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Every morning around 7:40 a.m. students from all over come to learn about cosmetology at college courses. Rows of clients are lined up in the salon as students practice their skills. They learn how to help people get what they desire.
Cosmetology courses are more accessible as colleges have begun to provide many places for people to learn at.
Snow College offers a degree in cosmetology for students who want to earn a certification. The courses are all offered in Richfield, so it is often difficult for NS students to attend. Snow College isn’t the only college offering these courses. Mountainland in Spanish fork offers cosmetic classes as well.
“We’ll cut their hair, color their hair, perm their hair, do their nails, give them a facial, anything they want, we’ll do it for them,” said senior Michelle Lee, a student currently in the program.
Through the class, you don’t get paid to do the service or practice. However, you can keep the tips that you make from clients. The clients will pay the school to have whatever they want done for the cost of the supplies. If they decide to tip, it goes straight to the student.
The school does have flexible hours for its students. Students need to attend the first hour of theory class and afterwards have more options of working time. To get a license, students must have sixteen hundred hours of work.
“As long as you have that time in, you should be fine,” Lee said.
Classes start at 8 a.m. with many usually arriving around 7:40 a.m. The class then gives them an hour of “theory time” which is where they learn all the book work. Then from there, around 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., they are in the lab or salon where the community can come in and have any service they want done.
The course is from 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday. On Friday students get let out at 12 a.m.
Along with how to cut and style hair, students also need to learn anatomy. Students must learn all the bones and muscles in the head and in the face and fingers. Science comes into hand when needing to make a certain color for a client’s hair. Knowing how the chemicals work and which colors to use get the outcome you desire.
Not only is science a necessary skill for cosmetology, but they also need to know math – know angles for haircuts and know ratios for hair colors.
“If you want to be prepared for [cosmetology], know your math and know your science,” Lee said. “Just because someone hates math and science doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy cosmetology.”
Most of the schooling is hands-on. Assignments are signed during the course. Every week they assign a different category to work on.
“It’s still school, you’re still learning, but it’s more hands on than sitting at a desk,” Lee said.
Students at the course aren’t the only ones getting practice in. Freshman Adriana Mardell has been doing hair and nails for her family. She dyes and cuts hair for her grandma and aunts on more than one occasion. She has also done friends’ nails through the years.
“Be patient with it, if you rush through the process, it can ruin the outcome.” Mardell said.
A couple of the students who have attended the course talk about how valuable it is.
“There are so many ways you get to express yourself and a lot of expressions with-in this industry,” student cosmetologist Lillian Valhalla Cisco said.
Cosmetology has been said to be a field of work influenced by creativity.
“You don’t go into that line of work hating it,” Cisco said, “everyone comes in and it’s a positive experience for everyone to express themselves and they love showing their art on someone’s hair or makeup.”
Not only is cosmetology a field of work influenced by creativity, but it’s also a field of art.“Cosmetology is more of an art than anything else,” Lee said.
