final weekly reflection

new teachings

Today I went to school from 10 - 3. I spent the day learning new hairstyles. However, instead of practicing myself, one of the barbers thought it would be beneficial to have him perform several short hair hairstyles. He started me with a low "blow out" cut. Then he moved into "tape-ups", and finally finishing with a high fade.

I liked this method of learning. Pete was able to give me hints that are so small he never brings them up in class. Plus its easy to understand what they're doing because you can feel where the clippers or scissors are on your head.

one length

Today I went to the salon at 10 am. I finished at 3 pm. I spent the day reviewing haircuts I had learned from the previous 2 weeks. I began with a "one length" cut. It is a scissor over comb cut, used on both males and females. 

The key with long hair is being able to divide the hair into several parts and then again into small sections. If you try and take on all the hair at once it is overwhelming and will never come out the way people expect.

coloring

Today I was in the shop from 10-230. I started on a new manikin today. Before I began cutting the hair Mr. Riccio had me applying color. Last week I learned the foiling technique for coloring hair, this weeks method was a little bit different. 

This time I broke the hair into four sections, a part down the middle and then two on the side. I used the same technique for foiling hair except this time I didn't stick foils in between the hair to seperate each section. 

After you break the hair into 4 parts, you must pull small sections of hair through your fingers and a special coloring comb. For each section you must be sure to evenly apply the color so no streaks are seen. Tomorrow I'll begin cutting my manikin, I'll be doing each haircut a second time, I'm excited to see how i've improved

Day off

Today the school was closed so I spent the day traveling to different barber shops in the area. Of the three barber shops I went to only 1 was helpful. Manny's, on main street in Monroe, Connecticut, had job openings and was told me that they're always looking for new barbers. He said, "as long as your certified we could find you hours". This was good to know, in case I ever decided to pursue a haircutting career. Job availabilty is rare in today's society so this gives me more incentive to look more seriously into the barbering occupation. The other two barber shops were more old fashioned. The 3 barbers is a shop run by 3 older italian men. They each work all day and have no interest in hiring new employees. Who could blame them, they are one of the most famous  shops in the fairfield county region. They didn't even hold job applications for prospective barbers. The third barbershop V.I.P in Bridgeport didn't take me seriously when I asked him about his business and applying for a job. However, they did have sign up information for becoming a barber.

Weekly report 2

First day of work

Today I spent about 2 hours lining my friends up. I had 5 of my close friends who needed me to edge up their sideburns and neck. Line ups are my specialty, even before I learned to cut hair I would line myself and some of my buddies up with the trimmers. 

Tomorrow Mr. Riccio wants me and his son Matt to cut hair because none of the students will be at school. Students get payed a small fee for cutting hair, it's mostly done for the I'm a little bit nervous about cutting people that I don't know so hopefully I won't screw up too bad.

Military cut & Bald fades

Today I arrived at Hero's at 11 am. To begin the day Mr. Riccio had me organizing kits for future students. The kits consisted of blow dryers, clippers, trimmers, scissors, curlers, foils, hair clips, and brushes. When we finished with the kits we broke down the packaging and my friend Matt and I drove the garbage to the dump.

After two hours of work I completed my first manikin. My last two cuts were a military cut and bald fade. Next week I'll go through each cut again, and Mr. Riccio told me I'm ready to cut clients who are looking for cheaper haircuts.

Today I went into the salon at 10 o'clock. I was in classes until 3. After class, Mr. Riccio wanted all of the students to practice fading hair lines on manikins. This to me was fun because it is a modern day hairstyle and my mastering this technique, I will then be able to cut most of my friends hair.

After one hour on the manikins, I left the shop and started heading home. It was then when my friend Timmy called me and I was so excited about practicing fades that I asked him if he wanted a haircut. So I went to his house and cut his hair. One haircut took me about an hour and a half. This was frustrating but I am getting much better and am definitely seeing progress.

Later that night I went to Travis' house to cut his hair. Again, it took me a long time but it came out great. He was happy and surprised with how well I did. It is a great feeling when someone likes what you have done with their hair. Cutting my friends hair has without a doubt added fire to my desire to be a better barber.

