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Sunstate Academy
Programs in Cosmetology, Nail Technician, Barber/Styling.
Campuses in Clearwater, Fort Myers and Sarasota, Florida.
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How to Become a Cosmetologist
Cosmetologists help their clients improve on or acquire a certain look with the right hairstyle and hair coloring, manicured nails, and either a properly trimmed beard or carefully chosen makeup, depending on your testosterone and estrogen levels. Cosmetologists also shampoo, cut, color, and style hair and advise clients on proper hair care. They add permanent waves or straighten hair in addition to giving manicures, facials, and scalp treatments, and caring and styling for wigs.
Cosmetology is a profession that requires considerable tact and diplomacy in dealing with patrons. Intensely people-oriented, Cosmetologists must be able to inspire the confidence of those they service. With an emphasis on personalized care and services, cosmetologists must understand the individual characteristics of their clients to be able to chose the hair styles and makeup colors and tones that are uniquely suited to them. The move toward more personalized care and services means that cosmetologists with charm, good communication skills, and the ability to inspire trust in their clients will be very successful.
Constantly updated skills in new hair treatments and techniques give the ambitious cosmetologist the edge. Cosmetologists must keep on top of the latest styles and trends in hair fashion and beauty techniques. For example, if, in 1996, you didn’t know the hair style that all the women on the television show “Friends” were wearing, you’d be sunk. If you knew next year’s hot hairstyle, you’d be a hit. If you created next year’s hot hairstyle, you’d be a star.
Because evenings and weekends are the busiest times for salons, cosmetologists must be willing to give up or minimize their social life if success is their goal. Long and irregular hours spent on their feet are the norm for cosmetologists. They are exposed to hair and nail chemicals that could possibly affect their health. But true beauty is worth a little suffering.
Paying Your Dues
Cosmetologists face varying licensing requirements in different states, but essentially a high school diploma, formal training at cosmetology or vocational schools, and in some states, completion of an apprenticeship, will make you a cosmetologist. The recently certified stylist can expect to perform duties that amount to sheer drudgery. Newcomers are left to washing, blowdrying and setting customers hair, occasionally being given the task of a simple hairstyle pattern.
New workers should perform these tasks with glee, knowing full well that practice makes perfect and soon enough they’ll develop followings of their own, make better wages, and collect bigger tips. New cosmetologists should be especially careful in following the instructions of patrons and seeking help and direction if unsure of a particular procedure.
Associated Careers
Cosmetologists can virtually step into any area of the beauty business. Hair-color stylists, manicurists, makeup artists, and aestheticians are in constant demand to service the fashion conscious and the whimsical. Sales, marketing, and distribution of hair care products and supplies is another option for the cosmetologist looking for a change of pace.
Past and Future
For many years in America, women let their hair grow long and put it up during the day. A woman’s tresses were considered her crowning glory. Then, in the 1920s, the age of the flapper began, and bobbed hair arrived on the scene. Cosmetologists have been steadily employed ever since. Now they are busily snipping, dying, and polishing so that customers can follow every fad that emerges. Cosmetologists are expected to ride the current boom right into the new milenium. Once patronized largely by the leisure class, cosmetologists now see clients from every walk of life who are bound together by their sense of fashion and its ever-changing styles and trends.
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