Hi I've got so many questions!!! I'm 34 and really wanting to go to college
part time to train as a hairdresser. The thing is i started my training 10 years ago and completed about a year but trained in a salon and I couldn't stand all the bitching!!! Please put me out of my misery and tell me not all salons are awful to work in as I'd love to style hair but have been put off by the hell hole of a salon i was in back then!!!

I really enjoyed the work and learning it all but would it be better if i went
to college to learn? Also I've been reading up that all hairdressers can talk for england (no offense meant!) and i'm chatty but not THAT outgoing and i would say i'm "bubbly" either! I just like doing hair and want people to look and feel good! Thankyou !!! Advice wanted!!!!!

GO FOR IT, hahaha i can talk for europe nebver mind britain, no not all salons are bitchy, i work in a great one, we have niggle but are all quite open. . i would probably advise training in a salon if u can, then at least u are gaining more experience as you learn. . that what i did and i feel it benefitted me, many people come out of college and need to be retrained in the salon. . x

Thanks for the insight! i can't really afford to train in a salon though so i would have to do evening course at college, have a family so needs must! but thanks anyway XX

your in a similar boat i was last year..except i had never had any experience with hair...i started college age 34 last September as a mature student level 1/2 hairdressing....and i love it...as my class is mature there is minimal bitchiness...all women gossip its the way we are made but because we are grown up..we dont do the bitch thing....

i presume being older ...working in a hairdressing environment again this will be positive....i dont think alot of us matures would put up in a salon any bitchiness aimed at ourselves or any others..no matter how experienced we are
i am chatty but quite shy...and i do ok i will chat but i will also be quiet as at the stage i am i still blow dry with my tongue sticking out in concentration and the same with cutting.... as we get older even if we are on the quieter side our age tells us its ok....and usually clients are the ones who start the chat off, if they dont its cause they want a bit of quiet too ..
hope that helps

HAHAHHAHA oh my god i thought i was the only one who pulled faces when i was training. . i still sometimes pull a face, but apparently i look angry when im doing foils hahaha, i scowl, but it jus my concentrating face and when im blow drying i pout HAHAHAHA. . . x

ha ha when i blow dry as i pull the brush and dryer together... i go up on my toes as i pull the brush up and then down on my feet as i pull the brush and dryer down.and keep doing it..........pmsl....
what are we like....i scowl too

Thanks! that's good to hear, always reassuring to hear someone else's experiences who've been in a similar situation! I know what you mean anyway the amount of people i've spoken to who really just don't wanna chatter through their whole appointment is unreal! It's good to give people a bit of space you can usually tell if someone wants to talk or not. Anyway thanks for your msg v helpful X

I am 36 and have already done my level 1 training and i am doing my level 2 in sep. At college you get some of the young ones bitching but have never seen any problems with the mature students as for working in a salon i just wouldnt put up with working in a salon like that i would move on i dont think all salons are the same but you can get it in any work place to be honest . and as for chit chat a lot of clients go to a salon to chill out i know i do so i wouldnt worry . All the best in what ever you do.

oh another question!...Is it true that you don't necessarily need to get NVQ level 1 to get onto the NVQ level 2 hairdressing course? It's just that i read that not all colleges require level 1 if you've got 5 or more gcse's. I have already covered level 1 but it was years ago and i don't have the coursework i did back then.

many thanks...very helpful! X

it is normally including with your level 2 my last course was 2 years but i only did a year as i fell pregnant and was quite ill with it so i only gained the level 1 but you normally complete it before the year is up so you start your level 2 in the 1st year if that makes sense . but the course i start in sep at a different college is a 1 year intensive course but you have to show you are capable of the work load so any experience helps , so you do have to do it all again really but if you can find a course like mind its better hope this helps.

its usually included...level 2..you start level 1 in the spetember then usually start level 2 january or easter time.....its only about 6 units inlevel 1...thats what we have done

Thanks for your help girls! X

Hi I went into college as a "mature student" at the grand old age of 22!!! I LOVED it there were all ages ranging from eighteen to fifty. It was ace and I then went into salon work. I didnt do level one went straight into level two. Our class was such a mix that there realy wasnt any bitching no groups got formed realy and we all kind of were in it together. Make sure you get a work placement even if its unpaid and only one day a salon (I was lucky to get a two day training and kept my old job and did college at night then every fourth saturday all day) go for it I cant imagine anything about hair that I dont like (except perming!!! HEHE) x