We are thrilled to announce we will be hosting a Cosmetology School Open House at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill on June 26th, 2013. All potential and prospective students are invited to learn more about what our Cosmetology and Esthiology programs have to offer!

At our beauty school, the salon is your classroom. You will receive invaluable, hands-on experience while providing services to a trendy and diverse clientele. When you graduate from our Cosmetology or Esthiology program, you’ll be prepared for a profitable and fulfilling career in the beauty industry.

Aveda is long recognized as the leader in the beauty industry through it’s products, salons and cosmetology schools. The Aveda culture promotes care for both the client and the environment. This history of uncompromising values and high end education and services makes the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill the perfect choice for you to begin your career! With more than 6,500 salons and spas in the nation, the Aveda network will provide great opportunities for employment.

DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
TIME: 6:00p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LOCATION: 200 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516

To RSVP: http://www.avedainstitutechapelhill.com/cosmetology-school-open-house/

Please call 919.869.8039 with any questions.

Freshen up your summer look with our list of 5 Aveda Summer Beauty Buys!

Neon Nail Polish: Ultra-bright bold digits are ideal for the hot summer sun and to show off your summer glow. Schedule a manicure or pedicure with one of our students at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill and take home a FREE OPI nail polish.

Bright Eyeliner: Fun eyeliner like our petal essence eye definer in wild indigo is a striking addition to your summer makeup routine!

Translucent Powder: We all want a summer glow, but you’ll need something to tame your shiny complexion from the heat. Brush our inner light mineral loose powder all over your face to freshen up throughout the day!

Sun Protecting Moisturizer: We all know the importance of protecting skin against the summer sun. Not sure how to add that SPF into your beauty routine? Try our inner light mineral tinted moisturizer with SPF 15. It’s lightweight so you won’t melt in the summer heat, but protects your skin against UVA and UVB rays. Double duty products like this will keep your skin healthy and beautiful!

Humidity Tamer: Keep your hair frizz free with a spritz of our light elements smoothing fluid. Run a small amount through damp hair before blow drying and styling to tame flyaways in the summer humidity.

We’re thrilled to share the 1st in a series of blog posts written by our Art of Beauty Scholarship Winner, Cassie Belcher! She’ll be blogging over the next few months to share her experiences with you as she navigates through our Cosmetology program at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill! Without further ado, Cassie Belcher …

Today is our second to last day in Enlightenment 1 (or e1 as it is called here at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill) and it seems like time has flown by.  I can remember our first day as if it was yesterday…

I stressed out about what to wear. You’ll soon find out that I tend to stress over the silly little things and take on the major pressure situations without the bat of an eye.  After I spent what felt like half of my life picking out the perfect outfit, I finish getting ready and head out the door to school.

“This is the first day of the rest of your life,” I tell myself. Then I thought, “Oh holy crap, what am I doing? Who knows if you’ll even be good at this…”

Typical.  I’m not the type to take risks. We’ve talked about that already. Now look at me, jumping ship and starting something so new, so ‘not-Cassie-like’ that it’s scary.  If it’s something worth doing, it’s going to make you nervous. In my case, if it’s worth doing it makes me so nervous I’m physically ill.  So here I am, sitting in the retail area at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill — a full 30 minutes early, and I’m about to vom all over myself.  Now I wait…

Everyone arrives and we’re shown to our classroom that will be our new home for the next 5 weeks and meet our teacher.  She has a big smile and a great energy about her.  I can tell that she is just as excited as we are.  The day goes by and we meet all of the professional team, instructors and administrators. I won’t spoil the surprise of what you’ll do, though. Your experience won’t be the same.  I’ll just give you a few bits of advice to get you through it:

1.  Be open minded. You will be thrown into the mix with a lot of people with even more personality.  Get to know them    and learn to love them for who they are.

2. Study. You will have between 1 and 3 tests a week.

3. Remember why you are here and never forget that.

4. Don’t get frustrated. You’re here to learn. You WILL make mistakes. Embrace them.

5. Wear socks! (Just trust me on this one)

Good luck as you start your adventure here at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill.  I’m looking forward to meeting as many of you as I can.  And if you’re still on the fence about changing careers or starting cosmetology school right out of high school, do it!  Rock that boat and set sail on your own course. I absolutely do not regret it.

