1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
20 March 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
My name is Erika Vaughn and I am a senior at Creekview High School. Ever since I was
old enough to work, I was constantly asking friends and family members what different
jobs were. I have worked in truck dealerships, worked on vehicles, and worked in and
grown up around cosmetology. These three jobs run widely in my family. I have tried
them all and only one has really caught my interest; cosmetology. My main goal with my
life is to start my own salon and spa called Southern Comfort. I have already been
drawing up ideas and have been writing down tools that I will need. I also plan to go to
Paul Mitchell Cosmetology School next year. For my Senior Project, I chose to use a
mannequin head and my mother to show different aspects of cosmetology. During my
project I have also gotten to work in a salon, where they taught me different aspects and
then I was to go home and try them (due to no open times to try them at work).
My main product was my mannequin head. Her name is Rachele, and I did treat her as a
real client. I colored and bleached her hair to show the effects of coloring and bleaching
your hair. Rachele’s hair is real human hair so the effects of the color and bleach are real.
In my research paper, I talked about how using certain products can damage your hair or
even make it fall out. When I applied what I researched to the actual application this was
true. When I bleached Rachele’s hair, the majority of it fell out when it was washed and
combed. It thinned her hair out so much that the natural color, which was left underneath
the bleach part on purpose, shined through. One thing that I learned was that when you
use semi-permanent color, which is a stain, it actually stains your scalp, whereas
permanent color does not.
My topic and research relate to cosmetology because it is a style industry career. In this
career, if you do not act the part, people will not take you as seriously as someone who
does dress and act the part. While working on this project and getting to work in a salon, I
found out that this was no joke. Everyone was down to the point and often came off rude
when they were correcting things that were wrong with me. I also found out that during a
regular work day, the top stylist of a salon does not have any resting time until they lock
down for the night.
Overall, I have great appreciation for this career. Even though I was called a few choice
words in the salon, because my hair was green and blue, I knew it was because they cared

2. about what was best for me. In the end I came out with a new haircut and color, and new
techniques that I will carry on to Paul Mitchell. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Erika Vaughn