Beauty School Graduates

The beauty industry turns out thousands of new hairstylists a year from beauty schools all around the world.  And I'm sure you can see the diamonds in the ruff.  Those that handle themselves with enough poise to manage building a clientele, and that can see hair, see where they are going, and most of all, have the courage to continue. Graduating from beauty school is just the beginning.  However, I just attended the San Francisco Institute of Esthetics's and Cosmetology graduation.  And I was inspired by the work these graduates executed on non-professional models.  Color placement and balance were good, the hairstyles were right for the models, and some were adventurous.  These graduates had to put on a runway show, and the hair had to hold up.  The place was packed with people, and employers of top salons were there to spot new talent for their salons.

I was glad I attended.  I felt sort of protective of the new beauty professionals, and touched by their genuine attempt to make the audience proud of their work.  Beauty school is not easy, and being new in the industry is painful.  It's a long haul of making lots of mistakes, learning from them, making little money, and wondering how you can possibly stay with it.  It's hard work, but one of the most fulfilling industries around.  Hairstylists are one of the most satisfied in their work.  But you have to keep challenging yourself to grow, and learn new things.

Thank you graduates for helping me remember where it all started for me, for sharing your creative journey with me with a freshness I hope you never lose.  May you find your own expression through hair, and learn to trust your instincts.

Color Analysis

I attended an evening about image for men and women.  The event is called "A Follow Up."  Anybody who has ever had their colors done by Jennifer Butler, and guests, may take a bag of outfits that they question whether or not they work, and Jennifer will say yeah, or nay.  Watching this process is quite remarkable.  She invited me along to talk about hair, and the changes I would make with the hair of volunteers who were willing to get up on stage.  Jennifer is the queen of color analysis.  I have seen many artists, and she is fabulous at identifying what to accent, finding the feminine within a woman, and the masculine within a man, not to mention what that person's color palette will be, what line designs work best with a particular body type.  This, I'm sure only scratches the surface of Jennifer's repitoire.

Her art seems to consist of her ability to see the essence of a person, and also what quality in that moment does a person want to emphasize, i.e. maybe the client is job hunting, dating, on the board of a women's league, or a high- powered corporate leader.   She seems to operate from a high level of intuition, along with years of training, and a background in fashion. 

She will put together a book for you, that is all about you.  It becomes a valuable resource, whether you are just now dusting of the precious jewel of you, or a veteran fashionista.  Just the few events I have attended, I have seen major transformations occur in people.

The evening was filled with laughter, and ahahs.  I was able to witness not only somebody who is truly gifted, and is living from her essence, but I also saw a generosity that spilled from her to her guests.  Part of the evening consists of the opportunity to let go, and give away the outfits in the bag.  At first, you can see the reluctance of some to let the garments go.  Then, as Jennifer gave the item to somebody else, and seeing how it was so right for that person, people began to see the magic in letting go.  People gave away everything from very expensive, designer clothing, to T shirts and purses.

I think it is a vast body of knowledge that can be helpful to the hairdresser.  Knowing the line designs of clothing, proportions, color, tonal values and how they work with hair, and why is vital information to a hairstylist.  I want to know more for own self-expression, but also in being even more skilled at my craft in helping people manifest their inner beauty on the outside.

I walked away with a confirmed feeling that although color analysis has been around a long time, it will continue to change people's lives as they step into who they really are meant to be.  And, the person who offers the service with as much experience, knowledge, and intuition as Jennifer, is the professional I will see. 

A Salon

Today is the day.  I have gathered some writers for an evening of wine, cheese and crackers, and words, in the salon where I work.  It's happening.  I can't believe it.  I am moved by the amount of support I have in my life, and a lot of that support is from my clients.  How can I thank them?   How can I let them know that without them, I don't know where I would be?  Their love and loyalty has helped to heal a broken soul.  I have come out the other side, resilient, passionate, and a great deal more self-confident. Self-confident enough, that I will share my pages with them, and let them see what goes on this heart of mine.  I will share my short comings, my thoughts about standing behind the chair, my feelings as I am doing so.  I hope for their hearts to be touched by my story, to tap into the universal story.

What compels me to do these things.   I'm not sure.  But I do know it is what I am here to do.  To create a salon has been one of my deepest desires for a very long time.  And to realize my writing life does not have to be seperate from hair, seems the ultimate synthesesis.  I don't have to run from hair to find myself.

Thank you to my loyal partner, friends, clients, coworkers, and SGI community.

