Being occasionally lazy in planning stories for this column (CES was in town and I didn’t want to park and walk the long distances required) I decided simply to interview Kimberly Taylor (no relation) who gives me a shampoo and set once a week and cuts my hair every two months. I like Kimberly. She has a lilt in her voice. She is tiny in terms of clothes sizes and sometimes shops in the kids’ departments. She is blond and seems to know her stuff. This should be easy.

The interview was scheduled–and I met a new Kimberly. She talked fast, much faster than I had known. She went through her background like a tornado.

Born in Portland, Oregon, her family moved to Arizona where she lived in a bunch of towns as a youngster. She started young (17) with her first child and first husband. Then she got her GED, went to Northland Pioneer College beauty school (because she always loved doing hair, her own and even her dolls,’) married again and had a second child (and spent five years at home with sons Chance and Chase) before going back to work, divorcing and meeting and marrying (after a 13-year courtship) current husband John, an air conditioning repairman. Kimberly and her husband enjoy kayaking, exploring the desert in all-terrain vehicles and home renovation. Kimberly also has a garden, a cat and is known as an excellent cook.

OK, so how about the salon work?

Kimberly says that beauty school prepares a student to pass a license exam, but experience working in a salon does much more in terms of practical knowledge.

Kimberly started her “real” salon experience in Arizona and then when she and her family moved back to Oregon, she met a lady named Jennifer Jackson and the real education began both personally and professionally. Jennifer sent her to out-of-town seminars produced by beauty manufacturers in New York City, Washington D.C. and back to New York.

Kimberly explained that a hair stylist can be on commission (earning about 55% of the cost of the job) or can rent a booth in a salon which is what she does today in Las Vegas. Kimberly pays $175 a week to rent her booth and says that is a very reasonable price. At other salons booth rental can be as high as $300 a week – “and that is why going to some hairdressers costs so much.”

What has she learned in her years as a hair dresser? One thing is not to let the client talk the hairdresser into something that she knows is not a good idea. Also always get directions when using new products. One of her memorable moments was when she had a new frosting cap that came with no directions. Under a hot hair dryer, the frosting cap melted and the client had streaks of orange in between the blond streaks. “I almost passed out at the shampoo bowl,” said Kimberly. “I explained to the client that we had a little problem and I didn’t know what to do and needed time to figure it all out. She came back the next day and we corrected the color and didn’t charge her. She never came back after that.”

Kimberly also talks a lot about chemistry – the chemistry in changing hair colors. I had noticed that on the wall in her booth she had a huge rack of hair colors. Get Kimberly talking and she will explain that about half her customers come to her for a change of hair color. Then she talks about chemistry and molecules of hair color and the subject is complex. (This writer once flunked chemistry.) A color correction session, dealing with hair roots, the hair shaft and hair ends can take as long as five hours and can cost in the hundreds of dollars. I was shocked. I had thought all one had to do was buy a tube of brown hair dye and apply it.

“No no no,” says Kimberly. She brought out a color wheel and tried to teach me, but I was not a good student. I am a natural blond and have never had hair color applied. I had never heard anything about the different treatments to the different “parts” of the hair or how to deal with treated hair ad its complications. Let’s just say that the work of a colorist is far more complicated than I ever imagined.

As to whether business for hair dressers is growing, another surprise. Kimberly says far fewer women are having their hair done today versus 20 years ago. She actually said, “The internet is killing our business.” Young folks can find hair and style videos on the Internet and figure they can do at home what otherwise would require a visit to a salon. Also, life has gotten much more informal than in years past. “People go to the airport practically in their pajamas and nobody cares. Of course, their hair hasn’t been done either, though maybe they had their nails done. Ask me if any of us were very busy at New Year’s? No, we weren’t.”

She went on: “Years ago I would have 15 regular weekly customers,” she explained. “Today I have two.” On the other hand local barber shops are closing as well, so 35% of Kimberly’s customers are men.

All Kimberly’s non-regular appointments are made individually. She is happiest, of course, when clients say they love their new hairdo or hair color, but says she still has occasional clients who complain every visit, but keep coming back.

Haircuts and styling, are among Kimberly’s strengths. She says some clients get cut and styled when their hair is dry; others when they have wet hair. The choice depends on how the hair grows and what the finished product is to be. She notes that she has been taught to recognize diseases of the scalp but has run across just one case of lice which means of course sanitizing everything top to bottom so as not to spread the disease. And yes, sanitation in general is an important part of the business.

In the meantime, this client has learned a lot and has new respect for the successful hair stylist. Kimberly performs her magic every day at Bella Mia Skin and Beauty Salon, located at 2585 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89121.

And Kimberly, as one of your clients, I promise not to wear pajamas to the airport.