Hey,
So I completed my last two trial days as of Saturday.
I really enjoyed myself. I did one more shampoo and then at the very end of the day I was asked to partake in an experiment with a client who was previously a very well-established hairdresser. I was to do one shampoo, another new employee was to do the second shampoo, and a more experienced apprentice was to do the head massage and condition.
When I did my shampoo with her, her feedback was absolutely invaluable. She gave me good notes on pressure and technique. I had been taught by the apprentices there to begin with a scrubbing motion around the forehead, but her advice - which made total sense to me - was to begin with small rotations around the hairline to ensure that the visible parts of the hair would get a thorough clean.
Another good tip she gave me was to 'make sure you get in there and scrub every bit'. I don't know exactly what this made me do, but I can remember just making sure my hands were working the shampoo all around the crown area of the head, and I found myself using bigger gestures around the scalp. She responded very positively, so I must've been doing it right.
At the end of my shift on the Saturday, Daniel took my aside and asked me what I thought. I told him how much I enjoyed myself, and although I didn't mention it to him, I felt as though I had made some strong bonds with the other apprentice who was there that day. We got on pretty well and actually ended up with some playful banter towards the end of the day. He told me that there was another girl who was meant to be coming in for some experience this week. I already knew this so I was expecting him to give me a date to hear back from him. But actually, he looked at me and said "I'm going to go with my gut here and just say, welcome to the team" and he shook my hand. I was so shocked I could've cried! It was definitely a great ending to a rather stressful day. My grandmother had unfortunately passed away at 3am; about 6 hours before I was meant to do my last day of this work experience. I like to think she was watching over me that day ♥
And that's that! I guess I can now continue this blog by writing all about what I learn at college and from working in the salon.
Thanks for reading,
Alice
Monday 30 May 2016
Friday 20 May 2016
A Little On Me
Hey,
So I guess so far I've been so focussed on making this blog a resource for wannabe hairdressers that I forgot to ever really introduce myself properly. I don't really plan on keeping this blog as being exclusively just about hair, I want to make it more as a diary of my life. I like the idea of writing out all my mistakes and triumphs for the world to see, so that anyone else in my shoes can read and learn from it.
Sometimes it's quite lonely to have a problem and find nobody else sharing your struggle (see my struggles getting an apprenticehip - ha!) and although I don't want to be ultra negative or anything about myself, I struggle just as much as the next person. I want to be able to share that and learn from it together.
So this is me.
That's the most recent selfie I've taken (ha). I currently have off-black hair. It's been every shade under the sun before this. I am a natural dark blonde, but took to dying it platinum blonde when I was around 15-16 years old. When I started college at 17 I used temporary dyes and had my hair purple, blue, turqoise, pink, orange and every shade in between that. It was awesome, and I'm forever glad I went through that phase.
After a few years of that my hair got pretty damaged so I dyed it darker and darker gradually; starting out with a truly crap balayage done at a hairdresser and quickly turning into various shades of ginger, brown, and finally off-black.
About a month ago now I got a full weave installed by Arena Creative Hair in Plymouth to add thickness and length to my hair. My natural hair is just below shoulder length, but the weave is down to my waist. I absolutely love it and would totally reccomend one to anyone looking for extensions.
I live in the South West of England (which you may have guessed as I get my hair done in Plymouth) and I have done all my life. I live with my dad in a renovated farm house in the middle of nowhere. The scenery where I live is really beautiful. I also have a cat called Sushi. Here's a picture of her in the garden:
She's a gorgeous cat and loves a big cuddle. She was my 18th birthday present as a little kitten, and I love her more and more every day.
Currently I work in a nursing home as a kitchen assistant-slash-cook. I've worked there since I was 16 as my weekend job, but it's not something I want to pursue very far. At the moment it's just the money that gets me by, but I can't deny how wonderful the experience of working with the elderly has been. You meet some amazing people in this line of work, and I'd recommend it to any kid that needs a job to kick start confidence in the work place.
I have a boyfriend who I've been with for a year and a half now. He's going away for several months this year, which isn't ideal, but I figure it'll be something I can blog about and share the experience of with you. He's been away before last year for 7 weeks, and there were ups and downs, but this time will be longer. It'll suck, but we're currently planning on booking a holiday to Vegas at Christmas time when he's back, so at least we'll both have something to look forward to at the end of it. That will definitely be something to blog about, as I've always dreamed of going to Vegas when I turn 21 (which will be this September).
