Friday 29 May 2015

The end is near.

Half term is coming to an end and thoughts are turning to the end of college. End of term trips, final assessments, exams, portfolio building and preparation for level two.

Heres a few things to help you through these final weeks.....


If you still have assignments to do......



You still have time!


Dont be like this on Monday morning!

Be like this! 


cause you have done it!

If you still dont understand it. Bring it in and ask me.


Don't miss your chance. You only have 3 weeks! 


And for those of you doing your GCSE maths 


This will soon be you


See you next week when we can..















Friday 22 May 2015

We know how your feeling. Don't worry

I asked some of the students I had on level one last year to tell this years students how they felt last year at this time and what level two is like.

Here is what they said.
Q. How did you feel about moving on to level two? 

'Last year at this time we felt really nervous and panicky about the group changing and who we were going to have as our tutor. We thought the students in the other group were stuck up ( they aren't) 

Q. What did you feel like when you started in September?

We felt a bit on edge. It soon calmed down when we got put into groups and team building sessions helped us settle in. 

Q. What's level two like?

Doing your first clients is scary but it's okay as long as you remember everything you were taught in level one. It comes back to you. 
It's not as hard as you might expect, you do get to feel more comfortable with the clients and there are no assignments! But make sure you revise for the exams as they are hard.
It goes quickly because your busy doing clients. 
We all get along well, we feel more mature now and are starting to feel like real hairdressers!


Thank you, Lauren, Sheri and Saman.
I'm sure they will feel better now. 


A hairdressing video about Skin Tests

We had so much fun making our own video about
Skin Testing.

First we researched about the importance of skin testing, how we do one and what could happen if you don't do one.
We even made up a little song!
Let us know what you think.


Wednesday 20 May 2015

Our first videos!


Our First try at Videos!
Emily and Leah showing how to do a conditioning treatment starting with applying the conditioner.
Then how to use the Effleurage massage technique then how to use the Petrissage massage technique.
We will be trying more soon!








 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Preparing for level two

With the competition over and our practical assessments complete, it's time to recap on our cutting skills again. We surprised ourselves with how much we had remembered. Each of us choosing which cut we wanted to try again.







Tuesday 19 May 2015

Congratulations Emily

Emily had to leave early on the night of the hair competition and didn't collect her prizes. 
So today we had a mini celebration. Well done Emily! 





Final assessments

A few more assessments were completed today. We can't believe we only have three and a half weeks left! What a great year it has been. Can't believe it's nearly over... 







An invitation to level two

Since some of us have finished our practical assessments. Lisa asked us if we wanted to see what happened in a level two class. We felt a bit nervous but some of Lisa's level one's from last year were there and she asked them to look after us.
The tutor Jennie was lovely, she was doing a colouring demonstration and although we didn't ask any questions ourselves, we listened to the questions being asked and liked the final result.


We might join them again soon. 

Friday 15 May 2015

Wow what a night

Well to say I'm proud and impressed is an understatement!
Just look how well the students did.


Snow White with beautiful plait. From Bekki


Sweeney Todd the demon barber of Fleet Street next to Minnie Mouse!
Great back combing techniques from Adam and a fabulous bow from Molly.


Cat in the hat and what a fab hat! From Kara With lion king who looks like he is sitting down. From Demi


An amazing Avatar, just look at that make up.from Wilson  And a super goldilocks .from Loni


An underwater illusion by Dory and Ariel. From Rosie and Jayleigh Great use of colours using temporary and permanent colours.



A trip down the rabbit whole with the mad hatter from Leah and a medley of Alice in wonderland from Kirsty
With two Queen of hearts thrown in by Becky and Charlotte
How amazing are these!


AND NOW FOR THE RESULTS........

IN 3RD PLACE

Kalisi from Game of Thrones
Well done Kelly fantastic plaiting and twisting techniques.

IN 2ND PLACE

The Joker from a Batman
Well done Emily, a fab total look.



AND IN 1ST PLACE!!!

Pirates of the Caribbean 
Congratulations Mamoona!
So much hard work has gone into all this. And it looks just like Johhny Depp too. 

Look at those waves and that ship!


A fantastic night all assessments passed with flying colours!

So proud of you all,

















Thursday 14 May 2015

Let it begin!

The hall is nearly ready and waiting for all the students to arrive.


Here they are feeling excited and nervous


And so are we!


A group photo to calm the nerves


The hall is filling up


And their off! 45 minutes to complete their creations.


Wait till you see what they did!















The morning of 'the comp'

Quite of few of the students were nervous this morning and some deciding to change their ideas completely! But they all got on preparing. 


And now with bin bags full of displays, grips, rollers and clamps they all headed off to the Municipal Hall in Colne for the big event.


How I feel this morning.


AND


Well dones guys. An amazing competition. I'm so proud of you all.

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Your all winners to me

Wishing everyone good luck to your competition. You have already made me extremely proud!
Remember two things...



Lisa 




Friday 8 May 2015

What have we learnt about ourselves?

We cant actually believe how these weeks at college are flying by.
Most of us have completed our assignments and just have a few final assessments to do. And the competition of course!

The things we have learnt are becoming more than our hairdressing knowledge we are becoming different people. Little did we realise when we started this programme that we would grow so much in ourselves. 
Some of us have never completed anything in our lives until now. 

