For many community members, it can be difficult to find a hair salon that is trained on diverse hair types. A new state law is hoping to fill that need.
On Tuesday, that law went into effect requiring all cosmetology students in New York state to learn how to cut and style all hair textures.
A visit to the salon can be about much more than hair — it can shape how someone feels for the rest of the day.
For Kerryann Ashley, owner of Heaven on Earth Beauty Salon, that transformation is one of the most rewarding parts of her work.
“Once we turn them around in the mirror and they see the finished result, it can make or break their day,” Ashley said. “So definitely the salon experience, being able to come into a salon and get a style that they love definitely can change their outlook on their day.”
Ashley has been a hairstylist for 25 years and has owned Heaven on Earth Beauty Salon for 22. Over the years, she has seen firsthand how important it is for stylists to understand how to work with a wide range of hair textures.
“If you don’t know how to cut curly hair, you can really mess someone up,” Ashley said. “So it is important to go to the right stylists that’s experienced with textured hair.”
For many professionals, however, that knowledge was not always part of cosmetology education.
BOCES cosmetology teacher Adriane Ball said that when she was learning, textured hair training was not something she received in school.
“I wasn’t actually trained on it myself,” Ball said. “I kind of had to figure it out on my own, which is difficult. That’s why I think it’s very, very important that the students get to have that education.”
That is now changing. The updated required training standards cover styling, treatments and all other aspects of hair care.
According to Ball, the change reflects the needs of today’s students and communities.
“We have a very diverse population here as students,” Ball said. “So a lot of them felt like the textured ethnic hair was not covered in the past.”
BOCES has already been incorporating training tools such as mannequins with different hair textures for years to help students gain hands-on experience.
“With textured hair, it’s very important to be able to touch the hair, because each texture, each curl is going to react differently to different products, different tools and different styling,” Ball said.
Ashley believes the new law could have a lasting impact on both cosmetology students and salon clients.
“I believe it will alleviate some of the mistakes and the complaints that I’ve heard over the years as far as the client’s experience going to stylists,” Ashley said.
The New York Department of State says the new training requirement is an important step toward making cosmetology education more inclusive and preparing future stylists to serve all clients with confidence and skill.