If you're looking for the next way to level up your business but don't exactly love the idea of owning a big full-service salon maybe suite life is for you! Prior to opening my salon suite, I worked in 3 big salons. The reasons I decided to leave & start my own space was primarily because I wanted to cultivate the best guest experience & break away from toxic salon drama ;). I opened my suite in January of 2022 and it has been an absolute blast! So, I am here to give you all the dirty nitty gritty secrets about suite life! Let's get to it! #1 Clientele & a Schedule to Accommodate Moving into a salon suite isn't ideal for someone that doesn't have the clientele to support it. Because since you're out on your own, you are the one having to do all the marketing to find new clients. You won't have a salon doing that for you. So having a stable clientele will ensure that you'll be able to pay rent & your bills each month & still be making money. I started at a commission salon and then transitioned to a booth rental salon and then to a suite. Personally, I think that is the best ideal because you slowly get to take on more responsibilities and not feel like you're drowning. Overall, if you cannot fill your books, you are losing money since your space is sitting there not being used. It's an expensive investment so make sure you're prepared for it. #2 Know Your Finances Before you go suite hunting, go through your finances and breakdown all of your current business expenses: -Booth rent -Color / Supplies costs -Licensing -Assistants -Systems and Process fees (etc) Once you've done that, you need to pinpoint how much you want to pay yourself. Then after taking all these items into consideration, you can know how much you can budget each month for a salon suite space. #3 Carrying a Retail Line + Buy Ins As odd as it is, some lines do not allow salon suites to carry their products. I have never understood the reasoning behind that. So do your homework and see what lines allow you to carry within a suite and if they have any ordering requirements or buy in requirements. I chose to carry the Unite products because I didn't have any monthly minimum ordering requirements or any buy ins to carry their line. Some brands I looked into required a buy in of $3500-$5000 and had minimum monthly order amounts of $800+ dollars. When you are an independent stylist, it is best to know how much retail you can sell & what specific products you sell a lot of. Some brands require you to carry the entire line vs picking and choosing your favorites. Retail is a great additional money maker but don't dry up your bank account buying in to companies and monthly minimums. #4 Underrated & Overrated Equipment Some suites will come equipped with most essential equipment's, but here's a list of the necessary items you need in your suite & items you can bypass! Need: Styling Chair Shampoo bowl + Chair Storage Space Retail Display Broom/dustpan Cleaning supplies Color tray Mirror Towels + Capes Card Processing System Laundry Detergent Optional: Music Drinks + Snacks Processing Light Mini Fridge Additional chair for processing Anti-Fatigue Mat Brand Logo Sign Decorations Ring Light Waiting area seating Air Filter #5 Sharing or Sole-Ownership Suites can get pricy if you're not careful. If after looking over your finances, you realize that owning a suite on your own in not feasible, perhaps look into sharing a suite with someone else! You can do this in multiple ways: Single Suite with 2 part time stylists, Double Suite with 2 full time stylists, Double suite with 2 part time 1 full time stylist, Double suite with 4 part time stylists. In my situation, I have a single suite and I have 2 assistants. On the days I don't work, my assistants get to take their own clients here. Since our space is only a single, there isn't a ton of room for a stylist to be booth rent and supply all their own color & such. So, my assistants are commission so they can use my inventory. If you are finding a suite mate, make sure you find someone who has similar ideas for the space & is as determined to make it be successful as you are. You are co-owning it, so your partner needs to be reliable, responsible & willing to do the nitty gritty stuff right along with you. #6 Systems & Apps to Use Find the right booking system for you. Previously before starting my suite, I used the Vagaro booking system. I loved it! It was easy to use and very online booking friendly! That system was great, however, the salon I worked at was paying for us to use that. I needed to make the decision to either pay for it on my own or find something cheaper. I decided that I wanted something cheaper because I needed to make some cuts to my expenses because the suite, I was going to would be more expensive. So I started using Square for my booking & I have honestly loved it! I use their payment system as well and square makes it super easy to keep track of exactly how much money you make, client notes & formulas and it shows exactly what dates your clients saw you & individual upcoming appointments. It is very easy to use & it is free! If you are using square to take payments, I would recommend creating a tax that gets added onto every ticket to cover the processing fee that square charges. This will save you at least $2000 each year. Currently the processing fee they charge is 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction. I set my tax rate to 3.4% because it covers a little more of the actual fees on some transactions and covers a little less on others, so it balances out to keep you not spending extra money on those stupid fees. This way you pocket more & you can put more back into making your guest experience better. #7 Locations & Suite Size When choosing a salon suite location, pay attention to these key factors: -What is the city like? -Is it in a good or bad part of the city? -How close are you to the freeway? -Are there surrounding businesses? -How are the surrounding businesses doing? -How far is this from your previous workspace? (If you're moving more then 10-15 minutes away you could possibly lose clients due to conveniency) -What is the parking situation? -Is it well-lit at night? -Would you feel comfortable with your client's walking to their cars at night? At the end of the day, you want to feel safe in this environment and have your guests feel comfortable and safe as well. When touring suites, here is what you need to pay attention to: -Are a majority of the suites filled? *If not, this place could be priced too highly* -How is the building kept? Is it clean or dirty? -Is the building outdated? -Is it an inviting environment? -How expensive is the suite per week? -Do they provide a laundry room? -Do they provide a breakroom? -Do they have a waiting area? -What amenities come in the suite & what will you have to provide? -What are you allowed to do to your room to make it your own? -Are you allowed to share the suite? -How long is the lease? #8 Boosting Your Guest Experience This is your chance to take your guest experience to the next level. That means if you are leaving an awesome salon environment, this needs to be BETTER. Better means they start referring more people to you, your books get busier and so you can charge more. They can't go from an awesome atmosphere to a subpar one. They will leave. So, visualize that you would like to experience as a client and see if that matches the money you charge for your services. Want to charge more, level up your guest experience. & Here are the best ways to do it: -Hiring an assistant! This allows the guests have more attention! -Offering complementary drinks or snacks -Extended scalp & neck massages -Hot towels during the massage -Essential oils during the massage -Providing them with an itemized menu of add on services (They do this at spas, and I love it! I not only a notified of other services which I didn't know of before, but it seems fancier to choose them myself) #9 Hiring Assistants Deciding to hire an assistant was a tough decision. I kept wondering if I would have the clientele to support a double-booking lifestyle. Once I hired an assistant, I realized that it made my life 1000x easier. Services went quicker, Laundry was always clean, Color was always restocked & it made the dreaded tasks like blow-drying not seem so bad! Personally, if you want to maximize the money you can make in a suite. Hire an assistant! This way you can see double the clients and have someone to help you with the nitty gritty stuff that takes away from working on your business. When hiring an assistant, I would slowly make the transition. Because you might find that you prefer doing it all yourself. I started with 1 day a week working with an assistant and double booking. This way I could learn how to effectively time myself and not be overly stressed. Over the next several months I progressively worked myself up to having an assistant with me full time. Do what feels best for you! #10 Growing Your Business & Feeling Confident You will now be in a space where you are solely the ONLY one marketing for you & finding clients. You need to make sure you can handle that on your own. That is why freshly graduated beauty school people start in salons first. Because it helps them grow their clientele when they don't know how to. But here are the most effective ways to attract new guests: -Having an aesthetically pleasing social medias to attract new guests -Providing content that serves the guest you're trying to attract (for example if you want potential clients to follow you, they won't benefit from seeing a post about what formulas you used. they will benefit from posts that solve one of their problems or give them inspiration) -Having a killer salon experience -Being a nice human! (Being a nice human is doing good business) -Continuing your education! The more you learn the better you become and the faster your clientele grows! I hope this post answered your questions about suites! Owning a suite is the best decision I've made in my business but I'm glad that it took me 5 1/2 years to do it! It allowed me to grow & learn necessary lessons that would then be vital to creating a successful salon suite! For any additional questions feel free to contact me via email or on any of my other social media platforms! Email: Becthestylist@gmail.com Social Media: Becthestylist

Foilayage either looks hella good or freakishly TERRIBLE. I’m here to make sure that your work fits under that “hella good” category. Tip #1 USE A BOARD Utilizing a balayage board helps to create a solid surface so that way you can paint exactly where you want to. A board also allows you to apply more pressure and get more even saturation; therefore, creating better lift! Tip #2 SMALLER SECTIONS = SOFTER RESULTS Thicker & wider sections are harder to achieve maximum lift as well as seamless blending. Because let's face it, if you have a thick section, you are primarily painting the top. For all you know that underneath may be poorly saturated and may create blotches & harsh lines. Thinner and smaller sections achieve higher and more even lift. Tip #3 USE A SELF SECTIONING COMB Self-sectioning combs are the fastest & most efficient way to achieve a seamless blend. Using a comb like this will help diffuse any lines of demarcation. These work extremely well especially on hair that doesn't contain lots of baby hair or it doesn't tease very well. I use the comb on the mids-ends of the hair and then separate the 2 sections. Take the top section and tease up the shorter hairs and then proceed to the painting process. Tip #4 UTILIZE ANGLES WHILE PAINTING Varying angles lead to a more natural and sunkissed placement. I rotate between deep "V" shapes & deep diagonal slants to create intentional highs and lows throughout the hair. Painting with these angles will help to avoid straight or harsh lines of any sort. Tip #5 LIGHTENER & DEVELOPER CHOICES You want to choose your products based on: How long the application will take you, How long it will process for, What level/state you're starting with & what level you're aiming for. For most of my foilayage applications, I start with 7 or 10 vol through the back of the hair and gradually increase developer volumes as you progress through the hair. This will allow the hair to process more evenly, and odds are you won't have to pull/wipe any foils. Remember that it is better to use lower volume developer and let it process longer. This will give you greater results. High volume developer lifts quickly but it stops after a while whereas Low volume will lift slower but has a much longer life span until it stops. Tip #6 USE INFARED LIGHTS Infared lights are the new and improved versions of the hooded dryers (at least in my opinion). They will help the hair process faster but aren't directly blowing hot hair to cause the hair cuticle to swell. When the hair cuticle swells, this will cause lots of excess damage. With Infared lights, you can only apply the light directly to the sections that need a boost. This will help you cut down on processing time & give your foilayage consistent lift throughout the entire head. Tip #7 BRUSH IT OUT PRIOR TO GLOSSING Everything may look flawless as you're pulling the foils, but the only way to be sure is to brush it out before glossing. I always shampoo then apply the Biolage Milk Rinse. The milk rinse will help soften the tease and make it easier to brush out + it will even out the porosity of the hair and allow the gloss to be more even! Once you brush it out, you will be able to decipher if your guest's hair needs any form of root melting to provide additional blending. Tip #8 GLOSS IS A PROCESS Glossing is an extremely crucial aspect of the foilayage process & you need to trust in your formula! Most stylists see the color beginning to oxidize and freak out then proceed to rinse out too early. Glosses need to process for a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 20 minutes to allow for long lasting results. Typically, the number of minutes your gloss processes is how many washes your guest will have before it is gone. Practice these tips and you will notice that your foilayage work will be on another level so quick! Tag me in your photos, I would love to see your work! xoxo, Bec The Ivory Hair Lounge

