesterday. Not a major one like the last, didn't need to "color balance" her hair, thank goodness!! *Betty* has level 5-6 hair, with 40% grey. She had been home coloring, so her ends were a bit "compromised". Not too bad, but not the greatest, either. We decided to cut quite a bit of hair off, which helped things along. During the initial consultation, she wanted to go lighter. So, that meant a lighter color on her regrowth (at least 2 inches), and highlight through her ends...something I wasn't looking forward to because they are compromised. During the haircut and conversation that accompanied, we decided to turn her hair auburn instead. YAY!!! So much easier to do!!! So, once the cut was done, and her hair dried, I drag out the swatches, so we can agree on a color. We started looking at all the reds...it got overwhelming for Betty, and she finally admitted she's color blind...oranges and reds are hard colors for her to distinguish. Oh, boy.... However, we worked through it and figured out a formula for her regrowth. Paul Mitchell 6CM + 6N + 5R (the R being a small among, about 2 inches worth, just for a little punch). Her ends, I did with Color Sync (it's an opaque color, so I knew it would camouflage the old stuff better) 8RC + 8N. Color Sync doesn't have any ammonia in it, so there is no lightening action going on, only deposit. because her ends are compromised, the red will get in a bit deeper, which works. The end result??? Gorgeous, auburn hair with slightly brighter highlights (because of the old color coming through a bit) and, Betty LOVED it!!!! WOO HOO!!!

Watching and Learning

2011-03-01T19:59:00.001-05:00

Watching: So, Evelyn had a corrective color client today. She had overdosed on dark red hair color and wanted it fixed. I pitched in to help apply the color balancer (lightener, developer & shampoo), since it has to be applied quickly and evenly. What's interesting to watch is how fast and messy Evelyn works. I'm not neat and tidy, not by a long shot. I was dribbling the stuff everywhere, too. However, I wasn't FORCING the product into her hair to make it work faster, as Evelyn was. How was she forcing it?? Well, first you section the hair off and start taking subsections, painting the solution on as you work your way up the head from the nape to the forehead. Once she was done with that (making sure to avoid the regrowth area), she started taking the strands in between her fingers and mushing it around, rubbing it in. Now, it did force the product to work faster. However, this girl has medium to fine textured hair, and since it's been color treated for a while, it's compromised enough that you shouldn't have to do that. But, she did it anyway. Once that was all developed, rinsed off, and dried, then she mixed the formula: 3/4 6N(natural) + 1/4 5CB(Cool brown), with the idea that it will neutralize all the warmth that is currently in her hair. Then, she grabbed the bottle of 20 volume. So, I asked my standard question: If you've already got plenty of lift from the underlying color, why do you want to encourage more lift?? This color line uses 5 volume to make it a demi color...why not do that??" So, she compromised and added the 5 volume and 20 volume together, making 12.5 volume. It still lifted, but not a whole lot. What can I tell about this in reference to Evelyn's knowledge of hair color?? She doesn't get what's permanent about permanent hair color. The clients hair came out a very pretty color. Was it neutral?? No, not really. At least not underneath those crappy fluorescent lights. It still looked pretty warm to me. I guess it's all in training your eye what to look for. Her ends look far more neutral than her mid shaft and regrowth did. We'll see what happens if she comes back. Learning: My continuing education came today!! WOO HOO!!! I got my text book, 6 dvd's and practice mannequin!! The dvd's (the one I watched, anyway) are mind numbingly tedious, even with some parts sped up. But, it does show the technique I need to learn to take the exam, so I'll put up with it. The textbook is tedious, because, well, it's a text book. But, once I get moving along in the book, it will get better...right now, I'm mostly reviewing things I already knew. I'll be setting up a binder to write down the important parts for me to remember. Stay tuned!!

My Secret Ingredient

2011-02-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

My one weekly client was in yesterday, for her color. She is a very sweet, elegant lady who occasionally swears like a truck driver (which is pretty funny, sometimes). The swearing mostly has to do with her boyfriend's kids. Did I mention this wonderful lady is 78 years old?? Any way...She's on the last leg of the 5 year after cancer treatment plan. All medications, in case I didn't say this before, come out in your hair. Because of this, she can't have perms. I tried...her hair looked and felt like wet cotton candy. So, I've only been doing her color and her weekly wash & blow out for the last year or so. And, I've been tinkering with her formula, because she wants to be a platinum color. Let's start at the beginning. She has pretty, medium blue eyes, and clear pink toned skin. (which she covers up with make up) She has plenty of sparkle in her hair, but she still has plenty of pigment, too, which puts her at a level 6. An ashy level 6. I started using just Tigi 10/0 (natural pale blonde) and 9/0 (natural lightest blonde) with 20 volume...not light enough. So, I switched her to TiGi ultra lift...started out really ashy...100/27, then switched to 100/0 (ultra light natural pale blonde) and 100/07 (ultra light ash). Yesterday, I put in a secret ingredient, just to see what it would do. Radiant Gloss, 0/07 Oyster...a pale tan in the demi line, which is a translucent color. What's funny (and my mentor, Maeve, would be rolling her eyes at this)is that fooling around with color, taking chances with it, mixing what they tell you NOT to mix together, is what I love to do. This is where I'm most comfortable breaking the rules. Haircuts, not at all. Updo's? Nope, they're Up-don'ts. Perms?? Boring as all get out. Color?? Just give me a bunch of stuff and I'll make something happen. The end result after I pulled the color through her hair?? (Yes, I know...I committed the cardinal sin...thankfully, I don't run the color through every time I do it. So the integrity of her hair is intact) A beautiful, slightly ashy, but more platinum looking color. I did "pad" it a bit by washing with So Silver (a bluing shampoo), and using Ultra White Minx by Roux Fanciful (temporary color) just as an insurance policy, but I'm betting I didn't need it. We'll see next week when she comes in. She LOVED IT!!! On a different note. Evelyn did a color on one of her clients the other day...Margaret's hair is WHITE with the slightest titch of natural pigment...she was a blonde, a long time ago...a pale one. She's 72 (bless her heart) and wanted some color put back into her hair. Now, all the education I have so far, says the same thing. On white hair, if you put a natural/neutral tone on the hair, it will look ashy. White hair, by it's very nature, is ashy. So, when Evelyn dried her hair, it didn't look any different, other than more dull in color. (she used TiGi 8/0...natural blonde). Margaret even commented, in the salon, about how it didn't look much different. Evelyn tried to convince her that people would ask her, in a positive way, what did she do to her hair. In the end, that's not what happened. Margaret was back in yesterday, wanting something done to the color, because it looked dull (which it did, no doubt about that). So, Evelyn, with Ginger's guidance, put half 7/0 + half 6/0 and darkened it a bit. However, she used permanent color, so it's going to fade, big time. (she used permanent color, both times, pulled through a cap). When I asked "why not use demi??" the answer I got was "I want that little bit of lift"..."So, why not put some gold in the formula??" "Because she turns tweety yellow". Sigh... Sometimes, I think they purposefully mess with the hair so they'll come back to get it fixed, every time. I would much rather they be pleased to death with what I've done than come back and complain about it. Especially when I see the stylist still screw up the color. So, I'll just continue doing my "thing" and watch them do theirs. And report on both. Stay tuned!!

Updates...............

2011-02-24T08:25:00.000-05:00

Some things that have been going on lately............ I ordered my next batch of education. I'm hoping it will come in the next couple of days, but I'm betting it will show up next week. I'm psyched!! Learning new techniques, continuing to blow my co-workers out of the water...all a good time!! Hopefully, I'll be able to get all the studying and practicing in and be able to take the exam in August 2012!! I've been getting busier!! And, I've been doing colors, too!! Yesterday, my once a year client came in. She's a level 6 golden brown. Not any more. She's a level 6-7 flaming redhead with gold highlights!! She's a lot of work because her hair is not quite waist length. The bonus is that her hair is fine in texture, so it develops quickly. Her hair color was GORGEOUS!! Ginger never said a word...mostly because A) she doesn't like my technique, and B) she's afraid of red hair color, like most hairdressers posing as colorists are. I'd love it if those that don't like doing color would turn their color clients over to me, but I don't see that happening. So, I'll just keep plugging away at what I have, creating fabulous colors that are nice to the hair!! I also am planning on amassing box hair color so I can experiment with that, as well. I want to see if it's truly completely different than professional (which I'm pretty sure it's not). I will need to go through my collection of hair first, though, to get more swatches done (which is a tedious, mind numbing , messy job.) in the shades I'd like to work with the most. I have a lot of certain levels...like level 7 which, in my world is blonde, but visually is a really light brown/dirty blonde. I also have a fair amount, still, of really dark hair. But, I'll need to check. And, of course, I'll need to create more color treated swatches, also, so I can experiment with those, as well. Previously color treated hair is quite the learning experience. I may even trash some, so I can work on realistic hair, as well. I also did a beautiful highlight retouch last week. She's a natural level 7 (see, I told you) and her hair is fine in texture, almost baby fine, which means it will pull up to the right color rather quickly. I used the lowest possible developer in the TiGi line with their lightener, and had to put her under the dryer for 15 minutes on medium (which is 90 degrees of heat) to help the top develop with the rest. Ginger was all "don't leave her under there too long...it'll swell and bleed". Here's the thing: I use the lowest possible developer, so the swelling is kept to a minimum...the swelling is caused by the lightener, anyway, not the developer, however, the slower the developer, the more control you have over the product. The more control you have, the more likely the color will come out evenly when you are done. Her hair blended beautifully, and it looked NATURAL, which is always my goal. She was thrilled (which is another goal), and she'll be back!! While talking to my red head yesterday, I found out that her boss saw Evelyn a few weeks ago, and Evie had done her highlights, which came out orange because she had a lot of previous color on her hair, which, knowing Evie, she didn't take completely into consideration. What should have happened is she should have let the client know that was going to happen, and the best she could do, without ruining the integrity of her hair, is lift her as high as she can safely, then tone over the top to make it look better than the orange. It would have given her caramel colored highlights, but it would have been a better thing to do than to let her leave orange and tell her it looked wonderful, which, I'm sure, is what happened. I told my client to tell her to come in and talk to Ginger about it. We'll see if that really happens. Sometimes, people just prefer to complain instead of seek a solution to the problem. If you EVER have a hair mishap, PLEASE just talk to your hairdresser about it. If that person isn't the owner, and you get no where, talk to the owner to seek resolution. If they are the owner, and you don't get the resolution you're looking for, it may be time to seek out a new hairdresser. Which was my newest client yesterday. She lives right in town, yet was travelling to my hometown to get her hair done. By a lady who does the same haircut and hair style on EVERYONE, which I've heard before. Sometime between now and the next time she comes in, I need to cook up a color plan for her...she wants something different than the usual highlights. YAY!!!

Corrective color

2011-02-18T07:08:00.001-05:00

So, we had an instructor come on Wednesday to assist with a corrective color. Originally, it was supposed to be a blonding class, but turned into corrective color. The client: She's a natural level 4-5, meaning that visually, her hair looks dark brown. She has 75% grey in the very front of her hair, getting progressively less as you move to the back of the head. She had been wanting red hair color for a while now, and wasn't getting it. Part of this issue is in communication. Something we should have in the salon that we don't is a "Look Book"...a picture book of the varying shades of each hair color, grouped by category. Those "haircutting books" we all have just don't cut it, no pun intended. And she was never asked what did she perceive as red hair. Now, at her hair level, she can support red hair, but only if it's done correctly. Therein lies the problem. So, the color the client picked out is a light, warm brown. A level 7, as a matter of fact. Which isn't completely inconceivable, however, with all that previous color, it's a challenge. The first procedure is a "Color Balancing". In Paul Mitchell world, this is what used to be called a "soap cap"...equal parts mild shampoo, lightening powder and 10 volume developer. Which was painted on the hair to gently lift out as much of the old color as possible. Which it did, after an hour. So, now, the client is a really warm "red" tone, which means she's a dark orange. And, because some of this formula got onto her regrowth, she now has "hot spots". While she was processing, the instructor asked us to create a formula to give her close to what she's asking for. Evelyn, who fancies herself (Ginger does too, unfortunately) the color expert, chooses 7A & 7N as her formula. I asked her "Why the ash??" "To counteract all the warmth she pulls" (EVERYONE pulls warmth, not just this nice lady) Mind you, we're working with permanent color. I said nothing after that and sat back down, across the way from Evelyn. Chrissy didn't pipe up with anything, and neither did Maude. So, when the instructor asked us what we came up with, Evie pipes up with what she said. So, the instructor tried to guide her to a different place. The 7A & 7N are going to be just too drab...which is what I had said. So, I suggested going with a CB ( cool blonde, which also happens to be a beige-ish color), so it wouldn't look muddy. The ash is a blue based color, which technically neutralizes the orange her hair has in it, but does nothing with the red still in her hair. The cool blonde is a violet base, which is both blue and red. Still doesn't neutralize the red, but isn't going to be muddy and dull...gives it some shine. The rest of the formula is a NN base, to deal with the grey hair. The instructor formulated high...9CB and the NN is lower, level 6, which makes the level about a 71/2. Okay for what we were looking for. I'm here to tell you, Evelyn didn't appreciate the fact that my formula was used. She'll never say anything to me about it, but she'll talk about me behind my back. If it makes you feel better, Evie... Evelyn had to leave, because her husband just can't stay up later so she can participate in these things, so she didn't get to see the end result. That's how I got to actually be involved in this process. I jumped in and helped apply the color. We had decided to use a darker formula on the regrowth, and lighter formula on the ends, which is technically correct. HOWEVER, Ginger, being Ginger, and always needing to be in control, decided to change things. The lighter formula was used all over the head, with only the front regrowth getting the darker formula. Sigh.... And when the instructor questioned this , Ginger got all defensive. (NOTE: when retelling this story a day later, Ginger made it sound like the instructor flipped out, which she did not). The end result?? I feel it was too warm. I also think we should have used a lower volume developer (since PM doesn't have an opaque demi) to make sure the lift was minimal. Because, what is permanent about permanent hair color?? The lift, not the deposit!! My fear, if this client was mine, is that the color is going to fade, big time, because of the shampoo she uses (professional stuff, but the wrong stuff because it's full of sulfates), and that will be her complaint when she comes back in 6 weeks. What I would have done was created a formula in the sheer demi that PM has (SHINES) and apply it over the top to take care of those hot spots. Ginger noted them the next day in talking to Evelyn about it and remarked that the client will never notice them. GASP!!! What did I learn about all of this?? I know what I'm doing, because I've educated myself on what color does to the hair, and my co workers, Ginger in particular, don't understand permanent color, AT ALL. I'm not saying I'm perfect...far from it. But, I've got this education, and I'm not afraid to use it!!

"I want to grow my color out."

2011-02-13T16:36:00.001-05:00

Please. If you color your hair, and you want to let it grow out, PLEASE listen to your hairdresser. I have a client, I've had her for quite a while, now. She came to me back in the summertime, lamenting about continually coloring her hair. The front of her hair is white, and it gets progressively grayer towards the back of her head (to the nape). She's been coloring her hair for YEARS (she's mid-late 40's, at best) and is sick of the expense. So, we talked about finding a solution to help her along. Which I came up with, along with some advice from the fabulous Beth Minardi. The advice was this: highlight tiny sections around her face, and throughout the top. Let them develop until the reach the pale yellow color of the inside of a banana. Rinse, then apply a demi permanent color over the top, in a silvery shade, to help the highlights to blend with the graying hair. Which I did, back in November. She came in yesterday...I was excited because I was under the false assumption that she was letting it grow out, which would give me more white to work with, and, ultimately, less colored hair to deal with, since I would be cutting more off. I had cut her boyfriend's hair the week before, and he had passed comments along about how her hair feels dry, the ends are dark. Which should have gotten me thinking. Not so much. My client had purchased some of the 28-day type of hair color to cover up her regrowth. While she thought she was doing the right thing, really, she wasn't. And this is why: When you color your hair, (and I thought I drilled this through her head, apparently not), even if it's the 28 day kind, and you smush the color through to the ends of your hair, no matter how light the color is, the darker color WILL GET PROGRESSIVELY DARKER. Also, when you have multiple chemicals on your hair shaft, say permanent color, then highlight to lift the color out, then put demi permanent color over the top of it, then put more applications of a semi permanent color over the top of THAT mess, your hair will feel DRY. This is because the cuticle is so blown wide open that the hair feels dry to the touch. In reality, it's frayed, like a beat up pair of cut off shorts. So, I very patiently explained, repeatedly, to my client, that if you truly want the color to grow out, you can no longer color your hair at home. To spend the money to have me remove what I can, safely, to start this process, and then to go buy a box of hair color and cover it up, completely defeats the purpose of removing the color in the first place. And, it's expensive. It's also a waste of money to have me remove the color to have you (the client) only put it back a month or so later because you can't stand the white. It's a choice you have to make. If you want to step away from hair color, you must step away from ALL OF IT, only having me, your colorist, remove more of the color from time to time. You CAN NOT keep coloring your hair over at home. She decided to let me highlight her hair, much more heavily this time, as well as cut 4 inches off her basic length, then layer it. After the highlight was over, and I was running my fingers through her hair while blow drying it, damn little broke off in my hands...a GOOD sign...I cut the majority of the damage out. Now, if she can only step away from the boxes of hair color long enough to let her hair grow out!!!

I really should take pictures...

