NY Cosmetology case studies

NY Cosmetology · Put your knowledge to work in context.

A New York cosmetology license authorizes you to provide service to the hair, head, face, neck, or scalp of a human being - a scope that reaches from shampooing, cutting, and styling to shaving, trimming, and beard work, the application of tonics, oils, and powders, and chemical services that dye, straighten, curl, or otherwise alter hair structure. The credential matters to anyone who wants to work behind the chair in a New York salon and to the owners who must staff with licensed practitioners. The NY Cosmetology case studies are 5 cases and about 3,622 words.

The Platinum Deadline After a Relaxer

Danielle, 34, sits down for a consultation. Her hair is a level 3 dark brown and has been colored at home with box dye every six weeks for two years.

748 words, about 4 min 2

The Blunt Bob on Fine Hair With a Cowlick

A 26-year-old client with fine, straight, light-brown hair has collarbone-length hair that was previously cut with long layers and finished with a razor. She brings a photo of a model with thick, wavy hair in a chin-length blunt bob with a heavy, eyebrow-length fringe, and wants exactly that.

701 words, about 4 min 3

Blood, a Suspicious Toenail, and Tools Still in the Jar

You are the senior nail technician in a busy salon. Your 3:00 PM client has a thickened, yellowed, crumbling right great toenail and asks you to "grind it down and cover it with acrylic." Mid-pedicure, while pushing back the cuticle on her left big toe, you catch the skin with a nipper and a small amount of blood appears.

725 words, about 4 min 4

Accutane, a Recent Peel, and a Stinging Face

A 29-year-old client books a "deep-cleansing facial with steam, extractions, brow and lip wax, and a scalp massage." On her intake form she writes that she has been taking isotretinoin for four months for cystic acne and uses a prescription topical retinoid at night. She volunteers that she had a "light chemical peel" eight days ago at another salon and that her skin is "a little pink but fine." Under the lamp you see diffuse redness across both cheeks, two excoriated and picked comedones on the chin, and a patch of greasy yellow scaling along the hairline and through the eyebrow area.

743 words, about 4 min 5

Chair Renters, an Expired License, and a Seventeen-Year-Old

You manage a six-station salon in Queens. Three stylists pay $250 a week in chair rent and are issued 1099s, but the owner sets their prices, their hours, and requires them to use only the salon's retail line.

705 words, about 4 min