Comfy, Casual & Dressy options for all style preferences! Here are 7 outfit ideas I came up with and the links to everything I’m wearing! OUTFIT #1 Plaid Shacket: https://m.shein.com/us/Drop-Shoulder-Plaid-Pattern-Shacket-Coat-p-3575481-cat-1735.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Plaid%20shacket~~~~0 Jeans: https://www.bohme.com/products/vervet-erika-mom-jeans?_pos=40&_sid=d4fb1ac2b&_ss=r&variant=39838505238715 Grey Hat: https://oliveandpique.shop/collections/wool-felts/products/barry-2 Initial Necklace: https://www.bohme.com/products/jaxon-initial-pendant-necklace?_pos=4&_sid=b878eba20&_ss=r Gold Hoop Earrings: https://m.shein.com/us/9pairs-Faux-Pearl-Decor-Earrings-p-2397952-cat-1757.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Hoop%20earring%20set~~~~0 Chain necklace: https://m.shein.com/us/2pcs-Minimalist-Necklace-p-2216000-cat-1755.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Chain%20necklace~~~~0 White Chunky Boots: https://m.shein.com/us/Vegan-Leather-Lug-Platform-Block-Heel-Chelsea-Boots-p-2909272-cat-1748.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~white%20boots~~~~0 OUTFIT #2 Blazer: https://m.shein.com/us/Plaid-Lapel-Neck-Blazer-p-3210248-cat-1739.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Blazer%20plaid~~~~0 Similar Turtle Neck: https://m.shein.com/us/DAZY-Ribbed-Knit-Turtleneck-Sweater-p-3792556-cat-1734.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~White%20Sweater~~~~0 Back shoes: https://m.shein.com/us/Snaffle-Decor-Croc-Embossed-Loafers-p-3441492-cat-1881.html?scici=sidecat_Women~~SHOES~~1_12_9~~real_1881~~~~0 Hair Clip: https://m.shein.com/us/2pcs-Solid-Hair-Claw-p-7368297-cat-3018.html?scici=Search~~SuggestionSearch~~1~~Hair%20Clips%20Claw~~SMSearchWordsSuggest~~0 OUTFIT #3 Tan dress: https://m.shein.com/us/DAZY-Solid-Rib-Knit-Sweater-Dress-p-3010335-cat-2218.html?scici=productDetail~~RecommendList~~RS_own,RJ_NoFaultTolerant~~You%20May%20Also%20Like~~ProductDetailYouMayAlsoLike,NewStyleYouMayAlsoLike,YouMayAlsoLikeMoreGoods,YouMayAlsoLikeWishCart~~0 Baseball cap: https://www.fanatics.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/los-angeles-dodgers-47-all-star-adjustable-hat-black/o-4509+t-36116500+p-59800635242+z-9-3480617152?_ref=p-SRP:m-GRID:i-r5c2:po-17 Pendant necklace: https://www.madebymary.com/products/june-birth-flower-rose?variant=39403149623369 OUTFIT #4 Bodysuit: https://m.shein.com/us/Ribbed-Mock-Neck-Puff-Sleeve-Bodysuit-p-1769391-cat-1882.html?scici=productDetail~~RecommendList~~RS_own,RJ_NoFaultTolerant~~You%20May%20Also%20Like~~ProductDetailYouMayAlsoLike,NewStyleYouMayAlsoLike,YouMayAlsoLikeMoreGoods,YouMayAlsoLikeWishCart~~0 Simular Velvet pants: https://www.amazon.com/ALWAYS-Women-Stretch-Velvet-Leggings/dp/B07KRP232D/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=3BSDOK9CEDJ1J&keywords=velvet%2Bleggings&qid=1640834038&sprefix=velvet%2Bl%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-8&th=1&psc=1 OUTFIT #5 White button up: https://m.shein.com/us/Drop-Shoulder-Button-Up-Cord-Blouse-p-3056953-cat-1733.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~button%20up%20cord%20blouse~~~~0 Tan vest: https://m.shein.com/us/Cable-Knit-Sweater-Vest-Without-Blouse-p-3024450-cat-3807.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Tan%20vest~~~~0 Jeans: https://www.bohme.com/products/adriana-straight-leg-denim?_pos=6&_sid=2801403b9&_ss=r Tan shoes: https://m.shein.com/us/Chain-Decor-Loafers-p-3193859-cat-1881.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~tan%20flats~~~~0 OUTFIT #6 Tan sweatshirt: https://m.shein.com/us/Solid-Round-Neck-Sweatshirt-p-3018357-cat-1773.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Tan%20sweatshirt~~~~0 Jeans: https://www.bohme.com/products/adriana-straight-leg-denim?_pos=6&_sid=2801403b9&_ss=r Adidas hat: https://www.amazon.com/adidas-Originals-Relaxed-Strapback-Black/dp/B01IDSPHUS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=1LDMB25EVECK0&keywords=adidas%2Bhat&qid=1640834582&sprefix=adidas%2Bhat%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1 Adidas shoes: https://www.adidas.com/us/puremotion-adapt-shoes/FX7326.html OUTFIT #7 Knit green top: https://m.shein.com/us/Solid-Turtleneck-Knit-Top-p-5458767-cat-2217.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Turtleneck%20knit%20top~~~~0 Faux leather leggings: https://m.shein.com/us/SHEIN-SXY-Wide-Waistband-PU-Leather-Leggings-p-6102602-cat-1871.html?scici=Search~~EditSearch~~1~~Leather%20leggings~~~~0 Let me know in the comments which outfit was your favorite! Head on over to my instagram @Becthestylist for more inspo & content!! Happy 2022 ✨✨✨

