What to expect at the Ohio State Board Cos Exam

First things first, I GOT MY COSMETOLOGY LICENSE LAST WEEK!!! I am super excited, happy, and relieved that I passed my first time in. The entire day was extremely stressful and I was high strung and wound up. I figured everyone else would also be feeling like this, so I thought I'd put together some tips and info for those heading to state board...

1. I got to the testing center around 7:30 in the morning, and wasn't the first. The parking lot filled up pretty quickly, and by 8 the waiting room was filled.

2. Be sure to have your photo, testing paper, and driver's license on hand.

3. Around 8 a.m. they start by lining everyone up and checking them in. They assign you to a room and give you a number. You'll either start by doing all of your hair practicals, or by doing your manicure, facial, and written test. I was in the group that did my mani and facial and written. I got about a 2 hour lunch break and came back at noon to do my hair practicals.

4. The written (on the computer) portion of the exam consists of 110 questions, which is randomly generated and can throw pretty much anything at you, so be prepared. You are able to, on the computer, go back and forth between questions, bookmark them, and move through the exam at your own pace. You're given 1 hour and 30 minutes for this portion of the test.

5. After both sections of your exams are over, you then sit in the lobby to wait for your test results, which are handed out in envelopes. Should you pass, you then can wait for your license that same day. All in all my day there lasted from 7:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon. I came home exhausted and covered in gunk.

HELPFUL TIPS

1. When bringing barbacide, buy a bottle at Sally's. It MUST have all information on it. You can't just write barbacide on a bottle and take it in, you will have points deducted.

2. Instead of loads of towels, just bring 4-5 towels and instead, bring an entire roll of paper towels. You will be wiping down counters all day long and paper towels are neater and cleaner.

3. Trash bags. Bring THREE. You will use one for the mani/facial portion and two for the hair portion of your practicals.

4. Try to remember a shower cap for when you are finished with your mannequin head at the end of the day. She will be a hot mess and this will avoid getting cholesterol all over your bag.... not that I would know from personal experience.

5. You are allowed in your cabinet at any time during your practicals, so as soon as you're finished you can set up for the next one, which I found helpful. The order the practicals went in:

• Thermal
• Haircut
• Perm
• Color retouch
• Highlight
• Relaxer retouch
• Virgin relaxer

6. During the beginning of my set up time for the mannequin, I just immediatley draped her with a towel/cape/towel combo, so that I wouldn't have to redrape her with this when it came time for the chemical potion of the practicals.

I hope people find this helpful, as I sure wish someone would have written something like this for me before I went!!

State Board Exam

The dreaded day is finally here... tomorrow. Yes, it's state board exam time. All the work I put in a school and all the studying I've been doing in the past month comes to a head tomorrow in a what I've heard is a grueling 8 hour exam.

Bags are packed (I only packed and repacked it about 8 times) and hopefully I will knock it out of the park tomorrow and finally be a licensed cosmetologist!

Wish me luck!

Summer hair

In Ohio the past week we've had some insanely hot weather! That means, for a curly girl, that I put away my blow dryer and call it a day, and usually spend most of my days with my hair looking like this...

Pinned up, out of the way, and running crazy. Enjoying this gorgeous weather!!

My dream hair

I know the saying is "you always want what you can't have" and when it comes to hair, this is so very true for me!

I'm currently presiding over a shoulder length mop of reddish blondish curls, and with this weekend's "heat wave" (it hit 82 in March, which in Cincinnati is almost unheard of) I'm waging a war against frizz and fuzz.

I've never been a girl to be able to shower and then let my hair air dry with no problems. There has to be at least a little bit of product in it, even if I want to wear it curly.

So, without further delay, I thought I would write todays post about my dream hair. Like half the women on the planet now, I'm addicted to Pinterest, and I spend hours looking at images. In those hours I have found hair that makes my jaw drop, and green with envy, and so I thought I'd share a few of them here. Basically I want mermaid hair...

As for me, realistically I know that another woman's hair will never be my own, and so my own goal is to grow my hair out as long as it will go, and keep my bangs. Simple enough.

And the dream gallery...

Bootcamp

I participated in my first Bootcamp at work today. It's something the owner does every once in awhile to better train and educate hairstylists. They can either come from the salon, or other salons, and we all gathered today (about 5 of us) for 10 hours of cutting and fun... and also pizza.

I think the most glaringly obvious thing that I learned today was that I learned absolutely nothing at school. With all the time I sat around at school doing nothing, there were countless variations of cutting I could have been taught, and I wasn't! However, that was remedied today, and I find myself with a whole renewed energy and passion for what I do, and I can't wait to try out the new techniques that I learned.

We worked on everything from one length cuts, to layers, to bobs, to texturizing, and everything in between. My favorite of the day had to have been the shattered bob, and watching my boss cut a pair of bangs onto a mannquin. My jaw literally dropped, and now I want those bangs...

At about hour 8 my brain shut off completely and I hit a wall, and literally couldn't retain any new information, and had worn a groove into my finger from holding my comb so tight. I left absolutely exhausted but so excited about the things I had learned!

The Holy Grail

I know I get super excited every time a hair product makes my hair feel good... I think this time I have hit the complete and total JACKPOT!

This is Aveda's Damage Remedy daily hair repair, and honestly, my hair is THRIVING using this stuff. I bought it last week and have used it about 3 times, and the difference in my hair is absolutely remarkable. It's soft and swingy, and my hair has never in my life been swingy. Coarse and frizzy maybe, but it's never swung anywhere!

I am so incredibly glad I bought this, and my hair is thankful too!

March hair length

I know I'm a few days late (ok, EIGHT) but I've finally got the March hair photo ready to go. I'm posting it along with the previous months to see the growth.

Enjoy!