Ok, I think that's enough for now. I'll probably do a few more personal posts now that I've opened the door with this one.
Catch you soon,
Alice
So I guess so far I've been so focussed on making this blog a resource for wannabe hairdressers that I forgot to ever really introduce myself properly. I don't really plan on keeping this blog as being exclusively just about hair, I want to make it more as a diary of my life. I like the idea of writing out all my mistakes and triumphs for the world to see, so that anyone else in my shoes can read and learn from it.
Sometimes it's quite lonely to have a problem and find nobody else sharing your struggle (see my struggles getting an apprenticehip - ha!) and although I don't want to be ultra negative or anything about myself, I struggle just as much as the next person. I want to be able to share that and learn from it together.
So this is me.
That's the most recent selfie I've taken (ha). I currently have off-black hair. It's been every shade under the sun before this. I am a natural dark blonde, but took to dying it platinum blonde when I was around 15-16 years old. When I started college at 17 I used temporary dyes and had my hair purple, blue, turqoise, pink, orange and every shade in between that. It was awesome, and I'm forever glad I went through that phase.
After a few years of that my hair got pretty damaged so I dyed it darker and darker gradually; starting out with a truly crap balayage done at a hairdresser and quickly turning into various shades of ginger, brown, and finally off-black.
About a month ago now I got a full weave installed by Arena Creative Hair in Plymouth to add thickness and length to my hair. My natural hair is just below shoulder length, but the weave is down to my waist. I absolutely love it and would totally reccomend one to anyone looking for extensions.
I live in the South West of England (which you may have guessed as I get my hair done in Plymouth) and I have done all my life. I live with my dad in a renovated farm house in the middle of nowhere. The scenery where I live is really beautiful. I also have a cat called Sushi. Here's a picture of her in the garden:
She's a gorgeous cat and loves a big cuddle. She was my 18th birthday present as a little kitten, and I love her more and more every day.
Currently I work in a nursing home as a kitchen assistant-slash-cook. I've worked there since I was 16 as my weekend job, but it's not something I want to pursue very far. At the moment it's just the money that gets me by, but I can't deny how wonderful the experience of working with the elderly has been. You meet some amazing people in this line of work, and I'd recommend it to any kid that needs a job to kick start confidence in the work place.
I have a boyfriend who I've been with for a year and a half now. He's going away for several months this year, which isn't ideal, but I figure it'll be something I can blog about and share the experience of with you. He's been away before last year for 7 weeks, and there were ups and downs, but this time will be longer. It'll suck, but we're currently planning on booking a holiday to Vegas at Christmas time when he's back, so at least we'll both have something to look forward to at the end of it. That will definitely be something to blog about, as I've always dreamed of going to Vegas when I turn 21 (which will be this September).
Ok, I think that's enough for now. I'll probably do a few more personal posts now that I've opened the door with this one.
Catch you soon,
Alice
Tuesday 17 May 2016
A Day in the Life
Hey,
So last Thursday I had my work experience day at the salon.
This was the first experience I had ever had working in a salon, so it totally was an eye opener.
I came in quarter of an hour before they opened and introduced myself to the ladies in the staff room as confidently as I could (which came out more like a 'er.. Hi I'm Alice I'm here for a er.. work experience thingy') which in retrospect I probably should have been a little more prepared for - haha!
The owners arrived shortly after me and after a breif hello, he assigned me a woman called Val to shadow for the day. Val explained to me that she had been at the salon for two years, and although the owner had expressed great interest in her training to become a hairdresser, she wanted to remain as an assistant permanently, and enjoyed the job just as it was.
Val was really nice to me and I didn't find myself struggling to get on with her - or indeed anyone - during the day at all.
The first thing we did was plug in the hairdryers at each station. Once this was done we got the box of hairbrushes and removed any excess hair from them and made sure they were nice and clean for the day. This was the first experience of gross hair bits I had during the day, and although it didn't gross me out much, it was actually something I wasn't prepared for- which is why I can totally agree the experience in the salon is important. If bits of hair gross you out, this is not the job for you.
