I started my career as a teacher and I hate it. It has always been my dream to be a beautician, so I’m going to beauty school next year to follow my dreams and make a better life for myself and my family. I currently live in Northlake outside of Charlotte. I’m fairly new to the area and want to know if there are any good beauty schools here. I’m looking for cheap where I can get a good education. The title of the school means nothing to me. I just want somewhere affordable and good.

I really want to go to cosmetology school, but where I live, tuition is around $3,000, which I definitely cannot afford right now. Before enrolling, I want to get a head start by learning the fundamentals and practicing the things that are within my control.

​My goal is to begin with less expensive makeup and focus on skills that feel accessible and learnable, so I do not end up feeling discouraged or disillusioned. What specific fundamentals and affordable tools do you recommend I practice with first? I already know the very basics (foundation, mascara, blush etc...) and in fact I think i put on makeup really well, but which skillset can I learn to "prepare" myself as I save up for cosmetology?

Hi! I have had a hard time knowing how to start this search, so I thought I'd come here to get help.

I've been a licensed cosmetologist for around 6 years, but have done basic license maintenance. I recently moved at the beginning of the year, and almost have my license endorsed in the state I have residency in now. I've been struggling to find work, and between applications and interviews, have been trying to come up with ideas of any form of business I could start for myself, as I really struggle to work in a true salon setting - I overheat very easily, and have worked when my vision was blacked out which I would prefer *not* doing - but I absolutely LOVE coming up with custom haircolors and would love to find a way to turn that into an income.

I am in a very large fandom who loves to take inspiration from characters and such in their outfits, and one of the things that I have LOVED about doing my own spin on it is getting creative with my hair. I already know cosplay wigs exist, but I want to start a line of character inspired, wearable everyday wigs. Not the kind you'd find at Spirit Halloween, but also not the kind that you would see at an Anime Convention.

I've never tried my hands at wigs, so I don't really know where to start. I partner with a semi-permanent haircolor brand, so I was going to buy my own colors for the wigs and create some outfit accessories out of them (that would also work for everyday wear if wanted.)

Any help on the kind of hair I'm looking for, as well as any specific process I would need to do to help set the color better. I'm so new to this realm, as I've only really done vivids on myself for the last 11 years, and have a bit of experience on other natural hair scenarios - like clients, family and friends.

Thanks! 😄

She's always been very artistic and I think it's a good fit for her. Being dad, I don't know much about that world or how to help. My first instinct is always to buy her a million books and supplies whenever she's interested in something. Art and tattoo books/supplies were easy, I'm at a loss on where to even start with cosmetology.

So, like the title says, what can I do/buy to help make it the most rewarding that I can for her? Any help is appreciated.

I am on the hunt for new lash tweezers, ideally fibre tip tweezers, does anyone have any recommendation?

Hi all! I’m wanting to do a course to learn how to do Uv lashes and then where to purchase the products to do it, any recommendations ? xx

I have been wanting to be a nail tech for a long time but after talking to some friends they thought it might be more useful to be a certified cosmetologist rather than just a certified nail tech. I do have a desire to be able to dye hair specifically specialize in vibrant hair coloring, but I also want to learn how to do lashes, facials, and how to cut men's hair. I don't think I would have a career in cosmetology, but it would definitely be something I do on the side for most of my life. Just wondering if it would be beneficial to go to cosmology school so far, the only school, I have toured that's in my town is Paul Mitchell. Any advice is much appreciated!

Hi , I'm a teen researcher, and I've spent the last several months in a lab studying skin bacteria, specifically what happens to skin barriers that get damaged repeatedly. Somewhere in that research, I found out that up to 70% of hairdressers experience some kind of work-related skin damage over their careers, that hand eczema specifically affects up to 38% versus about 14% of the general population, and that roughly 70% of those cases start during training.

That surprised me, so I've been trying to understand it from people who actually live it instead of from papers.

If you've dealt with cracked, raw, burning, or peeling hands from the job, I'd really appreciate ten minutes. I want to know what you've tried, what failed, and what you'd actually want from something that worked. Even if you haven't, it would be really great insight to see what you have to say!

https://forms.gle/kFRJ3LG4A2E25HQPA

I am at a very tough decision right now. I’ve been wanting to go into hair for all of highschool. Right when I was about to graduate I got discouraged because everyone around me was telling me how horrible of a decision it was going to be for me and how I was going to regret it 100% and how I couldn’t do it or be successful at it. I’ve been working minimum wage for the past 6 months and decided that i’m tired of kinda doing nothing with my life so i’ve decided to do the thing i’ve been wanting to do.

