I decided to get my hair styled at the
Paul Mitchell Salon - Huntsville located in Madison, Alabama. My appointment was Saturday at 9:30 am and at 9:38 am I was welcomed by my stylist and sitting in her chair.
Misty was the Phase 2 student that would be styling me. Her energy and spirit was upbeat and I felt this would be a great experience, she seemed to be excited to give this head of kinky curls a try. Misty asked if I had a photo or any reference to the color that I wanted ..which I did. I showed her the two colors I was contemplating, an auburn which she liked and a purple that she loved. She suggested instead of doing an all over purple that she use a technique called the
" Balayage Effect" where the color is placed throughout my hair in a pattern that mirrors itself on both sides of the hair. I decided to trust her judgement and said "let's do it"..She confirm her opinion with her supervising instructor Holly and we were off and running.
I had my hair styled in the past by students, men, women and even my kids but this was my first time having a Caucasian lady (Italian) caress these tresses however I wasn't nervous.
She approached my hair as curly and not by its ethnicity.Back to the process..She washed my hair, with the assistance of two beginning students Corlina & Brandi, then she placed me under the dryer to make sure my hair was dry for the bleaching/lifting process.
Side-note: Misty is a Phase 2 student which means she is just a little over month from graduation.My gray hairs were up to be tackled along with lighting my ends. Misty mixed some PM Shine that she applied to my edges, along the roots and through out my hair for the gray. Next up was the bleach..here we go.
I was excited and nervous because I never bleached my hair before ..Would my hair be some crazy color or would it be stubborn and not lighten at all? Misty is excited, "Your hair is looking so good"..She calls Holly over to check her work and she says "Wow, that was fast its great".. I'm feeling a lot better but still a bit scared. It was time to begin removing some of the foils from my hair when I was shocked......
Oh crap! My hair is blonde..Seriously blonde!I decided not to panic because I knew I needed my hair to be light for the purple to show and I told Misty I would trust her so I would see this through to the end.
After removing the foil my hair was washed and dried to be ready to add my color..Time for purple..The processed took about 35 minutes and I had my final wash, condition, deep conditioner and treatment.
Final Thoughts: My experience at the salon was great. You do need to keep in mine they are still students and will need to ask for approval and assistance from time to time. (I was there for 5 hours)...The pictures don't really give the color its true effect and the sun ran away as soon as I needed it to help.Im sure the color will get brighter... There were a few things that I wasn't completely happy with..there was a few area in my hair that I felt needed more color and a few blonde spots missed.
I do plan to return to get those areas corrected. As a whole I would give the experience a
8 out of 10 because Misty was such a pleasure and she made me feel comfortable with her judgement. I think if I was a little more hands on in advising them on the best way to manipulate my kinks I would have avoided some of the errors.
Costs: You need to be very mindful of the cost because everything is a la carte. You will go from $30 to over $100 without blinking an eye so get a price list before you sit in the chair.
Paul Mitchell - The School was a Saturday Treat
While waiting for my color to process Brandi gave me a nice hand massage with some tea tree lotion if felt so good.
Have you had your hair styled at a beauty school?Would you feel comfortable getting your hair styled by someone of a different race?
Share your thoughts!
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