Your favourite cosmetic services — such as hair-care and getting your nails done — have been located on campus to not only offer students more affordable services but to mainly give the students running the salon and spa a chance to grow.
Since 2015 a variety of different programs such as hairstyling, massage therapy and esthetics banded together to give students on campus the services they desire, for a third of the price — according to their prices on their website.
Anyone can go get their hair done, facials, massages and many more pampering treatments without stressing to break the bank since these programs require students to get practice in their fields.
“It’s really busy. Each group has about 10 to 13 stylists, all with clients coming in for the 5 hours the salon is open,” said Deanna Douglas, a teacher with the hair-styling program.
Before the college’s salon was built a back in 2015, the hair-styling program ran off-campus — with only one lab — but with so many clients and a lack of practice space, they needed an upgrade. With the on-campus salon and spa, students are able to serve more and receive more hands-on practice.
The students get to combine their program with specific duties provided, such as by being managers and stylists, while others do inventory when they don’t have any clients. This replicates the different positions the students will experience while in a workplace.
Trevor Toth, a second-year hairstyling student who works in the salon, can’t get enough of it.
“I’ve voiced my opinion about how I want it to be more than once a week,” he said. “It’s really hands-on and is the greatest and most beneficial part of [the program].”
Another hairstyling student, Meg Shaw, loves the chatter of it all.
“I love hearing stories and meeting all different kinds of people, from students to all different kinds of careers,” she said.
With students needing to find their own people and market themselves for their practicals, it can come in handy knowing a lot of people, especially those who trust you to do a good service.
All of the hair-styling students are prepared with three semesters that they need to complete with a variety of theory and practicals that they first need to pass before working with clients. This guarantees clients will get the quality cut they want.
“The idea of [the salon] is not to make a profit, it’s to pay for the colour usage and towels,” Douglas said. “The only service 100 per cent provided by the clients is the Green Circle.”
The Green Service salon organization guarantees that anything that can be used again, even for another unrelated purpose, will be recycled. This includes any outdated mannequin heads to be used as an OPP target practice, as well as any hair dye to be used again as cement mix.
Having the salon and spa in place allows all members involved to gain what they want. For the students it’s experience, and for those getting the services it’s pampering.