What's Being Taught in Cosmetology Schools?

**LBellatrix** · 04-05-2014, 03:49 PM

This is piggybacking off this recent BGLH article and this part of my comment:

Going forward, I would love to see a reevaluation of state cosmetology curriculums to include the care of natural Afro-textured hair as an optional specialization at the very least. I’m guessing they’d have to back it up with some kind of science (as in chemists and biologists and medical personnel, folks with actual degrees) so there’d need to be input on that level as well. Perhaps in states with large black populations, the training would be part of the regular curriculum.

Is there anyone who can comment on how Afro-textured hair is addressed in the curriculum and whether it's changed at all with the push towards natural hairstyling? Perhaps someone who is or has been to cosmetology school in the last five years or so, or who is a stylist or teacher?

**satriela** · 04-05-2014, 08:56 PM

I haven't been to cosmetology school but last week I did go get my hair done at a hair school "clinic". The lady who did my hair was black and she told me that she is always assigned natural haired ladies that come in to the school. All she did was cornrow the back to waterfall twists on the side, no hair added and I would give her about a C for a grade.

While I was sitting there getting my hair done, a teacher from the school came by and said a guest speaker was coming on next Tuesday and if you wanted to learn how to do natural hair you should come and bring your "Destiny" mannequin. The girl who was doing my hair said the Destiny mannequin was the closet they got to working with curly hair but it was more like a 3 curl.

So at least one of the problems is that the don't even have a mannequin to learn how to work with natural hair. I showed the girl how to detangle any knots of my hair gently without causing breakage and other techniques (keep wetting it as you go...etc) and she was grateful.

I too am curious about the level of formal education provided in cosmetology schools....

**Onnica** · 04-06-2014, 08:02 AM

Hi All. For some odd reason I have not been able to post on the regular since the new format which has been up for a while now. I responded with a super long post to Bellatrix question about what is being taught in current Cosmotology courses. I was definitely signed in. The post did not go through and I received a message staing that I was not signed in. Is anyone else having this issue? This has been on going and interferes with my enjoyment of this site. Which I enjoy a lot I must add. Peace and Blessings.

**OHR** · 04-06-2014, 03:51 PM

LBell:
KnottyAuthor may have some information as it relates to Ohio's cosmetology schools. I'll leave her a message.

**LBellatrix** · 04-06-2014, 06:51 PM

Thanks, OHR!

Onnica, what browser are you using? I've been getting the best results with Chrome. Firefox is a distant second. IE isn't worth the trouble.

**KnottyAuthor** · 04-08-2014, 02:37 AM

Sorry, I tried to respond, but keep loosing my post

I confess, I am a cosmetology school drop out. I could not take it! All the chemicals drove me out and I requested a refund. I got partial and took it and left. That was a little over 7 years ago. I opted for my certification in natural hair and am at peace with it. Your observations are ON POINT!!!

I could go on and on about cosmo schools…and I did in both books, lol. So, I won't write a book here. What I will say is they DO NOT teach about nappy hair in cosmo school. They do want to; but that requires legislation and reformulation of their licensing test-it aint gon' happen, bc that requires appropriations to pay the people to write a new test…and on and on…so…what they do is teach stylists how to pass the test, which has nothing to do with nappy hair or the latest hair techniques that have come out in the past 20-30 years actually. As a result, many of the approved textbooks are outdated as well, bc they match (you got it) …the test.

In beauty school ground zero is straight hair. From there they will 'teach' someone how to curl it. There are some programs called natural stylist or culturist programs or African Braiding programs that touch upon our texture more-but not much..it's not on test..so they teach a lot on hair weaving and the such.

There are many salons frustrated as well. This lack of innovation as well as the kitchen movement is putting the industry out of business bc they can't find stylists that come out of school knowledgeable.

The best plan is to find a stylist with experience, drive and initiative to DIY and learn-just like us! Hey, go figure!

**Onnica** · 04-08-2014, 05:42 AM

Hi Everyone. I agree with all stated by Knotty Author. I learned some things too. I kept losing my post yesterday but I don't need to repeat cause it's basically the same information. Except mine is observation and good guesses. Yours is factual and based on your experience. I changed my mind about beauty school because of the chemicals also. Once I decided to loc my hair it reopened my passion to be hands on with natural hair care. In my quest to locate a Natural Hair Care Academy I found that there are slim pickins. So not only is there a lack of actual class room training for natural hair care in cosmotology schools. There is also a lack of teaching available for natural hair care enthusiast period. It's an open market for business owners to explore. The demand is definitely there. The Natural Hair Care Industry consist mostly of teaching extention braiding techiniques.Oh, I am speaking of Detroit only. I checked online and the online Yellow pages and the same school pops up everytime. Everettes. It's the oldest Hair Braiding Academy in Detroit. However, being from the Downriver area I wanted to go somewhere closer to home. Nada! Plus I am very frugal and wanted to compare prices and course contents. This course at Everettes is 700 dollars for a 1 month course. Um...that's a lot! Compare that to a 1500 dollar cosmotology course that last a year and certifies you to take the state cosmotology board exams and you realize the huge price difference. Natural hair care is not regulated in Michigan so there is a certificate at the end but no exam has to be taken to receive a license. So that is not a reason for the expensive pricing. Everetts has a monopoly in that industry and basically it's your choice to pay it or not. The demand is there so shes makin her money and doing her thang. I will be paying.(LOL) The only other schools I found did not have courses in Loc'in techniques. That surprises me because there are so many loc heads in the Detroit and the Metropolitan Detroit areas now. Even not so good locticians have clients because there is a shortage of Locticians here. If anything stated here is incorrect set me on the right path because I have not paid yet.(smile) Peace and Blessings.

**LBellatrix** · 04-11-2014, 11:38 PM

Thanks, everyone. This is fascinating but not surprising now that I really think about it.

If a state consists of predominantly straight-haired people, it makes sense to base the test off of those techniques that have the best odds of suiting the clientele of a particular state. I'm guessing that describes pretty much all the states (but not DC).

It seems that specialized training has to come from outside the beauty school environment. Off the top of my head I'm thinking of Devacurl, Aveda, Paul Mitchell, and Sisterlocks.

Every day some black woman decides to go natural and finds herself having to turn to the Internet because there's not much knowledge out here IRL (unless she's lucky enough to live in NYC or another major city with a significant black population and even then she can't be completely sure the stylist knows what they're doing). I'd like to think things are better now than they were when I went natural and was getting the stink-eye/crossed eyes from stylists.

**Onnica** · 04-13-2014, 06:33 AM

Hi All. At one point Detroit was considered the hair capitol. This is a predominately black city and being born and raised here I just find it interesting that the natural hair industry is not booming. I wish I had the ambition to get it on the move but I have no desire. It is a goldmine waiting for the right miners. I agree with you though LBellatrix about the States. True That. Peace and Blessings.

**LBellatrix** · 04-13-2014, 01:58 PM

Onnica, I meant to ask you: Is this the same Everette's that's been around since at least the early 90s? I remember hearing about it and also people bragging about how Detroit was the black hair capital.

True story: I have a cousin who grew up around Detroit's black upper class and her family was friends with the "Detroit Dudleys." I was invited to an event at their VERY NICE home. This was before I went natural but I remember thinking at the time, "Wow...look at what black women's obsession with hair care can buy." LOL...I was MADE for hair evangelism, I tell you...

Also, I was poking around on YT and found this, which I'm posting only because I wasn't seriously checking for Taren Guy until that recent "guru" thread. *evil laugh* Skip to 2:20 to get to the point: