[Chicago Slices raw: Northbrook Beauty Parlor]

HAIR CONFIDENCE, Northfield: Interviews with the manicurists, customers, hair stylists, and make-up artist.

00:00Copy video clip URL B-roll of the salon owner greeting customers and videographer Doug Sawyer.  A kid runs around. Sawyer is introduced to the manicurists in the busy basement parlor. One customer is tending to her own nails.

01:31Copy video clip URL Owner introduces Sawyer to Mary the manicurist. B-roll of manicurist at work. Mary is laughing nervously. She is fixing a customer’s broken nail by adding a tip. She explains the process and continues working. She says she started young and this job is the best thing that ever happened to her. She likes all the different people she meets.

03:34Copy video clip URL B-roll of Mary at work. She says this salon is always crowded. Suzanne, Mary’s client, says people pay so much attention to their nails strictly out of vanity. She says the salon offers care for nails and hair in addition to waxing, facials, and massage. Manicurist Pam notes that nails are made of keratin.

04:56Copy video clip URL Mary says she is from Iraq. Pam is from Greece. Others are from Italy, America, Poland, Yugoslavia, Germany. It’s an international salon. Mary continues working on Suzanne’s nails. She explains she applying primer to patch the broken nail. Suzanne says her favorite color is bright orange because it’s a happy color. In summertime she uses light colors on her nails. Mary says she does her own nails usually, but sometimes treats herself to a manicure.

07:35Copy video clip URL Mary notes that the salon also offers pedicures. She’s been working here three years and loves it. She has a nice boss and the customers are friendly.

08:05Copy video clip URL B-roll of Mary at work.

08:27Copy video clip URL Suzanne comment that the mark of a good nail job is if the polish stays on all week. She notes that she gets her nails done once a week. She says the appeal of long nails is that they are sexy.

09:38Copy video clip URL Interview with manicurist Michelle whose been working 10 years. She likes working with people.

10:27Copy video clip URL Video drop outs. Stop/re-start digitizing. Michelle says the latest style and trend for nails is short and squared. She notes that professional people opt for conservative nails while young girls like lots of pink. She says everyone in the salon will do her nails. Whoever is on break will give her a manicure.

11:49Copy video clip URL B-roll of Michelle at work on a customers nails. She is working on acrylic nails. Says you can use silk, linen, or acrylic on a nail. She says most people don’t wear nails as long as Patti LaBelle anymore. It’s hard work keeping long nails.

13:08Copy video clip URL Michelle says the advantage of long nails is that it shows off your jewelry, they’re fun, sexy, attractive. She says she can’t tell about a person from their hands the way palm readers can, but she notes she gives a great massage and can tell if a person is tense from that.

13:57Copy video clip URL Michelle’s customer, Sally,  says she’s been coming to this salon for at least 5 years, and comes to Michelle most of the time. They note that a lot of the ladies get together socially. They used to meet regularly for a buffet. Michelle comments that her favorite colors for nails are red and pink. Sally prefers number 65, conservative and dull.

15:21Copy video clip URL Michelle discusses the process for working with acrylic nails. You lift off the leftover nail, file and prime, create cement type mixture and place it on the artificial or real nail. They discuss the most famous manicurist: the fictional character Madge from a series of Palmolive commercials. Michelle notes that when she starts looking like Madge she’ll stop working. Michelle continues working on Sally’s nails, noting that she is adding a mixture of powder reminiscent of cement. She smooths it out and it becomes the nail. She notes that a manicurist needs to know how to fill and polish a nail. It’s challenging, but it last a long time.

18:10Copy video clip URL When asked what the hardest things about doing nails is, Michelle states that she likes the work so there’s nothing about it that’s really hard. She says she does not want her own shop. She enjoys where she is. She comments that she is going on vacation soon and will plan to stay at home fixing the house and lounging around the pool. She says that she went to school for nail care. She attended Elizabeth Anthony in Mount Prospect.