Most of the time when we are sitting in the chair during the consultation part of the service, we have a lot of questions but yet finding the way to put them into words can be difficult. Asking questions is the key part in determining what your desired result is. To help make consultations easier and provide further educational information, I have compiled a list of questions to help. 1. How often should I be in the salon getting my hair done? - Every service has a different time stamp on how long it can go between a retouches. The standard HAIRCUT should be maintained every 6-8 weeks. Yes that includes the people who are desperately trying to grow their hair out. Coming in that often will ensure your ends are growing out evenly, further breakage is being removed and the ends of your hair will remain thick and full. The standard ROOT TOUCH UP should be maintained every 4-6 weeks for the best and most consistent results. Highlights and or Lowlights can vary in maintenance periods if you get a root shadow or not. Not getting a root shadow means that your color is applied as close to the scalp as possible. That allows for Maximum root coverage but it should be touched up every 6 weeks. If you get a Root Shadow, that means that after your highlights were applied, a root color was applied ON the roots to soften, smudge and blur out any existing lines. Although that does not give your maximum coverage at your root area, it allows for a much softer and blended grow out, so that you can go for about 8-10 weeks. For Balayage services, the maintenance is a lot more flexible because balayage creates a soft blend to make the grow out much more natural looking. To maintain the PLACEMENT of your balayage, getting it touched up every 6-8 weeks will ensure the consistency of your look. If the reason you got a balayage is for the LOW MAINTENANCE factor, going about 3- 6 months between appointments can be just fine. However, there are products that you will have to use at home to ensure that your hair will stay looking and feeling good in between hair coloring visits: Toning shampoos, deep conditioning treatments, leave in conditioners, oils and creams and color safe shampoos and conditioners. Ask your stylist what time frame is best for YOUR hair. How long will it need between services to keep it healthy and to keep your hair looking beautiful. 2. How much money should I budget for my hair appointment? -It is always difficult to set an exact price on how much a haircoloring service costs. The way that prices are determined is: How much education/ money went into learning that technique, how much product is needed to create the desired result, how long/ thick the hair is, how long the service takes and if there are additional add on services (Olaplex, Ph Bonder, Deep treatments, Root shadowing and Color melting) As of January 2022 these are the services I offer and the prices. Root Touch Up: $105+ All Over Color: $115+ Full Blonding: $160+ Partial Blonding: $140+ Lived In Color Full: $160+ Lived In Color Partial: $140+ Extension Move Up: $65 per row Extension Install: $80 per row Gloss + Haircut: $85 Women's Haircut: $42 3. What products should I be using on my hair? -Everybody's hair has a different texture, thickness and dry to oily ratio. Personally I am addicted to my hair feeling soft and smooth so I love to use all the moisturizing, smoothing and shiny products that I can. When I prescribe a hair care regimen for my clients I always break it down based primarily on what their dream hair would look and feel like. Does it have lots of texture and volume? Is it sleek and smooth? Is it soft and shiny? Identifying what your hair is lacking and what you are wanting it to be like will easier help your stylist recommend products specifically for you. 4. How often should I wash my hair? -The longer you can go between washes, the healthier your hair will be. Your body naturally produces oils (although it can be very annoying) the oils provide protein and moisture to the hair. As contrary as it may seem, the more often you wash your hair, the more oily it will get BECAUSE your body knows that your hair needs those oils so the more often they get washed out, the harder your body works to provide more oil. Typically people go 3 days between washes. That is pretty standard BUT if on the 3rd day, if your hair isn't oily, go another day! Personally, I wash my hair once a week (it sounds gross doesn't it) but here's the thing: my hair used to be washed every 3 days but I started going longer and longer between washes to see how my hair looked and felt. For the first few weeks of going longer between washes, my hair got oily and it drove me nuts. BUT after that, my hair got used to it and now, my hair can easily go a week. Benefits of not washing your hair a lot: - Healthier scalp - Helps keep your color looking fresh for longer - Helps your hair grow longer 5. Based on my skin tone, what color would you recommend? -We all want what we don't have. I personally have dark hair but have always loved and wanted platinum blonde hair. But based on my skin tone and the natural color of my existing hair, blonde would not be a good decision. I have always been drawn to ashy tones but with my skin tone, warm tones make me look more awake and they look a lot better. As a hairstylist I see so many people who find a picture of the hair that they want (typically it is completely opposite of what they have) and although it may look gorgeous on the person in the photo, it will look completely different on you. I recommend when choosing a hair color to pick something that stays within the same color field. Black to Dark brown hair: putting reds, chestnut browns, caramels and toffee colors will help keep your color looking natural and it will not be too much of a dramatic change so it will just warm up your skin tone and make you look a little lighter and brighter. Medium Brown to Light brown hair: putting beige blonde, honey blonde, ashy brown and golden blondes will brighten up the hair a lot but it won't make the grow out very harsh. Putting those tones in the hair will create beautiful dimension without it being too overwhelming and hard to get used to. Dark Blonde to Light blonde: With blonde hair, going lighter is a lot easier and I allows you to have a little bit of flexibility because for the most part, you could do any color in the blonde field. Although most of the recommended colors may seem more on the subtle side, hair is meant to look as natural as possible. Could you go from dark brown hair to platinum blonde hair? Yes, you could! But just know that your skin tone, style and existing hair are different than the person in the photo. What may look good on one person may not look the best on you. If you stick in the color range that your hair will look best with, your hair will look way more natural and sunkissed. 6. My hair doesn't feel like it's growing! How do I help it? - I wish there was a magic pill that would give you Rapunzel hair instantly but unfortunately hair has a mind of it's own. Although the growing of your hair takes a while, you would rather take longer to grow out your hair so that by the time it gets to the length you want, it is healthy, thick and happy rather than grow grow grow your hair and by the time it gets to the length you want it is breaking, thin and needs 6 inches cut off. The process can be frustrating but it doesn't hair to be! Here are my top tips on how to keep your hair healthy and to get it to grow longer and faster! -Use PROFESSIONAL HAIR PRODUCTS (Shampoos, conditioners, styling products and treatments) this step is the most crucial!!! -Get the ends of your hair cleaned up and get a surface trim every 6 weeks. No I am not saying to cut off inches at a time. Just clean up the line and take care of the split ends. This will make all the difference in keeping your hair healthy! -Go longer between washes (let your hair absorb those oils, it needs them to grow and be healthy) -If you use heat on your hair, USE A HEAT PROTECTANT! Even if you spend lots of time in the sun, spray some on to protect your hair from fading and uv sun damage. My favorite heat protectants are: Oligo Blacklight 18 in 1 leave in conditioner with a built in heat protectant, Oribe Invisible Defense Universal Protection spray, R & Co Sun Catcher leave in conditioner and heat protectant, and the Redken Iron Shape Heat protectant. 7. How often should I get my hair cut? I know you are probably trying to grow your hair out and you think that trimming it will never make your hair grow. WRONG! Getting your hair trimmed helps so so much in the process of growing out your hair. No I am not telling you to be in the salon every 4 weeks getting 2 inches taken off your hair because at that rate, you are right, it wouldn't be getting any longer. I mean going into the salon and getting your ends cleaned up. Just making sure that the ends of your hair will never enter the wispy crispy phase. This only requires about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch. That little of hair, believe me you won't even notice that length is gone and yet it makes the biggest difference! After doing this I always do what is called a SURFACE TRIM. See those pesky split ends that are 5 or 6 inches from the bottom of your hair? You think oh my gosh if I want all the split ends gone I'd have to cut off that much! No way!! A surface trim cleans up those split ends that are up higher and it lets you keep all your length! No this technique doesn't add layers or make your hair thinner, all it does is make the hair healthier! 8. What type of extensions are best for my hair? Extensions are a person by person type. Everyone has a different lifestyle, budget and time frame that works best for them. Getting extensions can be expensive depending on your hair thickness and length goal. Personally, I love the Beaded wefts because they provide you with the most natural looking hair and it blends the best. These types of extensions lay flat to your head and so hiding them is insanely easy. These extensions need move ups around every 6-8 weeks to keep the hair where it should be. This type of extensions is best for someone who loves to continually have their hair with the thickness and length that extensions provide. Tape in extensions: Tape ins are great in my opinion for filling in gaps. For example I used to add in a few just right in the front to make my front appear more full. I personally don't love a full head of tape ins because I feel it is hard to hide them all and washing them feels a bit more complicated. Tape ins need to be moved up about every 6-8 weeks as well. Halo extensions: I have a halo and it is nice because you can take it out and put it in yourself very easily and you do not have to worry about getting it in the exact same spot every time. Halos are one weft and provide you with lots of thickness and length if desired. This option is more low maintenance because you do not need to be in the salon getting them moved up. However, halos are not ideal for someone with thick hair trying to go longer or short hair trying to go longer. Since halos are only one weft, they aren't providing a continual blend throughout your entire head. They are best suited for maintaining length but adding thickness or adding length to thin hair. 9. What type of Shampoo and Conditioner should I be using on my hair? First off, NO GROCERY STORE PRODUCTS!! That stuff is cheap for a reason! It is filled with wax products and ingredients called fillers. They do not help your hair in the slightest so please do not use them! Depending on your hair type will determine what type of shampoo and conditioner you should be using. Products are not one size fits all, they have specific things for a reason. If you feel that your hair is very dry and brittle, using something like: R & Co Atlantis Moisturizing shampoo & conditioner, R & Co Bel Air Smoothing shampoo and conditioner, Oribe Intense Moisture Shampoo and conditioner, Oribe Gold Lust Shampoo and conditioner. These products will add protein and moisture into your hair to create softness, shine and help your hair feel a lot healthier. If your hair feels really damaged and it tends to break off a lot, using something to strengthen your hair strands and add protein will make your hair a lo more tough so it doesn't break off as much. My favorite products for that are: R & Co Perfect Hair Shampoo and Conditioner, Oribe Gold Lust Repair and Restore Shampoo and conditioner, Redken All soft mega shampoo and conditioner. If your hair gets super oily on the scalp area but your midshaft and ends feel super dry still, using a clarifying shampoo or normalizing shampoo and then pairing it with a moisturizing conditioner will benefit you a lot. The shampoo I love for this is: R & Co oblivion clarifying shampoo. I could go on and on about what products to use because I love so so many, but for more in depth descriptions and lots more product recommendations for you specific hair type, visit the section of my blog titled products, then choose which hair type sounds most like yours, then read the posts! I know I’ve already said this but the quality of Shampoo and Conditioner that you use greatly determines how your hair feels and how healthy it is. So please use good stuff, you won’t regret it. 10: How can I realistically look for hair color inspiration? Looking for inspiration photos can be tricky because everyone's hair looks different to begin with and everyone's hair will react differently. One thing to keep in mind is that photos are for inspiration only. It is impossible to 100% recreate a Pinterest photo onto your head. As much as I would love to copy and paste, it doesn't work like that. With big transformations, often people don’t quite understand what exactly goes into it. There is so much chemistry with hair color and what may happen for someone may not happen for you. The key when looking for photo inspiration is to be understanding. If you have really dark hair and you show your stylist a picture of someone with bright platinum hair, the odds are you’re going to be disappointed. Instead try bringing that picture in and saying that you want to eventually get there but you want to take things slow and not fry your hair. Then show some pictures that are more of a middle ground. Always go into your stylist with options. Choose some photos that you really love and hope to be able to recreate but also find some that you’d be willing to do if your hair isn’t healthy enough to do so or it is unable to do because of how it looks prior to starting. Remember that pictures are for inspiration and your hairstylist will try their best to recreate but sometimes things are not possible in just one session or ever. 11. What are the best tools to use on my hair? The metal used in your tool MATTERS!! I am not here to say that certain brands suck or anything but I just want to share the tools I personally have used on myself and my clients and have absolutely loved them. With heat tools, they come in a big variety of metals, however the best metals I’ve found are: Nano titanium, Ceramic, Porcelain Ceramic Or Nano Titanium Ceramic. These metals are softer and so they provide more glide so that the hair doesn’t get stuck. These metals are higher quality and they do not produce as much damage as the standard Iron or Tourmaline materials. Personally my favorite brand as far as tools go is Babyliss Pro because they have tools in every metal, size and type. They also have adjustable heat and very good warranties. 12. How can I best maintain my hair at home? -Use professional shampoo and conditioner as well as styling products. -Always use a heat protectant when applying heat or if you’re going to be in the sun. -Wait at least 48 - 72+ hours after your color appointment to wash your hair. -Use Color safe products and a purple shampoo if it’s needed. -Use heat tools that are made from quality metals. -Get regular trims/ surface trims. Thank you for reading and I hope you found this helpful! Don’t hesitate to ask your hairstylist any of these questions! As always, if you have any questions, comments or other inquiries feel free to send those my way! XOXO, Becthestylist

Everybody knows EXACTLY what they want but sometimes they don't know how to put it into words because they don't exactly know what it all means. These questions may not apply to each client every time they sit in your chair but is good to know all the possible questions to ask just in case. The example I will give will be for a client going more blonde. First off always ALWAYS ask for inspiration pictures. This is the quickest way to get an idea of what they are searching for. After looking through the photos then go through these questions. 1: Tell me what you are specifically liking about this photo. 2: Does this blonde look warm, cool or neutral to you? 3: Does your current hair look warm cool or neutral to you? 4: What is your biggest concern with your hair right now? 5: If anything, what are you specifically wanting most? 6: What are you specifically not wanting? 7: Are you wanting to keep depth at the root area or are you wanting maximum coverage? 8: How long do you typically go between appointments? 9: Do you want the lightness more through the ends or throughout all of your hair? 10: Do you want lighter and brighter pieces around your face? 11: Do you tend to pull your hair up a lot? (then framing around the entire hair perimeter is necessary) 12: What products are you currently using on your hair? 13: Do you prefer more dimension throughout your hair or would you prefer to be mostly light? 14: Do you prefer ribbons of lightness (slightly chunkier) or thinner smaller sections that provide more of a seamless look? 15: Do you struggle with brassiness? 16: Are you wanting white just because you don't want yellow? 17: How often do you wash your hair? 18: Is this goal one that you are willing to work towards? 19: What does balayage mean to you? 20: Are you currently using purple or blue shampoo? I hope these questions have helped to give you an idea of what to ask your clients. Listen to your clients and always under promise and over achieve.