2011-02-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

There are times, when I'm at work, where I do such a fabulous color that I wish I had taken a picture. I never do. I did two make overs last week. One was a former friend (we're still friendly, just not "friends") and one was a client. Both of them have baby fine hair and not a lot of it. Neither of them is bald, they just don't have an over abundance of hair. Anyway....the friend originally came in for just a haircut. I wound up doing her color, as well. She had previously colored her hair, so I knew I needed to exercise some caution. Since she had been down for just a cut, I did that first (I like to get it out of the way, really...), then took care of a shampoo/blow dry client, then went back to my color. We checked out swatches of hair..I typed her first: Level 6, with lots of "sparkle". She liked the warmth in her previous color, but it went to gold way too fast for her. She wound up picking out some red swatches...when I say red, I don't mean Ronald McDonald red....more like an Indian red-ish sort of color. I did her regrowth with the permanent color formula, then did her ends in the same formula, only in demi-permanent, same color line. (TiGi) CAME OUT BEAUTIFUL!!! My second one: She had been in about a week earlier, and I had cut her hair (see previous post "Don't lie to your hairdresser") She decided to have me cut some more off, then color it, using my best judgment. So, I did some digging and found out what she was trying to achieve with the home color job. She had been blonde as a child, and was now between a level 6 & a level 7...leaning more towards the 7, but some darker touches of 6 in there, too. I asked her what the color was she had been using...not the brand, because that doesn't really matter, more the actual color name. She said 9A, after telling me she didn't want ash tones. I said "Well, you were aiming for a light blonde, in the ash tones. That's what the"A" stands for." So, again, I pulled out the swatches so we can see what appeals to her. I wound up using 8N & 9A & 8G (just a smidgen of the 8G, and more of the 8N than the 9A). Did her regrowth with permanent color, then her ends with the same formula, only in demi. What I was trying to accomplish with this particular formula: Because her ends were sooooooo damaged, I was hoping the demi color would help close down the cuticle, which it, in fact, did. The fact that I cut an additional two inches off her hair was a HUGE help, as well. Going forward, she's coming in every 8 weeks for me to touch it up and trim it to get rid of the damage, so that we can actually do what she really wants, which is all over color with highlights. The demi in the TiGi line of color is a more translucent color, so the lighter stuff underneath will still peek through, which is what I wanted. The color was gorgeous!!! I did caution her, though, that while I hoped the demi lasted until the next time she came in, it may very well not, due to all the previous damage that was done. The damage that was done: (reader's digest condensed version) She had been coloring it at home, following the directions, which stated she needed to run the color through her hair the last five minutes or so, to "Freshen" the ends. All it did to her extremely fine hair was totally blow out the ends, kind of like when the hem of your jeans shorts get all frayed. You can't see it, but you can definitely FEEL it. And, when water hits it, it becomes a SOLID mass of hair. The only product I put in her hair, after shampoo & conditioner, was a light weight mousse, then I styled her hair. Once I put the mousse in, it helped close down the cuticle some more, and made styling her hair just that much easier!!! Another success!! On a separate note, I should be ordering my study packet in the next couple of weeks...WOO HOO!!!! I'll be boring everyone to death with all that I'm learning!!!

Last night's class

2011-01-29T06:05:00.001-05:00

So, we had a color class, in house, yesterday. What a great class!! The funny thing is that Frankie (the educator) taught my co workers what I already knew. What she did for me, was give me a couple of tricks to use with my clients, and explain the TiGi color line better, so we're all more comfortable using it. What she taught my co workers: How to do the regrowth with permanent color, and the ends with demi permanent to preserve the integrity of the hair. The Back story: One of the client/guinea pigs is a woman who is naturally a level 5 with 50% grey, medium texture, lots of natural wave/curl. She has been "blonded" with my favorite, 11A + 40 vol x 2. Which doesn't bring her to a level 11 (except on some of the over processed parts). and it offers NO grey coverage. The client, and her husband, don't really like the blonde that she'd become...too orangey for them. So, she was taken back to a level 7, which is in between what is her natural level (5), and what the blonde was (8-9). The end result looked a tad muddy to me, but that's mostly the lighting in the salon. What was important, is that the client liked it. It will be interesting to hear what the folks at home thought of her color! What I learned during this class about my co workers: They have little knowledge of how color works. Not just the line we were using, mind you, but color in general. They, even the amazing Evelyn, didn't know that when you're doing foils, (which requires lightener) that if you're combating hair that doesn't lift as well(due to color being continually dragged through the hair and well water), that you can and should re apply a fresh batch of lightener to those sections you know aren't going to do well. To me, this is a no-brainer. But, it totally didn't occur to Evelyn that she should do this. And, it didn't occur to Ginger, either. They never bothered to ask me, and I don't usually offer up what I know..it gets them testy. And, the fact that they have no idea how permanent color truly works. It's not the dye load that's permanent. It's the lifting action prior to deposit that is permanent. And, when you drag the color continually through the hair, the color that has ammonia in it, you are redepositing something that doesn't need to be there. Ginger is CONVINCED that why she can't get the comb through a certain client's hair is because of well water build up. Well water doesn't tend to build up on the ends of the hair...it stays more towards the root of the hair because that's where the water actually "hits" the hair...it doesn't have time to deposit the minerals as it slides down the hair. But it does have time when you leave your head under the spray of water. The real reason why she can't get the comb through is because of all that color being dragged through the hair and blowing the cuticle to kingdom come, continually. And Frankie explained all of that. And I watched the wheels turn in Ginger's head...I also watched the doors close on Evelyn's...because she knows everything, of course...

Because I'm such a brat....

2011-01-20T21:59:00.000-05:00

Ever since Katie's Dad came back into the picture, we've all become "friends" on Facebook. It comes in handy if I need to communicate with him, although it isn't really with HIM. It's with his girlfriend, Brenda, who was originally quite instrumental in pushing Doug to contact Katie after she had contacted him. Make any sense?? Anyway....Brenda had recently posted pictures from the last big snow storm...and I commented on the picture. Here's the small back story on what's in the picture: When I was pregnant, Doug's big silver & blue pickup's engine blew....ugly. So, he needed a new truck. He didn't actually NEED the truck...just a reliable vehicle. He took one look at this one ton, cinnamon red & silver ford pick up (the nose-blower special, mind you), instantly fell in love, and bought the damn thing. His truck payments, at that time, were more than my rent was!! At the time, I wasn't happy with him for buying that truck (no, we weren't living together)...it was waaaaaay to expensive, and we had a baby on the way. Jump ahead, 14 years later...the truck actually still exists, albeit in very rough shape. The vehicle he took so much pride in now smells like a dirty ashtray, the dash has cracks in it, hasn't been properly cleaned in FOREVER, the chrome is peeling off the stirrups...sad, really. Any way, Brenda had posted the picture of the truck, half buried in snow (someone swept off the passenger side of the truck to demonstrate how deep the snow was). The comment I wrote was "Awww....Katie's truck is BURIED!!!" knowing he wouldn't bother to say anything...he never goes on Facebook. Here comes the fun part...."Doug" got on and made the comment "That's Brenda's truck!!!"...It wasn't Doug that made the comment, it was Brenda, under Doug's sign in. How do I know this??? Well, Doug's command of written English is a bit interesting...he didn't take typing (as far as I know) in high school, so everything he types (because he's actually sent Katie messages before) are a huge, unpunctuated run on sentence. The comment was properly punctuated, spelled, capitalized, spaced, you name it. Oh, and Doug never remembers his passwords to sign into anything...Brenda does it all. It was unbelievably tempting to say "well, considering "you" bought that truck back in '96, when I was pregnant with Katie, I've always considered it to be her truck" or something equally stabbing right between the eyes to her. However, he chooses to live with her, so I decided to take the high road. Let her think I'm not smart enough to figure things out. Eventually, she'll figure out I'm a lot smarter than she looks!! I'm betting Katie's birthday party will be quite interesting, too, especially if they all come up here!! Stay tuned........

