<p>Does anyone here know about it ? My now freshman in high school seems very interested in cosmotology and confessed to me today that she might want to go this route when she finishes high school. She seems to be afraid that she will disappoint us if she doesn’t go to college.
I had a feeling that this was going to come up and mentioned it to my husband, who fluffed it off like it could be her hobby , but not a career choice.</p>
<p>We had done some research about colleges that offer programs , but not much out there.
She has a particular interest in make up. </p>
<p>I looked at the website for Aveda Institute , but didn’t really get much from it…so I wanted to ask here if anyone has any knowledge or advice</p>
<p>This is hearsay, but I heard a story of someone who went through this with a good experience until the very end when signing a contract to work for the company at one of their salons, and had to agree that if s/he left, s/he would not take a job within FIFTY MILES. This was in a major metropolitan area. This person left Aveda did not sign the contract because this was too restrictive.</p>
<p>An Aveda Institute opened near here recently. I’ve heard it’s around 20K for the Cosmetology program. I don’t know how that compares financially to a community college cosmetology program but it would be worth checking out. </p>
<p>If this is what your daughter wants to do, you might want to encourage her to take business classes as well. I’ve known some terrific hair dressers who just could not run a salon well and it was a shame.</p>
<p>Thanks…this is what we need to know. I also feel like she should take some business and accounting classes and perhaps study it in college as well , if she does indeed follow this path. I am also interested in hearing about other possibilities in working with makeup , so yes stage makeup is something to explore.
I don’t think you always get a straight answer in looking at their website…just like any school , they are trying to sell themselves</p>
<p>@MOWC, why do you think your friend couldn’t find full time employment after completing school ? Could it have been a geographical issue , or just like so many other industries that are hard to break into as a beginner ?</p>
<p>I think it was a combination of the economic conditions (Vegas) and being a beginner. She had an internship, but never landed a real paying job.</p>
<p>Aveda is what first came to mind because I am a fan of their products. I have no point of reference when it comes to this , other than to ask my own hairdresser ( who doesn’t operate an Aveda salon ) All I can think of is the song from Grease , " Beauty School Drop-out " ) and trying to avoid her going to a school that promises the world and the she can’t even land a job with one of the $6 haircut chains…I think her real passion is makeup at this point, and of course that is subject to change, though she has a passion for it and seems very knowledgable , and yet not caked in it herself ;)</p>
<p>I went to a Redken cosmetology school for the 2000 hr certification.
I worked for a while as a hairstylist ( a few years), but the pay is low while you are starting out, until you build up enough clientele to be able to rent your chair, pay for updated equipment and training and still have some $ to take home.</p>
<p>Many shops seem to rotate staff, emphasis is on the young and gorgeous & willing to work in heels all day. I really enjoyed the work and the clients, but was burnt out on the work schedule and having to " look" a certain way not to mention subtle pressure to sell services & product. The shop I was in for the longest time also was pretty good regarding my complaints but I didn’t want to do that stuff at all!
