| 6:00 | I show up. Amber and the receptionist are there. |
| 6:08 | The Client arrives. |
| 6:08 | Consultation between Client and Amber begins. Soon thereafter, Amber starts coloring the Client's hair. |
| 7:30 | "Foiling" part of Partial foil is complete. The Client goes to the dryer. |
| 7:50 | Dryer finished. Amber washes and conditions the Client's hair. |
| 8:03 | Amber dries off Client's hair with towel. Amber combs and styles the hair |
Phase I: Consultation
Client asked for color all throughout the hair. Amber gave her lots of eye contact and paid a lot of attention. Amber suggested they go with just color instead of color and bleach, because bleach damages the hair. The Client stressed that she did not want to look bad when her natural roots started to grow out. Amber suggested that they color every other section of hair (I did not understand this at first, but later it became clear) for a blended, natural look.
Amber went into the back closet and brought a "color book". The color book is filled with hair samples. Amber chose a color and showed it to the Client. Amber then wrote down her plan in the Client's record, so that when the Client returned, her history at the salon would be known. Amber then went to the back closet and mixed the color (a goopy paste) with developer (a creamy lotion-like substance), carefully weighing each amount.
Phase II: "Foiling"
Amber asks the Client if she wants to "whisper, talk or scream" with her new haircolor. The Client says "talk". Then Amber starts combing the Client's hair, and also starts making small talk. Amber starts pulling up hair with clips. She separates out a thin perfectly straight section of hair with her comb. Then, she puts a piece of foil behind the section of hair, applies the color/developer mixture to the hair, and then folds the piece of foil up.
Amber repeats this "foil" procedure all over the top, sides, and bangs of the Client's head. However, Amber only "foils" every other section of hair that separates out. Sometimes she does not put color mixture on the entire strand, but just the middle portion. Everything appears very deliberate and uniform. Amber carefully does the left side of the Client, and then the right side.
At one point, Amber ran out of color mixture. She went to make more.
Phase III: Drying and Styling
When she finished, the Client sat under the dryer. Heat makes the "developer" activate and push the permanent hair color into the hair shaft. After drying, Amber washes the Client's hair using a moisturizing shampoo. She throws away the pieces of foil. Amber is very deliberate in the way she shampoos hair. I am amazed by her precision. Amber dried off the hair with a towel. She then combed the hair with a big comb, and put some gel in the hair. Then Amber dried the hair more thoroughly with a hairdryer. She used a brush to curl under the Client's bangs.
I also talked to Amber and recorded the conversation on audio tape.
With observation, I learned how Amber did what she did, but it was hard to know why she made the decisions she did. I also didn't learn any terminology or vocabulary. But watching her did make me see the entire process. I doubt I would have learned how to foil to that level of detail if she was just explaining it to me.
Combining observation with conversation was perfect. Observation gave me lots of detail. Conversation answered my remaining questions. I could ask her questions like "Why a moisturizing shampoo?" and "Why do you have to put the hair under a dryer?".
What were the dynamics of social interactions in the salon?
Overall, the social interaction was very informal and friendly. At one point, the owner came into the salon, and everyone was still very casual. I did not know she was the owner until someone told me. All employees of the salon were very friendly with each other. Amber was very polite to the Client. She repeatedly asked her if she needed anything.
About Partial Foils (From the Audio Tape)
Vibha: So, why is it called a partial foil? ... Because you're only coloring part of the hair?
Amber: Exactly. Bangs, sides, top ... but it's actually going to look like a full head of hair...
Vibha: Do you spend a lot of time thinking about what you're going to do with the hair... or is it ... like whatever she [the Client] says is what you're going to do?
Amber: You always have, whenever you're doing someone's hair, you always have a consultation with them. You gotta find out what they want in their hair. If you want them to come back to you, to have good business with people, you [have] to really talk to them, you [have] to ... go back and repeat what you're going to do ... to some people, you [have] to make sure that this what they really want.
Consultation is a big thing -- that's where you figure out what you're going to do and how you're going to do it. And then, pretty much, you go with your technique; you go with what you've learned... what would be best with that type of hair ... what's going to move better on them ... things like that; a lot of it is training and a lot of it is what they say."