Updates as they happen (sorta)

2011-01-18T07:59:00.001-05:00

I just noticed I didn't update anyone on my breakfast date. So, here it is: Went to breakfast...looked FABULOUS...had some seriously huge Bon Jovi hair going on....Breakfast was just that...breakfast. I worried about where to put the child for nothing, really. Tod was acting weird, even for him. I just chalked it up to nervousness. Boy, was I wrong!! Jump ahead to Monday....he's making posts about how 2011 has started off on a great note. Silly me, I thought it was about ME...wrong again!! Here's what happened: Tod had tried to get me to come over to his house. I turned him down. Eventually, at some point, his "secret crush" magically appeared on his doorstep. Apparently (from what I gleaned off FB, not because he was honest and told me), she has never before given him the time of day. And magically appears on his doorstep. And, being a guy, since opportunity knocked, he answered. Now, the right thing he should have done was to call me and tell me something came up and he couldn't make it. But, that didn't happen. He went ahead with breakfast, then told me, through FB, the next day, that it was a bad idea to go to breakfast,that it didn't feel right. That something happened that he wouldn't get into with me. I got quite angry with him, and told him so. There's nothing I dislike more than dishonesty. Would I have been happy knowing he had sex with someone the night before?? Probably not, even though there was nothing "promised" between the two of us. However, I'm naive, rusty enough to have believed the things he was telling me prior to...how beautiful, sexy, blah blah blah I am....sigh.... So, I avoided him on FB for a week, then went back into his "Wall" and read about how he "f***** up last week, and now I have to live with it" (which he has since taken off FB), and it seems, he's still having the pity party, table of one over the whole thing. I'd like to think he's feeling bad over the way he treated me, but probably not. I'm sure he's lamenting over the fact that he got royally used by "the secret crush"... And, this is the question he posed on FB: "What would you do if your secret crush appeared on your doorstep??" So, here is my answer: For myself, I'd be a bit suspicious. This is someone who has previously NEVER given me the time of day. Why would they show up at my house now??? The fact that my daughter is always with me is also my saving grace...a guarantee that nothing will go amuck, because she's there and we live in a small apartment. The fact that I don't live on the main drag would also tell me someone did some serious digging to find where I live....that one I'd be on the fence about. On the one hand "He must really like me" would come to mind, then instantly, "How did you find where I live" since I don't tend to socialize with my co-workers, would also come to mind. But, I'm like that. I don't have that extra "brain" to think with. Although, there are some women who think like that, I'm not one of them. Never have been. So, my sympathy for him doesn't extend very far. And, truly, knowing how angry I got, if my friendship was really as "dear" as he stated, to my mind, something more than a half-assed apology would have been in order. Apparently, he'd rather beat himself up than man up, apologize, and salvage a friendship that's existed for 25 years. Kind of stinks to find out how you truly rate in this world with some people. ANOTHER UPDATE: I let the people in my life for whom I take care of their hair outside of the salon know that I would no longer be doing that. None of my reasons are made up. I'm tired of doing hair outside of work. Financially, it doesn't do me any good. Some of my travelling to do hair is a 40 mile round trip to make it happen. While I love all these friends dearly, I don't' want to do hair outside of work any longer. It's truly an inconvenient pain in the behind. Dragging all of my stuff with me, always leaving something behind, washing hair in the kitchen sink, or dealing with sprayed down, dirty hair (which just feels nasty...), and bartering for things. Tired of all of it. I am also getting ready to order my study kit for ABCH (American Board of Certified Haircolorists), to start studying/practicing to take the exam, hopefully in August of 2012, if not August of 2013. It's the equivalent of a masters degree in haircolor and it's something I've wanted for a long time. Mostly what I'm waiting for is my tax stuff to come back so I can file them, receive the money, and purchase the study materials, which come to over $500, not including shipping. Then, there's also the huge amount of wear and tear on my car...and I can't swing car payments right now....sigh... Katie's dad is also 3 weeks behind on child support...an amount I cannot carry. So, there's some financial struggling going on right now. Things are behind, which never makes me feel comfy.... Some of Katie's issues with school have been dealt with, albeit in a very heavy handed way. The principal had to come down on her head with a major threat to get her to stay in school. And the criteria for staying home has changed. A fever of over 100 is the only thing that keeps her at home. Period. And she needs a doctors note to get back into school. No more notes from me. So far, so good. She hasn't pulled any of her usual shenanigans since that day. I got a raise at work. While that's exciting, more money in my paycheck, it also makes hitting commission that much harder. Which was the other reason for not doing hair at home any longer. Unfortunately, where I work, versus where the Massachusetts contingent live isn't terribly convenient, for anybody. And I've upset the balance within the force by telling them so. But, I'm not backing down. Not giving in. Not trading services for services. Nothing. It stresses me out too much.

Please don't lie to your hairdresser....

2011-01-16T09:38:00.000-05:00

So, I had this client the other day....(sounds like the beginning of a joke) she has fine, thin hair. (remember, they're two different things) She also colors her hair at home. Her complaint, besides the thinness and the fine-ness, it that it's dry. No matter how much conditioner she uses. My first comment was "When you color your hair, do you pull the color through your hair, or do you just do your regrowth??" "Oh, no. I just do my color like this" and demonstrates using the bottle on just her regrowth. "I never mush the color on the ends". So, we finish the consultation and head over to the sink...which I'm now going to refer to as the lie detector. I get her head into the sink, and get her hair wet. IMMEDIATELY, her hair, what little there is, clumps together. I apply the shampoo, and start asking questions: "do you take any medications?? Do you have well water??" Nothing major for medications, and town water. I explain how both can build up on the hair. I shampooed her hair 3 times...still couldn't get my hands through her hair...then I conditioned...still didn't work. Bring her back to my station, and apply a protein/keratin spray...now I can get the comb through. During the course of the haircut (which didn't take long, and I managed to cut myself because she has no hair!!) I discuss the damage that's been done to her hair. She didn't bother denying that I knew what she'd done. It's not her fault, and I explained so. It's the stupid directions in the box of color. I also explained that she needed to upgrade her shampoo (currently using the BARGAIN brand , which is flavored floor stripper) get regular trims, and amp up the protein in her diet...all these things will improve the condition of her hair, over time. SHAMPOO: It's soooo important to use good shampoo/conditioner, especially if you're going to chemically treat your hair. You can't trash your hair with chemicals, then use cheap crap products. Your hair turns into a Brillo pad. REGULAR TRIMS: Regular is what you make it...every two months, every month, which ever fits into your budget is regular, in my opinion. However, regular it must be. You can't grow your hair as long as it will get if you don't trim it up so it's even every so often. That 2 inch wide long section that touches your waist doesn't count as long hair...the rest of the hair needs to be there, too!!! COLORING YOUR HAIR AT HOME: Not much is going to prevent this from happening. However, the directions need to change in the box. All you're doing when you "freshen up" the color according to the directions is ruining your hair. You're bringing ammonia down to the ends, where it isn't needed, and it blows the cuticles wide open, creating that rough texture that only a haircut will fix. There isn't enough product in the world to apply to your hair that will fix that hot mess. So, in conclusion, please don't lie to your hairdresser. We always find out in the end.

Anxiety.....

2011-01-05T06:47:00.000-05:00

We have an extra person that lives in our house. It's kind of like in the "Family Circus" cartoon when "Not Me" shows up. Except ours is Anxiety. I only found out a few years ago that I suffer from panic attacks. I don't have them very often, and now that I know what they are, I recognize when they're happening, and I do what I can (deep breathing, visualizing, self talk, which ever works) to lessen the anxiety. Most of the time, I can manage to avoid what sends me into orbit. A lot of it has to do with staying away from my brother, who is the main source of the anxiety. My mother is part of it, too. Just not as bad as my brother is. Because of my panic attacks, Katie also suffers from generalized anxiety disorder. She actually has a diagnosis. And it's not necessarily something that's being worked on while Katie is in therapy...I'm not really sure because I'm not always a part of the therapy sessions. A phone call to the therapist is in order. Part of tomorrow's to do list. Katie has anxiety for a variety of reasons. The school bully gets her going. Knowing I'm going to be angry about "X" (what ever she's pulling this week)will do it. Making plans with her father will do it. Missing her appointed homework time with her best friend did it this week. Right before Christmas break, it was the whole thing with going to her Dad's for Christmas,which, by the way, went fine. Everybody liked her, she got some cool presents, had a great time, got to experience what it's like to be a part of a big family (her dad is one of 4, she has 4 cousins with his family, and two of his siblings are married). Katie missed her homework time because Vanessa's mom had gall bladder surgery, and had to stay in the hospital overnight, due to issues with the anesthesia. (which is common for her) Katie also has anxiety about being home alone. However, she doesn't always like going to her grandmothers to stay for the day,either. Gram also causes some anxiety for Katie because she's far more judgmental about it than I am. Katie missing the homework, and having to go to Saturday Academy to make up the work will also give her anxiety. The idea of me dating, possibly actually getting a boyfriend in my life, also gives her anxiety. So. There it is. Anxiety lives in my house. And I have no patience for anxiety, which doesn't help Katie's situation, at all.

Lessons I'm learning....

2011-01-03T15:49:00.000-05:00

1. Dipping my toe in the dating pool isn't as easy as it sounds. 2. Chatting on Facebook is not the best interaction you can have with a potential date. (this should be a no-brainer, but, apparently, I need to remind myself of this) 3. Most people will tell you want they think you want to hear until they get what they want. 4. When they don't get what they want, then they'll tell you something else. 5. I should really, REALLY listen to my gut when it's talking.

