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Beauty Business Beauty Tips Famous People Fashion Hair Special Events Student News Students

Goals are Dreams with Deadlines

Education is key to a great start in the field of Cosmetology.

Beginning is the first step to Success. In order to become your best, you must surround yourself with the best. Don’t settle, give it your all and greatness will happen. This is not by chance. It is by Design.

In order to achieve greatness, You must first Start!

Get up and get going. Success won’t find you, you must seek it out!

Advanced Educators Seminar at CHI 

Learning is a Lifelong Endeavor.

Action gives you results.

CHI Educator Training Certification

CHI Educators are the Best throughout the World. 

Advanced American Technology and CHI Innovations are only part of the wonderful workshop education we received at CHI Houston Branch.  Educators came from all over to teach and to learn about the latest and greatest products, tools and techniques from all over the world.  CHI is dedicated to bring Advanced American Technology to their educators.

 

Armstrong McCalls World’s Fair 2018

This year at the World’s Fair CHI introduced their new Color Tool Kit from Chromashines.  So many new fun shades of color to choose from….with this tool kit stylist can create any fun color they would like. The kit even contains two glow in the dark shades, you can mix and match to custom create the perfect shade for the client.  Mermaids Beware.  Chromashines color is here.

 

 

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Beauty Business Famous People Fashion Hair How to Videos

Spring into Action at PMCA!

What’s the New Looks for Spring 2014????

This is from Farouk Systems, showing the latest hair styles for this season.

Wasn’t that fun! From our partners at CHI. We love to watch all of our CHI Partners at work!  Hair shows are a great way to get motivated and re-energized for Salon Life.

Now are you ready to see what the Clothing Fashion Designers are doing???
Well here’s a preview!    ENJOY!

ELIE SAAB 2014 SPRING SHOW

DILEK HANIF 2014

CHRISTIAN DIOR SPRING 2014

Didn’t these Designers do a fabulous job on these fashions?
Longer jackets, mixtures of beaded fabric, sparkle, and simplistic hair styles. Center parts are back, OH MY!!!!!!!!!
Fem looks are always hot for Spring. Soft fabric flow like a gentle Spring Breeze.

Ombre’ color fabrics are still in.hs9
Short or long dresses and skirts, you choose, beautiful bead work with an eye for detail. So much fun for Prom and Weddings. images (22)
Retro Glam with beautiful shades of nude and black for Formal Affairs. Wow!!! Don’t you just love the pops of color for Spring 2014? Love the soft flowing fabrics with fun asymmetrical accents for casual wear. Love these fun styles!
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Ladies, remember, the hair styles will mimic the fashion. When you wear your soft sheer blouse or skirt, hair should flow, be soft and shiny. Stronger, stiffer fabrics, usually will need a stronger look such as a strong chignon. It will be fun this prom season to design hairstyles to go with the formal wear that is out there this season.

Hope you enjoyed this article.  Have the best day ever! Penny

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Beauty Business Beauty Tips Famous People Motivation

Salon Business….What do I need to know?

We Do Hair.attitude 8

We don’t need to worry about balancing a check book.  We have people to do that for us.  We need to focus on our Artistic ability.  Right???

WRONG!!!!!!!

If you think someone else will take care of your business like you would take care of your business, then you are sadly mistaken.  Knowledge is power and power is knowledge and the more education you can get in the field of Salon Business the better off you will be.

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When you start a business you are the chief chef and bottle washer.   Deal with it!  You will clean potties, sweep floors, do laundry, stock supplies, order supplies, organize educational events, manage the salon,  take inventory, clean color bowls, combs, brushes etc….and occasionally, yes, you will finally get to do some hair!    Yeah!!!

salon clean

 

Starting a business is an expensive endeavor.  You have a building to lease, utilities, phones, products, supplies, tools, equipment, taxes, insurance, advertising, employees, education, motivation, and the list goes on and on.  Yes you can hire everything done, but you will find you will soon be out of money and operating in the red.  This is why so many business fail in the first 5 years of operation.