Once those were clean we folded up some of the towels that had dried and hung up the clean robes in the cupboard. By this time, a few clients had been seen to and there was some hair to sweet up from the floor. This was pretty straightforward. We just blow dried the seats to remove any hair bits and swept the floor below. The seats had to be re set for the next client, and the glass shelf under the mirror had to be wiped.
One thing I didn't know was that the scissors are very, very valuable. Val reccomended when I wipe the shelves to hold the scissors a few inches above the shelf as I wipe, as dropping them on the floor and breaking them could be catastrophic. I Googled how much the scissors would've cost when I got home. They were in the region of £400-£800, so yes, it is a good thing I didn't drop them.
When new clients came in, I learned to 'gown up'. This was essentially just placing a towel underneath the gown and a plastic bib over the top of that to protect their clothing from hair colour. This was the time to offer and make the client a tea or coffee also.
We had to keep on top of all these things as the day progressed. The two other apprentices there were doing this too, so there were actually 4 of us assisting that day. I really enjoyed meeting the other girls, they were both lovely and had so much information to give me. Between the three of them, I learned the basic techniques to shampooing, and under the guidance of another apprentice I actually did shampoo one client, to moderate success. Thankfully the client was very understanding of my inexperience and was rather encouraging, even giving me feedback on the pressure I was using during the head massage.
One thing that amused me was how all the staff were saying how manic it was that day, and a few even asked me if I was knackered or not.. My current job is in a kitchen in a very busy nursing home, and compared to that working in the salon was an absolute breeze!
I really enjoyed my experience day, and I still have two more to come which I'm looking forward to.
I'll let you know how they go,
Alice
So last Thursday I had my work experience day at the salon.
This was the first experience I had ever had working in a salon, so it totally was an eye opener.
I came in quarter of an hour before they opened and introduced myself to the ladies in the staff room as confidently as I could (which came out more like a 'er.. Hi I'm Alice I'm here for a er.. work experience thingy') which in retrospect I probably should have been a little more prepared for - haha!
The owners arrived shortly after me and after a breif hello, he assigned me a woman called Val to shadow for the day. Val explained to me that she had been at the salon for two years, and although the owner had expressed great interest in her training to become a hairdresser, she wanted to remain as an assistant permanently, and enjoyed the job just as it was.
Val was really nice to me and I didn't find myself struggling to get on with her - or indeed anyone - during the day at all.
The first thing we did was plug in the hairdryers at each station. Once this was done we got the box of hairbrushes and removed any excess hair from them and made sure they were nice and clean for the day. This was the first experience of gross hair bits I had during the day, and although it didn't gross me out much, it was actually something I wasn't prepared for- which is why I can totally agree the experience in the salon is important. If bits of hair gross you out, this is not the job for you.
Once those were clean we folded up some of the towels that had dried and hung up the clean robes in the cupboard. By this time, a few clients had been seen to and there was some hair to sweet up from the floor. This was pretty straightforward. We just blow dried the seats to remove any hair bits and swept the floor below. The seats had to be re set for the next client, and the glass shelf under the mirror had to be wiped.
One thing I didn't know was that the scissors are very, very valuable. Val reccomended when I wipe the shelves to hold the scissors a few inches above the shelf as I wipe, as dropping them on the floor and breaking them could be catastrophic. I Googled how much the scissors would've cost when I got home. They were in the region of £400-£800, so yes, it is a good thing I didn't drop them.
When new clients came in, I learned to 'gown up'. This was essentially just placing a towel underneath the gown and a plastic bib over the top of that to protect their clothing from hair colour. This was the time to offer and make the client a tea or coffee also.
We had to keep on top of all these things as the day progressed. The two other apprentices there were doing this too, so there were actually 4 of us assisting that day. I really enjoyed meeting the other girls, they were both lovely and had so much information to give me. Between the three of them, I learned the basic techniques to shampooing, and under the guidance of another apprentice I actually did shampoo one client, to moderate success. Thankfully the client was very understanding of my inexperience and was rather encouraging, even giving me feedback on the pressure I was using during the head massage.
