Liz

Recent photos of my friend Liz, cut and color done by me.

Makeup is all from the Gareth Pugh MAC line.

I Made A (Film Star!) Weave

I wrapped filming for the student film project I was working on today. Overall I was responsible for the hair, makeup and wardrobe of a cast of five characters: four of whom are members of a goth/emo rock band. For the most part, the actors were cast pretty close to part, which made my life a hell of a lot easier, since I was a one-man department responsible for the looks of 5 people. However, the lead character (a particularly emo 20-something who probably spent his entire teenage years moping around the Hot Topic at the mall while trying to get a band together), was to be played by your quintessential Abercrombie & Fitch-wearing *normal* guy. Fun!

I realized right off the bat that it was with that character that I was going to make my involvement with this project worthwhile for me. As I mentioned, I did this job pro-bono, which meant that if I wasn't getting paid monetarily, then I better damn make sure I get something beneficial out of it! (No offense, Phil, I realize you spent a shit ton of $$ on this project, and I am really grateful that you thought of me and allowed me to be a part of it!) Anyway, I immediately started thinking about how I could transform this guy into a pseudo-rockstar...

Here is what I had to work with:

note the American Eagle hoodie...

Obviously, the first thing to tackle was his hair. I could go one of two ways: cut it or add some. I decided I wanted to give him hair... Nothing says "emo/goth band" like some seriously asymmetrical hair. So, a hairpiece it was! The problem, of course, being that -- I've never done one before!

I guess that's not entirely true. I experimented with fake hair in the early '00s when dreaded hair extensions were in style in the goth-club circuit... and I've owned little (pre-made) clip-in extension pieces that I got at Ricky's, or whatever. But I'd never bought hair on a track before and made my own. Luckily, I'd had friends who'd done this before, so I knew how it worked, and I'd also asked one of my instructors to explain it to me a few weeks ago, as he wears a clip-in extension every day while he grows out a short haircut... Making clip-in extension pieces was way easier than I thought; the hard part was blending it in with his real hair. I ended up making two pieces: one for length, and one for blending/style. Added to this was some smudgy eyeliner and a few key wardrobe pieces (borrowed from another actor), and voila! An emo rocker dude was born.

The result:

his shirt (underneath the scarf and pleather jacket) reads "Fuck My Life" -- if that's not "emo", I don't know what is.

For one scene, I had to make the character look like he'd just been in a fight (with the guitarist from his band, who'd transformed into a drug-addicted zombie... yes!). Here's what I did with that:

he had fake blood dripping down the corner of his mouth that smudged off before I took this pic. 

I'll also add that this film was shot in black and white, so the difference in tone of his hair piece and his natural were not noticeable. (I checked. Many times).  Also, subtle makeup applications go a looong way on black and white film.

I'm super excited by the results, considering it was the first time I'd done this. I can't wait to see the film when it's edited and complete. It was a really fun experience, and it confirmed for me that I do indeed enjoy working on film shoots. Can't wait to get more experience like this under my belt!

Here's some more looks from the film shoot that I put together:

before and after of female drummer character. 

post-gig look

this is the token naive bass-player character.

strung out heroin-addicted soon-to-be zombie character.

NOT A Beauty School Dropout

I did it.

I graduated from the Aveda Institute. It took 9 months, and was (literally) a painfully long experience, but I did it. I couldn't be happier that I actually pushed myself through it all. Overall, I learned SO much, and I'm really glad I did it. There hasn't been a single day that I think, "gee, I really should just go back to an office job." Those days are over, and I'm not looking back. I'm thankful that this career will allow me to hold on to that resolution.

My last week of school, I had a few of my friends come in as clients, as well as a few repeat clients who requested me after earlier appointments. As a result, the last couple of days were nice and pleasant for me. Here's a couple of pics of the work I did (before and after):

single process (to match her natural) plus red peekaboo highlights

long concave cut with graduation. I had previously done her color as well.

So... now I enter the real world. First job out of the gate: I'm doing hair and makeup for my friend Phil's short film. Shooting starts on Monday, runs through Thursday. The task I'm most excited about is turning a regular guy (the main actor) into an emo/goth rocker dude. The work is pro-bono, but I think it'll be great experience and a nice credit to have under my belt, especially since I do want to eventually work on editorial and film shoots.

