L'oreal Academie Manille

Eyes closed, jump and dive these are the exact words to describe my L’Oreal Professionnel training experience. I have zero experience on doing hair color, perming and rebonding but since the training was offered for free** then who was I to say no? With so much apprehension I started the color diploma course first week August.

My initial thoughts were: “Waking up at 7 am to prepare for a 9am class better be worth it” and “I’ll be training alongside seasoned stylists, so help me God”. Stepping inside the L’oreal Academy in Ortigas is like going inside a high end salon. Sleek and clean surroundings, very French in the sense that it gives you that certain air of sophistication and a good dose of arrogance.

my classmates

Digital Perming workshop

 As expected my classmates were mostly experienced stylists. The lessons were taught in a dynamic way (video, lecture, demo, group work, hands on) and boy were the exams hard!!!! My brain cells had a good work out while I was in training. it wasn’t all work! we were given free hair treatments a day before graduation!

I'm a sucker for freebies!

We tackled the following topics:
-       Hair & Scalp Anatomy: think biology class
-       Color Keys: all about colors! Shades and undertones
-       Contrast Keys: highlights, lowlights all about creating dimension
-       Color Change: corrective coloring! Yes there is such!
-       Texture keys: all about perming! (straight & curl)
-       Treatments
-       Customer Communication

Each module had a corresponding written & practical exam and if you pass a corresponding  certificate! Yep, 7 modules so  7 certificates to hang in your wall!!! We were also given L’oreal passports which serves as a report card reflecting our grades and our passport to other L’oreal trainings abroad if we wish to pursue further studies.

my nails after our practical exam! que horror!

After this training I became skeptical in coloring my hair (as evidenced by the ugly regrowth on my roots), with the knowledge of doing it the right way it’s hard to just put aside bad practices when you see them. I also had a renewed respect for hairstylists who most often than not are very dedicated and passionate in what they do, they are not simply parloristas who have nothing better to do. Most of them are professionals and breadwinners and that’s something that they all should be proud about.

I’d highly recommened this month long training to anyone would like to learn the professional way of applying hair color, perming procedures and treatments. The modules were well thought of, organized, inspiring and can suit both beginner and advanced stylists. Our teacher Ms. Cristy is one of the few L’oreal technical experts in Asia so students are in super duper good and credible hands. I’d like to give a thumbs up on the world class facilities and products that are no doubt a hard match for other local cosmetology schools.

Graduation & Class Picture

L’oreal offers this comprehensive diploma course 6 to 7 times a year (we were batch 5) and if you’re interested you may visit their office in Robinsons Equitable tower right next to Robinsons Galleria.

** I’ve been a L’oreal business partner / client for years now, and trainings for such accounts are given for free.