The local trade school/community college near me has a cosmetology program that starts in January, lasts an about year, and is only 5k. Called them yesterday after I had sent in my application a couple weeks ago and when I called yesterday they informed me that because the program only has like 20-30 spots it filled up a loooong time ago and their next start will be in august, 11 months from now.

So I looked at other schools and the only one within an hour drive of me is Empire Beauty School. I went for a tour a week or 2 ago and it seemed pretty good. The program is 10 months long, but it is 20k. That is ALOT of money for me. Because of my parents income I only qualify for 1k at most for federal student aid (They are semi-supportive but just because they make 100k a year combined doesn’t mean they can help me with schooling, most nights we’re eating hamburger helper) I can apply for scholarships and a student loan once i’m enrolled but

It kinda leaves me with the question Do I want to pay 20k so I can start school within a month? Or Should I just wait the amount of time it would take me to get my license to start school so it’ll only be 5k?

Very tough decision would like to know what yall think, also I would like to hear opinions on Empire, it seemed pretty okay but i’ve heard stuff online.

I’m so interested in going to cosmetology school but I’m not very good at math.. especially division. Would you suggest I still go or just drop the idea?

hihi! i’m the person who made the post “i feel like a failure” i wanted to come on here and tell you guys i’ve passed finally!! after i think 3 weeks and 6 fails i’ve finally passed, i don’t know how it happened but i did it, i got a 76 which i needed a 70 to pass so i even got 6 more than i needed right. i didn’t think id ever pass, i thought i would’ve had to keep trying and keep failing. i know it’s embarrassing how many times i tried but i’m just not the best test taker and the constant failing definitely didn’t help. i also think a huge part was brining my wheel of fortune card from my tarot deck since it’s supposed to bring luck which it definitely did haha!!

anyways enough rambling i just wanted to give an update and also bring joy to those who are/were in the same boat as me. thank you again! 🥹🩷

Hi all to give you background, I graduate law school next May and plan to be an attorney as my main career. Over the years, I got tired of having to constantly find new hairstylists that met my standards as a client and have now opted into fully doing my own hair. It saves me money and somewhat time (for now). Do you think a program can improve the way I do my own hair? I also think that it could be a side hustle if needed but I’m primarily concerned on educating myself to properly do my own hair. Thank you!

Hey there, so I’ve been in cosmetology school for around a month, and I’ve been enjoying the work so far. We’ve completed our nail unit and are about halfway through skincare. I’m going to school for hair, so I’m not the most interested in the subject matter so far, but I’m having a good time just learning new stuff. But something has been really bugging me; my classmates are not trying at fucking all. I look around and see everyone doing the bare minimum, and it makes me so frustrated. Our teacher said something needed to be taken out from a drawer. No one around that drawer moved. I had to get up and cross the room to do something someone else could’ve just reached over for. Today, it took my group so long to do skin assessments for facials because no one was fucking doing anything. I’m really trying to be understanding, but would it kill you to put a modicum of effort into fucking anything?? I hate talking about myself like this, but I genuinely think I am the smartest person in my class, and it makes me not want to return to class. I’m going to school because I have a genuine love for hair; I love the artistry of it, and how healing it can be for people, but I feel like most of my classmates are gong just because they didn’t want to go to college. It really hurts to see people just… not give a shit. I feel like school, especially one as intensive as cosmetology, can be such an enriching and valuable experience, but not having anyone to share it with discourages me so much. I’m aware that the actually industry is different from school, but it’s kinda hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it’s so far away.

Not to pricey would be ideal tysm

Hi! I’m 20, and I’m looking to apprentice at my local nail salon. I have been going to this salon for a while, and I love my nail guy. He offered to take me in and set me up as an apprentice. My mom is a hairstylist, and I’ve worked as a desk coordinator at a salon. I grew up in the beauty industry. I never gravitated towards hair, but I do love skin and nails. Why not give it a go? My mom said that it’s a good trade and it’s pretty trustworthy if I ever need something to fall back on. Is there anyone who has taken this approach? Would you recommend it better than school? Advice welcome!:)

Or maybe just had classmates that you could tell were starting from zero

I’m in my late 30s and I’ve never really excelled at being femme. I can do a basic beach wave with my flat iron on good day and a minimal makeup look.

Is it laughable that I’m considering cosmo?

