Just in Case!!!! Shawn and Angie!

My relationship with Paul Mitchell The School and Lunatic Fringe Salons is an interesting one. Several years ago, something in my brain clicked. It's as if my body started to produce a hormone that made me care about things like pants that fit. I also started to enjoy paying a bit more money for high-end hair services. For whatever reason, I ended up at a salon called Lunatic Fringe just across the street from Trolley Square. The atmosphere was awesome and a stylist named Brooklyn introduced me into the seductive and sexy world of Hair!

Years later, I began working at Contender Bicycles just down the road on 9th and 9th. At which point I was briefly introduced to Shawn and Angie Trujillo, owners of Lunatic Fringe and PM The School. By this time, I had attended a couple of LF's fundraising fashion shows (which blew my mind) and started to frequent the Sugarhouse location of Lunatic Fringe. Now, I am a full-time student at PMTS SLC.

About a month ago, a special class was held for those who had maintained perfect attendance for the month of september. This class was taught by Shawn and his wife Angie. They told us all about how the built their businesses from the ground up and gave us a ton of advice about our futures. It was awesome. They are pretty outstanding folks and it was very inspiring.

Apparently, someone high up in the PM Empire found my blog here and emailed the faculty at PMTS and told them to check it out! Ha! Luckily there is no compromising material on here but Angie asked me when I was going to put her on here! Well, I thought I had a couple times, but just in case...

Makeup Class

Just in time for Halloween, we had a theatrical makeup class focusing on creating wounds and the like. My classmate Kiesha (sp) being the theatrical makeup guru that she is, created this disturbing work on my friend's forearm. SICK! Ha, I had to get a pick of it cause it made me dry heave a couple times!

Whoops! Been a while!!! Heather Warnock!

So, recently we had a VIP guest speaker to our school. Her name is Linda Yodice and she is a pretty big deal. She is responsible for developing PM's The Color line... which is awesome. As part of her visit, she told us a lot about cool color placements and PM Shines which I love. The PM Shine is a Demi Permanent color that lasts about 6 weeks or so. The nice thing about it is that it actually has a conditioning/smoothing effect on the hair. Instead of exploding open the hair strand to deposit color into the cuticle, PM shines simply place color and shine over the top of the strand of hair leaving it smooth and shiny. It is also a relatively low commitment color as it evenly washes out over time.
Needless to say, I was inspired by her visit and when my friend Heather told me she would be in for a cut, color and style... we just went for it. We used 3 different PM Shines in a Diagonal Slice-type placement. That alone would have been a blast. Being the Rockstar that she is, Heather also let me cut her hair. She brought in some reference pics which is always helpful and we had a blast creating a fresh style. Awesome day! Thanks Heather! I owe you one!

Lani

I really gotta thank my lucky stars for awesome friends. One of them is Leilani. She doesn't live here in Utah anymore and the day she moved, I felt a bit of virtue leave with her. She came to visit and was awesome enough to actually go out of her way to come see me at the school for a little trim. She came in with some righteous layers already that we wanted to keep. But she wanted to change up the shape a bit and bring up the length in the back. We also ended up giving her a sassy fringe that would make satan himself shrink away in shame. As you can see, she is an angel and deserves the richest blessings that life has to offer. Thanks Lani!

Manpoo Set

Today was great. Michael received a female guest who happened to drag her husband in for a trim as well. Being awesome, Michael suggested that I cut her husband's hair. I did, and it was great! Guys cuts are cool cause so far, all guys have been crazy patient and very easy going. He was a very nice gentleman and easy to talk to. It was great to practice another Men's cut, so a HUGE thanks to Michael for passing along the goods!
I was on such an emotional high that I decided to let Michael curl my mullet with a marcel iron. What started as a quickie mullet perm, soon became a full-on shampoo set with the help of our resident Cutting Specialist Chad. I have never felt so beautiful.
Thanks to all for making an old dog feel young and virile.

Skin Class: Waxing

Joe on the Table, Michael on wax and Sam on observer. A little Brow shapeage taking place. Michael is a perfectionist in a good way.
Kathy. Nose Wax. Good sport. I love her.
My Armenian Half-sister Lauren. She was kind enough to wear my jacket while getting hers. She was one of the toughest when it came to the nose wax despite this picture. Rock on Lauren.