The next order of business will be trying to find a salon job. As I've discussed previously, I think this is an incredibly important part of trying to build who you are as a stylist. This is gonna be the tricky part. I've got some ideas of places I want to apply to, but I am trying to find a place that will have an equal emphasis on education as it does on a creative and somewhat relaxed atmosphere. Translation: I don't want to work a 9-5 (or 7-3 as I did at Louis Licari) schedule. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm just NOT a morning person, and my creative juices (as well as general productivity) just don't start flowing that early. I don't want to work nights, but I'll need to find some sort of happy medium. Also, I don't want to assist forever. I can't, in fact, financially afford to do so. This leaves corporate salons essentially out of my job search, but I don't want to sacrifice education by going to a small (no matter how hip) boutique salon, if there aren't any stylists available during the day who I can actually learn from. So... the search begins.

More Hair-inspiration

While browsing Tumblr and the like, came across some pics of cool hair I just want to save here for future reference...

....more behind the cut...

Graduation

This post isn't about hair-cutting techniques... It's to announce that I had my official "graduation ceremony" at the Hogwarts School of Hair Wizards on Tuesday of this week. I won't get into what the graduation ceremony consisted of, or how my peers and I perceived it, as this is a public forum and I should best keep negative opinions to myself... However, I am happy that this phase of my life is soon coming to a close and I can get started on the rest of my career. I know there are some aspects of cosmetology school I'll miss, but I'm really looking forward to thinking outside of a set of given parameters, if that makes any sense. My last day of school is scheduled to be December 3rd.

Anyway... my graduating class got majorly short-shafted on class-time and final projects we were promised (oh, look, I guess some of that negativity managed to creep in after all...).  The final project was supposed to consist of bringing a model in to the school, and styling them (including cut/color, style, makeup and wardrobe), then having a professional photographer take pictures of the final result for use in our portfolios. I'd already planned what my theme was going to be, picked out inspiration photos and wardrobe, and was merely waiting for the assignment date to be given so I could book a model. Alas, the project was called off, so I made a decision last night to take it into my own hands. I'm putting the specific idea I had for that project on hold for now, as it was rather ambitious, and I really need a salon environment and a professional photo setup to do it justice, but there's no reason I can't plan my own "final projects".

(one of my original inspiration photos... I'll come back to this one day!)

So, I put out a public service announcement on Facebook asking my friends if anyone wanted some funky hair for free.  My plan is now to do one "final project" per week until I'm employed again full-time. This is still quite ambitious for me, but I feel like it's something I can commit to, and it will keep me busy working on hair.  Plus it will be really useful for my portfolio. I intend to gather up some willing victims, do either cut, color or both, style them, do makeup, and then take pictures using my own digital camera. I took a portrait photography course at NYU a couple of years ago, so I think I'm up to the challenge. (Yet another skill I get to practice! Huzzah.)

I'm hoping my first project will take place sometime during Thanksgiving weekend. I have a model at the ready, and some photos for inspiration...

 (a new inspiration photo... let's see how this goes!)

I'm super psyched to see how this idea will pan out! Stay tuned...

And Then That Happened...

That artist lady who earned herself an entire blog post came back to the salon today to get her haircut redone by another student. Apparently, my instructor had only managed to texturize it on one side, and it was really lopsided, so she came in to "finish it up." The lucky student who fixed it just so happened to have the station right next to mine. Awkward.

Also, as I had another situation today with a client who suddenly realized she had to fly like a bat out of hell in the middle of her service... here's a friendly public service announcement reminder: DO NOT GO TO A SCHOOL TO GET YOUR HAIR DONE, IF YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME TO SPARE. That is all.

Resolutions in Creativity

I have a month left of school. Graduation cannot come soon enough! The last phase of school has been nonstop clients, with few breaks and only one actual lesson day (in which I learned how to do the "perfect ponytail"...among other things). It's grueling and only somewhat rewarding. I don't feel 100% confident in my abilities yet, but I definitely feel a lot more comfortable putting my hands in hair...

