Cosmetology by Shelby Hernandez

          When was the last time you went to a salon? Did you ever think that going to a salon you could get an infection? Korin Miller, who is a writer about women's health, found “52 percent of the study participants had dermal or fungal infection symptoms, and they were the most common among people who had been to a salon three times in the past year” (Miller). This epidemic of salons disregarding safety precautions causing infections is a problem.  Infections are something that can take a turn for the worst and sometimes lead to serious medical conditions. People are not educated on these precaution's cosmetologist are supposed to take, but if they were it could allow more people to be safe from infections. Do you know how to keep your body safe in a salon?

Hair styling goes back to Egyptians making wigs, coloring their hair with henna, and shaving their heads. This dates to “The earliest known ones date back to around 3000 B.C.” (Hayes). This shows how long the art of hair styling has been around and how much it has changed and evolved over time. Maureen Callahan wrote a paper over the first nail salon opened in the “U.S. Mary Cobb, one of our first female entrepreneurs, opened her salon — Mrs. Cobb’s Manicure Parlors — in 1878, charging $1.25 for a manicure.” (Callahan). Then Jeff Chiarelli wrote about the first hair salon “open a salon, the Harper Method Shop, in 1888.” (“A History of Beauticians”). These two salons paved the way for the cosmetology industry we have today.

With having the industry, comes along with required rules and regulations to keep the client and cosmetologist safe. For Texas it is known as Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations or TDLR. This company has been around “Helping Small Business and Consumers Since 1909” (History of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation). TDLR is responsible for licensing salons and people, inspecting salons, and creating rules and regulations for salons to follow. The licensing process is a long and rigors course with many requirements. For cosmetology school you must log 1500 hours, pass a written test with at least 70, and a practical test before you can get your license. You can start this process and gain you license as young as 17. Doing this you learn how to correctly be able to keep yourself and clients safe from harmful diseases, viruses, or infections. Being a cosmetologist, you put people's life's in your hands and are held up to a certain standard to keep this people safe. This being the reason that you must go through this rigors course to be able to become a cosmetologist. Even after gaining your license you must do continued education every year to stay up to date. Cosmetology is one career that never stops evolving, creating new things, or going back to old ways. Meaning you must stay up to date with the new trends, old techniques coming back, and new technology.

One major topic you must understand in cosmetology is infection control. Infection control can be the difference between keeping a job and losing it. There are countless rules and regulations in place that cosmetologist must understand to be able to work in a salon. This even goes to what they are allowed to wear in a salon to protect their self. Failing to follow these rules and regulations can lead to putting someone in the hospital or losing your license. Every cosmetologist knows the rule and regulations but, even with this knowledge they disregard them sometime. Some on accident from doing a process countless amount of times and forgetting or doing it on purpose just because it takes too long, or they do not want to do it. This leads to the epidemic of clients getting infections or put in a hospital from a salon visit.

An example of how serious it is for cosmetologist to follow these rules is from a woman who died after getting a pedicure. Kimberly Kay Jackson was 46-year-old women who loved getting pedicures. She would go once a month to a nail salon and get a pedicure. In July she went to a nail salon and got a pedicure in a whirlpool foot spa. This type of foot spa works by “creating a massaging effect by re-circulating water through built in pipe and jets” (Backe 91). The whirlpool spas are starting to slowly become discontinued from it not being able to be disinfected properly. This is caused from microorganisms being able to grow in the pipes of the foot spa even after disinfection. Meaning that if one client is in the foot spa with a cut and has a disease the microorganisms will soak in the water and then proceed grow in the pipes. Once a healthy client with a cut is placed in that same foot spa the microorganisms will be in the water and can penetrate the cut causing the new client to be infected. Kimberly did not know this about this type of foot spa, so she continued to get the service. As the service was going on, she got cut with a pumice stone on her heel causing broken skin. Her foot continued to soak in the water with her skin being broken. After leaving the salon the cut began becoming infected and would not go away even after seeking medical attention. This infection could have happened from two different reasons. One the pumice stone could have not been disinfected properly and had infectious disease on it. Or two the microorganisms could have been in the pipes and in the water her foot was soaking in. After a couple of months, she passed away from “heart attack triggered by a staph infection” (“Family Sues Salon over Death after Pedicure”). Meaning that the cut she received at the salon got so infected that it caused her to pass away. There was multiple was this could have been avoided by the salon and this unfortunate event did not need to happen.