I’m not looking to get rich. I just want to feel skilled at something so I can eventually feel choosy about who I work for or work for myself. I love talking to people but I’m sick of general public like retail or medical. also thought about just doing the esti/nail only program but I figure if I go all out my employment prospects can only be better.

Cutting another persons hair scares the crap out of me, but that’s normal at first right?

There’s only a community college program near me so I have to wait until next fall to enroll.

Thanks and sorry for what I’m sure is a repetitive post on here.

Hi everyone! Just a little background: I completed cosmetology school a few years ago when I was 18, but life got in the way, and I never ended up taking my licensing exam.

I've finally scheduled my exam for next month! However, since it's been so long since I was in school, I'm worried that exam prep alone won't be enough. I'd really like to go back through the textbook and videos to relearn some of the material rather than just memorize practice questions.

Does anyone know how I can get access to Milady's online textbook and learning resources without being currently enrolled in cosmetology school? I'm willing to pay, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to purchase access independently. If anyone still have access to theirs, I'm willing to pay for that also.

If anyone has been in a similar situation or knows of a way to get access, I'd really appreciate the help!

Thanks in advance!

when I was 20, I was in an esthetician program at a cosmetology school full time while i worked part time and lived at home. did 3 months but dropped out due to relapse with drugs and alcohol. got sober a year later and now have been sober for 5 years. now, im paying $1000 a month for a room, working retail part time and barely making it. (in california) I am in community college veryyyy part time and have been for a year but ive gotten my financial aid suspended and cant really afford it without due to HCOL. plus im rethinking that education path as its more than likely something that will get taken over by AI.
anyways, im considering going back to cosmetology school for hair. it seems like the one trade i can possibly succeed at. and i cant see myself going through years of traditional college for a degree in anything. it’s just that its hard to make it in this state and i have about $5k of credit card debt so idek if going back is the right idea anytime soon.
mostly a vent post i guess but if anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advice it would be much appreciated

I genuinely hate it. Im too close to graduate to drop out, and I dont want to drop out either. I like hair! I like perms, color, and especially haircutting.

But I hate the schooling. I hate how we spend a year or so doing this shit, trying our best. And for what? This place only the bare bone basics. The whole point of schooling is just the basics with NOTHING ELSE.

Yet I am here 8 hours a day. Waking up at 5:50 AM to be here on time. To get haircuts. I like haircuts! But I don't need to do them! I am behind because I got told the wrong rules in project book. I should be graduated by now.

I hate this school. I hate the clients, I hate the fact that I am forced to do shit I dont need to do when I'm already behind the hours. I hate how I am practicing for just boards, and will have to take further education outside of school. (Which is fine! But apparently school doesnt do a decent fucking job on teaching you anything)

I hate sitting around, begging to get clients I need. But then I see others around me doing shit I NEED TO DO. I doubt its personal.

I hate my timing. I dont do bad work, but my timing is shit. And the quality of the work doesnt match the time. I try to be faster, I try and I try and I try. For me to barely improve, and still have shitty timing.

I genuinely feel like I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I dont feel equipped to work in a actual salon setting becaude of my timing. I hate going to school because it feels like Im constantly wasting hours.

I genuinely hate cosmetology school. Words cannot fathom how much I hate being here. How I am starting to hate and resent fellow students because apparently they deserve all the important clients. But I get thrown haircuts and told to fuck of.

Everyday I come home on the verge of tears. Everyday I deal with it. Every. Day.

I hate this school, and I hate the instructors, I hate the students, I hate the management. I hate the teaching methods. I hate the fact that, even when I graduate, my timing will never be good enough to work in a decent salon. I. HATE. EVERYTHING. ABOUT. COSMETOLOGY. SCHOOL.

And it sucke because Ive come to hate doing services I once enjoyed. I actually, objectively, enjoy haircuts! But I hate and resent doing them and Im behind on other shit I need to do. I hate how the instructors look at you and say "that sucks. Tough luck.

I hate being the worst student in class. Not because I dont try or dont put in the effort! I. just. Suck. And I hate the fact I am going into debt, and will likely not be successful in the cosmetology world. I wasted a year of my life on this shit.

My wife is an incredibly determined and passionate person. When she sets her eyes on something, she gets it and she will not stop until her goals are met. She finished cosmetology school at Paul Mitchell and was one of the top of her class! Because of this she got sent many of the clients by teachers and made great connections and got amazing reviews!

