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Classes Prepare You to Earn a License in Your State
Students enrolled in cosmetology school learn a lot about hair and beauty – and it’s much more than coloring and cutting, styling updos, performing beautiful pedicures and manicures, and applying makeup for every occasion. For example, did you know that cosmetologists must also understand personal networking and finances, and have a dedication to customer service?
So what will you learn when you enroll in cosmetology school? It’s actually quite a lot! Keep reading to discover what your time in school will be like and what you can expect to do.
Your Schooling Starts With Important Concepts
You have to learn to walk so you can run. Cosmetology is like that, too. Foundational cosmetology concepts are the first topics you’ll cover in class, including:
- Sanitation: How to clean tools and your workstation. This prevents the spread of skin issues, parasites, and more.
- Physiology and anatomy: How hair grows, and how to care for skin and nails. This is especially important in helping you understand hair health.
- Communication: How to interact with clients, coworkers, your supervisors, and more.
- Chemistry: The products, solutions, and chemicals you’ll use to perform cosmetology services – and many of them involve chemicals!
Now You’re Finally Ready to Cut Hair – Kind Of
Haircutting techniques consider three essential principles: length, graduation, and layers. Learning how to perform a handful of basic haircuts will enable you to combine those techniques and create unique looks for your clients. When you stay up-to-date on haircutting trends even after graduation during your continuing education, you’ll continue utilizing the techniques to deliver the latest looks.
Most cosmetology school students also learn barbering skills, although in many states, a barber license is different from a cosmetology license and requires additional training on shaving. However, all cosmetology students learn to perform haircuts on everyone.
A basic bob can become the foundation of a number of hairstyles – and you’ll practice cutting on mannequin heads before moving to real-life people who entrust you with their tresses.
Hair Color Techniques: Basic to Balayage
There’s a reason that cosmetology students need to know chemistry. Hair coloring is a chemical process, after all.
Students will not only learn single-process color, which gives a single, overall shade to clients’ hair, but they’ll also learn techniques like foil highlights, color correction, and vivid colors. More advanced hair coloring students will learn more difficult color application techniques, including balayage.
Just like with hair cutting, you’ll learn how to color hair using mannequin heads before graduating to real clients who visit your school’s student salon.
Makeup and Nail Care: Beauty More Than Skin-Deep
Make-up Designory (MUD) partner schools team basic beauty techniques and makeup application. Cosmetology students also learn advanced skin care techniques and to perform manicures and pedicures. They’ll even learn how to apply polish.
Remember those mannequin heads? You’ll practice nail polish application on a mannequin hand! This ensures you can perfect your technique with someone who sits perfectly still before working on a hand connected to a mind of its own.
Business and Marketing Knowledge
Some cosmetology schools also teach students the basics of marketing their service, especially on social media, where they can build awareness and attract new clients. Basic marketing, upselling products and services, and maintaining client relationships are all vital for those working in the cosmetology industry.
Your Tool Kit
If you’re just starting out in the world of cosmetology, it might be overwhelming to get your student kit in its entirety. These kits contain those important mannequin heads, shears, coloring tools, combs, brushes, shavers, hair dryers, flat irons, and more, along with all your books.
Great cosmetology schools provide these kits for you as part of your tuition, and you never have to source them for yourself. This ensures every student has the same tools as they learn techniques, and no one is at an advantage or disadvantage.
Finding the Right Cosmetology School for You
People who want to attend cosmetology school have an important task ahead of them: choosing the best cosmetology school for them.
The choice involves touring the schools you’re considering, learning about scholarships and financial aid, and deciding when to start. Ask lots of questions about the curriculum, what it’s like to attend the school, and what its recent graduates are doing in their careers. Ensure the facilities are somewhere you’ll want to spend hours of your time during your schooling – you’ll be there for at least 1,500 hours!