One thing that amused me was how all the staff were saying how manic it was that day, and a few even asked me if I was knackered or not.. My current job is in a kitchen in a very busy nursing home, and compared to that working in the salon was an absolute breeze!
I really enjoyed my experience day, and I still have two more to come which I'm looking forward to.
I'll let you know how they go,
Alice
Monday 9 May 2016
Good Things Come
Hey,
So I went to my interview as promised and was very pleasantly surprised by what they had to say.
I could have struggled to walk out of the door. They were so complimentary I could almost feel my head swelling up!
First of all, they really seemed to love my CV. This really pleased me because so far, my CV has received no feedback from any employer whatsoever. That's not to say I haven't tried to get any feedback, I just haven't had any replies as of yet.
I spoke to three people in my interview. There was a woman called Faye, who was head of education at the salon. She was very lovely, and I liked her practical approach to the interview. She was very complimentary of my CV, but due to my lack of experience was hesitant to give me a position straight away. She came up with the very reasonable (and very exciting) opportinity for me to spend a few sessions in the salon getting some experience and a feel for the working environment, with no commitment for the time being.
I also spoke to Daniel, the owner, and his wife, Jackie. I really liked both of them. Jackie is the woman I spoke to during my application process and I was pleased to see her there, she seemed very supportive of me which was lovely.
Speaking to Daniel was pretty incredible.
He seemed to really love the impression I gave him from my CV. He said he wanted to see me put the same work and passion into my work experience there as I did in my CV, which I totally will do. He gave me so many compliments during our chat; he said he liked my style (actually he said I already looked like a hairdresser!) and he liked the way I came across. He was very impressed by my GCSE and A-Level results, and even went so far as to imply I had one of the stronger applications he has come across, even from his own staff.
As Daniel is someone in the industry whom I hold a lot of respect for, this is massively exciting, and I actually found it to be quite inspiring as well. His belief in me has sparked a much stronger belief in myself - and this says to me that working alongside someone like Daniel I could really, truly reach my full potential.
I'm so appreciative of them giving me this offer, as the experience will be so so useful to me and although I don't start until Thursday, I'm already very excited. They could have just turned me away at the start due to my lack of experience. I really admire how they have chosen to give me this experience and give me a chance. I doubt many other salons would do that, particularly not for an older student (because even with the work-around they explained to me, it certainly seems as though it isn't as easy as hiring someone who's within the fully funded age).
I'll be writing another post after my first experience day.
- Alice
So I went to my interview as promised and was very pleasantly surprised by what they had to say.
I could have struggled to walk out of the door. They were so complimentary I could almost feel my head swelling up!
First of all, they really seemed to love my CV. This really pleased me because so far, my CV has received no feedback from any employer whatsoever. That's not to say I haven't tried to get any feedback, I just haven't had any replies as of yet.
I spoke to three people in my interview. There was a woman called Faye, who was head of education at the salon. She was very lovely, and I liked her practical approach to the interview. She was very complimentary of my CV, but due to my lack of experience was hesitant to give me a position straight away. She came up with the very reasonable (and very exciting) opportinity for me to spend a few sessions in the salon getting some experience and a feel for the working environment, with no commitment for the time being.
I also spoke to Daniel, the owner, and his wife, Jackie. I really liked both of them. Jackie is the woman I spoke to during my application process and I was pleased to see her there, she seemed very supportive of me which was lovely.
Speaking to Daniel was pretty incredible.
He seemed to really love the impression I gave him from my CV. He said he wanted to see me put the same work and passion into my work experience there as I did in my CV, which I totally will do. He gave me so many compliments during our chat; he said he liked my style (actually he said I already looked like a hairdresser!) and he liked the way I came across. He was very impressed by my GCSE and A-Level results, and even went so far as to imply I had one of the stronger applications he has come across, even from his own staff.
As Daniel is someone in the industry whom I hold a lot of respect for, this is massively exciting, and I actually found it to be quite inspiring as well. His belief in me has sparked a much stronger belief in myself - and this says to me that working alongside someone like Daniel I could really, truly reach my full potential.
I'm so appreciative of them giving me this offer, as the experience will be so so useful to me and although I don't start until Thursday, I'm already very excited. They could have just turned me away at the start due to my lack of experience. I really admire how they have chosen to give me this experience and give me a chance. I doubt many other salons would do that, particularly not for an older student (because even with the work-around they explained to me, it certainly seems as though it isn't as easy as hiring someone who's within the fully funded age).