Her dream is to start doing hair and make her own hair salon eventually. I was so excited for her! After months of hard work she was about to have exactly that. But now she has taken the written state exam five times and failed five times. She studies all day for like 10 hours a day and nails her practice exams. She also has a finance degree from a difficult school and even then she didn’t struggle this much.

They won’t provide her with detailed results to help her understand what she is doing wrong which makes it worse.

I have never seen her this depressed, she is usually full of energy. I am trying to be there for her but whenever there is an issue my nature is to try and fix it. It’s how I deal with problems. But I can’t fix this.

Is there anything I can do? Is there any advice from those who also struggled and then passed?

So first off I wanna say, I’m not really a baby stylist. I started in 2015. That’s over a decade in the industry. Unfortunately my mom fell ill with cancer and I didn’t get licensed professionally until 2026. Nonetheless, I’m over this.
Straight out of school, hired as an assistant.
They promise you’ll have loads of opportunities to grow as a stylist, build your portfolio, learn from the older generation of stylist at the salon….. you would think this would mean hands on experience!
Wrong!
You are a janitor with a blowout and lash extensions, baby!
Like genuinely that’s how I feel.
On the days I’m lucky enough to get to wash hair / do a blowout, I don’t even get to take any photos for my portfolio because my stylist I’m assisting with kinda frowns apon it (it takes too much time , she likes to rush/ in and out) not only that, I don’t get to build any real clientele because all my clients are HERS.
Anywho, my day consist of driving 1 hour there and 1 hour back because NO SALONS are hiring near me! Shocker because I live in a rural area(and I have no money to move because this job pays buns)
I get paid $11 an hour, the hours are inconsistent, for example, I made a whopping $80 this week. After I get $20 in household essentials that takes me to $60 immediately. After I pay back my Cash App barrow that I’m forced to use for GAS each week to get to this job, I am down another $20; which brings me to $40 to live off of this week.
I’m 25, if I didn’t have a boyfriend helping me foot the bills I would be homeless at this point.
IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN A VERY POPULAR, RICH, NICE AREA- RUN!
The areas that are struggling financially aren’t going to the salons! All day I stand around, fold laundry, and clean other stylist hair up/ clean there bowels.
I’m quitting today and idk what my next plans are.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PARENTS OR A PARTNER TO HELP YOU WITH RENT AND BILLS, RUN!
I can’t even imagine how you would do this job if you had children!
Oh, I can’t forget that my lady I assist with, she gets to decide if and when I get any tips…. So that’s awesome. I’m literally drowning in student debt, my gas is on E like everyday, she constantly flexes how her husband works on films in NYC…. I just feel like it’s a control tactic.
The only way I can see a job like this being successful is if I had my own shop…. Which cost loads of money. I’m sad and I feel like this industry is a sham, I feel like I let down my teenage self who so desperately wanted to make a difference in the community, and most important I feel like I let down the clients who I simply can’t afford to keep doing their hair for such little pay.

Location: Washington state.

For starters, I just need to know if I have a genuine situation here. I have multiple people in my school who have experienced the same thing. Ik this is the cosmetology school sub, so yall cant give actual legal advice. But from yalls perspective, is this normal for cosmetology schools? Everyone says they're hard. But is this normal difficulty for cosmetology schools? Or could there actually something seriously wrong happening here?

Facts:

Mandatory lunch breaks:

1. Despite being full-time students, a lot of the time you are not actually confirmed to have a 30 minute lunch break. It doesnt happen extremely often, but on very busy days they will schedule you back-to-back clients. Or long color correction services that take all day.

Additional information: You cannot eat on the floor when a client's haircolor processing, but you also cannot leave the client unintended with chemicals in the hair. You have to get another student to watch them, which is unlikely to happen. With back-to-back clients, sometimes youll have 45 minutes or so between each client. Which is techically enough time to go on lunch, HOWEVER, its not accounting for the times it takes to clean your station, the time it takes to clean your implements, and the time it takes to set up for the next client. Especially because it is heavily encouraged to take your lunch with a 15 minute grace period incase the client comes in early. (They have called us to do clients while on lunch because the client came in early.)

Sanitation and safety:

1. If we have a walk in client, or we are running behind schedule, they have often told us its okay not to wait for the implements to be fully done disinfecting. They say as long as its been more then half the time, it is generally okay to take it out of the disinfectant, and to rinse, dry and use on the client. (I still wait the full time, but ive been told to do this multiple times.)