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough” ~Og Mandino

Here is a short article from Jon Gonzales about salon management.

Why are so many Salons Failing?

The impact of the recession has proven fatal in many industries but particularly for salons and hairdressers. Why you might ask? Because many salons were already vulnerable, due to several underlying long-standing problems with the structural core of business management aspects of the salon profession; any economic hit was bound to cause complete chaos.

If there are two words that best describe the beauty profession and in particular, the challenges of salon ownership, they would be apathy and turmoil. As our country struggles to get out of this recession, salon owners are facing many challenges and obstacles. Among these, rising business costs, price and commission wars and the challenge of finding and more importantly keeping committed hairdressers on staff has put exorbitant pressure on owners.

These problems are symptomatic of larger scale issues that include a lack of education on business ownership and staff management. Hairdressers end up under prepared in the work place with very little hands on experience seeking higher wages than the salon owners can deliver; which creates tension and high turnover. Conversely, salon owners lack the interpersonal skills and management savvy to salvage the promising hairdressers that could become successful down the line if mentored properly. And sadly, most hairdressers and salon owners do not even have proper health insurance, retirement, or other benefits to fall back on.

While other industries are finding solutions to adapt to changes in the marketplace, the beauty industry and salon owners in particular continue to struggle. New generations of young hairdressers and the small working salon owner will be especially vulnerable in these difficult times. So who’s at fault? Fingers could be pointed in many directions, but will placing blame fix the problems?

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Although many of our colleagues are struggling, I urge you to keep a positive attitude, develop strong business management skills, persevere with a competitive spirit, and let Hairdresser Career Development Systems be your partner in addressing your concerns.

Making the Right Decisions
During a Recession

According to the Small Business Association, more than a half-million small businesses close each year while two-thirds of new businesses survive. What’s your survival plan during this economic downturn? Will you close your doors or rise to the top? Making the right decisions now has never been more important for the future. Here are some suggestions to help you make the right ones.

Comfort Zone – Get out of your comfort zone and change your business routine up. Those things you keep thinking about doing need to start happening. Stop putting them off! The smallest change can sometimes make the biggest difference.

Charlene Abretske, Business Support Advisor at Your Beauty Network, Inc. (YBN) encourages you to turn those “some days” into “nows” and be proactive about the future success of your business. “If you continue to wait, you’re going to go out of business,” explains Abretske. “If your plan is to ‘hope’ during this economic crisis, your salon and success will be in serious trouble.”

Cutting Costs – Before you start discounting your services, plan on cutting costs in areas that won’t suffer. Yes, your staff may still be ticked off at you for canceling the holiday party, but at least they still have jobs! Eliminating unnecessary cleaning crews and rallying the team to pick up the daily/weekly regimen can free up the budget and allow you to spend money where needed or save for the future. 

Cut the Fat – “Frugality is critical right now,” explains Charles Penzone, Owner of Charles Penzones Salons. “We’re tightening things up [at our salons] and cutting as much fat as we can. When someone leaves, especially in the administrative area, we’re not replacing them with new hires.  We haven’t laid anyone off, but we’re not replacing those people in the non-productive areas, those who do not generate money, that leave for the basic reasons.” 

Priority Check – Before you drop $300 on that vintage mirror for the reception area, make sure your salon equipment is working properly. Décor may be nice, but making sure your business is operating properly and efficiently is more important than sprucing up the joint. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Want to make some extra cash on equipment you’re not using? Instead of listing it on sites like Ebay or Craigslist, why not utilize the powers of the classifieds. Just make sure to put those savings back into the business.

Learn the Ropes – Let’s say you need to downsize your staff. One of the most important things you need to set in place is cross-training your team. Make sure each member knows how the front desk operates and how to cover each others’ stations/departments if you need to cut down on the amount of staff during operating hours.

