Theory & Training Weeks

First Day:  All students are required to wear a black smock (sleeves or sleeveless), shirt (any color, has to have sleeves if you wear a sleeveless smock), black pants & black or white shoes. You are asked to wear makeup, but everyone does not always wear, including me. (Most of the time I try to be beautiful)  Be prepared, you need to wear very comfortable shoes; I had to purchase a better pair of shoes to Nike's Cross trainers! My legs were hurting so bad. Support stockings or socks will help.  You will not be given much of an opportunity to sit, period. You are required to stand up on a continuous basis. (In order to prepare you for the real world in a shop.) It feels like being a boot camp, really!

I learned the proper way to shampoo my doll! You get one mannequin which has long hair (shoulder length). Everyone receives the same doll, there are no options of receiving an ethnic hair doll. (I was disappointed about this.)  Basic loaner kit which has rollers, shears, combs & brushes. You will also have access to the schools flat & curling irons & blow dryers. We did not receive any books for the first 200 hours of school. Instead you are required to take notes in theory class, lots of writing, lots of writing, & more of writing. I don't see the reasoning for this (my opinion), your text books would be MORE helpful. I did alot of research online in order to supplement my notes. They are copied from a slide presentation, Pivot Point. Each week you can expect to be tested on the subject matter that is covered.

We were taught the proper way to shampoo, condition & blow dry doll. This process is repeated over & over again. Then things move on to hairstyling. Basic hair styling procedures, thermal curling, flat ironing, roller sets, & backcombing/ratting.  

I purchased a "Miss Jenny" doll from Sally Beauty Supply, cost was $39.99 on sale.  This doll is black and has a better grade of hair. (my opinion) It feels silkier, easier to curl and flat iron. Now the original doll's hair can be flat ironed & curled, but it's just not the same. It feels more straw like. The picture above is my original doll untouched. I post pics my dolls current look after face enhancement & hair cutting.

Hair Styling had to be one of my most fun weeks. I love doing roller sets! Backcombing/Ratting was another fave of mine. Many of the seniors get this done on a weekly basis. Referred to as the "bread & butter".

My first week I came in on Hair Styling! Then you go on to Hair Coloring, Perms & Relaxers, Hair Cutting, Facials & Hair Removal, Mani & Pedi, MakeUp may not be exact order.

Brief summary of weeks my likes & dislikes if any:

Hair Coloring:  learning all the basics on hair color, mixing, principles, working on doll, bleaching, highlights.  It's all good!

Perms & Relaxers: how to section for a perm, rolling perm, types of perms, relaxing do's & don'ts, types of perms & relaxers. I don't like using gel for perms & relaxers, would rather have a natural hair doll to relax. And/or having a real volunteer for both procedures would be wonderful!

Hair Cutting: learning to use shears, razor, 90, 45 & 0 degree hair cuts.  Loads of fun! New respect for those who cut hair on a regular basis. I knew after this week I needed another doll.  My suggestion you might want to get extra dolls if you want to do more practice. EBay!

Facials & Hair Removal (Waxing): I enjoyed facials, & waxing, I had no previous experience in either. Students worked on each other.

Manicure & Pedicure:  Basic procedures in both, good to know. Not one of my favorites, not really into pedicures. My feelings would not be hurt if we had the option of leaving it out.
Since we had to put socks & shoes back on it totally ruined my pedicure.

MakeUp: Basic overview of makeup.  I did not like having someone else to put on my makeup. Might have been more fun to do myself first then someone else, everyone taste is different.