It's been a long and strange journey... I was never quite the best beauty school candidate, because I've never been interested in things being "pretty." It was hard to get used to doing a "pretty" blowout, or a "pretty" haircut, because I've always had a more... eclectic?... view of hair. (I swore I wouldn't say "punk rock".)  Basically, I've always had multicolored hair, dark roots have never bothered me much, my own haircuts are always choppy and asymmetrical, and i like lots of texture. I also never blow-dry my own hair, I barely use product, and with all the Special Effects/Manic Panic in my hair, I'm lucky if I wash it more than once a week... It was hard to retrain my brain to think in terms of what is expected at a more corporate, mainstream salon environment.

The problem is... now that I've done that retraining, it's hard *not* to think that way. Yesterday, I had a client come in with hair that went halfway down her back with no layering, who wanted a "funky" hair style. She liked my own asymmetrical style, and wanted something chunky and highly textured. And she was willing to cut off a LOT of hair.

"I'm open," she said. "I want you to use your own creative vision. It can be sculptural, or whatever, just get crazy. I'm an artist."

My initial reaction was panic. I've been fighting off a flu for the past month; I can't take any sick days because I am determined not to postpone my graduation any further, so I've been attending school heavily medicated on TheraFlu, echinacea and whatever painkiller I can get my hands on. I'm in a fog most of the day, my muscles ache and I feel fatigued and slow. That is not the optimal state of being for someone to "be creative". And, on top of that comes the above-mentioned dilemma: I've been trained to do by-the-book, "pretty" haircuts. We rarely get to experiment, and I don't necessarily feel comfortable doing so on a real person (who I don't know) in a salon environment. It would be different if it were a friend of mine who said "go crazy" and I wasn't being graded, and if a hair is out of place it would be no big deal... But I don't know this lady, and I don't know what will happen if MY idea of "creative" is her idea of "what the fuck did you do to my hair?!"

I hate this feeling. It's crippling. I've always been trapped in this in-between world of being a generally creative person, but also being someone who's really nerdy and kind of an overachiever, who generally operates within the parameters of wherever I happen to be employed or studying. I'm frequently torn between being rebellious and artistic on the inside, and a perfectly passive service provider who just wants to please you in practice. Artist lady done freaked me the hell out with her request.

What ended up happening is I gave her an extreme concave bob, where the back started at the nape of her neck, and the front ended at about boob-length. Then I gave her round layers to eliminate a bunch of bulk and add movement. From there, the idea was to give her even more choppy-as-fuck layers and texturize the crap out of that. Of course, at that point, artist lady decides she's running really late to her next appointment (DO NOT GO TO A SCHOOL TO GET YOUR HAIR DONE IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO SPARE!! Just don't. Save yourself and your poor student stylist the stress.) So, I do what my conscientious student-mind tells me to do, and I call over one of my instructors to ask him to show me real quick how I can achieve the look that's in my head in 5 minutes flat. Artist lady is freaking out because she has to leave NOW and "I'm an artist, and I just can't deal with this boring housewife haircut..."

What?! Boring housewife. Ouch. I almost ran out of the salon crying right then and there. That is just about the complete opposite of who I am... I think?? My instructor was cool and did exactly what I told him I wanted to do in no time (while still trying to squeeze in some instruction to me on how to achieve it next time), but it was a total missed opportunity. Lady had no time, therefore I didn't get to experiment, and my instructor had to step in and do my dirty work. Artist lady did apologize: "I'm sorry, I was right there with you. I know what you wanted to do, and that was totally right, and if you would have had more time I'm sure we would have gotten there." Thanks.

In the end I didn't even have the chance to snap a picture, but I wouldn't feel right calling it my work anyway, since I'm not responsible for the absolute final result. BUT, I suppose it was a valuable lesson learned... I don't ever want anyone to refer to anything I do as "boring" again. I need to trust my instincts and allow my ideas to materialize. The hardest part for me to deal with is getting things "wrong", but in the end I guess it's better to make mistakes and learn from them, than be too afraid to try new and fun things that I want to do.

Anyway... because I don't feel right not posting any photos at all after all that blabber -- here a couple of pics of my trusty model, Bertha, showing off some recent examples of my cut and color experimentation. She never gets to complain about my timing or taste.