Lose the Gloom – Before you bring your economic stress through the front doors, be aware of what that gloomy mood is going to do your business. The last thing you need is for your staff to see you crack under the economic pressure, not to mention your clients. If your business is taking a turn for the worse, check out all the best-selling, business building items at your local bookstore. Best-sellers are affordably priced and…they work! A recent study shows that 9 in 10 entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future prospects of their business. Be one of them!

Protect Yourself! – If you don’t already have disability insurance set in place then you’re not protecting your income. It’s extremely important to protect yourself, your livelihood, and your family during this recession and make sure these are the last areas we look to cut back on. “One way to recession proof your income is to consider disability insurance as a protection against unexpected loss of wages,” explains Gina Bello, Vice President of Salon & Spa Employee Benefit Solutions. “It’s extremely important to protect yourself, your livelihood, and your family during this recession and make sure these are the last areas we look to cut back on. It’s unfortunate when people see their insurance as one area to reduce costs. Unfortunately the implication of needing to make an insurance claim without having insurance and being stuck in the middle of a recession with little or no financial means is going to be traumatic.” 

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Thanks For Everything – Before you start coming up with new ideas to cash in on new clients, you need to make sure you’ll be keeping the ones you already have. “We are making every effort we can to be as indispensable to our clients as we’ve ever been. The customer if also becoming extremely frugal as well, and we want to be the last thing they do without, explains Penzone. To keep them coming back, Penzone’s House of Salons sent out thank you cards to all their clients and continuously show their appreciation to the current client roster in addition to giving exceptional service.

Safe Senders List – E-marketing it the way to go. Capturing your clients’ info and utilizing your database to communicate the goings-on in your salon will be the most cost-effective solution for your business. Print, radio or television advertising may not be in your budget, so this is a great alternative. “Each marketing item should have an incentive to get them rushing through the door,” explains Abretske. “Everyone is looking to save money these days. Give them a reason to come in.” Don’t forget to tell your clients to add you to their safe senders list. You can also put this into place for a rewards program. If they forward the email to a friend and they come in, give them 10% off their next visit.

Repeat Rewards – Before you begin the cutting and/or coloring process make sure you’re giving a thorough consultation. Explain to your clients, especially the ones getting a precision cut, permanent color and/or highlights, that the look they’re going for is going to require maintenance, and before you begin you’re going to need their commitment to pre-book their appointment before they leave. Create a sense of urgency and say, “Let’s make sure I can get you in six weeks from now before we begin.” We all know that you’ll be able to get them in, but they don’t! Give them a reason to return. 

Speak Up! – Speak up for what you want—don’t settle. Negotiate before settling on the price of something. If your lease is up for renewal or you’re having difficulty paying your overhead and the rent is burning a hole in your pocket, try to negotiate a lower price. At this time, leasing companies are happy and lucky to have you occupying that space and they can’t risk the chance of losing you.

Bust a Move – The last thing you want to do is be stuck with a ton of product, and if you have a retail line that’s collecting dust, get a sale going and move it out. You may want to consider if it’s even worth carrying the line if it’s been a hangout for dust bunnies. “Be the biggest customer to one or two companies rather than blurring the line and looking like a retail store or a drugstore,” explains Steve and Terri Cowan, Owners of Professional Salon Concepts (PSC). 

Fill Up! – Don’t treat retail like a chance opportunity. Stay proactive and utilize your salon software for tracking take-home purchases made by clients. “Many [stylists/salon owners] are not using that information as dialogue with the guest,” explains Terri Cowan. Terri suggests asking the client how they enjoyed the last product purchased, did it accomplish what they wanted it to because their hair performed beautifully while they were in the chair with you! Tell them their product should be running low by now, and use a less-generic and more stylized form of communication. Remember to take full advantage of the client’s service history to cash in on the opportunity of raising your retail percentage. 

