Increasing Number of Barber Shops in Maryland

Capital Heights, Maryland (CNN) -- If you're looking for an industry that's thriving even during these tough economic times, look to the hair industry. It may be the closest thing to recession-proof.

According to Census data, the number of barbershops in Maryland rose nearly 11% between 2007 -- when the recession hit -- and 2009, while the number of beauty salons in the state jumped more than 17%. 

Nationwide, there were 18.6% more barber shops and 14.4% more beauty salons in 2009 than in 2007.

"Barbering is definitely on the upswing. We see it in our schools. The enrollment is up," said Derek Davis, a vice president of the National Association of Barber Boards of America. "We've seen an increased number of people taking the exam to get cosmetology license."

Tarsa Scott, a real estate agent turned stylist at Fabulocs, a natural hair salon in suburban Maryland, chalked up the sector's strength to one thing: the desire to look and feel good.

"Most people -- especially women -- even when there are bad times, we want to feel good," said Scott, who got an office job after the housing market collapsed, but turned to hair styling to supplement her income. "We're not going to sacrifice feeling beautiful just because we're in a bad situation."

Janice Washington, who comes to the salon every three weeks or so, said she has stopped spending as much money on shoes in order to keep getting her hair done. "It's a necessity, because I do want to keep my hair looking like it's well-maintained."

Fabulocs owner Nimat Bilal expects business at her salon to remain strong.

Fabulocs owner Nimat Bilal said business has always been strong and is only getting better. It's a job that cannot be outsourced. It has to be done locally.

"I've never felt the economy with the business I'm in," Bilal said.

In another sign of the effect the recession has had on even educated workers in other industries, seven of the nine stylists at Fabulocs have college degrees.

Bilal works just three days a week and makes enough money to survive. She also trains stylists like Scott, with the help of her sister Aisha, who has a master's degree in education. She lost her job at a nonprofit in 2009.

"A lot of the ladies that work here, some of them were clients who lost their jobs and they saw business was good and wanted to know how they could get involved," Bilal said.

Scott began working at Fabulocs after completing a six-month training course. She now plans to quit her office job. She's one of several stylists at the salon who spent years working in other professions before turning to hairstyling during the economic downturn.

Two years ago, as other industries struggled, Bilal moved to a larger space to accommodate the growing number of people who wanted to work with her. She rents booths to the stylists, who use them to run their own mini-salons, building their own clientele and marketing their skills.

"This is the business to be in. It's consistent and it's growing," Bilal said.

Cuts, HIV, and the Cosmetology CE

The risk of blood-borne infections such as hepatitis and HIV via non-single-use instruments commonly used in salons and barbershops was highlighted in a new report presented recently at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC, according to news-medical.net.

At the conference, Dr. David A. Johnson of Eastern Virginia Medical School evaluated a report by the Virginia Department of Health, "Assessment of the Risk of Bloodborne Pathogen Transmission in Nail Salons and Barber Shops and Regulatory Requirements in Virginia," and concluded that that there might be potential transmission of blood-borne pathogens if non-single use instruments are not thoroughly disinfected according to state regulations. 

It’s a fair warning to all salon and barbershop technicians across America, including the professionals now working on their cosmetology CE (continuing education)—from those taking Ohio cosmetology CE to those taking Florida cosmetology CE.

Currently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have specific guidelines for preventing HBV or HCV infection in nail salons and barbershops, according the Virginia Department of Health. 

Several recommendations to eliminate the potential transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in nail salons and barbershops have been proposed, said the Virginia Department of Health report. These include: educating nail-salon and barbershop technicians about the transmission of blood-borne infections and emphasizing principles of good hygiene, antisepsis, and disinfection.

The recent warning against HIV and hepatitis infections in salons and barbershops by the American College of Gastroenterology has highlighted again the need to tighten safety regulations in these places. However, it should not detract authorities, beauty practitioners, and salon habitués from being vigilant against other –and more common—infections, especially bacterial skin infections.

Salon and barbershop technicians across America—from those taking Ohio cosmetology CE to those taking Florida cosmetology CE—are taught in cosmetology CE (continuing education) about the dangers of infection from improperly cleaned and disinfected instruments such as scissors and clippers, and on how to mitigate or eliminate these health threats.

Because of lax implementation of regulations in salons and barbershops bacterial skin outbreaks, unfortunately, are not as rare as the public might think. In 2000 and 2004, bacterial skin outbreaks hit northern California, affecting hundreds of nail-salon clients, who developed severe and recalcitrant sores on the lower extremities even after months of antibiotic therapy. In many cases, scarring could not be prevented. 

The outbreaks were caused by two common and fast-growing mycobacteria, Mycobacterium fortuitum and Mycobacterium chelonae, that previously were typically seen only in infection cases involving surgical or clinical devices contaminated with water from a hospital or the municipal water system. 

In a The New England Journal of Medicine article, the authors said, "We believe that these rapidly growing mycobacterial infections associated with nail salons are under recognized and may increase in prevalence."

Cosmetologycampus.com, a top provider of online health-and-safety-aware training for cosmetologists, delivers a fully online cosmetology CE program that includes the prevention of HIV/AIDS and pathogen infection in the practice of cosmetology.

Cosmetology Continuing Education: Pray, Hairspray

Cosmetology Continuing Education: Pray, Hairspray: This is scary, darlings. Microbiologists, busybodies each one, have finally dredged up the ultimate scare for coquettish (now, there’s ...

