Life As An Assistant- State Board

Well Hello Everyone,

So I had a couple of requests to go through the state board process. So I am back to tell you my experience.


While in cosmo school you have an option at 1200 hours to pre-apply for a state board date or wait until your 1600 hour mark and apply (and wait for a date!). You see in order to get licensed you have to pass a state exam. At 1200 hours (My first exciting moment in school) I sent in my pre application and waited an agonizing 6-8 weeks to receive my date. My second most exciting moment in school was the day I walked into class and the woman who works in the office brought me my paper work and date. August 31st! It was official. It was less then a month away. At this point in school I was stressing in state board class. I was going over and over each step, wearing a stupid white lab coat, washing my hands about 300 times  a day (state board is all about sanitation not how well you do a haircut) and at this point was studying my ass off. I was in class form 8 am to 10 pm just to clock in my hours. I called my mom a begged her to be my model by offering free hair services for life. Luckily for me she agreed. The third most exciting day was when I clocked out at my 1600 hours for the very last time. My friends sent me off wishing me good luck, a lot of cupcakes and trying to reassure me that I would be just fine! "Just study. You know the information!" they would say.

Now the pressure begins. I took over my parents kitchen, forced my poor mother to sit still, shut up and time me over and over and over again. There are over 30 applications you need to know for state board form skin care to nails, pedicures (GROSS!), and hair. You see...you need to know them all but you don't find out what's on your test until the morning of. So like I said I made my mom sit in the kitchen with a timer for 6 to 8 hours a day going over flash cards and running through applications (which I would be timed on). I stressed myself out, had emotional break downs, picked fights with my mom and I think had a short psychotic break.

The morning of state board I put on that stupid white lab coat and was in Glendale by 6 am for check in (mom in tow). As we were in the long line my mom asked one of the women who worked for state board a question about the line (she made a comment about splitting the line) and she snapped at my mom. Off to a great start!!! :) We checked in, got into the room and waited to set up. I think at this point I was shaking so bad it looked as though I was having a seizure. The state board examiner gave us a brief tutorial and said GO! I set up, opened my book of operations and panicked. Of course they gave me everything I wished they wouldn't (most of which I don't even remember now). I began. My mom, who granted is not used to being awake that early, in fact most people except me aren't used to being awake before the sun comes up, started to fall asleep during the operations. Models are not allowed to speak, read, listen to music or do ANYTHING. They just sit. So I guess she got a little sleepy. The girl next to me constantly got in trouble for moving the book of operations, which we were told not to do, and the girl on the other side of me cut herself so bad during a haircut I never thought she'd stop bleeding. The girl across from me, who also used her mother as a model, kept quietly yelling at her mother for chiming in and talking back. I thought the craziness had ended at my college experience but I guess not! It was quite an active morning. I was on my last procedure (after messing up a few operations) and the instructor asked to see my last operation, which I had already thrown in the trash. I had less then 5 minutes to complete a press and curl (involves a hot iron, stove, and typically African American hair) and i had to run back to my station, pull everything out of my trash bag (which is when I accidentally dumped everything out of my kit) and find a tiny wax strip with hair to present to the instructor. I rushed to throw everything back into the trash and clean up my station only to have 3 minutes to complete the press and curl. Let's just say I didn't really make it.  Break time! The practical part of the exam was done. And so was my license or so I thought. I walked out of the room in tears convinced I failed my exam. I had 20 minutes to re focus, munch on some power food and re-group for the written exam. I walked in, took a ridiculous picture which ended up on my license (No you can not see it!) and sat down at the computer. I finished the written exam so fast I again thought I failed.

At this point it was about 1:30 in the afternoon and we didn't get our test results until 3. So my mom and I decided to head over to the galleria where I again had a break down. This was NOT an exam I EVER wanted to go through again.

3pm arrives! I sit in the results room. There are probably 50 people in there with me and the woman calls names in groups to come up to the desk and get your license or a piece of paper that says why you failed. First group goes, second group goes...OHHHHH MYYYYY GOOOODDDDDD just give me my results!!!!!!!! After the 3rd group the woman excuses herself for the worst 10 minutes ever! Of course! Finally my group gets called. I walk into line, approach the desk and she says "Samantha here is your license. Thank you. Goodbye. Oh yeah...Congrats". HOLLY HELL I PASSED!!!!! Best moment of my life. I completed 1600 hours and passed a state exam.