( if everyone is telling me how pretty I am then why do i have to wear makeup?! )
There was also pressure to spend social time with co-workers & I didn’t want to do that either. I did leave eventually, took a short break and tried to find work in a salon that suited me better. But it was pretty slim pickings unless you had enough clients that you could take with you until you built up a new customer base.</p>
<p>If your daughter is interested in cosmetics, I would encourage her to get involved in the schools theatre program. They always need people to help with makeup for the productions and it is a good way to get experience with different faces and products.</p>
<p>By getting training in how to do hair and makeup for performances, she will have more employment opportunities than working at a cosmetic counter at the dept store, which is probably what your H is afraid of.</p>
<p>I use Aveda hair products and love them. I am allergic to perfumes and most fragrances in products but Aveda uses natural scents and they don’t bother me. </p>
<p>We have a family friend who worked for Clinique, first at Nordstrom and then directly for Clinique on a regional level. She did quite well with that, and now is an asst. manager at a Coach outlet store. You can probably make a career in the makeup field without an expensive training program.</p>
<p>The daughters of two friends both left college after freshman year. One went to cosmetology school and the other to barber school. The both opened their own shops around the same time and seem to be doing well enough financially. They are about 3 years out of school. I would definitely investigate the options for the schooling. You can sell Aveda I believe without going through their school but Aveda does control their distribution. I know a couple women that do make-up and some styling for photographers, theater, etc. They earned their way starting at make-up counters, doing wedding make-up and building business word of mouth slowly over time. I don’t think you need to go to school to do make-up but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>In our area, high schoolers can graduate from cosmetology school by taking classes through a vocational center as well as the requirements for graduation. One thing that I have learned from all the hairdresser, makeup artist friends is that it is better to get the fundamentals down, start working, then move up through internships and continuing education classes. </p>
<p>Most of the big money will not come from the makeup, but from building the clientele through hair, etc.</p>
<p>SIL is an Aveda grad. The biggest difference between going to a school like Aveda and the vo-tech is the salons that will hire you out of school. Around here the higher end salons will not hire the vo-tech grads right out of school but they will take the Aveda grads. With the higher priced hair cuts, the tips are bigger and you can make more money starting out. The mid range career stylists in our area make about $60K/year full time at a nicer salon where as the chain type places they make about $30K/year, maybe.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is that usually salons have terrible benefits so it would be worth it to get her on to an individual health insurance plan and get some individual disability coverage, etc. as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Bumping this older thread. I think the focus might be shifting towards hair now. I have been checking out their website and seeing all of the locations, which I am wondering how they compare. Something tells me one of the locations in a larger city would be better , but I doubt she would be comfortable in NYC ,DC…wondering if it makes a difference in terms of finding work upon graduation ?</p>
<p>The woman who owns the place my family and I get our hair done in NYC owns her own shop and she also is a professional cosmetologist, has done a lot of fashion shoots and commercials as well as her own business (and is a whiz with hair color, I refuse to get gray, to heck with that). She mentioned one time that just doing makeup is a really rough road and that in the salon business it is best to work towards having your own place, that working for others doesn’t really end up paying that well for most people, unless they get into a really top level salon, and even there it usually doesn’t work because of the chair charges and such if I remember what she said correctly. </p>
<p>From what she told me, it sounds like your D might be better off focusing on the whole package and evenutally work towards opening her own place. To that end, if she decides not to go to college, taking courses from a community college in small business management might not be a bad idea as well as courses in hair and makeup.</p>
<p>I have no problem with her taking business classes , but unfortunately our local community colleges are just too full and classes are way too hard to get into…we do have a couple of state colleges within commuting distance. I think makeup would be too difficult to make a living at in a small town setting . She isn’t a fan of cities
This is just a thought at the moment while she mulls over her interests</p>
<p>I love Aveda products. Even ran into one in Rome! My girlfriend went the Aveda Institute route 25 plus years ago. She has owned her own salon for a number of years and is quite successful (but works her butt off) The service and products are always superior at their salons. Income wise, I think it is very dependent on where you work.</p>
<p>I would guess that there are many different types of jobs at Aveda corporate that she could work into if she would continue to take college classes…marketing, research/development, finance, instructor, etc. </p>
<p>Having the skill set to cut hair is not a bad idea if you need to generate extra income on the side.</p>
<p>My DD (who is currently in college) went to a vocational program for cosmetology throughout her last two years of HS. She received her temporary NYS license (takes her permanent exam in December). We paid nothing for the Cos program she attended and I know that in other areas the cost is usually minimal for programs of this sort. If your DD has this type of opportunity to gain certification while in HS I would say take it and then if she really likes the Cosmetology work she can always move on to Aveda or another school for further training after HS. </p>
<p>I will caution you that licensure reciprocity between states is not as easy as you think. My DD would have to hold her NYS license and be fully employed for two years to get reciprocity in most other states (and it is pretty much the same situation in every state). Since she is in college in PA she is not able to even get a shampoo assistant job BUT she is making a small amount of money giving haircuts to friends in her dorm apartment. Once she has her final licensure from NYS she can register to take the written and practical exams for her PA license. </p>
<p>This is something to think about if your DD plans on attending a school out of state and then moving back to her home state to work.</p>