Show the Love – Salon owners are feeling the pressure, but so are their employees. You may not be able to fully show your gratitude in cash, so promote and assign titles, switch stations around bringing your top stylist forward for more exposure or setting them in back for more privacy – it’s your call!

The Big Picture – Owning and Operating a Salon is a Wonderful Endeavor.

Be a Winner!

Don’t get lost in the day-to-day needs of the salon. Make sure you are always looking at the big picture. Customer Service is always first and foremost. Instead of mapping out your marketing and promotions a month at a time, plan your entire year now. Think of your clients and how you can better serve them.  You already know what the major holidays are and how to cash in on them, so get busy and create your advertising/marketing and promotion calendar now.   

Hope you find this information useful.  For more tips on Salon Business and Marketing stay tuned for future articles.  Have a Blessed Day!

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Penny Miller
Owner & Master Instructor

Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy

 

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Beauty Business Famous People Fashion Motivation Special Events Student News

CHI COLOR EVENT

farouk systms

 

Graduates of Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy and fellow stylists in the Garvin County area are invited to a Special Event at the Academy sponsored by Farouk Systems and Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy.

Monday, December 16, 2013, we will be hosting an all day class for the latest techniques with CHI Hair color. Rachael Fre will be our educator for this class, we will have limited seating available, so be sure to call and sign up now.  Classes are filling up fast.  405-238-3426.

If you are interested in being a Hair Color Model for this class, call Penny at 405-238-3426.

chi products

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Famous People Motivation Special Events

P.M.C.A. in Action on Movie Set

Local Students Work on Movie Set

We recently had the great opportunity to have our Staff and Students work on the Movie Set of “Noodling the Film”.  We thought this would be a great opportunity to allow students to see what really goes on behind the scenes of a movie production, and get more experience doing hair and makeup.  Each day the staff from Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy attended the morning production meeting, and then the shooting usually began shortly after that. We started on location around 7:oo a.m.  and ended shooting anywhere from 7:oo p.m. to sometimes 3:00 a.m. to get just the right settings.  Location areas varied around Pauls Valley.  Our students worked on set from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 – our regular hours, and our Staff, Penny Miller and Kristina Miller Martin, worked after hours to get all of the hair and makeup done required for this production.  Our students and staff got many complements on the work they did, and the help they all provided.  It was very informative and interesting seeing all of the work that goes on behind the scene.

Students from P.M.C.A. who worked on the set were as follows: Terra Dodson, Sara Folsom, Teresa Winnett, Shelly Chandler, Maribeth Jones, Brittney Wallace, Becky Ledbetter &  Harlene Ledger. Master Instructors Kristina Martin & Penny Miller who’s official title was Head Makeup and Hair, worked many, many hours on the set.

The Movie crew and actors were great to work with and the production was a lot of fun.  Overall I know the students of Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy gained a lot of useful information and experience from working on the set.  We hope everyone enjoys the film, Rebecca and the Crew did a wonderful job on this production.  We enjoyed it all, but on day 8 of production it was wonderful hearing those famous last words, from the director,  “It’s a Wrap!”

USC film crew begins shooting in PV

Garvin County News Star Article August 5th, 2010 by Jim Richardson

“Noodling” film writer/director, Rebecca Eskreis, discusses final details with members of the camera crew prior to shooting a scene in the back of Bob’s Pig Shop on Monday. News Star photo by Jim Richardson

 

By Jim Richardson
News Star Writer

Bob’s Pig Shop in Pauls Valley has served for the last several years as host site to the annual Okie Noodling Tournament & Fish Fry, so it seemed only right it would be selected as a key location for a recent film about catfish noodling.

The film, simply entitled “Noodling,” is the brainchild and college thesis project of USC graduate film student, Rebecca Eskreis.

A New York native, Eskreis said she got the inspiration to do the film from reading an article in the New York Times.

“I came up with the idea to do the film after reading an article that said they had outlawed noodling in Missouri,” Eskreis recalled.

 

On Location at Bob’s Pig Shop, Penny Miller and Class doing hair and makeup for Noodlin’ the Film.