I ran downstairs to the parking structure where my mom was waiting for me, and of course who made friends with the parking attendant, and they 2 of them looked at me while holding their breath. "I failed"..I said. Yes I know this was a cruel joke but since this was over I couldn't resist a little joke. My mom was crying and I just smiled and said I passed! I pretty much called everyone I knew to give them the great news and let my friends, who hadn't yet taken the exam, and tell them it really wasn't that hard. "Just breathe and you'll do fine. it's a piece of cake!"

So I know this wasn't the most exciting blog but it's hard to take a very emotionally draining day and make it entertaining. But for all you students out there who are waiting to take the state board exam...it really isn't that hard. If you can breathe through it, trust yourself and study you'll do just fine!

On another note I took the week off work this week and went back to one of the best Hair schools in the world to take an advanced one week cutting class. So far it's been the best week! I've learned a lot and get my diploma tomorrow. Pictures and that blog to come....

Until next time...

Life as an assistant - The Beginning

My journey began in 2009. I was working at a production company during the height of the
economic crisis. I had just moved back from New York and was acting as part receptionist 
and part production coordinator who spent most of my time answering phones and surfing 
the web (as most fellow desk jobbers do). As the company was starting to go under I had 
this epiphany that I needed a BIG change. Since i had a strong feeling my position was not 
going to be needed very much longer I woke up early one Friday morning, drove to work, 
walked into my managers office and said " Since you're probably going to "let me go" any 
day now, would it be possible if you did it today?" The answer was yes! It was a beautiful 
Los Angeles morning (still pretty early) and i had the day off. Many days off actually... 
Now what?????? Back to the job hunting I went along with thousands of LA people. Then it 
hit me. I really wasn't a fan of sitting behind a desk. Although all of my jobs consisted of a 
creative background they also involved a desk and some web surfing. I was very bored to 
say the least. I started my quest of trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I 
decided on going back to school (scariest thing I have ever done) It was sink or swim, now 
or never. I narrowed my choices down to 2. Culinary school or Cosmetology school. Both I 
loved! I closed my eyes, pointed and prayed for the best. Cosmetology school it was!!!


I am starting this blog to tell my story (stories) of becoming and being a hair stylist. Well an assistant hair stylist. This is my journey from the beginning through the decision making process, school and now my every day life. I will include funny stories (did you know hair stylists act as second therapists???), pictures, models I may need for the week and specials or deals for services I'll be providing. I hope you look forward to reading these as much as I will have fun writing them!


Until next time....


"Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually you find a hair stylist you like."  ~Author Unknown

The Life of an Assistant- The Job Hunt

The joys of job hunting... As I was completing school I knew it was about that time to find a job. You see when I first started going to school I assisted the owner of this adorable little salon in Studio City, CA. The coolest part of this job was that my boss would allow me to bring in my own clients and she would help me every step of the way through my procedures. Problem was haircuts took me 4 hours and lets face it...who has that kind of time??? I had zero experience and no idea what I was doing. She was kind enough to take me on anyway and show me the ropes of hair styling. The other assistants tried to show me how to set up trays, do shampoos, clean, formulate color and so on. For the life of me I could NOT catch on. This went on for a few months as I tried my very hardest to do everything perfectly. Clients would come in and I would shampoo them (some celebrities as well) and I was so nervous at the shampoo bowl I'd occasionally spray myself with water. I managed to embarrass myself every chance I got. The number one complaint (yes there were a few since I was clueless) was that my shampoo was "too soft". My mother was actually the biggest complainer in this area. I guess most people really like their head to feel scrubbed and cleaned when they leave the bowl. Who knew???? i just didn't want to hurt them! Or at least that's what I kept telling myself since I was beyond freaked that I'd mess up once again. Like I said this went on for only a few months. As time went by we (my boss and I) both realized this was just not going to work until I got some more hours completed at school. So I narrowed my days from a few to 1 until I just decided it was best to focus on school.

As I got closer to the end of my education I decided I wanted to do hair on films and TV. I heard you can make a lot of money that way! I was READY!!! Unfortunately it's a bit more complicated to get into the hair union then I had originally thought. So in the mean time I decided to apply to several salons. One in the valley and several in Santa Monica. I began my interview process which is never fun. I called my first boss mentioned above to see if there were any salons she recommend that had a good education program as well as assistant positions. I called them and set up appointments stat! I narrowed my list down to 2. One in the valley less then 10 minutes form my house and one in Santa Monica an hour and a half to two hours in traffic. Got to love rush hour on the 405! Sadly my first choice was the one in SM.  I ended up going through 4 rounds of interviews for my first choice salon. It was a Saturday and I was being the usual clutzy self that I am and fell flat on my elbow. As I was being rushed to the emergency room, praying to god I didn't just blow my entire career and 1600 hours worth of school by breaking my elbow, I received a call saying I got the job at my first choice salon!