Dipping my toe into the dating pool

2011-01-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

For some reason, the gods have determined that this is going to be my year. Apparently, I've become attractive to the opposite sex again. Well, it's not that I haven't been attractive to others...on the contrary, I've been asked out, many times. However, no one has been attractive to ME, with the one most recent exception. Until now. I had a boyfriend in high school, who had a best friend, Tod. I remember meeting him way back then. As a matter of fact, he actually was the one who found my class ring, crushed, on the ground at the race track and returned it to me. But, that was the extent of my interaction with him. He was one of Wade's friends, and that was it. I've run into Tod, over the years, in various retail establishments. And, we've always managed to chat for a long time each time we've seen one another. And, we're friends on Facebook. We chat every once in a while, on FB. About a month ago, he listed his relationship status as "single", and I commented on it, remarking that I was sorry things didn't work out. A week ago, he posted a question on FB. It went something like this: If you were a hobbit, which one would you be and why? To which I replied, Samwise's wife, because she's short and has red wavy hair. And a conversation ensued. Which eventually got a little flirty. And I asked him if he was getting flirty. To which I received a private message from him, admitting that, yes, he was getting flirty. We talked for 2 hours on FB. And made a date for this Sunday (today, in fact) to have breakfast. We were on again the other night, and managed to talk, again, for two hours. Now, I realize that this story is sounding suspiciously like my previous dating story. It does get better. He lets me know (because it's easier when you're on FB instead of face to face) that he thinks I'm cute, sexy as hell, blah blah blah. I'm liking this, as I've always been mildly attracted to Tod, so, I'm going along with all of this. That conversation ended, because, well, it was nearing 11pm...waaaaay past my bedtime!! Then, there was last night. During another open conversation, he not only let the free world (anybody reading his posts) know he still thinks I'm sexy as hell, but that he was home and I should just come on over and watch the hockey game with him. (could rightly care less about hockey, mind you). It was unbelievably tempting to head over there last night. UNBELIEVABLY. However, I was a good girl and didn't go. I was kid-free, too. And, I don't regret it, either. That's not how I wish to start things up. Wrong foot is not the place to be!! Now, let's look at this morning. I actually got up at 4:30 this morning, because that's when my internal alarm said "HEY! GET UP!!" I fought it for a little bit, then gave in and got up. And spent the early morning hours in a state of total nervousness. Stay tuned for tomorrow's exciting episode!!

It's the end of the year....SURPRISE!!

2010-12-28T06:26:00.000-05:00

Wow...the end of the year.....it's truly gone by so fast!! Especially the last 4 months. Wild. I've been at the salon for nearly 2 years now. How is that going?? Slow but steady. One of my clients predicted that 2011 was going to be my year...let's see if she's right!! I've learned how to handle/accept my co-workers for who and what they are, which has made life in the salon much easier. I still get frustrated with them, but, it's a lot less than what it was!! Katie made contact with her other family. A big thing, for the both of us. Yet again, I've discovered that if everyone leaves us alone, Douglas and I do just fine. When others stick their big beaks where they don't belong, it causes problems. His sister-in-law was all about being up my backside until she found out I have no sympathy for Douglas' trials & tribulations. Then, POOF, she disappeared. We're still "friends" on Facebook, but there hasn't been any one on one contact for over a week now. Which isn't really a bad thing....she's a bit schizo, really, so it's okay. My reasoning for contact with his relatives on FB is to notify when Katie's birthday is. Don't want them to feel excluded!!! Sigh...it stinks being the grown up sometimes. I've lost 20 lbs since July 21st. I've got 40 more to go before I reach my ultimate goal of 125 lbs. I get bored with WW frequently, so I'm not taking the new program terribly seriously right now. And, it's the holidays, where I'm eating foods I don't normally eat. I'm trying to be careful of the quantities of food that I eat, so that I don't overdo it. I did have a problem with all the pork I've been eating...we had spiral ham for Christmas, then I made a pork roast the other day. On top of all the salty foods I've been craving lately, my body went into over load and I wound up sick. I also had pierogies, which we never eat ( the homemade kind, not those nasty frozen ones), which are quite rich for me to eat, now that I've changed how I eat. So, it's been a dicey couple of days. Now, I'm eating "kosher'" (no pork of any kind) to kind of "cleanse" my system. Bad experience with the pork...won't be eating it for quite a while, I think, even with "Fatty's" coming up!! Really, I should have lost more than 20 lbs by now....but, like I said, I haven't been following the program like I should, so, my weight loss has been slower. But, at the same time, if I lose it slowly, I'm more likely to keep it off, which is my ultimate goal. So, once New Year's is out of the way, I can focus on what's important. Which is: lose 16lbs in 11 weeks. A bit daunting, since really, it will be 10 weeks, as I know I've gained weight this past week. That's 1.6lbs a week. Can I do it?? Absolutely. It's a matter of knuckling down and following the program!! Continuing to keep our finances under control. Tricky, especially when Doug skips child support and I don't know it until I check my account. Sigh. I don't make quite enough to cover his heiney, YET. Purchase the study materials for the national color exams. That will happen after I get my taxes back, as well as the finances thing. I won't be taking the exam until 2012, so I'll have from February (sometime) until July of 2012 to study, practice, absorb the entire process. My goal is to only take the damn exam once. And, I have to go to Boston to do it. I believe I will be calling upon my "sister", Lisa, for help in both staying in and getting to Boston. Her parents live in Methuen, which is MUCH closer than we are to Boston!! Continue to keep the lines of communication open between Doug and I. Which is difficult at best, since his girlfriend "manages" all his electronic accounts for him, so she does a lot of "editing" for him that he's totally unaware of. Keep Katie on an even keel because of all of this. Her life has turned upside down, courtesy of herself. And now, it's my job to keep that mess straightened out!!

The emotionally unavailable

2010-12-21T20:25:00.001-05:00

What is it with guys that are emotionally unavailable? How is it that they're attractive to me??? I guess you could blame it on my Dad...boy, he was emotionally unavailable!! But, seriously...what is it with guys who think they're ready to move on, yet really aren't?? Is it so hard to admit you need some time, some considerable time, to lick your wounds?? To maybe sit in a corner, sucking your thumb and crying while holding your blankie?? I can tell you that coming on fairly strong to a new someone, then switching it off like a light switch doesn't get it done. While I understand that the holidays are hard when someone is freshly divorced (and boy, do I mean fresh...just shy of 2 months, a mere 6 months total since the separation), and has always had someone else to take care of things like Christmas shopping, etc., for them, let's try focusing on establishing and maintaining a family routine before we try adding someone new into it. Now, I'm not the first woman he's had a date with where he dropped them shortly after. But, here's the thing: YOU'RE NOT READY TO MOVE ON YET!!! Isn't there a self-help book out there somewhere for this very thing?? I may have to do some investigating after the holidays!! Thanks for letting me vent!

Just because....

2010-12-21T05:50:00.000-05:00

I've sought the advice of many, because it's been a long time since I've been in the dating pool. All have said to tread carefully, due to the fact that he's recently divorced. Even my own gut said so, when listening to him lament about the same things...how he's never had to shop by himself before, an empty house, can only talk so much to your kids, etc. I both sympathize and empathize with this dilemma. Been there, done that. The best advice I've gotten is to ask him to something harmless and see what he does. (we did last week and had a great time!) This week, I got shot down. Ouch. Now, the adult in me realizes this is not the time frame to do this...the holidays are fast approaching, he owns his own business, and orders must be completed before the holiday. I get it. The giddy teenager in me is not impressed, at all. From blowing pretty hot to not so much in the course of a few days, well, it sucks. There are a lot of factors and/or variables that I'm not taking into consideration, because, well, I'm not there to listen to what his kids are saying to him. I'm too sure, because this is always the way, regardless of how old the children are (his are 16 & 12) that they are majorly affected by the divorce. And, no one but the kids know what Mom says when Dad isn't around. (and any of her friends). And, I only know what he's like around me. So, I've got nothing to go by, really. However, it still hurts, even though there isn't much invested in this. I hate the self-doubt, insecurity, and indecision that's involved in all of this. I'm sure that it's equal on both our parts...he's freshly divorced, and doesn't know which end is up, I've been out of the "dating pool" for 6 years. I use quotes because my last "dating" experience was with a full-blown, first class alcoholic. I always manage to find the emotionally unavailable and get attached. So, here I am, pity party, table of one. I'd like to say that I'll be optimistic about all of this, but, that's unlikely. I'm nothing if not one of the best doubting thomas' around.

In my life....