Mrs. Reynolds is a woman who lives in Orland, Florida and was affected by a salon (Iwasinski). She went in to a hair salon to get her hair colored to platinum blond. With her original color being brown it is a process to get to the desired color and a lot of level stages that the hair must go through. It is not an easy process to do and the cosmetologist needs to be well educated on how to complete the process with a happy client in the end. Mrs. Reyolds did research on the salon and even got recommended by a friend to the stylist she went to (1). With doing all these things she thought it was going to be a great experience and she was going to love her new change. Unfortunately, that is not wat happened to her and she ended up paying way more then she would every have thought for just some hair color. When the process started everything was going smooth until she had half of her hair completed. When she reached the half way point her head started burning, so she informed the stylist, which you should do anytime there is discomfort in a salon. When telling the stylist, she replied by saying “Yes that could happen,' and just let me know if it gets really bad” (1). In a lightening process there could be a burning sensation because while doing the process there is a heat reaction occurring in the hair. This does not mean that your scalp should be burning so much that is feels like physical pain is occurring. This is what happened with Mrs. Reynolds, her head contented to burn and after informing the stylist she started to panic. "She had no idea what was going on, she didn't know I was being burned," said Reynolds. "She didn't know how to neutralize it. She tried to say it might be an allergic reaction."(1). After, getting the lightener out and stopping the burning Mrs. Reynolds went to a clinic and got diagnosed with third degree burns. The pain did not stop here though one day after a shower she realized "It was a full thickness chemical burn, which means that all of my skin was completely gone," said Reynolds. "For about the next 10 months, I was left with about 5 inches of my scalp exposed."(1). This caused her to have to be referred to a burn clinic and paying thousands in medical bills for medical treatments and surgeries. All this happening could have been avoided by doing a simple preliminary strand test on the client prior to putting the lightener on the hair. This strand test is a major part of cosmetology school when learning how the human hair reacts so different from types of hair, diameter of the hair, and porosity of the hair. Meaning that the cosmetologist performing this lightener knew about the strand test and knew that one is supposed to be done on every client. Doing this test would have reviled that Mrs. Reynolds would have had a reaction to that form of lightener and the stylist could have chosen a different lightener that would have ended with a better result.

Cosmetology is a career choice where you can choose your own path to how, when, and the way you choose to work. There are no rules on how you have to do a certain process, application, or even what time to work. In school it is different though, everybody is taught the same way in beauty school for every process that is done, but as you grow with the career your skills and the way you do things grows too. Going to different salons you can see many different techniques that get the same end result. This all just depends on how the cosmetologist is comfortable doing the application. It is wonderful being able to choose how you work and not being told anything unless the client is not happy, with this there is one huge thing that cannot be cut out. This is the disinfection process; everyone is taught a certain way in school and this is the way that every cosmetologist needs to do the disinfection process. 

 In beauty school everybody is taught how to properly disinfect the work station, equipment used, and tools used on every client. Every item that come in contact with a client the object either needs to be disinfected properly or thrown out. Falling to follow these steps can lead to infections spreading through a salon. It is very easy for an item to not be disinfected properly especially when somebody is on a time crunch. When being put against a clock it is easier to skip a step or not allow an item to sit long enough in order to get rid of all the microorganisms that are present. This sometimes has no effect on people, or it can have a major effect on many people. Leaving microorganisms on implements can lead to a client getting an infection from a previous client that they never have met (“Cosmetology and Infection Control”). Disinfection is one of the most important things in a salon and with it being ignored it can have major effects on many people's lives.

Another thing that cosmetologist ignore is to determine what condition the hair is in. Two main test that need to be completed before any application are a porosity test and elasticity test. The porosity test shows how much the hairs cuticle is raised, the higher the cuticle is raised the faster the process will happen (“Curly Girl Porosity Test”). This is because the application can penetrate the cortex faster causing the hair to process faster. The next test that needs to be completed is the elasticity test, this shows how damaged the hair is. This test will determine how high of a level the developer that needs to be used. Doing these two tests will allow you to be able to tell you how long the hair will need to process and how you should do the process. Both of these tests take no time at all, so it does not make since why some stylist do not do these simple things.

 If doing these test fails to determine this information the stylist can do a preliminary strand test. This test is done by applying the desired color to a strand in the back-nape area and letting it process. Once it is processed the stylist will be able to see what the color looks like, what developer to use, how the hair will react, and if the client likes the color. This test gives the exact answers that every cosmetologist needs to proceed with a process(“What is a Strand Test..”). The only downfall of this test is it takes up more time. Meaning that it will require more time on one client which will lead to less money at the end of the day.