See you soon!

-C

p.s. kit day is the best day of your life!

We’re so excited to show you some of the amazing work that our students did on our models for the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill’s Earth Jam Fashion Night Benefit. The creativity and talent of our students continues to amaze us every day!

Courage.

On New Year’s Day, my husband posed a challenged to everyone he knew. “This year,” he wrote, “have the courage to do something that scares you. Something you have always wanted to do and see where that takes you.”

I’ve always been a person who makes safe decisions. I never take risks. I never rock the boat. I follow the plan. So after high school, I did what I thought I should do – I went to college. After 4 years, I still had no idea what I wanted out of my life. I didn’t want to work in an office. I didn’t want to teach. With an English major, those were really my only options, so I went to work at a retail store. It was fast-paced, and I excelled quickly. I enjoyed helping people find themselves through clothes. They could feel better about themselves, because when you look good, you feel good.

I followed the plan. I was in retail for 8 years. I worked my way up from a full-time sales person to an assistant manager in my first store. Every day I looked forward to helping another person feel better about who they were, but management wasn’t where I wanted to be. When we moved to North Carolina I thought I might have a chance to find what I truly loved doing, but instead I played it safe. I stayed with the company and transferred to a bigger store with more opportunities for growth.

“Don’t rock the boat, Cassie. Stay the course, Cassie. This is what you’re good at…”

Six years, and no growth. More responsibility, yes, but no growth. Was this really the right thing for me? I started thinking back on my life and the things that made me the happiest. Were there things that I could do that would fulfill me creatively and keep me satisfied? And then it hit me …

“Cassie, will you do my hair?”

I could stand behind a chair all day. Curl, tease, braid. I’m a whiz with a bobby pin and some hairspray. Throughout high school and college, I was the go-to-girl for all of my friends. And I loved it. It didn’t matter that I was the last one to get ready with the least amount of time to make it happen. Everyone else looked beautiful.

I had the privilege of doing a dear friend’s hair for her wedding day. I was behind a chair for hours and was in heaven. Not only did I style her hair, but all of her bridesmaids then wanted their hair done as well. I was overwhelmed with happiness. That’s when I knew.

I’m following a dream. I’m rocking the boat. I’m taking a risk. I’m making anew plan for myself. For the first time, I have the courage to do something that excites and scares me. This contest is a huge test. I only know what I’ve taught myself. If anything, I’ll be proud of myself for having the courage to try. Once I have the amazing education that I know I’ll be receiving from the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill, I’ll be able to help people feel beautiful again, and this scholarship could go a long way towards making my dream a reality. A hairstyle you can see every day – an outfit, you eventually have to change out of.

- Cassie Belcher, 2013 Aveda Institute Chapel Hill – Art of Beauty Scholarship Winner

A day at the beach or laying poolside should be relaxing, but sometimes managing your hair and makeup in the heat and humidity can be anything but pretty. Check out these quick summer beauty tweaks that will tame unruly flyaways and prevent makeup meltdowns:

1) Swap your foundation for a sheer tinted moisturizer with SPF. For the perfect makeup and SPF combo, we love our inner light mineral tinted moisturize broad spectrum spf15. It’s lightweight, non-acnegenic and oil-free to give you a smooth, even finish while protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful rays!

2) Stock up on cream eye shadows. Cream shadows battle sweat and water better than powders because they absorb in to your skin. This summer, we can’t live without our color options eye shadow transformer – just a drop or two transforms powder eye shadow into a creamy, intense and long-lasting color that will be smudge and crease resistant!

3) Protect tresses from chlorinated water and summer sun by wetting your hair and shampooing with our sun care hair and body cleanser. This color safe formula will gently and effectively remove chlorine, salt and product build-up. Follow up with our sun care after-sun hair masque – an intensive cream masque that will restore and moisturize while defending against free radicals. Don’t undo your hard work – Before you hit the pool don’t forget to spray your locks with our sun care protective hair veil, creating an invisible screen to protect your hair from sun exposure for up to 16 hours.

4) Avoid heavy lipsticks and pack your beach bag with some favorite balms and glosses. We’re obsessed with our uruku color gloss – it’s long-lasting and will fight the summer heat and humidity! You’ll see all the intensity of a lipstick with the moisturizing benefits of a lip gloss.