Thrills

There is nothing more exciting to me as a hairstylist than to help a woman feel beautiful.  On Saturday, I had a client who wanted to play.  We had determined ahead of time that we would do some hair color, which we hadn't done in a very long time.  We also decided we would take a photo. She had white and gray hair, mixed with 20% of her natural level 5 to 6, with a cool tone.

This was my approach.  I sectioned off the hair with a Pleating section, a type of zigzag section around the parietal. Pleating is from one of Teri Dougherty's collections.  Then, instead of using one color on top, I used a brick laying pattern, with the same size sections.  I used a Majorel, level 4, 20 vol. on the bottom of the zigzag, and 8.13 (1/2), 8 (1/2), 20 vol. on top triangles.

The results were wonderful,  a little more dramatic than her natural look, with a sparkle.  She loved it, and I think she left feeling a bit better about herself.

I'll upload the photo as soon as I figure out how.  

Alopecia

I pass up most Google alerts, but this one caught my eye.  A premature bald woman takes her mother into a salon for her 77th birthday to have her hair and nails done.  A situation that would have traumatized her before.  In fact, she gave up going to them, thinking they were places for people with hair, and she didn't belong. I am moved by her courage, and the inner work she must have done on herself to be confident enough to walk into the salon.  A situation that could have turned heads. 

 Although, I like to think of hairstylists being sensitive to all types of people with all sorts of obvious physical differences, it depends on where you go.  Not all salons are friendly, and in fact, are quite full of themselves and give the profession a bad reputation.  Salons can intimidate and make people feel unfomfortable.

As I read Cheryl Carvery's post, I recalled a client I once gave a haircut to, rather, I gave her very expensive wig.  I worked in one chair salon.  It was private, and I know she appreciated the quiet.  She developed alopecia right around sixteen years old.  She too, seemed to have courage and an inner strength that I felt moved by. 

The wig sparkeled with a level 7, a mid-blonde, with honey highlights.  We were about to shampoo, she held the sides to keep it one her head, and it slipped off.  Her pale, bald head exposed, she reached for the wig with a quick hand and put it back on.  The moment seemed longer than most, discomfort made me tighten and want to take care of her.

As I combed and cut, she shared her history.  I felt honored to be with her.  So much wisdom wrapped up in one woman, who I thought was attractive with, or without hair.  We cut a very modern shape into the hair, long strands fell to the floor.  It was then that she decided to tell me that this beautiful wig was $2000.  I trembled at the thought.  One wrong snip could drain my bank account.   What if she didn't like the cut?   The pressure felt heavy on my chest, until I realized I could sink or swim.  My choice.

We dried her hair and she loved it.  I felt I was given a gift of tenderness, a rare opportunity to expereince her vulnerablity, and therefore experience my own.   I had no choice to look at my own discomfort, and own fear at seeing baldness. 

I think the more women like these can enter salons, own their baldness, and allow us into their human condition, the greater the healing.  One act of courage after another frees us all.

Balancing Life

I've got a lot of questions today. The balance of writing, working behind the chair, daughter time and partner  time, let alone time for myself is one that is fit for the finest circus.  I mean and I love everything I'm doing.  Is the doing about the doing though?   What would it be like to not do for a change, or are doers always fantasizing about the possibility of not doing?  Is the doing a cover up, for fear nothing will happen?    Some would say, "Get yourself to a therapist, quick."  But I feel done with that for now.

I heard, while traveling in India for six months, years ago, "whatever you are here to do, will be done through you, whether you are consciously working on it or not." 

So does it happen unconsciously?  Is it magic?  Does it happen while I sleep?  A simple guided tour map of our life handed to us as we slipped into the world, would be helpful.  We wouldn't have to know all the details, that would be dull and boring.  But if we knew that we would be doing exactly what we are to do this life, we could relax.  Take a vacation, read a book with our feet up on the sofa, take more walks and breathe in more fresh air, snuggle with our lover, play with our kids.

So, do you think hearing that from the teacher has helped any?  I mean, I'm supposed to know it, right?  But I do what I do, what I think I'm supposed to do, creating my own reality, full of it's limitations, every minute.  Am I running from something, or to something?  If I stop long enough, I can see I am still with me.

How can I stop, when there is so much to do.  So many things in life I have yet to experience.  I want to do hair the rest of my life and do it well, masterfully.  Maybe I don't need to stand behind the chair 4/7.  I want to travel to Baja, with my family and see the whales birth, and visit the Rodin museum in Paris, visit Africa and look into the eyes of a gorilla, and smell the earth, visit my mentor in Japan and see the cherry trees in bloom.  I want to experience having a real conversation with my mother, without her talking over me, I want to meet with teams of highly creative people, talk to them, create together.  I want to finish my book, I want to...the list is long.  How can one stop?