Buzzer Cuts

Today I got to school at 10 am. I started the day by finish foiling the manican i started yesterday. It was my first day to use clippers for men's cuts. Sal, one of instructors, was impressed with my haircut on the manican. He asked, "Did you do that by yourself???"

The most challenging part of the "blowout" is fading the lines along the side burns and along the back. I cheated by using my scissors and comb to fade the lines out, rather than using the clippers and switching the clipper guards.

Tomorrow I begin with high fades and then military cuts. I left the school at 5 pm.

Color application

Today I arrived at Hero's at 10 am I began the day by finishing up the men's classic cut which I learned last week. This time I used clippers and comb rather than the traditional scissors and comb technique. The clippers are harder to manage but the haircut go much quicker and the fade comes out real nice. 

When I completed my haircut, Dan Riccio showed me how to use foils and apply color. I wasn't too interested in this area because I'm looking to learn men's cuts. However after working with foils and color application I developed a new passion for cutting and styling longer hair. 

The way you foil is first you start in the middle, which means you must part the hair into three sections. Using a coloring comb grab a small section of the hair and stick the foil underneath. While the foils underneath you use a brush to apply the color to the hair which sticks to the foils. After you complete the foil you take away another section, this time not foiling it. You continue this everyother foiling routine throughout the middle section, eventually moving to each of the sides. The reason you don't foil every strand is to make the color seem more natural and less distinct.

I departed at 5 pm

weekly report

Weekly Report

Moving Along...

Today i came to the barbershop at 10 am. I was eager to learn new techniques in barbering and I started working with the razor, learning how to shave side-brows. I practiced on Matt Riccio who is the owner's son. I was surprised how quickly I excelled and managed to master this technique. The results were great and Matt was happy with the way his freshly shaved side-brows looked like. After I finished working with the razor I started observing the techniques involving scissors. I managed to pick up a few techniques and I wrote them down in my notes. In the meantime I helped out around the barbershop cleaning the hair on the floor and sometimes even serving drinks to various customers. Surprisingly today was not a very busy day and there were not many customers in the barbershop. I finished working at around 2 pm and I am looking forward to tomorrow since I will be learning new things from the instructors. 

1st haircut

I began the day by reviewing, sections and parts. Once I cut the hair short enough on the manican, Senior barber Eddie instructed me on how to use the clippers and edgers. After just 2 hours of practice on short hair, my buddy Bobby came up to get a cut.

Eddie instructed me step by step and Bobby's hair turned out great. I've used clippers before to cut hair so I feel much more comfortable doing that, rather than working with scissors. I know that with more practice and understanding the different types of haircuts I could become very good. Hopefully I will continue to have clients to practice on, to prosper my haircutting abilities

1st day of work

Today I got to work at 10 am. Senior Barber and Owner Dan Riccio first taught me the proper technique for holding the scissors. Next I took notes, we covered the 3 rules of barbering, parting, and sections. The most important part of the lesson was the convex and concave curves. I learned that since the head is round the hair dries at a curve. So when your cutting hair you need to cut at an angle so it dries straight.
After a brief 1 hour lecture I began working on a manican of my own. I began my styling by dividing the head into 2 parts and cutting each side at an angle to form the convex and concave curves. I was tentative with the comb and scissors in the beginning, but like everything, the more I worked at it the better I got. When I completed my lesson on sections, parting, and angles I got a haircut with step by step instructions from master barber Eddie. I concluded my day by sweeping the classroom and taking out the garbage for the salon.

Getting Started

Today I arrived at Hero's Barbering Academy & Shop at around 10 pm. Dan Riccio was waiting for me at the Shop eager to show me around his place. The barbering shop consists of 6 chairs, with 3 active barbers working at all times. It also has 2 large plasma TV's, one in the waiting room and one in the shop. The shop is ridiculously clean and modernized. All of Mr. Riccio's equipment is state of the art. After he introduced me to his barbers and showed me around his shop, he brought me downstairs to the Academy. 

The Academy provides several different careers, including, cosmetology, barbering, and spa training. There are only 10 students currently enrolled in the barbering school. It is easy for these students to excel because there are 9 instructors. A normal day consists of 45 minutes of book work. Here instructors address material needed for the certification test. After that students work hands on with manicans. Usually once a day clients will pay a very small fee to have their hair cut by students.

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