I'll be writing another post after my first experience day.
- Alice
Wednesday 4 May 2016
Interview Preparation
Hey,
So the salon I've applied to phoned me this morning to invite me to meet them again for what I presume is an interview.
I was expecting to speak to them yesterday, so I was very pleasantly surprised to be contacted within 30 minutes of them opening this morning. I had mentioned when I gave in my CV that I work for 12 hours on a Tuesday and cannot answer the phone, so it seems to me she remembered this and I was very impressed at how early they contacted me considering it was technically a day late.
I've come to realise after all the flakiness I've seen in the applications I've made so far (we'll be in contact, we'll be in touch soon, we'll call tomorrow etc. etc. and it never happens) that this is something I'm really looking for in the company I get to work in, as I value good communication highly.
I'm going in to see them tomorrow at 5:30pm. I actually have a very busy day tomorrow, so because of this I've already curled my hair today in preparation. I'm sure I'll have to touch it up a little in the morning, but it's definitely going to save me lots of time as I have to be somewhere at 9am, and will have to go straight from this, to helping out with some elderly people taking a trip to the beach, which will hopefully be over by 5. Phew! Thankfully I need to dress fairly smart for the first activity, so I shouldn't need to change for my interview.
The mistake I think I made when going to my interview at Toni & Guy, was mainly not knowing much about the brand. The second question they asked me was 'what do you know about Toni & Guy', which totally stumped me. Of course I know of it, but in retrospect, the information I managed to spew out must have screamed that I didn't do any research. I wanted the job, but I didn't realise just how important it is to seem as though you want that specific job, with that specific brand. So I will do as much research about the hairdresser as I can, so if they ask me a question like that I won't be caught off-guard.
They have my CV, so they will know about my experience. They should know I don't have any salon experience, but one thing I did do with my covering letter was emphasise just how customer service heavy my job is. Customer service experience is probably the second-best thing you can get to salon experience when applying for a hairdressing apprenticeship.
I guess at the end of the day the best preparation I can do for an interview like this is turn up looking smart, and feeling good about it.
I'll let you know how I get on
- Alice
So the salon I've applied to phoned me this morning to invite me to meet them again for what I presume is an interview.
I was expecting to speak to them yesterday, so I was very pleasantly surprised to be contacted within 30 minutes of them opening this morning. I had mentioned when I gave in my CV that I work for 12 hours on a Tuesday and cannot answer the phone, so it seems to me she remembered this and I was very impressed at how early they contacted me considering it was technically a day late.
I've come to realise after all the flakiness I've seen in the applications I've made so far (we'll be in contact, we'll be in touch soon, we'll call tomorrow etc. etc. and it never happens) that this is something I'm really looking for in the company I get to work in, as I value good communication highly.
I'm going in to see them tomorrow at 5:30pm. I actually have a very busy day tomorrow, so because of this I've already curled my hair today in preparation. I'm sure I'll have to touch it up a little in the morning, but it's definitely going to save me lots of time as I have to be somewhere at 9am, and will have to go straight from this, to helping out with some elderly people taking a trip to the beach, which will hopefully be over by 5. Phew! Thankfully I need to dress fairly smart for the first activity, so I shouldn't need to change for my interview.
The mistake I think I made when going to my interview at Toni & Guy, was mainly not knowing much about the brand. The second question they asked me was 'what do you know about Toni & Guy', which totally stumped me. Of course I know of it, but in retrospect, the information I managed to spew out must have screamed that I didn't do any research. I wanted the job, but I didn't realise just how important it is to seem as though you want that specific job, with that specific brand. So I will do as much research about the hairdresser as I can, so if they ask me a question like that I won't be caught off-guard.
They have my CV, so they will know about my experience. They should know I don't have any salon experience, but one thing I did do with my covering letter was emphasise just how customer service heavy my job is. Customer service experience is probably the second-best thing you can get to salon experience when applying for a hairdressing apprenticeship.
I guess at the end of the day the best preparation I can do for an interview like this is turn up looking smart, and feeling good about it.
I'll let you know how I get on
- Alice
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