Hair training is rough and it's frustrating because let's face it, you feel someone dumped a gallon of oil on your head. What if I told you that you could get your hair to grow faster, be healthier & save you money on hair products. Those are just a few of the benefits of training your hair to go longer between washes. Here are the reasons why you are washing your hair as much as you are and how to stop doing it. 1: Your scalp & hair get really oily really quickly I'll let you in on a secret….your hair and scalp are getting oily really fast BECAUSE you are washing it. Those oils are essential for your scalp and hair to be strong and healthy. Your body produces them because they are needed. The more the hair is washed, the faster your body produces it to try to give the hair the nutrients it needs. How to FIX it: Start by going one extra day between washes. I don't care if you dry shampoo the crap out of your hair or throw a hat on or throw your hair in a messy bun. JUST DON'T WASH IT! In all HONESTY it will take your hair time to realize that it isn't being washed as frequently and once it realizes that then it will slow the oil production. So start going an extra day. If you're really up for the challenge go a whole WEEK and I promise you that by week 2 you will already notice a big difference. 2: How to keep your hair looking and feeling good even though it's not being washed Everyone says "my hair smells gross" so then it needs to be washes. FALSE it is because you aren't using the right products to ensure that it smells good throughout the entire week. The products you use are going to make or break it for you. On hair wash day: -Use a shampoo that addresses a problem your hair has (shampoo 2x) I first use the Redken All soft shampoo and then use the Matrix Brass Off shampoo to neutralize the warm tones -Doing a conditioning treatment through the mids and ends of your hair (DO NOT PUT ON YOUR SCALP) for the treatment I like to use my normal conditioner mixed with a few pumps of argan oil. I let that sit on for about 15 minutes before rinsing. My favorite conditioners are: Redken All Soft Mega, Pureology Strength Cure, Pureology Hydrate, Redken Frizz Dismiss. My favorite oils to mix with them are: Redken all soft argan oil, Redken frizz dismiss oil, Matrix exquisite oil. For every quarter size amount of conditioner do a half a pump of oil. You can let treatment sit on for longer than 15 minutes if needed. -Rinse your hair in cool- cold water. This will seal down your hair cuticles and allow the conditioner to really soak in. -Towel dry the dripping water out of your hair before you apply product so that way your hair can get all the benefits. -Apply a leave in conditioner ( I love the Pureology 21 benefits or the Redken One united) Spray from the mids to the ends. -Apply a cream to add moisture, reduce frizz, and keep your hair feeling soft. (I love the it's a ten miracle leave in or the redken all soft mega leave in treatment) Apply mids to ends and focus majority of the product on the ends. -Apply an Argan Oil ( I use the same ones as I would use for the deep conditioning treatment) On damp hair apply about 2-3 pumps through the mids and the ends. Throughout the week: Don't over use Hairspray or products with lots of texture. That will cause your hair to feel dry and you will feel it build up as the days go by. Use light weigh products to keep your hair looking a feeling great. -I use the same argan oil every day after my hair is styled just to smooth down the hair and keep it looking shiny and feeling soft. Apply only about 1/2 -1 pump of oil through mids and ends. -Use a dry conditioner ( I love the amikca dry conditioner) this will keep your hair feeling like it has just been washed. It is a great way to keep your hair smelling and feeling fresh. -Use a shine spray (I love the shine flash by Redken) It has a medium to light hold but it allows your hair to have that nice natural shine. -Use a heat protectant. Both of the leave in conditioners have a heat protectant built in but throughout the week I feel that your hair needs a little extra to keep it protected. I use the redken iron shape. It has a medium hold but it doesn't weigh down the hair or feel crispy or crunchy. -Dry shampoo for the WIN! (I love the IGK direct flight first class charcoal dry shampoo) it works wonders and I don't have to use a lot either. I spray this on, leave on for about 5 minutes and then take a comb and comb it through. This allows it to soak up more oil and if you are combing it through it will make sure that your hair will not get a gross build up. 3: BLOW IT DRY Probably not the answer you were expecting but believe me when I say that blow drying your hair will allow your hair to not get as oily as quickly, allow your hair to hold a style for longer and help smooth out the hair so excess heat doesn't have to be applied. If your hair is anything like mine (a crazy out of control animal) then blow drying it is essential. When the hair is just naturally air dryed it allows the hair cuticles to dry however which way. This often causes the hair to feel fuzzier, drier and look more damaged. You must blow your hair dry correctly in order for you to reap all the benefits. I have another blog post dedicated to achieving the perfect blowout and it outlines all the best products and tools to use and how to use them. I will link that below. But for creating a seamless blowout you will need the correct leave in products that will provide your hair with moisture and protein. You will also need the correct blow dryer, round brush and paddle brush. Blow drying your hair takes more time but in the long run your hair will look, feel and be much healthier. 4: Use the RIGHT kind of DRY SHAMPOO & APPLICATION IS EVERYTHING Here are some hacks I have found to really make the most out of your dry shampoo. First of all my all time favorite dry shampoo is by IGK and it is their Direct Flight Charcoal Cleanse. I have found that I don't have to use much and one application can last me several days. First I apply to my part line, around my face and on the top of the back section of my hair. I allow it to sit on for about 5 minutes before I touch it. This allows the dry shampoo to work its magic and really absorb oil. Once the 5 minutes has past I take a hair comb and comb the dry shampoo through the ends of my hair. This will keep your hair from developing a gross buildup of product and will still allow your scalp to breathe. Once it has been combed through then going in and massaging the excess with your fingers and be careful not to exfoliate your scalp with your nails because that will create flakes. By applying dry shampoo this way I have found that I use significantly less product and it allow me to stretch my washes even longer because I am not seeing a visible buildup of product on my hair and my hair still feels really great. I hope this gives you some good ideas of how you can start training your hair. All of these steps have personally transformed my hair and have allowed it to grow so much longer, be so much healthier, saved me lots of money on product and lots of time on doing my hair. If you have any questions feel free to reach out on here or on any other of my social media platforms at @becthestylist Link to the Perfect Blow Out Blog Post: https://becthestylist.wixsite.com/becthestylist/post/how-to-get-a-perfect-blowout

What is a gloss? You might have heard it referred to as a "toner" or a "glaze" but honestly it is all the same term. A gloss is a semi permanent color used to neutralize the unwanted tones and enhance the desired tones and add lots of moisture and shine. For example all hair when it is lightened goes warm ( aka yellow or orange) and to get that white blonde or any blonde for that matter you must neutralize the unwanted warmth. I use Redken Shades Eq which is semi permanent which means it contains no alcohol or ammonia. This type of color is very moisturizing due to the aloe contained. A gloss typically lasts about 4-6 weeks with proper hair care maintenance. I recommend glossing your hair about once every 8 weeks to keep your color looking fresh and the correct tone you are wanting. A gloss also helps colors to seem more soft and blended for the most natural finish. With each lightening appointment I always gloss each client so that way they can really have the best hair possible. I recommend letting the gloss process for the full 20 minutes to allow your guests the maximum effects and the longest lasting hue. You may be wondering if you have to lighten your hair in order to get a gloss. The answer is no. A gloss isn't a one size fits all type of thing. Redken Shades Eq has hundreds of colors that can be mixed together for whatever result you're wanting. There are a lot of cases where my clients (color treated hair or not) like the tone of their hair but are feeling dull. In that situation I use a clear gloss to purely add moisture and shine. A gloss can be applied over any hair type, since it is a semi permanent color it is deposit only which means it hasn't permanently altered the natural hair color and it will eventually fade. Normally with permanent hair color it contains alcohol and ammonia and so it has the ability to lift or lighten the hair which permanently changes the hair color. Gloss improves the overall finish of the hair and leaves it looking healthier, shiner and it even helps seal the cuticle to help the hair feel better. If you have any questions about gloss or glossing services don't hesitate to message me on Instagram @Becthestylist or through the messenger here on Wix. I would love to answer any questions you may have. I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new! At your next hair appointment ask your hairstylist about getting a gloss! (Trust me it will change your hair game) XOXO, Bec

1. Always ALWAYS use ph bonders or olaplex or brazillian bond builders in your lightening formulas. Why? Because this dramatically changes the outcome of the hair. The hair feels, looks and is so much happier and healthier if you do. Going blonde does cause damage and no using those will not make it 100% damage free but it sure does help it be way way WAY less damaging then if you didn't use any of those. 2. Start in the BACK ALWAYS! Why? Because if you are doing something that requires lots of foils or it just takes a long time to apply in general, if you started in the front and did the back last, there is no way to rinse out the front sections without rinsing out the back and if you wait for the front section to finish, odds are the back hasn't even been finished being foiled or it hasn't had enough time to finish processing. So always foil the back first so that way you can easily rinse it out whenever it needs it. That way noting over processes or gets uneven. 3. When foiling the front, ALWAYS start with the section that has more hair. If you start with the section that contains less hair, by the time both sections are done, the smaller section has sat on way too long and has probably over processed but if you foil the big area first and then move to the smaller area, the foils will finish at the same time. 4. Always foil on a diagonal. This does take some practice to get down but if everything is foiled diagonally, it will be much more soft and blended. 5. Gloss Gloss Gloss. Every single time. Always use a semi permanent color. Formulate your gloss correctly and make sure that if you want an ashy look you need to add a tiny bit of warmth and if you are wanting a warmer look, you need a tiny bit of ash in it so it doesn't go insanely warm to the point where its yellow. When glossing, you need to leave it on for more then just a few seconds. Remember that the number of minutes that the gloss is left on is the number of washes that it will stay. And honestly, the longer the gloss sits on, the better it turns out. So let that sit on for 10-15-20 minutes. Believe me it works wonders!