2010-12-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

So, as you've read, my life has gone topsy-turvy. Katie's dad is back in the picture, and it's been "interesting" so far. Katie's aunt (Doug's sister-in-law) is back in my life, for which the jury is still out on. We used to be great friends, until she decided to feed Doug a bunch of crap which he then used as the excuse for us to originally break up. Really, he more than likely met someone else (the man has NEVER been faithful) and was ready to move on. Water under the bridge, really. However, the whole situation with Jennifer caused me to be forever cautious around her. She likes to "stir up trouble", so I'm careful what I say. She is full of "useful" information, though....even if I take most of it with a grain of salt. To add to the mix, just for fun, I've met someone. Now, normally, I do not look at my client base as dating fodder. Completely not cool, totally unprofessional. However, at the beginning of the month, I had a new client in my chair. We struck up conversation. (when you have someone in your chair, you can cover a LOT of territory in the time they're sitting with you!) And I heard the audible "click" that told me this guy could possibly be "IT". I watched him, and he heard it, too. By the time he left, not only did he tip me HUGE, he also suggested we all go skating sometime. (one of the conversations we had) So, when I got home that night, I found him on Facebook, and sent him a nice little message about how nice it was to talk to him today. And we've been talking ever since. He wanted to take me out last Saturday night, however, that just wasn't possible, since I was in Greenfield, waiting for Katie to be dropped off by her father. I did suggest that we go to lunch instead. Which we did. Here's the story: I drove over to his shop at the appointed time (did I mention he A) owns his own business? B) owns his own home?? C) has freshly signed divorce papers??) and let myself in. He's a machinist. Which was kind of neat to watch, even though it's all done by enclosed (mostly), computer run machines. He kept apologizing for not being ready. To which I replied: "Relax....it's okay, really!" Winchester is a really small town, much like Hinsdale is. So places to eat lunch are at a minimum that don't involve copious amounts of grease. We started off at the take-out Chinese place (which stunk to high heaven of grease). As we were standing there, contemplating the menu, James (did I mention his name is James??) suggested going to this bake shop/deli on the other side of Hinsdale. So, I said, "Sure. I've never eaten there before." And, we climb back in his truck, drive towards Hinsdale. As we approach the race track (where the new Walmart is located), he asks me if there's an Applebee's in Brattleboro. "No, but there's a 99" "I love 99! Lets go there!" "Okay!" So, we go to 99 for lunch. The food took it's sweet time getting to our table, so we had a chance to talk. It was a bit awkward at first, because this is all new to the both of us (it's been nearly 6 years since I was involved in anything vaguely resembling a relationship). But, we did okay. Our food arrived, we ate and talked some more. Then, we finally decided to leave. We get back into his truck (fully loaded, brand sparkly new pick up truck with vanity plates, I might add) and he asks me if I mind going back to Winchester via Chesterfield. (which, for those that don't know, is in the complete OPPOSITE direction from whence we came) By the time we got back to his shop, we had been gone for over 2 hours!! Now, nothing happened other than a whole lot of conversation. However, I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face ever since. We're going to try to get together again, for either lunch or dinner, SOON. Stay tuned!! :)

Nobody likes a liar...

2010-12-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

Anybody who has known me for any length of time will tell you I don't lie. I don't have the energy for it, I don't have the memory capacity to remember all the lies, so, I just don't bother. I've always operated (especially since becoming a parent) under the policy of "honesty is the best policy". I've been known to drop someone like a hot potato if I catch them lying to me, and it's intentional. I have tossed friendships aside for this. I will also cut you off if you start spreading gossip about me, which is something else I ABHOR. We went out to dinner with Doug, his girlfriend, and her son. It was a great time...the dinner wasn't so great--Applebees, which is okay, but the waitress STUNK, and Doug's girlfriend was less than impressed. We all had a chance to talk, which was nice. I specifically addressed a couple of issues with Katie about her other family in front of Doug & Brenda, so they knew how I felt. One was no more cornering her grandmother about things from long ago....not worth it, especially where she's not well and won't be here forever. (Doug told me what the issue is, all I can remember is that she needs a pacemaker and won't have the surgery). The other was that she could only corner her father when no one else was around. No publicly humiliating him. Totally uncool. He and Brenda both agreed about this. She can ask him whatever she wants, but it has to be in the right setting. During a couple different conversations, Zachary, who is 7, let some things slip, as all little kids do. I had suspected a while back that Doug had maybe changed jobs. He didn't change jobs, he added a job...he now has his own business. Which, by the way, I happen to think is FABULOUS. It's what he's always wanted. He does auto body, and does a damn fine job. It is his love, passion, reason for existence, and he does it well. The fact that they chose to shush Zachary up instead of just admitting things is what bothers me. I know why they're not saying anything (at least, I think I do). They don't want to get "popped" for more child support. I can understand that, particularly if I had been continually taking him back to court to get more (which I'm totally entitled to). However, I've never taken him back in all the years since the court order was put into place. I need the money to come every week, at a predictable time, so I can do with it what I need to. I don't want any extra, as much as we could use it. I'd much rather see him just continue to step up to the plate, man up, and be a Dad. That's waaay more important than an increase in child support. And, there's no way to let them know this, at this point, without letting the proverbial cat out of the bag, there by causing some serious uncomfortable-ness between all parties involved. Sigh...I hate being an adult sometimes.

So.....

2010-12-03T06:30:00.000-05:00

We got home last night and Douglas was on the answering machine again. This time, inviting us out to dinner. They'll be in our area, bringing his girl friend's youngest son to his father, and wanted to get together so we can chat. So, we called him back to accept. Then, I handed the phone to Katie so she could talk to him. First thing she did (after all the "how are you's" were done) was ask him why he didn't try to contact us before now. His reply was the only phone number he had was my mom's from when we lived in the trailer park and he didn't know we had moved, so he didn't know if the phone number still worked. Are you feeling this is a weak excuse, too?? Mind you, in our court order (which we haven't followed since May of 2000), it states that if either of us move more than 100 miles away, we need to contact each other. Since I never moved 100 miles away, I never bothered to tell him. AND, since his actions from May of 2000 indicated that he wanted nothing to do with Katie, I also didn't bother. Was that the right thing to do?? No, probably not. However, it's all over and done with. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of "As The Stomach Churns".....

Things I hear people snivelling about

2010-12-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

Snivelling, whining, moaning and groaning, bitching and complaining. They're all the same thing. Snivelling & whining tend to refer to children (except for some in my orbit), and the latter two are more "adult". I know that I do my fair share (and more, sometimes), however, there are times when I can't take hearing some of the same issues OVER AND OVER!! 1) "I'm a teacher, so I don't make any money" is probably my personal favorite. Currently, on "The Biggest Loser", one of the contestants who got voted off used that one. He lives at home, doesn't have a family to support. I get that he has student loans...so do I. However, I would GLADLY trade with him. He (and a lot of other teachers) make more than 2x what I do. I understand that there are some teachers who go way above and beyond because they love what they do and they do it well. Personally, I feel that these people should get a raise. It's the one's who stink as a teacher, who are only there to collect the paycheck, that I have a problem with!! 2) "How do you like what our current President is doing" and other snottily phrased comments about our current administration. To which I tend to reply (especially to the die-hard republicans I know) "I'd hate to have his job...he can't make anyone happy!" Because, really, he can't. Conversely, as much as everyone likes to say he's the head cheese, really, he's not. Congress is usually who is running the show. They are the ones who tend to get things "done", whatever they are, and the President is the one available for the photo op to sign something into law. At least, that's how it appears. I don't dislike our President, on the contrarey, I voted for the guy. But, even if I didn't, I'd still say the same thing. 3) " I don't have time to exercise". Really?? In the 10 minutes you've taken to snivel about how you don't have time for it, you could have gotten SOMETHING done. It's all about priorities. And, when you don't make you a priority, whoops! There it is! (this is the same person who can carve out time in her "busy" schedule to Christmas shop, but can't find the time to exercise..go figure) 4) "OMG, I'm so broke, I can't afford X". Listen. I'm tired of hearing that one, too. My income is relatively "fixed"--I say relatively because my tips change everything, and how often my clients want me to come in when I'm not scheduled--Yet, I can somehow manage, on very limited benefits from the state and child support (which I haven't gone up on in the 13 years I've been receiving it), to keep my cupboards full, my fridge full, clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, a kitty to love, and a car to drive (complete with full coverage insurance). Would it stink beyond all measure to lose the one benefit I receive from the state?? (the Fed, actually, as it's food stamps) Yes. I would have NOTHING extra, EVER. But, I would find a way. I'm resourceful like that. The other thing I try hard to do is..................................................(drumroll) LIVE WITHIN MY MEANS. I'm not one to compete with the Jones's or anybody else, for that matter. I do not drive a fancy, expensive car, I don't wear designer clothes, (neither does my kid, for that matter)most of what I own is 2nd hand, or I've had it FOREVER. And yet, every 8 weeks or so, I can manage to pay for an expensive haircut, as my special treat to myself, pay for WW every week, pay for the laundry, and put gas in the car. How totally odd. I'm not trying to prove that I'm perfect. FAR from it. But, I've learned my lessons, the HARD way. I just wish everyone else would, too.

