Whether you are just beginning to prepare for a career in the beauty industry, or you want a career change and have a passion for beauty and fashion, there is no age limit to your cosmetology education. Sure, many men and women attending beauty schools are in their 20s and 30s, but don’t let that intimidate you or hold you back.

In a recent beauty article, a 58-year-old woman achieved her goal of attaining her cosmetology degree after years of being an army wife and stay-at-home mom. She showed that 1,250 hours of cosmetology training can be done if you set your mind to it.

If you have been thinking about a beauty career and/or want to explore your artistic ability, don’t hesitate to find the beauty school that is perfect for you!

Here are some simple steps you can take to begin your education:
•    Go online and look for schools in your area.
•    Read the school reviews, find out if they give beauty school scholarships and financial aid opportunities, see how much the school costs, and check if any professional beauty companies support the school.
•    Set up a school visit with your top 3-5 schools and take a tour.
•    Sit down with all of your information and rank your schools from favorite to least favorite.
•    Start at the top of your list and being applying.

Don’t let things like age set your back from having the career in the beauty industry you want. If you are ready to start your career as a cosmetologist, begin your preparation pick and choose the beauty school that is right for you!

O.P.I. is taking the perfect polish to a whole new meaning with its Axxium Soak-Off Gel Lacquer. Now you can have over 40 of your favorite O.P.I. colors, and have the color last up to 3 weeks with no chipping, no smudging and no color fading.

Unlike regular nail polish, Axxium is a gel based nail polish painted onto the natural nails with a brush, followed by drying under a UV lamp. The whole application process can take around an hour, because the nails have to be placed under the UV light after each coat is applied: base coat, two color coats and a top coat. Voted by Allure for a Breakthrough Award, Axxium’s benefits include the color lasting longer, the polish being dried before leaving the salon and the gel having the capability of being applied onto your natural nail bed.

The negatives? The negatives to the Axxium polish are the gel polish has to be soaked off (usually at a salon which can cost extra), the Axxium manicure is more expensive than a regular manicure and some of the nail bed growth will show.

New to many salons, O.P.I.’s  Soak-Off Gel Lacquer has made it easy to achieve natural nails, with a long lasting polish, in the colors we love. Make sure to get your practice with it in nail technician school.

As summer rolls in, we also usher in wedding season in all its glory. Whether you’re a blushing bride, a helpful bridesmaid or a hair or make-up stylist gearing up for some serious wedding makeovers, we’ve got a few tips to help you all out.

Don’t go on overload with your schedule- Don’t save all your beauty to-dos until the few days before the wedding. Its added stress and some procedures such as facials can actually leave you with redness on your wedding day. Space out appointments accordingly!

Be yourself- Your fiancé wants to see you on your wedding day—not some made-up woman he doesn’t recognize. Make sure your make-up is heavy enough to make an impact in photos but not overdone.

Be careful in the pursuit of a tan- Almost every bride wants a glow, but don’t try to get it by sunbathing with the bridesmaids the day before—you’ll only end up with a bad sunburn. Be super careful with sunless tanner as well. Use a mitt to avoid embarrassing streaks and don’t wear it without showering. You’ll rub off on your beautiful white gown!

Do a trial run- No one wants to walk down the aisle with a hairstyle they didn’t expect or make-up they don’t absolutely love. Brides, make sure you schedule a trial run with your stylist at least two weeks before your wedding date. Stylists, make sure you ask enough questions about what the brides want.

Most of all, don’t sweat the hair and make-up details too much. Remember what the day is really all about!

Beauty school students dream of making the world a little more stunning. Beauty Schools Marketing Group (BSMG), the company that works with the well-known cosmetology school directory websites BeautySchool.com and BeautySchoolsDirectory.com as well as the beauty social networking site MySocialBeauty.com, wants to make that vision become real for hardworking students that want to pursue a career in cosmetology.

“We’re excited to announce that we are now taking applications for a $2,500 scholarship,” said Bridget Duffy, Director of Beauty Schools Marketing Group. “There are so many students who dream about entering the cosmetology field, but are worried about how to pay for the cost of school. We wanted to help make these dream careers a reality.”

Candidates will be selected based on their answers to various questions, including their most meaningful achievement and how it relates to their future in cosmetology and what issues they think are most important in the cosmetology industry today.

To apply for the beauty school scholarship, visit: http://www.beautyschool.com/beauty-school-scholarships

Watch the beauty school scholarship official rules here:

This summer’s favorite hairstyle isn’t that cute bob you were rocking last fall, or those long, beachy waves from a couple summers back.  Nope.  The new summer style is simple, classic and easy to achieve.  If you haven’t tried it out already, or noticed it on countless celebs, let us introduce you to this season’s it look—The Lob!  A fusion of the words “long” and “bob,” this hairstyle is exactly that—a long bob.  The right length of hair for a long bob is right at the shoulders or a little below.