What if I told you that with the technique, no root smudging or melting will be needed and that the outcome would be seamlessly blended? Sound impossible? I promise it's not! Personally I don't like root smudging and melting. I feel that it takes too much times and I would rather spend that time either blending each section a little more or letting the gloss sit on longer. So I came up with this method through trial and error and have finally figured out how to create the softest, most blended foilayage ever that has seriously changed my game behind the chair. I have been able to give my clients that "Balayage" look with allowing them to get more than 3-5 levels of lift. Crazy right?? They have been loving it!! STEP 1 CHOOSING THE CORRECT TOOLS: These tools have made the application process so easy and quick! -Balayage Board. I use the Framar board https://www.amazon.com/Framar-Foil-Balayage-Board-Paddle/dp/B0145OU5VA/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=balayage+board&qid=1595882428&sr=8-3 This board provides a sturdy canvas for the hair to rest on and makes painting and saturating so much easier. -Framar Color Brush. This brush is the perfect size to create that seamless blend. https://www.amazon.com/Framar-Classic-Pink-Color-Brush/dp/B00U9RV1DY/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=framar+color+brush&qid=1595882575&sr=8-2 -Cricket Weaving comb. I use this comb to section, weave and tease each section. https://www.amazon.com/Cricket-Silkomb-Seamless-50-Toothed/dp/B00011JOPA/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=cricket+tail+comb&qid=1595882656&sr=8-2 STEP 2 SECTIONING: Choosing your sectioning pattern will greatly effect the outcome of your color. Utilizing diagonal sections will allow the hair to fall softer to create a more blended result. Here are the diagrams I use to section my guests. Keep in mind that you may not need to do this many sections but I wanted to emphasize the point. Back of the Head: I part the hair down the middle and then foil in diagonal sections. When I get to the top of the head (and my partings have made about a 2.5 by 2.5 triangle) I then foil horizontally. Side of the head: The solid thicker lines indicate babylights or vocal points of brightness where minimal depth lives. It is your clients personal preference if they would prefer a brighter hairline of have the same look all throughout. STEP 3 WEAVING & TEASING The process is simple: 1: Part a diagonal section ( about a half an inch for a more dimensional look or 1/4 inch for a lighter brighter finish) 2: Tease the section starting from the mids. Tease until you can see that all along the roots there is an even tease. (Typically you don't have to tease more than 3 times) 3: Weave the section (Teasing the section and then weaving out what you actually want to lighten will diffuse the line even more to create a softer blend) 4: Lay foil on board (I like to fold the top of the foil over the top of the board to secure it) 5: Lay hair on foil and begin applying lightener to the mid section. (Apply to mids first and make sure you have left plenty of room to create your transition) 6: Starting from the mids with minimum product on your brush, flick the lighten up to soften the line. 7: Take the edge of your brush and softly feather and blur with minimal product on your brush 8: Saturate through the ends 9: Do not fold the foil, this could cause bleeding or uneven lift. Instead lay another foil directly on top of the section. 10: Repeat STEP 4 PROCESS Since each section is thin, and small you should be able to achieve just about the same amount of lift as traditional highlights. To help the process along I like to put my client under the Medusa Infrared Color Processor https://www.minervabeauty.com/medusa-infrared-color-hair-processor-1 This is really nice because I can apply the light to certain sections at a time and it helps to speed up the processing time without blowing open the cuticle and causing damage. STEP 5 COMB OUT Honestly, this part is not my favorite. But to make it easier I recommend applying a deep conditioning mask, or heavy duty conditioner to the hair after rinsing. This will allow the hair to get nourishment and protein back into the hair as you are detangling. After I have detangled then I will proceed to shampoo and apply my gloss. Step 6 GLOSSING Like I said there is no need for smudging or melting because the foiling pattern, tease and painting have already taken care of that for you! So now I just apply my all over gloss and process for 15-20 minutes and YAY!!! We have the most beautiful blended result!! I will include pictures of what this process looks like for the finished results! I hope you learned something new and that you try this technique! I would love to see how it turns out! Feel free to tag me so I can have a look! As always if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out! If you aren't following me on Instagram, head on over and check me out @becthestylist for educational content, fun hair ideas and loads of fun! Thanks for reading todays blog post and I will see you next time! xoxo, Bec

My hair doesn't feel like it's growing! How do I help it? - I wish there was a magic pill that would give you Rapunzel hair instantly but unfortunately hair has a mind of it's own. Although the growing of your hair takes a while, you would rather take longer to grow out your hair so that by the time it gets to the length you want, it is healthy, thick and happy rather than grow grow grow your hair and by the time it gets to the length you want it is breaking, thin and needs 6 inches cut off. Right? The process can be frustrating but it doesn't hair to be! Here are my top tips on how to keep your hair healthy and to get it to grow longer and faster! 1: Use PROFESSIONAL HAIR PRODUCTS (Shampoos, conditioners, styling products and treatments) this step is the most crucial!!! 2: Get the ends of your hair cleaned up and get a surface trim every 6 weeks. No I am not saying to cut off inches at a time. Just clean up the line and take care of the split ends. This will make all the difference in keeping your hair healthy! 3: Go longer between washes (let your hair absorb those oils, it needs them to grow and be healthy) 4: If you use heat on your hair, USE A HEAT PROTECTANT! Even if you spend lots of time in the sun, spray some on to protect your hair from the uv rays. Using a heat protectant will protect your hair from unnecessary damage from heat styling tools. I make sure to always use a heat protectant spray before I use any kind of heat on my hair. 5: Do Treatments on your hair! No I do not mean search hair masks on pinterest and making one at home out of raw eggs and cooking oil. No, just no. Go into the salon and have a treatment done every 6 weeks to keep your hair feeling soft, smooth and making sure it is getting the right proteins, moisture and strength it needs to keep growing strong and healthy. I get the Oribe Smoothing Treatment done and it is a lifesaver! It makes your hair 4X Smoother, 4X Softer and 74% more manageable with providing your hair will hydration, the sealing of your hair cuticles and helps retain your color! Bonus!! It makes your hair way easier to blow dry!! 7: When putting your hair up, utilize scrunchies and telephone cord elastics. These put less tension on your hair and will cause significantly less damage than traditional hair elastics. 8: Utilize Heatless Hairstyles. The less heat you can use on your hair, the better it will grow. I personally have to use heat at least 2 times a week to remain looking human. But the more you can create waves using braids or just wear braids or something that doesn't require heat, your hair will thank you! Stop thinking that you can't cut your hair because you want it long. TRUST ME trimming it to where it is healthy and continually keeping up on it will 100% change your hair game. Stop waiting till your ends are invisible to get a baby trim. Trim your ends (and by that I do not mean taking of inches and inches) before they get bad so that way your hair never goes through that rough looking stage. If you keep your hair trimmed up, it will grow faster, longer and better. If you have any questions feel free to reach out and dm me on Instagram @Becthestylist I hope you loved this and learned something new!! Xoxo, Bec

Surface trimming is a technique used to remove the split ends that are throughout your hair not just on the very ends. Surface trimming allows your hair to remain the same length (it doesn't add layers) but it makes it look, feel and grow better. Getting your hair consistently surface trimmed will help your hair to remain stronger, thicker and get longer faster and better. It helps a ton with fragile areas of hair that experience a lot of breakage. It will help clean them up with allowing the length to be saved. I recommend getting a trim as well as a surface trim once every 6 weeks. Here is a video of what surface trimming looks like and a before and after to how it makes the hair look! Ask for a surface trim next time! They seriously make a world of a difference. I hope you enjoyed this and learned something new! Reach out on Instagram @Becthestylist and say hi! I would love to connect with you!! xoxo, Bec

Honestly, you feel like you learn a lot in beauty school but in reality you learn so so so much more once you're done. I remember being in school and feeling so freaking talented and I felt that I knew everything there was to know about hair…….then I graduated and realized I dang I suddenly feel like I don't know how to do anything. I wish I knew that beauty school teaches you the very basics and for in depth education I would have to go elsewhere to learn more complex things. I learned much much more from continuing education classes, Youtube and hairstylist Instagram education. Beauty School taught me nothing about how to build my brand or my business behind the chair. I wish I had researched more about marketing and attracting clients before and during my time in school. Learning that takes so much time and effort and the more you can learn about it now, the better. I wish that Beauty School taught me more about what potential clients want to see from you in order to trust you and want to invest in you. I was not taught about the Tax side of the industry. As a self employed business owner, you are responsible for keeping detailed records of all industry related purchases, business expenses and all work related tax write offs. You are responsible for doing all of your own payroll & inventory for all of your business and if you have any employees. Also I wish I had known to setup my business as a SCORP or an LLC from the beginning. It saves you money on taxes! Also self employment tax is a real thing that sucks but I wish I knew about that before!! Also when running your own business for me it is essential that I have an accountant because they help figure all the business side out and make it super easy and painless when it comes to taxes and budgeting. Before going to beauty school I wish they would have taught me more about commission vs booth rent salons. Personally out of the 4 1/2 years I have been doing hair, only 1 1/2 years I spent doing commission. I went back and looked at some of the pay stubs I received during my commission days and a 2 week pay period pay check that I thought was such good money is now the amount that I make in about a day. In reality you make wayyyyy more money working booth rent. I know it can be scary to have an extra expense of rent but in reality if you are making lets say $5000 a month in service totals, booth rent would be $650 let's say, then you'd be taking home $4350 before other business expenses. But if you did commission, let's say you made 40% - 50% then you would only be taking home $2000- $2500 before expenses. The pros and cons of going booth rent. *Disclaimer* I do recommend starting commission for a few months until you feel a little more confident. Pros: You make way more money You feel more motivated to get clients in your chair You are more in control of what products and color lines you use You have more control over your schedule You get to charge your own prices Cons: If you don't have clients in your chair you aren't making money (true with commission too) You have to purchase all of your own color and supplies ( I like this way better) Honestly I recommend booth rent to everyone, maybe not right at first but if you are serious about growing your business then switching to booth rent will only motivate you more to find more clients. So there is a lot that you don't learn in beauty school but you have to be prepared for that. You will learn the very basics of the skill set but in order to really succeed you will need to work your butt off marketing and building your business. Just because you graduate hair school doesn't mean that suddenly your books will be filled. It takes lots of time, hard work and determination. But if you are determined to make it in this business, find out all you can about social media marketing, attracting clients, photography, continuing educational hair classes, self employment tax stuff and everything it takes to run your own business. I hope this shed some light into some good things to know before starting beauty school. This would also be helpful to anyone in or recently graduated beauty school. Was this helpful? If so come on over to Instagram and say hi! I would love to connect with you! Instagram @Becthestylist Love you all so much!! Good luck in beauty school! This industry is really the best! -Bec

