Demand For Beauty Services Keeping School Busy -- Gene Juarez Trains 140 Grads A Year At Federal Way Site

FEDERAL WAY - Blame it on aging baby boomers. Then consider the modern man's desire for a manicure. Add the increasing popularity of day spas, where clients can spend an hour or all day luxuriating with aromatherapy, skin treatments and massage.

The beauty business is flourishing.

Someone has to prepare the army needed to pamper the age-anxious as well as the style-conscious. Enter the Gene Juarez Academy of Beauty, which turns out 140 graduates a year from its south branch in Federal Way's Hillside Plaza shopping center.

The school offers three programs - 11 months of cosmetology, four months of manicuring or a teacher-training curriculum - and draws students who commute from as far as Olympia or Port Townsend.

Students are willing to travel to attend the school - some have moved from Alaska - because of its sterling reputation. It's also the only school they can attend if they want to work in one of eight Gene Juarez salons in the Puget Sound area.

Students, mostly women in their 20s, usually have an inkling of their future long before they arrive. They are the ones who have always prepared friends' or relatives' hair and makeup for special occasions.

Hair, skin, customer relations

In 1,800 hours of study and practice, the cosmetology students learn hair styling, the chemistry of perms and color, skin care, makeup, acrylic nail applications.

They also learn about products, customer-service skills and how

to develop a salon business plan. They're introduced to newfangled treatments such as aromatherapy and nail art.

The school has a dress code so students can get in the habit of looking professional.

Even the art of conversation with a captive audience is addressed. Students are advised to stick to topics of family, occupation, recreation and hair. Avoid sex and politics, they are told.

Author John Steinbeck once called the hairdresser the most influential person in the community. But it isn't an easy job.

"We hear some serious drama," said student Michael Caree Hudson, who worked in New York as a freelance makeup artist before enrolling.

They also must learn how to diplomatically handle requests to "make me look like . . . (fill in the blank)" when the client will never look like the particular actress or celebrity, no matter who the hairstylist.

Graduates must pass a state exam to work as cosmetologists. At least 93 percent of Gene Juarez students do, said Diane Milliken, director of admissions.

As a result of their schooling, students can expect to earn $10,000 to $17,000 their first year while they try to build a clientele, Milliken said. After that, the average wage for a cosmetologist is $32,000.

For each graduate, there are three to four salon jobs available, according to national statistics.

Cut-rate service at beauty school

Local residents benefit from the hair, skin and nail services offered at the school at a fraction of the typical price - $9.95 for a haircut and $11.95 for a pedicure, for example.

Students begin giving haircuts to the public after eight weeks of training on mannequin heads and fellow students.

Granted, the person wielding the scissors is inexperienced, but instructors are always close at hand, Milliken said. And if a customer is not happy with the service, the academy promises to fix it for free.

The academy serves from 800 to 1,000 customers a week, and many are regulars. During prom season, the lobby is packed with teenage girls, Milliken said.

Federal Way resident Bonnie McDowell has been coming to the school for a shampoo and set twice a week almost since it opened in 1990. She appreciates the friendly banter and the discounts.

"I try to get a girl who's new on the floor, then I keep coming back to her until I break her in to what I want done with my hair," she said.

When her trainee graduates, she starts over with a fresh recruit.

Dan Hankinson estimates he's had his hair cut at the academy 30 to 40 times.

He said the students do a better job than some professionals because they are checked closely.

While customers can expect to receive professional-quality work, it may take longer than in a salon.

And students can't resist experimenting on one another. The school has a tradition of photographing students when they start the program. By the time they finish, they've usually been through a number of make-overs.

"We have a few students who leave with long hair, but it's unusual," Milliken said.