 

Penny Miller, owner of Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy-Phase II in Pauls Valley, applies makeup to Norman resident, Cindy Hanska, prior to Monday’s filming of “Noodling” at Bob’s Pig Shop. Hanska played the part of Dorothy, a local person who frequents the restaurant where the main character, Jenna, works (News Star Photo by Jim Richardson).

“I thought that was ashamed because noodling has a cultural background and is an important aspect of family tradition for many people. It also defines a rite of passage for some young men.

“I did some research and became fascinated with the subject. I began to imagine what it would be like to grow up in a town like this (Pauls Valley) where noodling was such an integral part of the community and that led to the idea for the film.”

The movie, which has been in the making for the last three years, was filmed primarily in Pauls Valley and Bob’s Pig Shop was the stop for the film crew on Monday, August 2.

Bob’s served as the ideal backdrop for the coming-of-age film about the main character, Jenna, who works as a waitress at a local small-town restaurant and whose father is a champion noodler.

Jenna is played by 17 year-old OKC resident and Heritage Hall Junior, Maddie Perry, and most of the crew members are from Oklahoma including several OU Film and Video interns.

 

pv noodlin
Pauls Valley Noodler’s

 

Noodling Tournament in Pauls Valley for 2013 on the weekend of Friday June 21-June 22.  Drop by and see what Noodling is all about!

 

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Beauty Business Famous People Hair Motivation Special Events Student News

Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy Partners with Leaders in the Beauty Industry

Congratulations to Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy on it’s 10 Year Anniversary!

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Penny Miller started her cosmetology career in 1982, here in the state of Oklahoma.  After a few years in the business she purchased Phase II Hair Design, and slowly converted a Barber Shop into a Cosmetology Salon. During her career, Penny has trained with several product companies such as Matrix, Redken, Paul Mitchell, Sebastian, Roffler, American Crew, Montage, Aquage, Scruples, TiGi, Sexy Hair Concepts, OPI, Tammy Taylor, & Joico, just to name a few. Constantly going to hair shows and educational events she furthered her knowledge in the Cosmetology Industry, brought this information back to the salon and helped to educate her staff on new methods and practices relating to cosmetology.

Later Penny went back to school again to achieve her Master Cosmetology Instructor License, and then in January of 2003, she opened her school, Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy, where she has partnered with several product companies such as CHI, to give her students the advantage of working with strong American Educators and American based products.

Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy, located in beautiful downtown Pauls Valley, Oklahoma is a small beauty college offering a full range of education in Cosmetology, Nail Technology, Esthetics, and even Instructor Courses.  Small classes mean that each student gets a lot of one on one time with the instructor, and their education is individualized for their own particular needs. Everyone learns differently, and when you customize the teaching methods you get a better result with helping each student achieve their goals.  Modeled after the apprentice programs, popular in Europe, the Academy offers a real salon environment for students to learn in and real hands on experience with one on one with clients on the clinic floor. P.M.C.A. currently holds a 100% pass rate at the Oklahoma State Board of Cosmetology.  All courses are offered at the Academy giving the students a wider range of career opportunities for employment in the future.  Part-time and full-time courses are available with flexible payment plans.

Guest artists are invited in to help students learn about a variety of product lines, so their education is not limited to one school of thought.  Since opening in 2003, Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy has invited in several product educators, such as RX Systems, BackScratchers, Spa Girl, Lorea’l, CHI, Joico,  OPI, Tammy Taylor Systems, Matrix, Aquage, Wella-Sebastian.  We have had special events such as Glamour Photography, Computer Imaging, Nail Classes, Little Princess Parties, Photo Sessions, just to name a few.  Our students have had the opportunity to participate in the hair and make up on a movie production, and have worked  Bridal Fairs, and Fashion Shows & Wedding Parties.  Our students have attended hair shows, special business seminars, field trips to product manufacturing plants, salons, & suppliers and have enjoyed additional information from guest speakers pertaining to salon management and career advancement & financial planning.