Just for kicks

Just decided to throw in a little black all the way along the hairline and some diagonal slices of black around the sides and back. Might as well.

Click on a picture for the large view

2012: End of the World?

I really don't think so. I think if the world was going to end at any point during my lifetime... it would have been when this movie was released.

Another Razor Cut

This is the "Before Picture"... I'd already done the Color and a cut before. But she wanted something a bit more sassy.

After yesterday's razor cut, I made a goal to practice a little more today. I wanted to get a bit quicker and a little more aggressive with the blade to get more bold pieces and layers. (don't you just love that it sounds like I know what I'm talking about... I really have no idea, I'm just having fun.)
This cut was a lot of fun, because it started with a Triangular Graduation (A-line) in the back and blended into square layers everywhere else.
If I could, I'd maybe go back in time to leave the fringe a touch longer.

Cuttin Jess' Hair

Feeling a bit deflated and tired today, I couldn't have asked for a better recharge! About 12:15 or so, I was at the Dairy Queen and My friend Jessica called up and asked if she could come in today.
We created a bunch of layers and did about 95% of the cut with a razor. Even the fringe.

About 2 and a half hours later we were done. A little Paul Mitchell Fast Form to piece and separate a bit. Good to go.

Just Me, My Drums, David Bowie and some Magic

Cause you can't cut hair 24/7. What happens when you're single and 28? You make videos with the Labyrinth Soundtrack in your parent's basement.

My First Cut and Color on a Human Head!

So my mom was awesome enough to come in on Saturday to let me loose on her head. I had some ideas about how I had always wanted to do her hair and some colors that I thought would be fun but natural looking. So, she came in and told me to go to town. We had a good time.
We did the color first. It was a combination of a level 7N mixed with a 7CB from Paul Mitchell The Color. She is a Real Estate Agent, so she didn't want any color that looked too artificial. She came in with about 60-70% grey with was awesome because it produced a ton of dimension with natural high and low-lights.
Plenty of texture so she can get a cool style at home just messin' it up. She went home with some Paul Mitchell Color Care Shampoo and Locking Spray to protect from UVA/UVB pluse the Brand New Paul Mitchell Fast Form Creme Gel, which is light and good for piecing and separating. We were pumped! We built some extra volume around the crown and parietal ridge in the cut for a bit more balance. I loved it. Fun day. Thanks Ma!

Uhhhhhh....

I keep waiting for these people to manifest themselves as serpent people from Sirius.

My First Color Solo!

We are officially "on the books" now. That means you can come in and I'll do your hair up. Cut, Style, Color... whatever you want. They only thing is, not a ton of people know that yet. So, while we wait for guests to come in, we have time to keep practicing on our mannequins. Which is great.

I took some of my free time this morning to practice a little color and style. This is the before pic.
A little 4RV (red violet) and a bit of "Encino Man"/Cave Girl style while we wait. Always good to practice my color formulation and application. I love color.
She's hawt. And she knows it. A little refining of my Smoothing Iron skills and she's on her way to a sexy night of Sade and Leftover Lemon Chicken from Asian Isle. Perhaps a jaunt over at the Red Door? I don't see why not.

Getting Better

A little patience and a bit of practice. I think I'm getting a little better!

The Price we Pay

More than just a few times, people attending other beauty/cosmetology schools in the area have had no reservation sharing with me their unsolicited opinions about their school versus my school. I have a lot of great friends at a lot of great schools. But, I am extremely satisfied with my decision to attend Paul Mitchell SLC for my education. So far, I have had an excellent experience EVERY day and I am not exaggerating.

Some people will ask me what I think about my tuition being a bit to a lot more than their tuition at other schools. The answer came quickly and easily: knowing what and who I know now... I would be willing to pay any extra money just to be with the People that I am with at Paul Mitchell. Students, faculty and anybody in between... I wouldn't trade any of them for the world! Especially not to save a couple bucks.

Joe was good enough to let the ladies practice some makeup on his mug.
Kevin and Meagan showing us the intricacies of the Mani.
Ana rocks my world with her color skills.
Class mates... There are a lot more, but I don't have enough pictures yet.

