Iduhair

For those of you who are counting (which would be none, because why in the world would you???), to date I have cut Mike's hair three times, lightly trimmed my mother's once, cut my father's twice and my brother's once. Not counting the horrid job I did on my bangs in middle school, I have trimmed them once and Sarah's once as well. That is it for people I know and cutting hair. For all the hours a day I spend at school, it is the cutting that gets me the most uneasy, because it is so much more permanent than anything else we do there. You can repaint nails and fix a bad dye job. The worst thing that could happen with a perm is that it doesn't curl, and I haven't had a customer for a chemical straightening yet.

Why is it scary to make that transition from clients to friends and family? Probably because I know them and if I did seriously screw up their hair, I'd have to look at it and them and let the guilt just eat at me until the cut grew out and they forgave me. I mean, it is scary enough when someone sits down in my chair and wants a haircut, but if that was someone I knew . . . well at the least I would be extremely hesitant and underestimate my cuts.

I have yet to really announce myself ready to cut or even dye my friends for that very reason. Also, just because I am going to be licensed soon enough to be doing this professionally, I don't expect any of my friends to come to me over their current stylists. That being said, I was pretty surprised when friends started asking about coloring their hair, coming in for highlights, etc. It's all so very real, suddenly.

In the past, we've played with makeup and up do's and dress up. That's just what girls do. Several times a year, I'll head over to my friends' homes and doll them up for a wedding or a Christmas party or a night out on the town. New Year's Eve 2005, a group of us met up at Jessica's house and before we headed out for a night of drinking, dancing and celebrating at Aura, I did everyone's makeup. But this changing the color of someone's hair is really taking it to an entirely new level. One that I am confident I can do, but still a little weary of at the moment.

I know it's universal knowledge to everyone that walks into the school that we are just students and we are learning. But it is also very well known and understood that these are real people with lives and jobs and reputations and images; they come in wanting a specific thing and there is also that slight flutter in my stomach that what I deliver is not what they wanted.

It is also understood when we students work on each other that we probably aren't going to get it correct the first time. We practice so much on each other because we have that much time on our hands and itching in our fingers and ideas in our heads. I've already chopped five inches off of my hair, added both highlights and lowlights, not to mention the hair I've had waxed off. There are plans in the works this week to take a few more inches off, since I have been missing my shorter hair pretty much since July 29th, 2007. We practice as much as we are allowed on each other because we are preparing ourselves for those future clients and even more importantly, our friends.

My best friend Kate mentioned to me last night that she is ready to let me highlight her hair, if I feel comfortable doing it. She has been going to Toni and Guy for awhile, but her last root touch-up had been done down at the Aveda School in Portland. You can't really say that they screwed up her hair, but they didn't match the number of foils she'd had put in at Toni and Guy, which left her hair looking darker at the roots then she wanted. I am hoping that I can correct that.

Mike and I are working to perfect a haircut for him that is everything he wants and then consistently cutting it to keep it that desired length (he's soooo metro). My mom likes to point out elements of various women's hairstyles so that when I do take over doing her hair (planned for after the family reunion next month) and though my brother seems to be itching to beat the inevitable to the punch and shave his head, I am making him wait until I have my license and more men's cuts under my belt. Mike says his friends are interested in coming to me, but we'll see. I'm just as cautious about screwing up their hair as anyone else's.

Of course, you know what the difference is between a bad hair cut and a good one?

Two weeks.