A Blast from the Past

2010-11-25T06:48:00.000-05:00

So, Katie being Katie, she pulled a very sneaky move last week. She located her other grandmother's phone number (which my mom has in an ancient Rolodex), called her, and had quite the chat with her. To which Arlene (other grandmother) passed the information on to Doug (Katie's dad) and he called Katie Tuesday night. Katie had told me that her other grandmother had called here "by mistake". Which is probably the worst lie she's ever told, bar none. It was poorly delivered, badly done, you name it. She even went so far as to clear out the caller ID so phone numbers wouldn't show up. So, after freaking out, and calling my best friend, Sandy, on Tuesday night to chat/have a therapy session about Doug being on my answering machine, I called him back, since Katie wasn't at home (at Vanessa's for a sleepover). An hour later, Doug called me back. We talked for 45 minutes, catching up 10 years worth of time. It was very ODD talking to him. It was like no time had passed at all and we were still best friends. He updated me on all his family (because I asked), and himself, to some extent. He asked a bit about Katie, such as what she looked like. He also told me about the phone conversation Katie had with her grandmother. (not so much the details, but the fact that it happened). And, he was also okay with Katie calling him back when she got home last night, which she did. Katie and her father talked for just under 2 hours last night. It was a big "get to know you" phone call, with the both of them asking tons of questions. It seemed like he was very interested in her and was willing to answer all her questions. When we got home and Katie listened to the message he had left, she completely cried. We had talked about the whole thing on the way home from Vanessa's house. I told her I understood why she did things the way she did, that it can't be undone now, so let's just keep moving forward. Do I have fears about this?? TONS. During the conversation I had with Doug, I noticed he was still blaming others for the crappy parts of his life. He had a girlfriend named Terry back when he used to see Katie, and it was UGLY with her...I wasn't allowed any further than the foot of the driveway when I went to pick her up, Doug and I couldn't have any conversations regarding Katie, whatsoever. Not even "Here's the medicine she's on, here's how to give it to her, this is when she took it last, this is when she needs to take it". NOTHING. And, big surprise, she turned out to be a complete mess who apparently embezzled money from her employer. Now, when all of that was happening, and they broke up, I received a phone call from Doug, (a message, actually), stating that he wasn't coming to pick her up that night, as scheduled, and wouldn't be taking her for the holiday on Monday, either (Memorial Day, which was a holiday he pushed to always have her on). And, POOF, that was it. He was gone. He and his mother always had my mother's contact information. I don't know what happened to the stuff his mother had, but, according to him, Terry threw out a bunch of his paperwork, including Katie's contact information. When we talked the other night, I made it CLEAR that he was NOT to hurt her again. He was to do this completely, and not half-assed. That he couldn't just pop in and out of her life whenever it suited him because she really needs her dad. We'll see.

I'm Baaaaaaack!!!

2010-11-15T17:31:00.000-05:00

We finally got hooked back up to the universe today!! A 20 minute job turned into an 80 minute job because "The system is down". I feel bad for the technicians that go to people's houses to hook them up. It's not the technician's fault. Their part of the job, running the line in, drilling a hole for the line, connecting it to the box on the side of the house, hooking things up to the computer inside the house, is all their job is, really. Then, they get on their version of the phone (it's kind of a cell phone and a work computer all rolled into one, not like a Blackberry, though), and the wait begins. This particular company does not have a separate call center to handle the technicians calls from the customer calls. So, they use the same number you do when calling and they have to wait for the next available operator, just like a regular customer does. Do you see what's wrong with this picture??? Anyway, I got hooked up. My computer is still acting a titch strangely, ever since that fabulous virus was running around in my system. There's still some glitches to be worked out. I need PaPa Brian to come up here and work his magic to fix things. I've done everything I know to do, I even think I know where it's coming from (which almost never happens), however, this needs someone far more "expert" than I. Work has been busier, of late, which has been nice. A bit more cha-ching in my pocket, thankyouverymuch! On a work-related note (well, kinda), all is not right in Evelyn's world. There's a strong suspicion that her husband, Lester, is cheating on her. Suddenly, she and Les have "date night", they're doing all kinds of things together (according to Evie), blah blah blah. What I see is Evelyn making a whole lot of effort, and Lester reaping the benefits, yet still carrying on with his "shenanigans" behind her back, but not really covering up his tracks a whole lot. It's sad, really. I'm certainly not crowing about it, nor laughing maniacally, or thinking Evelyn is getting her just desserts. When your spouse cheats on you, and you have to face that reality, and the rest of the reality that goes along with it, it SUCKS. Big time. They also have a little boy, who is unbelievably affected by all of this. In other news, KatieKatherine is actually doing well in school! Her bff, Vanessa, has taken over the job of getting her to do her homework and pass it in. Consequently, her grades have improved, tremendously!! I'm very pleased with her work, and have rightly told her so!!! Bulletins, as they happen!! :)

Until Further Notice.....

2010-10-14T05:43:00.001-04:00

It's official, we're moving. Which means, all of my spare time (thank GOD I actually have spare time!) will be spent cleaning out and moving!! Here's today's list, to identify and deal with all unnecessary items: KITCHEN: Book case: empty it out, box it up, move it! White plastic shelves: Bring all appliances except toaster and chopper to new apartment. Cabinets: empty out all that isn't necessary to determine how much room is needed for what IS necessary! LIVING ROOM: Brown cabinet:empty out (not much really), bring to apt., put in bathroom Brown book case: pack up all books Video cabinet: pack 'em up, move 'em out! Color drawers: Bring entire unit to apt. FOYER: (yes, I have a foyer. It's pretty cool, actually) Corner bookcase: Empty out photo albums, bring over. Determine if case is actually needed (it's kinda awkward to have, being that it actually fits in a corner) Full length mirrors & wall mirror: take down, bring over. Coat hooks on back of back door: Katie's. Weed out, leave behind what's necessary, bring over the rest. MY BEDROOM: All totes under my bed (mostly quilting fabric projects, sheets, that sort of thing) Old night stand: I've had it since I was 5, it'll hold the phone at the new place. Wicker mirror: hasn't had a home in forever. Will go into the bathroom. Both closets: One has my clothing and some junk in it, the other has all the bedding in totes. Totes will be emptied so I can use them to haul stuff upstairs (yes, I'm still on the second floor) Knitting stuff, small pieces of furniture (tall bureau drawers that will be cleaned out and reappropriated, a small CD cabinet that will hold other things, possibly) Wicker trunk: has sheets and other unnecessary items in it. KATIE'S ROOM: Truly, not too bad. My desk can go Tall lamp in corner Empty out toy box and reappropriate Spare cabinet (for things like paper towels & toilet paper. Cabinet belongs to landlord) Throw out stereo in corner (only the radio works, and it takes up entirely too much space!) BATHROOM: Go through shampoo/hair product cabinet & get rid of stuff that's not used!! Empty out underneath the sink, too! ATTIC: This is the most important space to clear out, and, it actually gets done first, while Katie is at school. There is sooo much CRAP up there, it's pathetic! When I'm done, it will be down to winter things, Christmas stuff, luggage, quilting fabric (if I can pawn some of that onto my mother...), and the gift bag of gift bags. I already know that I'll need to store (someplace else) mine & Katie's bed frames, and the Christmas stuff that's not stored in a gift bag ( I may be able to reappropriate some of my totes when I'm done!) and the bicycles (I'm hoping my landlord will let me park them in the cellar at the new house!) It sounds incredibly un-doable when it's all written down. Most of it can be done fairly quickly, it's a matter of doing it. ANNNNND HERE I GO!!

Color Class

2010-10-11T20:37:00.000-04:00

So, I had my first official color class as a practicing hairdresser. Guess what I learned?? That I still don't know diddly squat. I also learned that the educators can sometimes be "snobs" about older methods that should still be in use...for example, a good, old fashioned double process. I got the "that's old-school". Like I was discussing life before the polio vaccine!! The funny thing about the industry I'm in, there are so many different "disciplines" to each phase of this career. Some people agree, some do not. However, Chrissy and I both found some interesting answers to provide the next time we do something that Ginger doesn't want us doing. An example: The color line, Color Sync, (which is a demi permanent color...has no ammonia) is applied to the hair with either a squeeze bottle (kinda like the red & yellow condiment squeeze bottles) or with a bowl & brush (like painting). It is left to process on the hair for 20 minutes, with NO HEAT, according to manufacturer instructions. Ginger, on the other hand, prefers us to apply it either method, then put a cap on their head (so they look like the cafeteria lady) and have them sit under a hood dryer, set on #2 or #3 (medium or high) for 25 minutes. According to the two educators we had today, that is not necessary. It doesn't hurt the hair to introduce heat (since there's no ammonia to swell the cuticle), however, it doesn't really help it, either. I also mentioned good ol' 11A in reference to using it like a high lift color. You should have seen the face the educator made!!! :) She showed us some techniques, however, she focused more of her attention on the two younger girls from JC Penney, and even more to Chrissy than to myself. It was obvious to her that I'm quite a bit older than the rest of the girls in the class. However, she didn't realize (because she didn't know) that I'm just as new to hairdressing as the others are! I do feel I have a slightly better grip on the Matrix color line than I did before. Hopefully, I can take what I've learned and apply it!! :) It also occurred to me that a good majority of my clients are haircut clients, not necessarily color clients. I need to work on that!!