A few celebrities who look great in a lob include Gwyenth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Richie, Rihanna and Selena Gomez.

Why should you try out the lob?

•    It looks good, trust us.  This hairstyle’s length—right above the shoulders—is the most attractive on all women because it frames the face.
•    It’s no big deal.   The best thing about the lob—you don’t have to go to extremes.  If you have long hair you don’t have to chop it all off, and if you have shorter hair it won’t take forever to grow out.
•    It helps you lose weight. Ok, not literally unfortunately. But, it will make you appear leaner, and that’s never a bad thing!  Lobs minimize round faces and big cheeks and make the face appear softer and more feminine.
•    It serves as a palette for new styles.  Say the style changes next fall into super short hair or long, luscious locks, or ponytails.  Where ever the trends go, a lob allows you to morph into it quickly!

Try out the lob for a sleek and easy to maintain summer style!

If beauty is your career passion, you can succeed in any state. Take Texas on for size. Beauty schools in Texas offer of variety of schools to best fit the program you are looking to specialize in.

Barber, cosmetologist, manicurist and facial specialist are some the programs available. Remember when enrolling in beauty schools in Texas to be sure to note the required school hours needed in order to get your cosmetology license.

The required hours for the following programs are:

Barber: 1500 Barber School Hours
Cosmetologist: 1500 Beauty School Hours
Manicurist: 600 Nail School Hours
Facial Specialist: 750 Beauty School Hours

There are many beauty schools in Texas. Watch some of the schools highlighted below, or view the complete list of all beauty schools in Texas.

Photo provided by Junior Style Stars

Junior Style Stars awarded three cosmetology students over $85,000.00 in prizes during its 2011 competition season. Over 350 of the Nations top students competed in this online competition. Jenney Kohlenberg, a student at Hair California Beauty Academy has won the Junior Star Styles Peoples Pick Award and a trip to New York City to shadow celebrity stylist, Ted Gibson. Pavros Olivarez of Santa Monica College won the bridal categories top prize valued at $50,000.00. This prize includes cash, travel and one on one education with some of the industry’s most notable professionals. For the first time, Junior Style Stars had a men’s division and the winner was Jacob Nieto of Los Angeles Trade Tech. Jacob took home an all cash prize of $25,000.00.

The winners were all awarded their prize during a surprise presentation at their schools by Junior Style Stars founder Paul Barry and representatives from the competition sponsors. Each was presented their title in front of their Instructors and peers who supported and helped them win.

The Junior Style Stars competition invited cosmetology students to create a theme-inspired style demonstrating their skill at hair design and color. All students competed on identical Clic mannequin heads and had their creations photographed at J.C. Penney Portrait Studio locations across the country. All 2011 competition submissions reflected a style themed as either “Real Life Bridal” or “Men’s Open”. “We wanted the students to focus on the types of styles they will be creating once they graduate from cosmetology school, versus focusing on more fantasy-inspired looks,” noted Paul Barry.

Junior Style Stars is for the enhancement of careers in the cosmetology field by providing the platform for the future hairstylist to develop their artistic skills. Unlike other competitions, Junior Style Stars allows all students, regardless of location, to compete on a completely level playing field, void of all the usual politics. For information or sponsorship opportunities please contact, 1- 800-SHOW-432.

To view the competition and be a part of our over 4.5 million visitors, go to www.juniorstylestars.com.

We are thrilled to announce Cindy Batchelor from Rock Spring, WY as our winner of the Artisan Naturals Skincare contest. Batchelor has won a complete skincare prize pack valued over $200 dollars. To learn more about the contest, you can visit our contest page here.

Check out the BeautyschoolAdvice YouTube Channel to hear the official announcement.

Be sure to read our interview with the winner: http://www.beautyschool.com/skincare-products-winner

Beautyschool.com would like to extend a special thank you to Artisan Naturals for helping making this contest possible.

Summer is here and it’s easy to relax and lounge in the sun but if you could combine a summer vacation environment with getting an education? Attending beauty schools in Los Angeles allows you to be around a warm climate all the time. There are many other important factors to look at when finding a beauty school though in addition to the area, the local attractions and the climate.

Here are a few handy questions to ask yourself:

- Is my school accredited?
- Does my school offer cosmetology scholarships?
- Will my school assist with financial aid?
- Does my school have a student salon?
- Will my school help with job placement?

Beauty schools in Los Angeles offer many great opportunities to start your career. To find out which the cosmetology schools in the area, watch the video below.

Have a beauty blog or a beauty webpage? Beautyschool.com is a huge supporter of beauty – as if you couldn’t tell. To spread the world on how awesome beauty is, we’ve created fun beauty badges for beauty lovers and users alike to repost on their blogs and share their beauty personalities.

Check out the entire beauty blog badge collection and pick one that describes you!