Take a look at some of our favorite photos of our students in action from the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill’s Earth Jam 2013 Fashion Night Benefit! Proceeds from this event go towards amazing causes through the organization, Triangle Land Conservancy which helps to clean water, protect the local wildlife habitat and to keep local farms and food in the community.

As the weather gets warmer and we get closer to the summer season, it’s time to look in our makeup bags and make some changes! No matter your skin type, looking flawless when the weather turns sweltering will be easy with these beauty tips and some new products in your makeup bag!

Bronze: You’ll glow naturally by using one of our three new uruku bronzing duos that warm skin with annatto, a powdered pigment from the urukum shrub, and mica, a light-reflecting mineral.

For best results, choose a bronzer that is 1-2 shades darker than your natural skin tone and apply following these steps:

• Focus on the perimeter of your face and start behind the ear, working down along your jawline.
• Then, lightly sweep bronzer across your forehead, nose, cheeks and tip of the chin.

Brighten: To prevent your face from looking “muddy,” brighten up with a coral blush on the apples of your cheeks, and sweep a highlighter on the tops of your cheekbones. Try our petal essence face accents in hibiscus – one soft and one brighter shade of coral blush combine with a nude highlighter to form this amazing duo.

Lighten Up: During the summer, create a more natural look using a lighter colored eyeshadow. Let your eyes blossom with our petal essence single eye color in lemon spice, a shimmery-champagne colored eyeshadow that won’t crease and will build and blend effortlessly!

Flawless Finish: Apply our inner light mineral loose powder, a lighter than air powder formula to set your makeup, reduce shine and minimize the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores. Top off your look with a nude lip gloss like our nourish-mint rehydrating lip glaze in agave nectar.

Beauty = A Fit for Different Lifestyles

Beauty offers a number of diverse career path options as well as the ability to mold your career to fit different lifestyles and goals! Depending on your goals for the future, you can follow any number of career paths in the beauty industry. What is most important to you? Are you motivated by the ability to earn as much money as you want or do you want the flexibility to work part-time so you can pursue your other interests and talents? Do you want to collaborate with other professionals in a team environment or do you want to follow your entrepreneurial instincts and go into business for yourself? The choices are yours to make, and the possibilities are endless. Now you’ll hear from 2 beauty professionals, and you’ll see how the choices they made shaped their stories:

The Mom, Kate: “After several years of working full-time as a stylist, Kate was proud of the fact that she was able to support herself and purchase her own home. Now that she and her husband are expecting their second child, she values the flexibility that this career offers. She was able to share a shift with another stylists and cut back on her hours, so she could spend more time with her growing family while still keeping her career moving forward.”

The Entrepreneur, Jackie: “For as long as she can remember, Jackie has wanted to own her own business. After working several years as a stylist, then educational director at a local salon, she approached the retiring owner about purchasing the salon. With a small business loan, she expanded the operation, and now her salon is a leading business in the community. Now, she’s fostering rewarding careers for other beauty professionals.”

*People profiles from *modernsalonmedia.magcloud.com

Who would have thought getting a pie thrown in your face could be so fun? At the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill, we’ve been trying to come up with creative ways to earn money for our Earth Month partner, Triangle Land Conservancy. A couple of weeks ago, our wonderful Student Council members came up with a silly idea for a fundraiser – a donation campaign for the chance to “pie” some of our favorite staffers!

Over the past month, Student Council members collected loose change from other students, hosted a bake sale and set up donation jars for a number of staff members who were brave enough to take on the “pie” challenge. After the fundraising ended, the 3 staff members who’s jar collected the most money got “pied” by our graduating students outside the school! Delicious chocolate pudding topped with sweet whipped cream was dumped, slopped, and smothered all over the smiling faces of one instructor, one counselor, and one guest services member. The students gathered around taking pictures as our outgoing grads enjoyed the pleasure of “pie-ing“ the staff members who ended up raising $160 for Earth Month.

Our amazing staff members were then treated to a relaxing mini facial and shampoo style as a reward for their great sportsmanship. At the end of the day, Aveda is all about wellness and making people smile. That’s exactly what our students did with their Pie In the Face Fundraiser – it was a great day at the Aveda Institute Chapel Hill!