What to blog about....

2010-10-01T06:59:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I don't blog because I've got nothing to say. For those that know me, it's a tad hard to believe, because, well, I don't shut up, most days! While much goes on, I don't always talk about it. There's a possibility we could be moving, too. My landlords (who are FABULOUS people) recently bought the home my father was born in (Mimi, you've been there!), and truly, I want to live there. I'm even willing to live in a smaller apartment (which means downsizing, not a bad thing) to make that happen!! The only problem?? Away from not knowing if it's going to happen (yes, I know...make a phone call, idiot!) is the actual moving process. When I moved from the house I shared with my Mom to my first apartment in my hometown, I used my best friend's suburban and moved most of it myself. She came and helped, and so did my Sister-in-law. It was a cute apartment (also owned by my landlord), but it was a storage unit due to all of my stuff. I had started to downsize when my current apartment became available. We've lived here nearly two years. The rent/bills are a titch of a struggle, and the smaller apartment at the ancestral home would be a small relief, financially ($75 a month cheaper), especially since I need to start looking for another car...the heavy chevy won't be lasting forever, unfortunately... And, it also means less privacy for the child and I...our bedrooms are part of each other (hers would be an alcove off mine), and not necessarily access to the attic space to store the off-season items. So, downsizing is the only option to making it work. If I had the ability to post pictures, I would. My landlords have done an amazing job of cleaning/repairing the ancestral home. Once my family sold it (when my Great Grandmother moved in with my Great Aunt back in the late 60's-early 70's), it pretty much became a slum. And, according to my mom, the apartments have been hacked up, pretty badly. There are walls where they weren't when my parents lived there, stuff like that. However, it's a fabulous home. And, apparently, there are ghosts there, too. More than likely, my family members. The other tenant (that I know) said she's heard party noises, random doors have shut, and she's heard music (not enough to identify the music, just the sound). When my parents lived there, they had quite a few parties (this was before children, obviously). While they weren't "hang off the chandelier" types, they had a good time...I've seen some of the pictures of my parents, pleasantly smashed. And, I have the pictures of my Grandmother (Nana, actually) and my Great Grandmother (Old Nan) with tons of people around, drinking & eating. I'm sure that when my Great Uncle (Eddie) came home on leave (military), they had parties to welcome him home. If nothing else, my family loved to get together and EAT!! (okay, drink, too...) So, that's currently on the horizon. The thought of downsizing is rather daunting, but it's necessary. The other thing I will be doing if the move does happen is GET RID OF MY STATION IN MY HOUSE!! I'm quite tired of doing hair at home. I don't do very much of it, but there are times when I feel taken advantage of. There's sometimes an issue with payment, which would NOT happen if I were doing this person's hair at the salon, which may be happening soon...stay tuned!!

Last week....

2010-09-18T20:09:00.000-04:00

I was on vacation. It was great. I got a bunch of things done. Katiekatherine's room got rearranged, and her work station is where I wanted it to be. She now has a work area big enough to accommodate her computer (which doesn't have the internet) as well as work space to do her homework at. There's room for a lamp, there's a small book case at one end and a drawer unit at the other to hold various supplies (paper, folders, etc.) I'd like to resurface the top with something, but I'm not sure what. Right now, it's just plywood. I'm thinking some sort of tile surface. Any ideas?? After the fair, last weekend, we both wound up sick. Katie started on Saturday, and mine kicked in by Tuesday. Because I'm prone to sinus infections, whammo! My sinuses took the hit, and I was on the phone and in the Dr's office by Wednesday afternoon. I've been taking antibiotics, ever since! Katie is finally feeling better, too. (she went to the Dr's on Thursday, and had nothing more than a cold). However, I had a weird week at work. It started off slow...had a regular client completely blow me off...called me at home 2 days later to apologize. Which brings me to this: When it occurs to you, just 24 hours before you're supposed to go to ANY appointment, please actually make the effort to call the place and cancel the damn appointment!! And, DON'T wait two days to buck up the courage to call!! Especially if you've recently complained about someone keeping you waiting at an appointment!! The even bigger kicker of all this?? The salon has an answering machine that you can actually leave a message on, to cancel your appointment. Enough said. Okay...anyway...My week started off slow, and picked up speed. I went in on my day off to take care of a client, and was busy both Friday and Saturday (today). YAY!! I've also noticed, quite regularly, that I'm running ON TIME now, which is very exciting! I still need extra time for new people, and for certain services, but I'm on time more often than not!! :) Out of all my projects, I still didn't get to work on MY bedroom. It currently looks like FEMA needs to be called in and Federal Relief needs to be applied!! However, it will get there. I also managed to walk a total of 50 miles while I was on vacation, which enabled me to lose 2.6 pounds that week!! My first "large" weight loss since I started WW!! Then, this week, I lost another 2.4 lbs!! WOO HOO!! I made my 5% goal!! I did go walking Friday morning, while still feeling rather cruddy. I made sure to not take my MP3, so I wouldn't push myself any further than I was by walking 5 miles in the first place! My walk, which usually takes me 1 hr 20 minutes, took me 2 hours!!! But, like I said, I kept my pace pretty even, and didn't have too difficult a time walking up and down all the hills that I normally do. I just did them slower. So, I'll be back to walking again tomorrow, same as always. I walk, normally, 4 days a week, 5 miles at a time. I'll try sneaking in an extra walk, too, weather permitting, each day that I do walk, just so I can have decent results at weigh in on Wednesday. I'm not expecting another 2+ lbs loss. Any loss will do!!

Oooohhh look....Squirrel!!

2010-09-10T06:06:00.000-04:00

Otherwise known as, totally random post!! I'm on vacation this week. The last one of the year. And, it's turned out to be a fabulous week, again! (my last vacation was fabulous, weather-wise, also) What have I accomplished?? Well, let's see................................ Katiekatherine's room has been re-arranged and cleaned all at the same time...just have her stereo (which only the radio portion now works) and the craft corner to deal with. As an aside....I'm also seeking any of my things that she's helped herself to while I've been at work. So far, not too bad, mostly because I've searched her room before. However, nothing has solved the problem of keeping her out of my private things (aka: the things in my room), so more drastic measures WILL be taken.... I've been going to Weight Watchers since July. I've only had one week where I didn't lose anything...it was "That Certain Week", too, so I felt I did well! Anyway....I've been losing it slowly, anywhere from .2 to 1.6 pounds a week. This week, however, I lost a surprising 2.6 pounds!! Woo Hoo!! And, I felt I was really struggling, too... (realize, a week runs from the previous Thursday to the current Wednesday, as WW is on Wednesday nights), So, this week, because of vacation, I've been walking more. Both to and from school, most days. So, I've logged an amazing 32 miles...12 miles more than what I'm used to doing!! I'm definitely feeling it in my lower calves (down around my ankles)...Mama 'Zan showed me how to "rip" some CD's, so I was able to load up my MP3 with fast paced music to walk to. Managed to shave off 10 minutes of my walking time, too!!! Getting my mix of foods down has been tricky, too. WW uses the "points" system, which is okay, except that it doesn't keep track of things like how many carbs you eat, how many calories you're eating, etc. So, sometimes, the points value of what you've eaten may stay the same (say, 25 points), but you've eaten 1200 calories today, 1700 calories tomorrow. All the research I've done (thank you, internet!) has shown me what I need for calories, carbs, fats (including the dreaded saturated fats), fiber, protein to complete my day. Thank goodness, at a health magazine website, you can use their calorie counter and activity counter for FREE...you just have to sign up for some newsletters. Which is okay by me, the more I learn about utilizing my body effectively, the better! So, I keep track in both...keeps me relatively honest. I'm not one of those people who constantly "BLT's" (Bite, lick, taste)...once in a while, but not all the time. I'm a SNACKER who doesn't remember to eat fruits and vegetables!!! So, that's a huge effort for me. But, I'm getting there. My doctor informed me I needed to lose 60 pounds, so I'm working on it. With WW, I've lost 7.4. On my own, I managed to lose 2.4. So.....ten pounds down, 50 more to go!! I've broken it down by pounds and weeks, divided it out, and figured out what the minimum is I need to lose each week. Truly, it's not a lot...1.2 pounds a week. It's making sure I do that every week that's the challenge!! I'll also be incorporating other exercise into my schedule, since I won't be walking 32+ miles a week once I go back to work!! I have put off my color study all summer...not going to lie about that one. However, now that it's fall, I'm getting back to it. The child and I switched work stations (made hers bigger, mine smaller), in an effort to reorganize my stuff (and hers, too!). That being said, I'll be back at it, soon! Tonight, we'll be going to the Franklin County Fair with our friends...should be a blast!!!