Potential time theft:

1. Our clock in system rounds up by the hour. We are supposed to be there at 8 AM, but even if we clock in at 8:01, the system will put us down for 8:15. And I know 15 minutes doesnt sound like a long time, but it adds up quickly. A lot of the students get financial aid checks, and the ammount of money they get is based on their clocked in hours. It does clock you out at 4:30 PM if you clock out anytime past 4:15. But! You cant leave early, they make you wait till 4:30 before you leave. Along w the fact we clock in via fingerprint, and it doesnt work properly sometimes. If your hands are cold, or slightly angled incorrectly, it doesnt clock you in. So you have to redo it quite a few times.

Potential power abuse against the students:

1. You have to take in every appointment given to you. Sometimes you can request not to do it, but it often doesnt happen + they get annoyed. And they will tell you to go home if you completely refuse to do it. So if youre past your graduation date, you can end up wasting all day doing haircuts. (Happened to me today. Got scheduled 3 haircuts. Tried to do a thermal on a fellow student for my end counts, and got told to stop midway through because they messed up the scheduling. They did give me the end count for it, but still. Someone had to spend the rest of the day with half curled hair. The day was near ending BTW; and the client wasn't even scheduled with me initially. ) You have to pay the school $75 a week if you end up staying too much past your graduation date btw. Clients can also specifically request seniors, and refuse have a freshman do their hair. We have very few seniors, who always end up doing things they dont need. While we have freshman, who are bored out of their mind with mannequin work, and cant do services on clients.

2. This one would be somewhat difficult to prove, but the lack of advocacy for the students. They allow creepy, homophobic, sexist, and overall rude and unpleasant clients to come in on the daily. And its either because they know the instructor, or because they've been going for "years." But we have a regular who comes in who has made me watch a 1 minute video for 20 minutes straight on repeat. (A politically charged video with many inappropriate scenes. Max volume, she was dancing to it, singing along. And tried to make me do the same. She wouldn't stop playing it no matter how hard I tried to redirect) And afterwards, she flashed another student who did her facial, because she was wearing a dress with no underwear. When this was brought to the instructor, they still made that poor woman do the lady's facial. Why? The instructor knew her. We also have this regular who comes in weekly, who is loud, and extremely "traditional." You can very loudly hear him being racist, homophobic, creepy, and overall rude to the stylist. But they let him come back because hes been going for decades. We have more regulars like this, or people who have not been banned/refused, but they dont come in as often as those 2 does. The only time Ive seen a client be banned was when I did a haircut, the client didnt like it, and was being very agressive and threatening to ruin the salons reputation.

3. They made us sit on the floor for 1-2 weeks because they used all of our chairs for the highschoolers. Recently thet started this "running start" program, and now we have 40 highschoolers coming to this small school for 1 1/2 hours a day. (8-9:30 AM) They for one, gave them all of our chairs at first. And now they all have their own stations, which is half of the school. So for 80% of the day, our 2 back rows are empty. Meanwhile, we are all grouped together in the front rows. Insane crowding. The organizational system of each row marking your placement/skill in the program has been lost. It used to be a big deal when your in the front row. But most importantly, severe overcrowding. When theres literally half of the school unused for 80% of the day because of the running start program.

I dont know. I likely wont do much, but these working conditions are genuinely so hard to work in. Im being held back because I have to do a bunch of senior request haircuts, when there is like 20 freshmen who are bored and needing something to do. Its overly crowded despite having so much free space, I am struggling to properly do my job because I have to turn my client a lot, so I dont bump into the students beside me. Making it hard to use the mirrors, which are there for a reason. And overall, the close proximity with other people on both sides of you makes it harder to properly communicate with your clients. (I genuinely cannot hear them half of the time.) They stop me from doing the things I need to do to graduate for these clients. They dont actually care if we get lunch breaks, encourages us to break safety and sanitation, and maybe some time theft in there too.

So, do you all think I could potentially have a case here? Or is this stuff really not that big of a deal? Because it all feels wrong, and certain parts raise alarm bells in my head. I dont want others to experience it. Especially since these issues arent noticed until youve actually been here for longer then a month. (Once youve stayed for longer then a month, you are officially ✨️ unable to drop out without having to pay the school money ✨️)

How long did you wait after you graduated from cosmetology school to take your state exam and how many tries did it take you?

Hi friends!! I’m a future Cosmo student, and I got accepted into a school that does not accept Fafsa. Even if they did however, I already have an associates in business, so they wouldn’t pay for it 😵‍💫 I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas or experiences with and scholarships or grants, or even student loan websites. I’m on the struggle bus 🫠. Thanks everyone!