Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Appointments: 360-604-1080. Walk-ins also are accepted.
Cost: $5.50 for a basic haircut, $6 for a basic manicure, $10 for a basic pedicure, $12.50 for a facial, $15 for semi-permanent color.
Where: 12200 N.E. 28th St., Vancouver.
Information: www.ccskillscenter.com/cosmetology.html
o The Clark County Skills Center’s two-year cosmetology program has 84 students enrolled. Students operate a salon open to the public and also are taught business management skills.
o A total of 1,600 hours are required for a beauty operator’s license in Washington.
Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Appointments: 360-604-1080. Walk-ins also are accepted.
Cost: $5.50 for a basic haircut, $6 for a basic manicure, $10 for a basic pedicure, $12.50 for a facial, $15 for semi-permanent color.
Where: 12200 N.E. 28th St., Vancouver.
Information: www.ccskillscenter.com/cosmetology.html
Desi Scheu knew the Afro-textured dark hair on the mannequin would react to the bleach she applied to lighten it.
“I knew I was going to tone it,” Scheu said Wednesday. “She turned really orange. I’m using a high toner of violet to cancel out the orange.” Scheu used a flat brush to apply a thick liquid to the human hair on the mannequin in front of her.
Scheu, 17, is a second-year student in the cosmetology program at Clark County Skills Center. During the two-year program focused on both theory in the classroom and clinical experience, students spend a minimum of 1,400 hours working on hair, 100 hours on nails and 100 hours on facials, waxing and tweezing.
The cosmetology program has been a part of the Skills Center since it opened in 1983, but in previous years, cosmetology students had their practical experience at an off-campus salon. In September, the Skills Center opened its own cosmetology building, which includes classroom space, lab space and a salon with public hours.
Students attend Skills Center programs as high school juniors and seniors. This year, there are 64 first-year students and 20 second-year students in the cosmetology program. The popular program has a waiting list, said Margaret Rice, dean of students. Only three of the beginning students are male. All of the second-year students are female. The program’s advisory board hopes to increase the number of male students.
Cosmetology students earn high school credits and work toward becoming licensed cosmetologists. In the program’s last six weeks, seniors prepare to take both of the state board tests necessary to receive their license. After they take their state board exams, they are licensed and ready to work in a salon. It’s the same program and test that for-profit cosmetology schools offer to adults.
Rice is working with local salons including Visible Changes in Vancouver and Nico Bella in Camas to set up spring apprenticeships for second-year students.
Across the room Wednesday, Cristal Solorio, 19, Maddie Ponder, 17, and Jordan Harp, 17, tried to repair chemically damaged hair on another mannequin. Harp got distracted and accidentally left bleach on the mannequin’s head for two days.
“Yeah, we’ve all made mistakes,” said Solorio, “but not on (actual) clients.”
“We don’t put students out there working with the public until they’re ready,” Rice said.
First-year students receive two mannequins sporting long human hair to give students a chance to learn on human hair before they work on clients in the salon. Second-year students receive three mannequins. They apply color, permanent waves, straighteners and more to learn how human hair reacts to chemical applications. They also practice intricate braids, up-dos and weaves. After cutting the hair to a new length, they start all over again with the chemical applications and more. The mannequins must last the entire school year.
“Everything they do on a live person, they learn on a mannequin head first,” said Shawna Johnson, instructor of the second-year students.
Next door in the salon, student Emily Sheldon, 18, uses a razor to cut and thin the hair of customer Jo Casey, 79.
“It’s my second time coming to the new salon, ” Casey said. “I like the way they do it. And I like the price.”
Second-year student Scheu is bucking family tradition by not entering the military, she said.
“I still think about the military, but that’s not where I belong,” she said. “I should do something I want to do. And this makes me happy.”
There are about 250 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists employed in Clark County. The hourly wage varies: $11.01 per hour for the median wage, $13.70 for the mean wage, $15.88 for an experienced wage and $22.49 for cosmetologists in the 90th percentile, according to the Clark County occupational wage survey from March 2013.