I will continue to do because I have to.  A life not verging on insanity will have to come some other time. 

Martin Luther King Jr.

I attended an event in Phoenix last year, on this day.  The cabdriver that picked us up wore a hat, and was a bit chatty.  He was slight and wiry in frame, and maybe 55 years old.  Once we got in the cab, we made small talk about the weather and the fact that it was a holiday.  I don't know why they make such a big deal about this guy (Martin Luther King Jr.), all he ever did was have a dream.  I about fell over. "What?  How you could you say such a thing?  He is one of the great thinkers and leaders of this century, and a tireless crusader for human rights.  He spoke out, and worked hard against injustice of every kind." I wanted to say.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Life's most persistent question is, What are you doing for others?"

It can be overwhelming to see the homeless building in numbers under the freeway, and the jobless rate increasing, the richer getting richer.  How can I make a difference in the well of need that exists in the world? Apathy, and a state of denial seem an easier place to go.

Learning to get along with each other is the order for today, seems appropriate on this holiday.  A day, where people can get their concerns heard and work towards change.  The salon is closed.  We will work with a consulting group to try and work out our issues.  I've never worked in a salon where issues were prevalent enough to warrant outside help.   

To get along  seems simple, but I'm a person who avoids conflict usually.   Silence is not always better.  Complacency is worse.   I resist and despise any rah rah work that will inspire change for a day.  Will lasting change be the result?  It's up to each of us.  The one thing I can do is to become part of the solution.  I will make sure my voice is heard today, and speak up for those who can't. 

Thank you Martin for your efforts, and giving your life to a just cause, your efforts were not in vain.

Not a Simple Cut: Tales from a Hairdresser

The reading date is set.  It will be the first public reading, in a very long time, from my book.  I've been working on this project for10 years, and I'm focusing in on the first 100 pages to get it to an editor.  Although,I am thrilled to have the date set, and sure it is time to start building energy around the book, I am terrified.  The material has become much more personal than I ever thought it would, and richer because of it.  Do I really want my clients, who will fill the audience, to know me that well?

Ugh.  Self-doubt would like to settle in my body.  My brain wants to think it has control, by saying nasty little things to me, like, "Maybe it's too soon."  "You're getting ahead of yourself."  "You're diffusing the energy of the book, so it will be anticlimactic when it gets published, if it publishes."  Dealing with the demons are a full-time job these days.

Even so, I find myself talking about the date, and letting clients know. I've invited some friends from the Squaw Valley Writer's Conference to read with me, their company and support will be a great help.  You know sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, regardless of the fear that is the size of football in your gut?  This is one of those things, I've just got to do.

Oh, yeah.  The date is February 28, 2008 at Keter Salon 1815 Suite A Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA  94710.

NO WAR- She's Letting Her Hair Grow

There are three clients who are friends, all of them are artists.  I respect each and every one of them for manifesting themselves as artists, who never stop creating. One of them teaches classes on Tarot collages, as a way of exploring the different cards of the tarot deck.  She has an amazing gift with the cards, some of the knowledge handed down to her by her mother, some she has learned in her own continual study.  She continues to study it, teach it and offer the knowledge to her friends and acquaintances.  I took my daughter to her to have her cards read when she turned three years old, the candle was lit, the table set, and my daughter picked the cards, and they were explained in a simple way.

She had an art opening Friday night called "Tarage" A Collabrative Tarot & Collage Journey, and her work, as well as the participants,   displayed well in this tiny room of the Oakopolis Creativity Center.   The collages were grouped by Major Arcana, and Minor Arcana, etc., all 78 cards represented.  Quite stunning !  She happened to be sick that night, so we thought she wouldn't show, her friends hung the show.

One of the three, besides the one who teaches, filled me in on the process of the workshop, and then says to me, "You won't be seeing be for awhile, I am letting my hair grow,everywhere, in response to the war in Iraq.  I will not cut it until the war is over.  I actually heard a mother and daughter interviewed on KPFA, who are doing the same.  I felt inspired.  It's something I can do."

We all have to find our own response, that something that we can do to say NO WAR.  Isn't art a response to war?  Creating pieces of beauty, so our minds can focus on what is right in the world.

The Taroist did show and sat, she didn't appear well at all.  But we gave her great encouragement, for she is a master.