A day in the life of a student.  The class day starts at 8:00 a.m. in Theory Class. Students learn textbook information, procedures, state law, safety and sanitation.  This is where students get basic information. Lecture, demonstrations, video presentations, lab equipment, computers and other educational aids assist in the learning process.  After Theory Class, students go to the clinic floor to apply their newly acquired knowledge with a hands on approach.  They are all given mannequins and tools and supplies, and then they start to work applying their new skills, practice, practice, practice, is the motto during this session in the learning process.  After students have reached a level of expertise, they begin working with clients. Clients add a more personal touch to the educational experience because it is very important for each student to learn the necessary people skills to work successfully in a salon.  All work is closely monitored by the instructor, and all services are checked for accuracy. At each level of training, the bar is raised and we expect more out of our students.  By the time they finish the course, they will easily pass Oklahoma State Board Testing, but more important, they will be ready to start their new career in an upscale salon.

What types of careers could a cosmetology graduate expect to find?  Well, here in the state of Oklahoma, the possibilities are really limitless.  Today’s graduate can start in a salon as a beginning hairstylist, and work their way up to master hairstylist working behind the chair doing a wide variety of services from cuts, styles, waxing, facials, manicures, pedicures, massage, cosmetic application, color application, perming and texturizing services, highlighting, etc.  Cosmetology professionals are also need in MediSpa’s for client care pre-op and post-op.  They can go to work for product manufacturers doing demo’s and educational events.  They can assist master stylist’s, learning more about the business, work as a stylist on a cruise ship, or a resort. They can work doing glamour services, cosmetic application, and even hair & makeup on a movie set.  Later, they can even work their way up to salon management or even ownership.  Beauty professionals can go into writing, and even into education. Really in today’s market the possibilities are endless.  All they really need is a “Can Do” attitude. We are in a zero unemployment field that needs more stylists and technicians each year. There is a real shortage of hairstylists out there and we have salons call us regularly looking for new talent. With all the new products, techniques, and services out there now this is a very exciting field to get into.  I have worked in this field for almost 30 years now and it never gets boring!

What type of person is a good fit for a cosmetology career? Anyone who truly cares about people!  If you like people and helping them with their beauty needs, there is no career that can be more personally rewarding!  Young or old, male or female, clients are always in need of Beauty Professionals. There is nothing better than making someone feel special! The look on their face when they see the new look you gave them is priceless. You can boost someone’s self-esteem, help them to look and feel better, and give them that little bit of self-confidence to get them through some of life’s little challenges. What better way to make a living! And YOU can create your own payscale….Yes, the sky is the limit, the more you work, the more you earn, it’s really a Win, Win situation.

If you know of a friend or relative that has thought about a career in the field of Cosmetology, We would love to meet them and help them with their educational needs to get them on the right path in this field. We love making a difference in our students lives, and cultivating new talent. This is a wonderful career that can be very lucrative, personally, professionally, and financially.  Help us to help others on their new paths. You don’t have to go out of town for a great education. Please check out Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy.

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Beauty Business Famous People Hair How to Videos Motivation Special Events

World’s Fair of Cosmetic Arts & Sciences

We recently attended the World’s Fair of  Cosmetic Arts & Sciences in Austin Texas.  We got to meet an visit with several leaders in the hair industry, such as Farouk Shami, Bradley Tuggle and Lori Walters, Rocky Vitelli, Joe Pena, Anna Cantu, Tibit Cox, Dixie with the CHI School Program, Martin Parsons, Beth Minardi, Eric Fisher, Shawna Parvin, and many, many more. It was a wonderful learning experience!