So a different question was asked this week.
What have we learnt about ourselves?

To hold our temper,
Not swear in places we shouldn't
Take responsiblity for our actions.
Have 'better' timekeeping.
Realise honesty IS the best policy.
We are responsible for our own equipment.
How to act professonally
To work as a team
Respect!
We are doing this to get a job.
To mind our own business
To get along with people even if you dont really like them.
Sharing is caring haha
That we can complete something.
We are going to miss Lisa. A lot!
That I will have a City and Guilds
How to BLOG!!
We dont always like our photos taken! Especially if it shows our chins.
How to meet deadlines.
College can be fun. So can Health and Safety.
We can create things we never thought we could.






Last practise before the big day


To say I'm proud is an understatement! 
I can't wait to see them all finished on Wednesday evening. 

Thursday 7 May 2015

So creative

The groups are far to busy to blog themselves, so left it up to me.
I can't believe how hard they are all working and how competitive they are getting.
Things are starting to come together but with only one more day in the salon to practise, it's going to be down to them to practise at home. 
See below how things are coming together. I'm so excited for them all and think they all deserve to win.

Beware Batman! The jokers about in Gotham City. Amazing Emily


It's the circle of life.  Well done Demi


Great patience from Wilson. That Avatar looks fab!


Lots of 'waves' from Mamoona. What could this be?


Zahir's and little in love with his Minnie Mouse. Don't tell Mickey!


That mad hatter is looking crazy Leah.


I can wait to see them all completed on the night.
Which one is your favourite?






Monday 4 May 2015

This could be you!

I Want That Job! 

I Want That Job! Sophia Hilton

Sophia Hilton is the art manager at Brooks and Brooks and a former winner of both HJ’s Newcomer of the Year and the L’Oreal Colour Trophy. She educates for L’Oreal Professionnel and works on hairdressing shows and shoots across the county. Here, we find out more about her career so far.

 

When did you decide you wanted to be a hairdresser?

I’m from a family of seven hairdressers, but surprisingly I didn’t want to be one to begin with. Instead I studied fashion and business. When I mentioned to my career adviser that I was thinking about leaving my course, she was disappointed as I’ve always been both creative and academic. Even my mum was a little disappointed at first.

After I became interested in hairdressing, I remember telling my mum how I wanted to create a hairstyle to look like a parrot. I remember her saying, “oh but darling, you don’t make money from stuff like that.” Well, guess what? I do! I do all kinds of weird stuff and I get paid for it now! Though I must admit, I haven’t done a parrot yet!

Where did you train?

For most of my training I went to collage two days a week, worked in a salon for one day, and converted a room in my house into a mini salon for the fourth. The fifth day was spent working on competitions. By the age of 21, I’d won 19 medals in traditional competitions all over the country. I was obsessed. I lived by myself from the age of 17, so for most of my training it wasn’t viable to be an assistant full time.

What was your first job like?

It was alright, nothing too exciting. To be honest, I went through six salons before I found the right place here at Brooks + Brooks, which was six years ago. I finally found a place I loved, a place that would challenge me. I got frustrated at how slow the training was in other salons, I always wanted to run before I could walk.

Why did you decide to enter for HJ’s Newcomer of the Year?

I actually entered the year before I won and made it to the finals. I had just taken a sabbatical off work to volunteer in Madagascar teaching hairdressing and Sally, my salon manger, said that she would understandably not be willing to put up the full budget if I was running off to save the world. So I had two choices; to take full budget for the shoot and stay or take a grand and go. I chose the small budget and don’t regret it for a second. I got to live my dreams in Madagascar and have a good practice run.

How did winning Newcomer of the Year help your career?

It has been huge to be honest. People are more aware of who you are, especially as I won the L’Oreal Colour Trophy in the same year. I’m very aware of those that didn’t give me time before winning though, and think everyone deserves the same respect, trophies or no trophies. I now spend a lot of time helping other people. I love education and I love mentoring. I have conversations with young hairdressers I’ve never met through Instagram, text and email, often helping them through the things I was struggling with five years ago. It’s quite time consuming but we all must remember we were in the same position once.

How important is it to work with a salon that are understanding of your work outside of day-to-day clients?

For me, it’s very important. But it takes time to earn respect and to get a salon to be more flexible in this way. You can’t expect to have that straight away. These days I spend my mornings in the office co-coordinating our creative department and the afternoons working on about five clients. At least once a week, I’m doing some sort of teaching, seminar or show and I still get to go abroad a few times a year. I worked hard to be in this position; I used to do everything in my day off. Sally is very fair when it comes to my creative work because it benefits the business.

What’s been the highlight of your career so far?

A big highlight at the moment is teaching a young boy called Adam. He’s only 11 years old and has been doing hairdressing of dolly heads at home for two years already. His mum came to me after a show feeling completely lost because she didn’t know what to do with him. So now he’s coming every summer holidays to train with me on my days off. He’s astounding and I’m very proud to be working with him.

What’s your next career goal?

Secretly, I’d like to do Noise. But I won’t rush it, I’m going to wait until I feel I have something fully formed and worthy of such an epic event.

What piece of advice would you give your student self?

Don’t rush your training like I did. You only have to relearn stuff again and its never the same. Do it right, learn it well and become a good stylist. Oh – and be nice to people.


Thank you again to Rachel Gibson from HJi for this post.