Thin Hair- How to make your hair look thicker and more full. Here are my tops tips to create more volume with thin fine hair! I will give you my top product recommendations, styling tips and cutting tips. Products to use: A volumizing / texturizing shampoo and conditioner- this will help give your hair body, movement and texture to maintain the volume throughout the day. My favorites are: Oribe Magnificent Volume shampoo and conditioner and the R and Co Biotin Thickening shampoo and conditioner. Volumizing mousse- I apply this to the roots to give my hair more lift, more texture and make it appear more full. I love the R and Co Rodeo Star thickening mousse and the Oribe Texturizing Grandiose Mousse. Thickening Spray- Using a thickening spray on damp hair, spraying it throughout the hair will help the hair follicles to appear thicker. I apply this this directly on problem areas. (Thin hair lines) it works wonders!! I love the R and Co Dallas Thickening spray and Maximista Thickening Spray. Texturizing powder or spray- After I tease my roots I apply either a powder or spray with lots of texture, this will help your volume stay better for longer and if it flattens you can simply rub your fingers up through the hair and the texture from the products will help revamp the volume. I love the R and co Skyline Texturizing Powder Dry shampoo. Styling tips: Blow dry your hair!! Always blow dry your hair the opposite way from how you want it to lay. This will dry the hair perfectly so that way when the hair is flipped back over, it has volume to sit on. Use a round brush to blow dry. This will help smooth out your hair and provide you with lots of volume. For max volume choose a smallish brush. The smaller the brush the closer you can get to your roots and so the max lift you will get. Tease your roots- It doesn't need to be a lot (unless you want to) but doing this and then following it with a spray will help the tease to stay in place for longer. Also if your spray can is an aerosol then what I do it spray the teas and then place the can directly on the sprayed area and pull the hair down over it. The coldness from the can will freeze that into place for an even longer lasting style. Cutting Tips: When getting your hair cut, you want to maximize the texture throughout your cut. (By texture in some cases does not mean layers) I mean adding point cutting, and different texturizing techniques to help the hair have more movement. I do this texturizing technique where I ( I won't spoil all my secrets) am able to cut your hair in a way that your root hair more volume……too good to be true, it's not! I learned this and when you style with texturizing products it makes a world of a difference!! I hope you enjoyed this and learned something new!! Try these suggestions out on your hair and let me know how you liked it!!

Your client's hair could be the most amazing hair ever created but if you aren't able to take the right kind of pictures of it then you are missing out on lots of potential clients and followers. Over the years, you can see a major difference of the quality in the photos I have taken. At the beginning I didn't have an aesthetic I was trying to follow and that really set back my progress. Now when a potential new client or follower finds my page it is easy for them to get a feel for what my brand is, exactly the type of hair that I do and what I can personally offer them. They can get all that information from just one photo. So let me breakdown my top 5 tips to taking the right photo for Instagram so you can portray your work is the best way possible. 1: Always utilize natural lighting. Natural lighting will showcase your work in the most accurate way through a photo. If you are using ring lights or if the photo area has lots of shadows and darkness, the hair will not be captured the way that it actually looks in real life. 2: Have a clean - non distracting background. I prefer to take my client photos generally in the exact same area every single time so that way each photo tends to match the others aesthetically even though the hair may look completely different. 3: Styling- you can see that on everyone of my hair posts that all the hair looks smooth, soft and touchable. My clients can then see from these photos that I give the smoothest blow out, the softest waves and it looks touchable because it's so shiny, the ends are clean and you cannot see frizz or flyaways. You need to be finishing your clients hair in a way that best showcases your brand. If you're like me than taking the extra time to roundbrush the hair straight and doing my signature waves is essential to taking the best possible photo. 4: When editing your photos, if you do, enhance the hair to make it look closer to the way it looks in real life. It is easy to tell when someone has over filtered the hair and let's face it, if you are over editing your work, your clients will have unrealistic expectations because the type of hair do doesn't even look like the hair you post. I personally use the exact same filter on each and every one of my photos, even if it isn't a hair photo. I don't filter my photos a lot. I just add the smallest hue of filter and adjust the exposure sometimes just a bit. Ill post an example. 5: Camera- I personally just use my Iphone and I find that it does just the trick. Your camera is your personal preference but the higher the photo quality, the better picture you will get. A lot of my co workers use professional cameras and feel that they are able to capture cleaner more perfected hair. All I'm trying to say is regardless of your camera, take the time to focus on the hair and so that way the camera can grasp all the light within the frame to give you the most accurate shot. One of my favorite ways to capture photos on my Iphone is using the Portrait mode to help focus more clearly on the client and blur the background. Portrait Mode Normal Mode -Blurred Background -Captures more Natural light for a more realistic photo I hope you guys enjoyed these tips on how to take the right photo for Instagram. My photos have really transformed my business into what it is today so I promise you that if you utilize these tips that you will see a be difference in your feed and in your business. Xoxo, Bec

I'll be real, my hair grows SLOWWWWW! Back when I was 12 years old I decided I was going to grow my hair out. It was about shoulder length at the time. Over the next 7 years I was so persistent to get my hair long that I feel that I tried everything but by the time it got "Long" it was thin and dry and damaged. Although it was "Long" it looked like I needed 6 inches cut off to make it even look good. 7 Years into that process, I decided to chop my hair off and start growing my hair out the RIGHT way. I was going to do all the things I told my clients to do, use all the stuff that was actually good for my hair and see just how much it would actually help. 3 years ago, in December of 2017, this is what my hair looked like. Now, December of 2020 this is how far my hair has come. Now let me breakdown to you EXACTLY how I grew my hair long, thick and healthy in a matter of 3 years. And you might be thinking, Bec 3 years is a long time! I want results in like 6 months! Well I'll be honest, growing your hair takes time as you all know but could this process have gone quicker? Yes BUT my hair would be more damaged and thin at the ends. I tell my clients that you would rather take longer growing your hair out but have it continually looking healthy and nice and then by the time it gets to the length you want it looks fabulous. Rather than growing growing growing and refusing to trim it and take care of it and then suddenly it's long but it looks like garbage and you can see your split ends from across the room. Tip #1 TRIM YOUR HAIR!!!!!!! This WILL make your hair grow faster, thicker and longer!! Not trimming your hair will result in stringy, dry, thin and severely damaged ends. It is a MYTH that you shouldn't cut your hair when you're trying to grow it out. I recommend getting your ends trimmed once every 6 weeks. No I am not saying that you need to trim off several inches every single time. The goal is to maintain the line of your hair that way your ends never get stringy. When you first start this process you need to get your hair to a healthy state. That may mean trimming off several inches to get rid of the dead and damaged hair. But after that, maintaining with doing a "dusting" of your ends. That means essentially removing the very bottom quarter inch to keep those ends thick. Personally through the 3 years of going through this process, there were only about 3 times where I actually got like a full inch taken off. That is necessary every one in a while but if you consistently getting your ends dusted every 6 weeks the less length you will have to cut off at one time. In addition to getting your ends dusted, get a surface trim. Surface trims are life savers!!! They keep your length but they help to remove the split ends that are higher up not just on the very ends. This will help to prevent future breakage, dryness and damage. Tip #2 USE PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS! Sis I'll be blunt, anything from the grocery store will only push you farther away from getting the hair you actually want. It is cheap for a reason. You totally get what you pay for! In the beginning it seems like an investment to get everything you need to get started. But once you start using them, you will never want to go back. The difference it makes is unbelievable. I recommend using Sulfate & Paraben free shampoos and conditioners. Here is why: Sulfates cause irritation to your scalp. They will increase scalp sensitivity and irritation. Sulfates strip too much from the hair during the cleansing process. Your hair needs its natural oils and sebum to promote a healthy scalp and healthy hair. A lot of times when using drug store hair care products, they strip too much oil from the hair that it desperately needs so your hair feels the need to continually produce more and more oil; therefore, making your hair feel greaser and more oily quicker and quicker. Which then leads you to wash it more and more frequently which just makes the cycle worse. Sulfates also make the hair have more frizz. If your hair is naturally frizzy or curly like mine is, using something sulfate free is a no brainer. Switching to sulfate free shampoos and conditioners will actually help to prolong the life of your color and keep it from fading as much. These are crucial to use when you color your hair because the more you can prolong the life of your color, the less you will be putting chemicals on it. (And no I am not saying to never color your hair) A few of my very favorites are R & CO and ORIBE products. The reason I love them so much is because all of the shampoos and conditioners they carry are Sulfate free, Paraben free, Gluten free & Vegan. So everything is going to cleanse but keep the scalps natural oils from over producing, protect your color and not cause irritation and sensitivity. Tip #3 Use Moisturizing products. Adding moisture into your hair will help to repair damage, dryness and create softness. I love to use moisturizing conditioner (My favorites are Oribe Gold Lust or Moisture Control) as well as a good leave in conditioner, cream and oil. My favorite leave in conditioners are: Oligo Blacklight 18 in 1, R & Co Suncatcher, Redken One United, Pureology 21 Benefits. They all add moisture, protein, shine, softness, tame frizz, protect from heat, add body and protect your color. I spray a leave in through the mids and ends of my hair after washing. I then apply a cream mixed with an oil. For creams I love the R & Co High Dive Moisture and Shine cream, Waterfall Moisture lotion & the Oribe Supershine Moisture cream. I mix a dime size amount of cream with about 2 pumps of oil. My favorite oils are: R & Co smoothing oil, Oribe Gold Lust oil or the Oribe Damage repair power drops. Then I apply that through the mids and ends. Tip #4 When should you be using heat on your hair? I hear a constant debate about whether or not airdrying or blowdrying is better for your hair. In my personal experience, when my hair had been blown dry, my hair is easier to style, requires less heat and doesn't get as oily as quick. I felt that when I would blow dry my hair that it felt smoother and my ends didn't feel fuzzy or dry. So using a blowdryer after washing your hair is a great thing! As long as you are prepping with a heat protectant and using a tool made from high quality metals. My favorite blow dryers are the Babyliss Porcelain Ceramic or the Babyliss Nano titanium. When heat styling, use your tools at a safe degree temperatures. For Fine hair, using a low heat setting is best. I recommend around 330-350 degrees. For Medium hair, using a medium heat setting of about 365-385 is best. For Coarse hair, using a heat setting of about 385-400 is best. As for the amount of days you should be applying heat throughout the week, I recommend around 3-4 times but in reality the less often the better. Tip #5 Do a Deep Conditioning Treatment once a month. This will help kick your hair into gear and keep it feeling strong and healthy. I will shampoo my hair twice and then either apply my deep treatment or mix up my conditioner with some of my hair oil and apply that. I focus it on the mids and ends making sure those are thoroughly saturated. If I have any excess on my fingers, I will apply it a little higher up but avoiding my scalp as much as I can. I leave this on for about 5-10 minutes. If your hair is feeling extra dry I would let it sit on for about 20 minutes in either a processing cap or you can wrap a plastic bag around your hair. If you are insulating the mask it will penetrant deeper into your hair and have better results. My favorite Treatments are: Oribe Mositure Control Masque or the Oribe Gold Lust Transformative Masque. Tip #6 The longer you can go between washes the better! Allowing your hair time to absorb the natural oils will help to replenish your hair, collect the moisture it needs and strength itself. I'm not saying to never ever wash your hair but give your hair time to absorb the oils. Learning to go longer between washes takes time and training. When I first started training my hair I had been washing it about every 3 days or so. But now, I wash it about every 7-10 days and it gets less oily now than it did when I was washing it more frequently. Training your hair is honestly one of the most crucial components for healthy growth. When starting this process, go 1 extra day than you normally would. Do that for a few weeks and then add another day. You don't have to go as many days as I do but find what works for you! I promise that becoming consistent with going longer between washes you will notice your hair produce less oil, grow faster and feel better. I have an entire blog post dedicated to teaching you how to train your hair to go longer between washes! I promise it is worth the read! https://becthestylist.wixsite.com/becthestylist/post/hair-training-teaching-your-hair-to-go-longer-b Tip #7 When wearing your hair up, did you know that certain elastic types can actually be causing split ends? Let me tell you what you should use in order to be putting the least amount of stress and tension on your hair. Scrunchies & Telephone Cord Elastics. These are softer and apply minimal tension to the hair. When sleeping, put your hair either up with a scrunchie or in a loose braid secured with a scrunchie. Wearing your hair like that when you are sleeping will protect your hair from matting, tangling and getting damaged from friction. Avoid going to sleep with wet hair. Wet hair is the most fragile and is easier to damage. Continually sleeping on wet hair will cause breakage. Also when sleeping, using a silk pillowcase is the best option for your hair. Due to the softness, it will not rough up your hair cuticles and cause damage. Thank you so much for visiting my blog and reading this article on How I grew My Hair from Short to Long. As always if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out on here or on any of my social media platforms. Good luck on your hair journey! If you follow these tips, your hair will be better and healthier than ever! Instagram: Becthestylist Facebook: Becthestylist Youtube: Becthestylist Pinterest: Becthestylist Have a wonderful rest of your day! xoxo, Bec