 

The CHI Classes were the most informative and educational!  We experienced several new techniques to produce the new “Ombre'” colors, as well as some very beautiful and stylish  up-styles and braiding techniques.  Anna was so much fun on stage!  She kept her models moving with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.  FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

The CHI Booth was full of fun filled new products and innovations such as the new halo hot rollers, the Touch control Blow Dryer, and the 3 in 1 Orbit Styler.  Wonderful new innovations in the field of hair styling. NEW TECHNOLOGY TO HELP MAKE OUR WORK EASIER!

Hey Clients! Want to learn a Quick way to curl your long hair??? Here is a short 3 minute clip on how to get a quick easy style….ENJOY!!!

We got to see a lot of new techniques for haircolor, and haircutting, and again this season….ANYTHING GOES!   Have fun with it and enjoy doing hair!  What can we say “WE ARE HAIRDRESSERS AND WE ARE PROUD OF IT!”  We chose this profession and WE LOVE IT!  There is nothing more rewarding than making someone else feel better about themselves, this is what we do and we are GREAT at it!!!   We can’t wait to share all of these new techniques with our clients.  THEY ALL LOVE IT, when we come back from a show revived and enthused about doing hair!

Way to go fellow educators on helping to motivate the educators, and help us all feel good about our wonderful profession!

 

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Beauty Business Famous People Hair Motivation Special Events

Student of the Month – Heather Dilbeck

Heather Dilbeck – Student of the Month.

Congratulations to Student of the Month, Heather Dilbeck, for outstanding performance as a Cosmetology Student at Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy!

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Heather, a recent Pauls Valley High School graduate, attending Penny Miller Cosmetology Academy just received the honor of being our Student of the Month, for June 2012.  Miss Dilbeck is a very outgoing and social person who loves making her clients feel special.  She always has a smile on her face and is ready to accept any challenge.

Heather is a joy to teach. She is always willing to work on her assignments and to help her fellow students with their assignments.  She enjoys people of all ages.  She will do very well in the business of Cosmetology due to her outgoing personality.  She is very bright and energetic, and is a lot of fun in class.

When I asked Heather about her cosmetology experience and her future plans, she stated, ” I like doing perms and I love being around people and helping them feel better about themselves.  I plan on going to work in Pauls Valley after graduation and working full time in a salon.  I see myself possibly owning my own establishment after a few years.  Come by and see me at the Academy”.

We wish Heather much success in her career.  She has what it takes to make a wonderful cosmetologist.

 

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Famous People

Vidal Sasoon passed away at age 84

Vidal Sassoon, Hairdresser and Trendsetter, Dies at 84

May 9, 2012.

Vidal Sassoon, whose mother had a premonition that he would become a hairdresser and steered him to an apprenticeship in a London shop when he was 14, setting him on the path that led to his changing the way women wore and cared for their hair, died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles police, who were called to the home, on Mulholland Drive, confirmed the death, attributing it to natural causes. Mr. Sassoon was known to have leukemia.

Mr. Sassoon brought a kind of architectural design to the haircut in the late 1950s and early 1960s, developing a look that eschewed the tradition of stiff, sprayed styles with the hair piled high and that dispensed with the need for women to wear hair curlers to bed and make weekly trips to the salon.

For Mr. Sassoon, the cut was the thing — just about the only thing — and he fashioned his clients’ hair into geometric shapes and sharp angles to complement their facial bone structure. His short, often striking styles helped define a new kind of sexy. They were also easy to care for and maintain — the wash-and-wear look, it was sometimes called — and they helped propel the youthful revolution in fashion (and just about everything else) that gripped London and then America and the rest of the world in the 1960s.

One of his early clients was the mod fashion designer Mary Quant, who created the miniskirt. Referring to it in a 2010 documentary film about him, she said to him, “You put the top on it.”

“He changed the way everyone looked at hair,” Grace Coddington, the creative director of American Vogue, said in an interview on Wednesday. “Before Sassoon, it was all back-combing and lacquer; the whole thing was to make it high and artificial. Suddenly you could put your fingers through your hair!”