Another Story Told

**Click on the Picture for a larger view**
From time to time you find a unique combination of bumper stickers that tell a story. Sometimes it's a story that I really would rather not hear.

Little head start for ya: The two matching stickers are for a "family nudist resort." Mom... Dad... I love ya to death, but...

My first Perm on a Human Soul

I want to take a little time to thank the forces that be for creating and placing in my life my friend Kamber. She has been in school for a lot longer than me and is about to graduate. She definitely knows what she is doing. She invited me to help her wrap, process and style a perm on our guest Irene. It was a great experience and Irene was so awesome to work with. She was kind enough to let me snap this picture with her to mark the completion of my first perm on somebody's Mom.

Recreate a Style

We were given the task of finding a style in a magazine and recreating it on our mannequin head. I only had my Rolling Stone Tattoo book for material. Luckily, the Metal Gods guided my hands to Jon Bon Jovi's page.

More Makeup Practice!

Lucky for me, I have a ton of great friends that are brave and patient enough to let me practice on their heads! Court and Heather are quick to answer the call.
Heather was so patient while I smooshed MAC Carbon onto her lid! She was a real Trooper.
Courtney Webb Provided the White Contacts and Camera Work for the evening.

Makeup Practice

My friends Courtney and Heather came over to visit Saturday night at midnight. Being the darlings that they are, Heather let me practice a quick hand massage, and Court let me practice some makeup that I recently learned from Carly @ the Fashion Place Mall MAC store in Nordstrom.
It doesn't hurt that Courtney has Perfect eyes.
She was a champ laying on the floor while I flicked makeup in her eye.

Just Because you Never Really Know

Don't ask too many questions.

Precious Moments @ Paul Mitchell

These are the images that make my time in school what it is... priceless. This is a candid little gem that the muses saw fit to bless me with. Sarah in a moment of introspection and locker stuffing.

Life really can't get any Better

Just soak it in for a bit. The more you look, the details just really jump out at you. And it's all about the details.

Onward and Upward

Just a little John Stamos Flavor. My friend Lauren is convinced that I need to start styling my hair out of my face rather than pushing it down and across my face. So...
So, in Paul Mitchell's curriculum, the training is split into 3 parts generally. The first is called "Core." That is where we learn all the ABC's of Cosmetology. It's a lot of info packed into about 5-6 weeks. Well, our Core class passed with flying colors and right after our Core Exam, we had a party to celebrate our victory. One of many highlights was this cake that was designed/created by my good buddy Robert. Freakin' Stud. Look at that thing!

What we do on our Breaks!

"I'm her mom! No-She's-Not!" Haha! This is just one of the many youtubers I've been introduced to while at school.

New Artwork displayed at The Electric Chair Salon!!

Along with it's Salon, Spa and clothing Boutique, The Electric Chair now features a unique selection of local art on display for sale! This is one of my favorites. Obviously pretty appropriate for the beauty industry. Come check it out! 215 S. 400 E. Salt Lake City.

Cut and Style!

This is my finished One-length cut. It's called that because all the hair, from the crown down through all the sides is cut at the same length. So, you can imagine that with all the layers of hair on the head coming down to the bottom and cut at the same length at the ends, you get a lot of body and weight towards the ends. That made this cut a great candidate for some point-cutting and other texturizing techniques. You can see that the ends appear to be a bit thinned-out and separated instead of just being a solid block of hair.

Cutting Week @ Paul Mitchell

So this last week was our "cutting week," at Paul Mitchell. While I have been having a blast Every day at school... in a way, it kinda felt like school had finally begun. We pulled out the scissors, the combs and the clippers and actually started to do some damage!

Michael workin' on "one-length" cut. This cut is great for people who want the appearance of more hair because it carries maximum weight down to the end of the hair with minimal layers.
Chelsea workin' on her "graduation" cut. This kinda the "John and Kate plus 8" cut, only a lot less drastic in the back and a whole lot less bitchy.
This is the beginning of my first scissor over comb men's hair cut. Leavin' it a bit longer in the back just in case. Fashion Mullet.

This is my finished graduated cut. I call it the "Shelly."