Beauty School Drop In

I have been in need of hair cut and highlights for a while. But, of course, I was looking for a good deal. Over the past year I have tried some of the local "low end" salons around town and I was not impressed. I kept hearing about Paul Mitchel the School that is located in Antioch near Hickory Hollow. I was hesitant to go to a "Beauty School". I figured if the low end salons were disappointing to me, how would a school be any better.

I finally decided to take a chance. I called and made an appointment for Saturday. It was an interesting "salon" experience. I got there a few minutes early, so the students were still setting up. There was lots of hustle and bustle going on as there were many clients waiting for their name to be called. They also had the music cranked up. It was very high energy, dance music, which made it feel like a party was going on. It was also the biggest salon I had ever seen. I think there were at least 50 workstations. Of course, it's a classroom too.

I was called back within 10 minutes. My student stylist was a young lady named Jenna. She was very nice and she is set to graduate in September. She asked me to complete a short survey of my needs/wants. It asked things like is my hair more oily or dry? How often do I get my hair cut? What am I looking for in a hairstyle (more body, shine, etc). We talked about how I wanted my hair cut and what kind of highlights I was looking for. She consulted with another student who was more senior to her and then her instructor came over and discussed it with her and "signed off" on the type of coloring she was going to use. It took her a little longer to do the coloring because she obviously wanted to make sure it was right. And I had to chuckle to myself because she was obviously trying to hone her conversation skills with me as she asked me things like "what do you do for fun?" and "what do you do for a living?", "do you have any children?" It was like she was going down a list on a cheat sheet that was stuck to the back of a the chair.

Part of their services is to give a 5 minute scalp massage during the shampooing. It was great! She had that part down pat. She did the first part of my hair cut and then was notified that her next client had arrived. She asked another student to start that client, but eventually turned me over to yet, another student to blow dry my hair and finish it off. This was really the only kind of bad part. It was difficult for the second student to try to pick up and finish the haircut that someone else had started. I had to really review the cut closely to make sure the sides were even (which they were not) and point out small stray hairs that a more experienced stylist would have caught. But, it's a school, not a professional salon.

All in all, it was a good experience. Although everyone says I look like Kate Gosselin now (but I can't really blame the stylists for that -- I asked for a short haircut with blond highlights).

My haircut was $13.00

Highlights $35.00

Tip $5.00

TOTAL SPENT: $52.00

I can see myself going back. It's hard to beat that price for a cut and highlights. Here's a few things to consider if you go:

1. Plan on spending alot of time there - I was there for 3 1/2 hours. These are students, so they deliberately go slower and they are stopped often to be reviewed by an instructor.

2. Be as specific about the style and color as you can. Bringing a picture is a very good idea.

3. Review the hair cut or other services you received thoroughly before getting out of the chair. I could tell my stylist really wanted to do her best, but is still learning alot about refinement and small details needed to be pointed out to her.

4. If you don't like loud pop/dance music or an eclectic group of people working on you, this is NOT the place for you.

5. Make an appointment. Although they take walk-ins, I noticed that those folks had to sit and wait a LONG time.

Paul Mitchell the School has schools all over the country and they use only Paul Mitchell products. They also have a skin center where they train anesthicians. The Nashville school is located at:

5510 Crossings Circle

Antioch TN 37013

615-283-1000

Hours: Mon - Thurs 9am - 10pm

Fri - Sat 9:00 - 4:30p

To find out more about the Nashville School and all their services go here.