Ms. Coddington, who was a model for Mr. Sassoon in the 1960s, wore the original version of the quintessential Sassoon style known as the five-point cut, a snug, sleek helmet with a W cut at the nape of the neck and a pointed spike in front of each ear.

“He didn’t create it for me; he created it on me,” Ms. Coddington said. “It was an extraordinary cut; no one has bettered it since. And it liberated everyone. You could just sort of drip-dry it and shake it.”

Mr. Sassoon’s salon on Bond Street in London became a hive of beautiful people, as did the ones he opened on Madison Avenue in New York in 1965 and, afterward, in Beverly Hills. Eventually he operated more than 20. Roman Polanski used the London salon for his film “Repulsion,” starring Catherine Deneuve, and he later created a sensation when he paid Mr. Sassoon $5,000 to cut Mia Farrows  hair for “Rosemary’s Baby” and invited the news media to see it. The very short cut became Ms. Farrow’s signature, and the film proved to be a fine advertisement for him.

“It’s Vidal Sassoon!” Ms. Farrow says to a shocked character in the film. “It’s very in.”

Mr. Sassoon became a business pioneer as well, creating a line of hair products under his name. The shampoos, conditioners and other products were famously sold in television commercials featuring a woman with a lustrous head of hair and the handsome, debonair Mr. Sassoon at her side, declaring, “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.” Sales reached more than $100 million annually before he sold the company in 1983.

“He was the creator of sensual hair,” John Barrett, founder of the John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman, said Wednesday. “This was somebody who changed our industry entirely, not just from the point of view of cutting hair but actually turning it into a business. He was one of the first who had a product line bought out by a major corporation.”

Born in London in 1928, Mr. Sassoon was the child of poor parents. After his father left the family, he was raised partly in a Jewish orphanage until his mother remarried and reunited with Vidal when he was 11. He was an avid soccer player as a boy — and a lifelong fitness devotee — but he turned to hairdressing after his mother claimed she had had a vision of his future. She took him to a local shop where the proprietor decided the boy would do as an apprentice because he had good manners.

The shop was in a working-class neighborhood, and young Vidal, dreaming of better things, took elocution lessons to rid himself of his cockney diction. Meanwhile, he joined a Jewish organization that battled in the streets with the Mosley-ites, anti-Semitic British fascists who were followers of Oswald Mosley. In 1948, he traveled to Israel and fought in the war for its independence.

Mr. Sassoon opened his first salon in 1954.

“I made up my mind then that if I was going to be in hairdressing long term, I wanted to change things,” he recalled in the documentary “Vidal Sassoon: The Movie.” “I didn’t have a picture of what hair should be, but I had a definite picture of what hair shouldn’t be.”

Over nine years — inspired, he said, by Bauhaus architecture — he evolved his geometric style.

“When I looked at the architecture, the structure of buildings that were going up worldwide, you saw a whole different look, in shape,” he said. “My sense was hairdressing definitely needed to be changing.” He added: “To me hair meant geometry, angles. Cutting uneven shapes, as long as it suited that face and that bone structure.”

A breakthrough came in 1963 when he cut the long hair of the Hong Kong-born actress Nancy Kwan into a bob with sharp face-framing points; photos of what became known as the Kwan bob or the Kwan cut or simply the Kwan appeared in British and American Vogue and on fashion pages around the world.

Mr. Sassoon is survived by his fourth wife, Rhonda, and three children. A daughter, Catya, died of a drug overdose in 2002.

Especially in the early days, Mr. Sassoon was a disciplinarian as a salon keeper, known to send employees home if their shoes were not shined or to admonish a client touching her hair in mid-cut with a slap of the comb. As he developed his ideas, he did not always have patience with clients who wanted things their way rather than his. Once in frustration, he confessed, he threw a pair of scissors in the air and they stuck in the ceiling.

Clothes designer Mary Quant, one of the leading lights of the British fashion scene in the 1960's, having her hair cut by another fashion icon, hairdresser Vidal Sassoon.

Rebecca R. Ruiz contributed reporting.