Have you ever had a Haircolor that made you feel like you had to cover it up with a hat? If so, Girl I FEEL you! We have all had an Experience coloring or getting our hair done that made us internally scream and want to cry because what the heck is wrong with my hair?! This is NOT what I wanted. There is no worse feeling than not feeling comfortable and confident in your hair! I’m here to breakdown the 6 reasons WHY you may have ended up with hair that wasn’t your fav & HOW I can help you avoid that as much a possible in the future! 1: There wasn't a good enough consultation done prior to starting the coloring process. Consultations are key to pin pointing exactly what is important to your client. ( I have a whole blog post dedicated to helping you have a more helpful consultation, Link is in my bio). Mostly every single time I have a new guest in my chair I hear the words “Nobody has ever asked me that before” or “Oh my gosh yes! That’s what I’ve been wanting but didn’t know how to word it!” Having a consultation that asks all the in depth questions will ensure for better results & a happier guest. 2: Pictures weren't shown and discussed. Photos are a fantastic way to showcase more particularly what you are looking for. I always ask my clients why they like the photo(s) and what it looks like to them. Everybody sees haircolor differently, so if you have them break it down and tell you what they see, it will give you a better ideal of what they are looking for. I recommend having around 2-3 photos of hair inspiration (preferably from various angles). 3: You aren't maintaining your hair properly at home. At home care is just as, if not more important than what I do for your hair at the salon. For example, if your hair is bright bright blonde and when you leave the salon your hair is as white as can be but you go home and wash it the next day and never ever use purple shampoo or other professional products, your hair will never look exactly the way you want it to and so you will be unhappy. At home care is an absolute must! 4: Perhaps the goal you have in mind requires multiple sessions but your stylist didn't tell you that. So you're on the blonding journey and you have black hair and you show your stylist a bombshell platinum blonde photo and she says that she can totally get you there no problem today. Then the whole appointment you are happy and giddy because she said she could do it. Then she spins you around to reveal your new light brown WARM hair. Now, your disappointed and you hate your hair. Communicating clearly to your clients what is realistic for each session and what isn't will help set you up for success. If you told her that she would be a warm light brown at her first session but each session you would be able to get her lighter and closer to her goal then she will understand the process and not be unpleasantly surprised at the end. 5: Your stylist may not know how to do what you're asking for. When finding a stylist, do your homework! Check out their work and see if it matches the kind of hair that you want to get. This seems like a no brainer but if you came to me looking for a rainbow pixie that wouldn't have the best turn out because that is not what I do. It is worth spending a little bit more money and going to someone who specifically specializes in what you are looking for than going to just any hairstylist and have it e a gamble if they will be able to do it or not. 6: What you want may be unachievable. For example my hair is darkkkkk and years ago I dreamed of having bright blonde white hair. And guess what?? My hair couldn’t do it. My hair can’t handle going that light, it causes too much damage and stress to my hair. So do you want to know what I did? I accepted the fact that my hair prefers to be dark and I learned to be okay with that. Blonde was not achievable for me if I wanted to keep my hair healthy. I have seen clients who come to me for the first time and their hair is fried….but it’s blonde. So guess what? Their last stylist did more than what their hair could handle and yes got them to the color they wanted but killed their hair in the process. Now that client doesn’t care about the color because their hair is now completely trashed. Some hair colors won’t be possible for you. When your stylist tells you that it is because they love you enough to be honest to you and they know what is best for your hair. Learn to accept what your hair likes to do. If you have to fight it to do what you want, it won’t ever be what you want it to. I hope these tips helped you to know perhaps why you ended up with hair you’re unhappy with and how to help fix it. As always if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask! Thank you so much for reading this article I hope you have learned something new!! Xoxo, Bec