Pray, Hairspray

This is scary, darlings. Microbiologists, busybodies each one, have finally dredged up the ultimate scare for coquettish (now, there’s a word for you) estheticians and cosmetology license clients: germs in your hairspray!

Microbacterium hatanonis, the new species of bacteria that contaminate and live in hairsprays, was first identified in 2008 by Japanese scientists and is currently under scrutiny to ascertain its possible impact on health and hairnets. It is related to another microbacterium, the Microbacterium oxydans, which originally (originally because it now lives in hairsprays, too) was found in milk, cheese, beef, eggs, on catheters and in bone marrow, and even in the blood of leukemia patients.

While the jury is out on the health hazard that M. hatanonis poses, as always, the whole cosmetology universe should err on the side of lotion, er, caution. That is, wash your hands thoroughly, then use hair lotion instead of hairspray. As always, our shameless plug for the week: check out the best cosmetology school online, www.cosmetologycampus.com, for the best online courses in cosmetology CE (continuing education). Mwah!

Browbeating Brow Bars

If you live in Texas or Arizona, you may have seen a Shapes Brow Bar and witnessed for yourself the deft depilation done therein. It’s called eyebrow threading, and it has become the hot alternative to both tried-and-true hot-waxing (ouch!) and plucking (ouch! ouch!). Eyebrow threading is exotic (it uses a thin, twisted cotton thread that is rolled over the problem area to pluck the hair at the follicle level), is ancient (it has been practiced in hirsute India and the Middle East for centuries), and is quick (it takes only three minutes).

It is also a bit controversial, having come under scrutiny by state health authorities and state-run boards of cosmetology, who worry about its impact on health and safety. 

Such hair-splitting over a little facial hair! But then in the pink glow of HIV and skin-disease issues, better we be leery than sorry!

So, get yourself licensed (cosmetology license to you, gals, guys, and gayettes), for such is the cosmic life in safety-first cosmetology. To help you do that, there’s the Texas Cosmetology CE if you’re in Texas, the Kentucky Cosmetology CE if you’re in Kentucky, the Florida Cosmetology CE if you’re in Florida, the . . . Oh, deary, just you go visit now www.cosmetologycampus.com.

Cosmetology intro

We have the hair dye, we have the nail polish, and we have the mascara. Wake up and smell the hair peroxide, baby, because this blog’s going where no hairstylist, nail technician, or cosmetology ce expert has gone before!

Cosmetology blog is about getting ahead in the head (and fingers, and toes) business through safe practices as mandated in your state. It is also about funnelling to you info on professional practice, news and updates about your profession and the professional market, and, yes, creative tidbits concerning your craft itself.

Here, we’re going to help you train those eyes look in the right direction for the right career training. Like checking out www.cosmetologycampus.com for a look-see.

This is your blog, so you’re most welcome to agree or disagree with ANY issue we post here. There’s no bad-hair day; but, please, we take issue with hair pulling.

C’est la vie!

Cosmetologist, Beauty Salon Owners, and their Recovering Business

Although beauty establishments are traditionally the last to feel an economic downturn, they’re among the first to exhibit signs of an economic resurgence. Such is the case of beauty salons in Rock County, Wisconsin - Channel3000 told in their report recently. Good news for those who have a Wisconsin Cosmetology CE!

According to local business owners, old customers and new clients are now returning to salons instead of practicing DIY haircutting and hair coloring, which some may have resorted to during the economic slump. It is a reflection of what’s happening across the country. Sageworks, a financial analysis company, in fact has reported that beauty salon sales nationwide have grown more than 5% in the past two years.

Salon manager Mary Sandlin informed Channel3000 that about 25% of their clients stopped going to the salon during the height of the financial crisis a few years ago. "The whole area started to go down, people moved away so we really saw a big loss at that time." But now, business is certainly looking up.

The Nu Attitude Salon, also in Rock County, pointed out that news of work returning to the county has also brought back customers. Business has improved 15% for the salon. Some old problems remain, though, chiefly concerning safety in the salon. Skin doctors are warning nail-salon clients to be aware of the cancer risks when UV lights are used to dry nails after a manicure.

Shellac nail polish, an increasingly popular type of nail polish because of its longer-lasting effect than traditional nail treatments, is gaining unwanted attention from some dermatologists because of how the nail polish is dried using UV rays. It’s a popular method, certainly well known among cosmetologists—such as those who have a Kentucky Cosmetology CE or a Wisconsin Cosmetology CE—but now with the warnings, it may not be for too long. 

To dry and harden shellac nail polish, a small UV light is used. Though the process takes just a few minutes, the UV light it uses makes it a hazard to health; it emits the same type of UV-A rays found in tanning beds, which have been associated with raising the risk of skin cancer.

"The main concern is that the lights they're using to cure the nails are UV-A lights,” Dr. Julia Carroll, a dermatologist, said in a CBC interview. “Exposing yourself to this light we know increases your risk of skin cancer. My concern is that people don't know the lights are UV-A lights, and over time, these lights could increase your risk of skin cancer.”

As of now, beauty salon owners and employees are happy with the continuous recovery of their business after the economic downturn. There is no doubt that if this recovery in the beauty industry continues, other industries will also start to recover and probably global recovery is going to be under way. 

Cosmetologycampus.com, 360training.com’s portal for cosmetologists, offers a fully online cosmetology CE program (leading to a cosmetology license) that provides salon workers updated information on health risks, such as those posed by UV-A rays for drying nails.

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