My dear friend and colleague Beth Minardi held her “Color Conversation
Class” this past Monday at my salon, Salon Ratay, which brought many state wide
beauty professionals to see her teach. Beth and I have known each other for
twenty plus years. We first met at a specific manufacturer conference. She
later became my mentor on a professional level I was told information about
hair color that I questioned. I reached out to Beth about my skepticism on the
information that was being taught to thousands of hairdressers, and Beth said,
I quote “Sherry if you don’t trust what I’m telling you, go home and do your
own research.” I went and did my own research and found Beth gave me the
correct information about hydrogen peroxide, which I have talked about in past
blogs (“The Truth about Hydrogen Peroxide”). I was furious that a major
manufacturer was teaching misleading information. This led to one of the
reasons I have whole heartedly supported and had a part in the development of
Beth Minardi Signature Shades. She was the first manufacturer to create a line
and an educational agenda informing hairdressers on the truth about hair color including
hydrogen peroxide, colorants, and the difference between ammonia and MEA.
Beth travels nationally to teach her hair color brand, Beth
Minardi Signature Shades, along with Minardi techniques and applications in
what she calls “Color Conversations”. We had a seven hour class lecture on
different topics such as grey coverage, using proper color tools, PPD(which I
talked about in one of my previous blogs), BMS color line, appropriate pricing
for hairdressers, setting a higher standard of professionalism for the beauty
industry, and Olaplex(which will be in an upcoming blog). I admire how she
teaches others to achieve their greatest potential to follow Beth’s motto of
“elevating hair color to an art form”. Beth teaches the importance of deeply
analyzing the integrity of the hair fiber, to determine whether you should
erase or lighten the hair strand when coloring and how to maintain optimal
health because HEALTHLY hair radiates BEAUTIFUL haircolor!
Furthermore, it was a great refresher for me to discuss Olaplex,
and the sensitivity some clients have to PPD. It is becoming more of a rising
issue as the number of sensitivity to hair color continues to increase. I admire
and respect Beth because she continues to lead and develop the way for hair
color as it evolves in modern society. Leading into my motto, “No matter how
skilled you are as a hairdresser, whether it is one week or twenty years, you
never stop learning.” I believe it is extremely important to have a mentor
figure in the beauty industry because it is always good to have someone to go
to with questions. Two minds are better than one!
I will be having a private Color Forum class on September 28, 2015 here at Salon Ratay in Lake Mary, FL. The class starts at 10:00am and concludes at 5:00pm. I have had five previous color forums, so this makes the sixth. The day will be filled with an in depth conversation about haircolor. We will review topics I've discussed in previous classes such as the difference between MEA and ammonia, “organic” haircolor, and the new technology called ME+ which is a derivative of PPD and PPT, but also we will discuss different topics such as hair color application processes like permanent and demi permanent grey coverage, foil tecniques such as baliage and sombre, the hair color oxidation differences in hair color formations, and fundamentals of a business such as pricing, budgets and marketing. I love teaching classes at my salon because it is such an intimate setting. Everyone can actively participate, as well as ask as many questions as they can think of without having such a huge crowd. I feel like my students and even I walk away with much more knowledge of every aspect of the hair color industry. You do not want to miss it!