Once you know about the client's hair you need to consider the clients skin. Every person has different allergies, sensitivities, and reactions. Meaning that you need to be able to know how the client's skin will react. There is a test for this that again, every cosmetologist is taught in school it's called a patch test (“Skin Allergies Patch Test”). A patch test is a test where you take the desired color from the desired brand and apply a little amount to the client inner elbow, on the neck behind the hairline, or on the inner wrist. This just depends on where the client prefers it to be placed. The test should sit on the client's skin for 24 hours, then taken off to see how the skin reacts. Again, with this test it takes way more time. This test will take a client from just being a couple hours to taking two days or longer depending on how the test reacts. This is not good for a cosmetologist because it is time that could be spent on somebody else. Then clients usually do not want to wait, they want their hair done the day they go in. If they have to wait, they could try a different salon and get it done that day, then the cosmetologist just lost a client.

These simple things that can be done in order to keep clients healthy and safe are often ignored because of time and money. If every cosmetologist that gains their license and works on clients where to follow the rules and regulations, that they were taught in school, then clients would be protected. You can see how this is very farfetched and not something that could happen with the click of a button. How can we know they are following these regulations? How can we know the cosmetologist are doing the rules correctly? How can we give out license for this field but not even be able to protect it?

These questions are things that should not have to be asked, that should just be done when the license is handed out. The test that are given in order to make sure the cosmetologist is ready for a license, does not tend to after they get their license. Once the stylist gets the license, they never have to take another test again. All they have to do is take education hours to renew their license, but this does not test their work skill. Anybody can sit in front of a computer and get a certificate, so how can this be the way to renew the license? This does not test how well a stylist dose an application or if the cosmetologist knows how to disinfect properly. So how can we trust a cosmetologist to put our life in their hands if they are not tested properly.  

Camus is a person that not many people understand from the way his mind works. With his work he always asked, “What is the meaning of existence?” in every piece (“Camus and Absurdity”). An epidemic about people getting injured or infections from a salon does not have much to do with this topic. Even though this is not one of his topics it is still a serious topic. Cosmetology is something that gives people a career and a way of life. With people getting sick it is something that get done different and then this whole industry be taken away.

People go to hair and nail salons in order to get things done that they cannot achieve at home from not having the skill or knowledge of doing so. They go putting trust in the cosmetologist to be able to achieve what they want done. Not thinking they could be leaving with injuries to their hair, nails, or skin. In reality this is what could happen from cosmetologist not paying enough attention or taking an easier way out. The cosmetologist sometimes do not even realize that this is happening, that they are putting people in danger and not even realizing. It is not something that is done on purpose but something that can ruin multiple people's lives.  This is something that can happen to anybody at any time, but there are rules to prevent it so how can this happen to so many people.

Work Cited

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Admin. “Skin Allergy Patch Test.” Simply Organic Beauty, Simply Organic Beauty, 8 Mar. 2016, www.simplyorganicbeauty.com/ammonia-free/salon-hair-diagnostics/skin-allergy-patch-test/.

Backe, Jason, et al. Milady® Standard Cosmetology.

Callahan, Maureen, and Maureen Callahan. “The USA's First Nail Salon Opened in NYC in 1878.” New York Post, New York Post, 20 Apr. 2014, nypost.com/2014/04/20/first-us-nail-salon-opened-in-nyc-in-1878-book/.

“Camus and Absurdity.” Philosophy Talk, www.philosophytalk.org/blog/camus-and-absurdity.

“Cosmetology and Infection Control: What You Need to Know.” Cosmetology License, www.cosmetology-license.com/what-every-cosmetology-student-needs-to-know-about-sterilization/.

Curly Girl Porosity Test, www.curlsbot.com/porosity/.

“Family Sues Salon over Death after Pedicure.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 19 May 2006, www.nbcnews.com/id/12866053/ns/health-womens_health/t/family-sues-salon-over-death-after-pedicure/#.XFwvIFxKjct.

Hays, Jeffrey. “HAIRSTYLES, WIGS, FACIAL HAIR AND HAIR CARE IN ANCIENT EGYPT.” Facts and Details, factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub365/entry-6132.html.

History of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, www.tdlr.texas.gov/history.htm.

Iwasinski, Adrianna. “Woman Warns of Salon Dangers after Sustaining Chemical Burns.” WKMG, 26 Sept. 2017, www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/woman-warns-of-salon-dangers-after-sustaining-chemical-burns.

Miller, Korin. “The Number Of People Who Report Fungal Infections After Visiting Nail Salons Will Make You Want To Cry.” Women's Health, Women's Health, 9 Mar. 2019, www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a19974026/fungal-infection-nail-salon-study/.

What Is a Strand Test and Can You Tell Me How to Do a Strand Test?, www.hairfinder.com/hair2/strand_test.htm.