The manager: "Sam I'd like you to know that we would love to have you as a part of our staff"
Me: "That's AMAZING! I'd love to join your staff but can I call you back? I may have just broken my arm. Call you when I am out of the ER"
The Manager: "Ummmmm....."

Yeah needless to say I did end up fracturing my elbow and needed physical therapy, a lot of advil and there was the lack of ability to use the arm I really needed so I could do hair. Perfect! Way to start a new job. The good news is when I called back my salon they said they were willing to take a chance on me anyway...as long as I was able to recover in the next two weeks (the doc said four!). I HAD A JOB!

I started that week and have been there ever since. I was lucky in my job hunt and I was determined to have a job fast. So now that you are all caught up to speed on how it began, why I did it, how I did it, the job hunt etc... I can now tell you about all of my crazy day in and day our experiences. Trust me my days can get pretty nutty and even funny. There is a saying that stylists are like therapists and they are right!

So until next time....

Life As An Assistant- The Journey Through School

And we are back... Oh the joys of searching for the perfect beauty school. When I started my journey to hunt for "the best" school I had no idea where to start. I started speaking with every hairstylist I could about which school was better, who would get me to pass the dreaded state board exam and who would make me the next Orlando Pita (For those of you who don't know he is one of the top 3 best hairstylists ever! He does Madonna...) I got various responses. Oh you MUST go to Vidal Sasson or Paul Mitchell is the best! i looked into those schools and they were right. They were amazing. I walked into them going "I have to be here". That was until I heard the passing rate for state board at both schools not to mention the amount of money that both charged with no financial aid. Third best it was going to have to be!  So the next bet was community college. I checked out a few of them. One more "ghetto" then the next so I asked around and was told SMC (Santa Monica Community College) was the way to go. I enrolled, with the help of a past student, and was ready to start my journey. My first day of class began 4/20/2008. (Yes the one day of the year that most students ditch school I was beginning my journey)

As I nervously waited outside the department on my very first day (with my mom. Yes my mother walked me to my first day of school like I was in kindergarten at the ripe age of 25. Cue laughter now!) I met my first 2 friends at that very moment who would later bring me lots of laughter, at them and with them, followed by drama and more drama. (I will not be sharing names for privacy).

At cosmetology school I learned very quickly that a school full of women and gay men means a shit ton of DRAMA! So much so the police were not only enforced to stand in our department every afternoon but they were soon enforced to be in one of my classes every Friday all day! My time at SMC became more and more like a Jerry Springer show and less and less like a class room environment. We had schizophrenics, just plain crazies, fist fights, cat fights, chairs thrown, girls peeing themselves in class (yes they were adults and yes it happened on more then once occasion) "straight" men hooking up with gay men, announcements asking students to "please stop smoking marijuana and coming to class drunk", girls stealing color and supplies from the color room only to resell them at school and so, so, so much more! By the time I was nearing my 1600 hour mark I had teachers asking me how to formulate color. All in all I would say my school was pretty fascinating. I learned more about myself in that year and a half then I have in 5 years. I not only learned about state board wet sets, blow drys, color formulation but I learned about sanity, patience and what I do and do not what in a friend.

I was able to survive SMC and receive my state board license about a week later. That was one of the best days in my entire life. It was also one of the scariest days of my entire life. State board was an experience all on its on. For those of you who don't know much about the subject its intense. I had to be in Glendale by 6:30 am with my model (I brought my mom...thanks mom. You get free hair for life!!!) We arrived groggy and early (for those of you who know me you know I was EARLY!) with coffee in hand. My mom was yelled at by staff before the exam got started for asking a simple question (not the nicest staff) and thank god we did not get that woman as my instructor. I had to complete the practical and written exam and then wait over an hour to get my results at 3pm. I PASSED! WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO! I could finally breathe!

Now that I have passed state board, survived beauty school and kept a portion of sanity the next step in my journey was to find a job. But that's a whole other story... Until next time.... Feel free to comment on the bottom and to follow me on my new twitter @cosmoenthusiast