Let's face it, you just spent a whole lotttttt of money on your hair and you want to make it last as longgggg as possible! Am I right?? Using the right products on your hair will not only make your extensions last longer but it will help your own natural hair to be healthier & grow better! Yay! So let's make a pact that you are going to take the absolute best care of your hair & the extensions! Perfect! Let's dive right in! 1: Don't use garbage on your hair? Seems stupid right? You have no idea how many clients think that Suave & Pantene products will be able to keep their extensions looking nice.....FALSE. Professional products should be the ONLY thing you allow to touch your hair extensions. More specifically, Moisturizing & sulfate free professional products. Your hair and the extensions require moisture to keep them healthy and strong. My absolute favorite shampoo's and conditioners are: Oribe Gold Lust Oribe Intense Moisture & Control Unite 7 Seconds R & Co Atlantis All of them are: Sulfate free, Gluten free, Paraben Free & Vegan 2: Go as long between washes as you can! Hair extensions come with what is called a "Coating Sealant" that makes the hair smooth, silky and soft. The more the hair is washed, the more that sealant gets stripped out. Once the sealant is stripped out, the hair is more prone to damage & split ends. I recommend washing 1 time a week or longer if possible. This will make a HUGE impact on how your extensions hold up! 3: When washing your extensions, do so in SECTIONS. This will ensure a more even clean. When scrubbing extensions, avoid going up and down with your fingers. This will put more tension on the wefts. Instead, move from the sides in, with your fingers making a "v" shape to clean on top and bottom of the row. Also it is best to take the shampoo and gently massage it onto the base of the weft. Make sure to rinse thoroughly. This will prevent buildup and flaking. -Start with the bottom row ( if you have more than 1) and section from the top of the bottom weft and BELOW. Then shampoo & rinse. -Move to the next row (Most people only have 2 so this will be your top row) and section off from the top of the weft and BELOW. Then shampoo & rinse -Now for everything ABOVE the extensions. This area is technically your "crown" section. Shampoo this area twice. Not once but TWICE. This will help your hair be able to go longer between washes. -Once the shampoo process is finished, apply your conditioner from the EARS DOWN. and let that sit on for about 10-15 minutes. Applying from the ears down will ensure that your hair won't get weighed down by the moisture or cause you to get oily fast. Letting your conditioner have amble time to sit will help to keep your natural hair feeling as good as the extensions. Therefore, making them blend a lot better! 4: After Washing use REALLY good leave in products! I recommend using 1 in each category for the absolute best results. Leave In Conditioners: Oligo 18 in 1 leave in conditioner R & Co Sun Catcher leave in conditioner Unite 7 seconds detangler Moisture Creams: R & Co Waterfall R & Co High Dive Oribe Supershine Unite 7 Seconds Blowout Creme Oils: Oribe Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil R & Co Two Way Mirror Smoothing Oil Unite U Oil Hair Masque ( Use about 2 times a month for about 20-30 minutes) Oribe Gold Lust Masque Oribe Intense Mositure Masque R & Co Television Perfect Hair Masque Unite & Seconds Masque Unite Re:Unite Treatment 5: Proper Drying- Air drying or blow drying. Hair extensions take a long time to dry, whether it's air drying or blowdrying. I recommend air drying till your hair is about 80% dry and then going in with your blow dryer and round brush to smooth everything out and get all of the textures consistent. If you do decide to fully blow dry your hair, blow dry with your fingers till the hair is about 60-70 % dry and then introduce your wet brush. Brush your hair and blow dry with the concentrator/ nozzle pointed downwards. Then introduce the round brush at about 80 % dry. 6: How to wear your hair when sleeping 101 First off, let me point out one thing, see those little baby hairs at the base of your neck? They seem to always break off and never grow and it is so irritating!! That is caused by repetitive friction on those areas. The way to fix that is by transitioning to wearing your hair in 1 or 2 braids. This will keep the baby hairs from breaking off, your extensions from matting & tangling. Braiding your hair will also help to blend your hair in with your extensions and will help to maintain your hairstyle with minimal or no heat at all! Before braiding your hair at nighttime, I apply about 1-2 pumps of oil through my mids and ends to keep them super nice and moisturized. 7: Vacay Care Matters!!! Just because you're on vacation doesn't mean you get to neglect your hair extensions. These tips are really quite simple but will completely save your hair extensions. -When in oceans, pools or lakes ( any water) make sure to wear your hair in braids. This will prevent matting, dreading and crazy tangles. If you don't sometimes they cannot be untangled and you will need to get new hair. When in doubt BRAID YOUR HAIR. -When applying sunscreen, pull your hair completely off of your skin until the sunscreen has 10000% dried. Sunscreen can tint hair extensions a pinkish color, especially on blonde extensions and sometimes cannot be removed. -If you do any self tanner or get a spray tan, make sure that you wear your hair up until the tan has completely set and dried fully. Self tanner can also tint your extensions so be careful! 8: What you can & cannot do color wise. Hair extensions go through extensive processes to get to the color they are when you get them. After they are colored, they get coated in a sealant to keep them feeling soft, silky and smooth. That sealant eventually wears off after time and washing. Due to the extensive color processes & the sealant hair extensions cannot be lightened. When extensions are lightened, they can start to melt or break off. So I recommend getting extensions perhaps a little lighter then we can always color them darker if we need to. Extensions can be darkened with demi and semi colors since they aren't stripping like lightener is. So if we want to go darker, root your extensions or add in more dimension, we totally can! 9: Brush Brush Brush! I see people who seem too afraid to thoroughly brush their hair because they are worried that they will "pull out" or "loosen" or "wreck" the extensions. However, if you do not correctly brush your extensions, they will dread, get matted and break off! So to avoid damage, I recommend using a Wet Brush or an Olivia Garden Brush to brush your hair. The bristles are flexible and have a little give to them so they don't just tear through the hair. When brushing, be aware of wear each weft starts. You can brush your hair that is about the extensions normally just be careful not to force the brush bristles through the top of the extensions. With each weft be sure to brush the top of the weft to avoid tangles! If you need to section your hair to brush it completely then please do so! It is important to brush your hair at least 2 times a day to keep the extensions nice! 10: The Importance of Hair Masques Hair Masques are the best way to keep your hair feeling soft, silky and healthy. This will make sure your hair continually stays moisturized and maintained with the correct protein. I recommend doing a hair masque 2 times a month for about 20-30 minutes. My favorite masques are: Oribe Intense Moisture & Control Oribe Gold Lust R & Co Perfect Hair Masque Unite 7 Seconds Masque Unite Re:Unite Treatment I hope you learned lots on how to properly care for your hair extensions! If you have an questions about hair extensions, feel free to contact me here on the website or on Instagram @becthestylist Xoxo, Bec

Finding your dream client is key to unlocking a happier you behind the chair. If you schedule is filled with people who love, trust, value your time, invest in the products you recommend, refer others to you & allow you to create the hairstyles & colors you love. During school you are taught to take every client and that you need to be well rounded and offer all the services. That mentality can be very limiting. You want to have a specific specialty so you can market that specialty to your ideal client. Saying yes to every client can lead to: -Dealing with clients who don't trust you -Clients who aren't willing to invest in professionally quality products -Clients who may price haggle you (don't want to pay your prices) -Clients who you dread seeing on your books -Clients who cancel last minute + show up late -Clients who don't want the services you so desperately want to offer them Learning to say no to clients who don't vibe with you or don't fit your style or brand is a good thing to be able to say no to! Saying no can be awkward but if you handle it like this, it is very professional and help set you up better for the future! Potential Guest: Hey Janet, Thank you so much for reaching out and wanting me to be your stylist! My #1 goal as a hairstylist is being able to give my clients the very best service I can. However, for the type of hair you are looking for, I don't specialize in that and I don't believe I am the best fit for you. You deserve someone who specializes in that area of hair and I would love to recommend you to another stylist that would be awesome in creating this for you! Current Guest: Hey Janet, I have been taking a lot of continuing education classes trying to find my specialty. I have decided to alter my service list to better accommodate my Balayage & Blonding specialty. I have loved being able to do your hair and have loved getting to know you throughout these 5 years of doing your hair! You are such an amazing guest & I want to make sure you are getting the very best service possible. From this point on in my business I will no longer be offering (list of services) and I will be focusing primarily on (list of services). I am sorry to cause you an inconvenience but I want to make sure you are fully taken care of so I would love to recommend my friend or co worker (their name). They specialize in exactly the hairstyles that you love! I think you will absolutely love them! Both ways sound respectful yet straight forward. That is the key in learning how to let go of a current or potential clients. You may be wondering, Bec if I am fresh out of school I need all the clients I can get. Instead of saying yes to every client, try saying yes to these things instead: -Continuing Education -Mental Health + Self Care -Taking time to Build your Brand -Setting Boundaries + creating Balance in your work & Home life -Investing in your Business -Learning how to Effectively Market Yourself -Creating Loads of Content that fit your Aesthetic -Learning how to run your Business Saying yes to those things in business will help you to market to that dream client, allow you to make more money and allow you to build a business you absolutely love! Say yes to opportunities that your future self would thank you for.

Talking about money tends to make people uncomfortable.....but why? I swear we all grew up with the mindset that you shouldn't talk about money, shouldn't ask someone how much they paid for something or ask someone how much they make. Learning to effectively talk about money in a comfortable setting will set you up for success & will allow you to actually make more money. Let me tell you exactly HOW! I've been running a bit of an experiment on hairstylists behind the chair. The ones who during the consultation, break down their pricing down to all the nittty gritty details ensure they both them & the guest in their chair are fully on the same page. Let me tell you exactly how I go about this. Once we have discussed all their goals & dreams for their hair, we then talk about what price point they would like to be at. I then offer them several different options, explain each price point, what is included & what may increase the price. Then I allow them to choose. This eliminates any surprises at the checkout & honestly makes your guest feel more taken care of since you are not only going to help them reach their goal but you're going to let them choose their ballpark budget. Talking money during the consultation will help to cover your butt when you try to give them one of those "Discounts" because you maybe feel guilty that you had to remix 3 extra bowls. With every guest in my chair, I tell them this: (Full Babylight Pricing Example) "So my pricing for a full babylight service is $160. That includes your Haircut, Wash & Style, the 1st bowl of Color/ Lightener (whichever we use) and your gloss (toner) After the 1st bowl, each additional bowl we remix is $10." Then this way they know that every time you remix & come up with another bowl, they can mentally add $10 to their total cost. And believe me they are! So then when checkout arrives, they know what they are paying & you have no excuse to not charge them for that extra bowl. I heard one day while listening to a podcast: If you choose not to charge for even just 1 extra remix, that is $10 that you are taking away from your family. $10 may not seem like a lot but even if you did that once a day 5x a week 52 weeks a year....that is $2,600 worth of income that you're losing out on. And let's be real, it happens more then 5x a week. Start talking prices with your clients. They appreciate it more then you know! It may feel totally uncomfortable the first few times but when you realize that laying everything out for them now eliminates you undercharging them at the end, you will wish you would've done it sooner! We have anxiety around money because it has always been so taboo to talk about. But the key to making more money is learning to change the way you personally feel about money. If you view money in a positive light & work on manifesting your dream life, money will gravitate towards you because you embrace it, embrace opportunities & feel free instead of basking in it's uncomfortableness that will transform your life. If you view money in an evil way. Thinking that people who have money are bad. Money makes people bad....money = bad. Then even if you really want to do well & make lots of money, deep down you believe that it's bad & money won't gravitate towards you & you will still be dealing with crippling anxiety around it. So to wrap it all up: 1: Breakdown your pricing during your consultation 2: Give your guest different pricing points (Full or Partial services) so they can choose their budget 3: Inform them of additional ad ons (bowls, deep conditioning treatments etc) 4: Stay true to what you discussed. They chose their price point & they can count how many times you went and remixed. 5: Learn to see money as a positive addition to your life. Manifest it by learning to talk about it & value what it can do for you + your dream life

When it comes to glossing choosing to use either developer or processing solution can greatly impact the finished result greatly. When deciding what to choose you must determine a few things first: 1: Does your color line contain Ammonia or Monoethanolamide (MEA) If so, then the color has the ability to lift/lighten the hair. When glossing, you want to have an Ammonia & MEA free color to avoid "Hot roots" & unwanted lift. 2: Does the hair have mineral buildup? Mineral Build up can drastically change the outcome of a coloring service. If you are dealing with significant build up, I suggest doing a pre treatment with Malibu Crystal Gel before starting the process. 3: Does the client have Fine & level 8+ hair? Developer essentially chews through the cuticle layer of the hair because of the acidity. When this happens, exposed melanin is now visible which means the base has shifted & it contains warmth. If your client matches this description, lower the developer to avoid lifting or use processing solution. What raising/ using developer does & when to use it: -Intensifies tone without having to drop a level -Creates a longer lasting color (perfect for hair that struggles to hold onto color) -Acts more like a demi permanent color -Cancels out excess warmth or helps to add a more vibrant warmth -Blending out lines of demarcation (developer allows a more solid finish vs processing solution can have more of a shear finish) -