By KRISTIN MAYER Special to the Daily Press
SMC Desperate times called for desperate measures when split ends started taking siege over my curly locks. Living on a student budget but hesitant to settle for the cookie cutter haircut of a chain chopping block, I set out to find the best salon experience in Santa Monica that wouldn’t make too big of a dent on my purse.
Santa Monica College’s cosmetology department provided one-stop shopping for my coifing needs to prepare for my dinner and dancing date later that Friday night.
Dolls heads with human hair set in rollers and finger waves lay strewn about the haircutting stations in the classroom-turned-salon. Mirrors unfolded out of desks and students wheeled their carts of hair clips and combs into position.
The first class of the semester brought organized chaos to the bustling room as students, dressed in all black, welcomed the public into their learning experience.
A VIEW FROM THE TOP I perched atop a black swivel chair and met Alex Doerken, a spunky second-year cosmetology student who grew up in Santa Monica and has a passion for color, whether on the hair she dyes or costumes she designs on the side.
Doerken whipped out a chart to check off a list of procedures and jot down my order: Simple trim to wipe out these persistent split ends, please. Take off three inches, but I’d like to keep the long layers. Oh, and I have curly hair that I sometimes wear straight. Any advice?
With a swish of her pink, black and bleached bob, Doerken disappeared to receive the nod of approval from a teacher supervising the cosmetology students.
I sat like royalty draped in my plastic shawl. Combs, hair dryers, scissors and mystery hair products surrounded my pedestal. Students offered manicures at the stations to my left, waxing in the corner room and facials across the lobby.
A middle school girl claimed the chair to my right and a homeless man just behind. Helen LeDonne, chair of the cosmetology department, later echoed that the discounted services attract a crowd from all walks of life.
“It’s small. We’re all crammed in here like sardines,” said a voice from across the aisle. “But it makes it fun.”
I turned around to see Jean Allgeyer sitting in the station across the aisle for her weekly visit. Nearly every Friday afternoon for the last 10 years Allegeyer has trusted one student after another with haircuts, coloring, highlighting, waxing, facials and manicures.
“It’s very friendly and fun because the students are really nice,” Allgeyer said. “It’s just a very pleasant atmosphere.”
Allgeyer assured me that, once they have completed a few months of training, students are conscientious and just as skilled as any other salon artists.
To earn the title of cosmetologist, students must log 1,600 hours of classroom instruction and time working on doll heads in the salon before ever touching a human head.
The cosmetology department prides itself on a 91 percent pass rate for state licensing tests, LeDonne said.
Practice on the partial mannequins and in the comfort of the classroom salon in general prepares students for a professional future work environment.
“A doll head is not gonna complain about the fact that you just dyed her head orange,” Doerken said, explaining that she still practices up-dos on the dolls to improve her time efficiency.
My shampoo, cut and dry was about to nudge Doerken two hours closer to her grand total.
Doerken has come a long way since her first haircut as a 10-year-old when she attempted to save her younger brother from the bowl cut their mother styled. Unfortunately, Doerken’s attempt at a flat top needed a little saving of its own at the local barber shop.
Now, after 12 years of experience on private weddings and theater clients, Doerken’s hands handle the tools of the trade with ease. With ample lathering, meticulous snips and thorough hair drying, Doerken replaced my frazzled do with a fresh, smooth and bouncy look.
As a woman of waves, I paid special attention to the transformation process from disheveled mess to dating material. Doerken offered some tips on how to maintain a healthy mane.
ADVICE FROM THE BARBER CHAIR Start with the premise that natural is best, don’t over-treat your hair.
When you step into the shower, enter with the mindset of washing your scalp rather than hair. The shampoo you massage onto your head is plenty to trickle down to the rest of your hair.
Rinse chemically-colored hair in cold water before reaching for a towel. This will help smooth out hair cuticles.
Use a wide-tooth comb, rather than a brush, to de-tangle wet hair. Aggressive brushing tends to break off strands of the damp hair, creating split ends.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.