21:27Copy video clip URL Michelle notes that fill-ins cost twenty-eight dollars which includes filing, polish, and good conversation. She says they talk about everything in the salon all the daily on-goings.

23:00Copy video clip URL B-roll Michelle at work. She comments that she went to high school with her husband, but that they didn’t start dating until nearly 10 years after graduation.

24:30Copy video clip URL Wendy, a new customer, gets a broken nail fixed. Pam, the manicurist, says she wears a mask when working on artificial nails because in the twelve years she’s been working she’s developed an allergic reaction to the chemicals. Sinus problems.

24:25Copy video clip URL Wendy says she broke her nail putting on license plates at the car manufacturer where she works. She’s had long nails for a long time. She keeps returning because of the nice people. She says after a while she got so used to living with long nails it becomes difficult to not have them because she’s conditioned to using them in her daily routine.

28:20Copy video clip URL Pam notes that there are five women working in the salon and they all get along great. Her favorite style of painted nail is the French manicure. She explains that you paint the tip of the nail white and cover it with a natural color.

30:00Copy video clip URL B-roll of Pam working on Wendy’s nail, peeling the old acrylic nail off, smoothing it out and filling in with a new product. Regular manicures take about 30-minutes, but if you’re working with fake nails like acrylics work could take an hour. Pam credits the popularity of the place to the fact that the salon is comfortable, private, and offers quality work. She says they all gossip a lot at the salon. That’s part of the business. The latest news is about Julia Roberts’ marriage to Lyle Lovett.

32:10Copy video clip URL A customer comes in from the adjoining hair salon with foil in her hair. She notes it has to do with the highlights she’s getting done. She comments that she loves everyone here. It’s a good group. She says her nails and feet are done and now getting her hair done. Her adolescent son is waiting nearby. When asked what he thinks about the salon he notes that he can think of better things he could be doing. Being at the salon is boring.

35:38Copy video clip URL Sawyer joins make up artist Joan who is with a customer. She says not everyone can apply make up properly. She says the three most common mistakes are that women don’t take proper time to apply make up, they do not blend properly, and concentrate on the current trends. She says the current trend in make up is the natural look. B-roll of Joan at work on a customer.

37:00Copy video clip URL Video drop outs.

39:59Copy video clip URL Joan notes that she considers herself an artist. A make up artist must have an eye for color. Her customer comments that Joan gives you advice on how to apply your make up and supplies you with a face chart to use as a future guide. She says the hardest thing about doing ones own make up is remembering all the stages.

41:23Copy video clip URL Video drop outs. Stop/re-start digitizing. Joan comments that when you look good you feel good and confident, but there are days she does not wear make up.

42:52Copy video clip URL B-roll of Wendy’s broken nail now fixed. Videographer goes around the room collecting names of everyone he’s recorded.

43:50Copy video clip URL Pat Ritchie, receptionist at the upstairs hair salon, Hair Confidence, introduces hair stylist Laura. When asked where she gets her hair done, Laura says everyone here does her hair. Sawyer moves on to another hair stylist who says she does her own hair. She says she was born in Yugoslavia and came to the US twenty years ago. She like that her job is fun and creative, and all the people she meets.

45:50Copy video clip URL A male customer, Greg, shows his hair cut. Ritchie takes Sawyer around the salon and introduces him to other hair stylists. Ritchie confers with a customer. She introduces Sawyer to hair stylist Nora who is defusing a customer’s hair, which involves using an attachment on the end of a hair dryer to maintain curls in the hair. She comments on how novel the toilet is in the salon and encourages the videographer to check it out. Nora notes that another girl in the shop does her hair. B-roll of Nora at work.

49:35Copy video clip URL Nora says that she’s not seen the movie Shampoo, but has a policy that a hair stylist should not date her customers.

50:10Copy video clip URL Sawyer tapes the owner, the only male in the office. He compliments Sawyer on the good job he’s done today.

50:41Copy video clip URL END