STYLIN' ON CAMPUS PAUL MITCHELL SCHOOL OF COSMETOLOGY IS A CUT ABOVE.

Byline: JULIA M. SCOTT Staff Writer

SHERMAN OAKS -- Students at the new Paul Mitchell The School cosmetology program will learn how to curl locks until they bounce, streak strands with color and cut hair with a razor.

They will also spend hours getting their hands sticky.

Unlike most cosmetology schools, Paul Mitchell has a full line of hair- styling products. The school is as much about teaching budding hair dressers to trim split ends as showing them how to use and sell dozens of spritzes, dyes and goods.

Perhaps more so than the $19,000 tuition, the hair products the students will buy and sell will be a significant source of income for Paul Mitchell Systems.

``We're building our brand,'' said co-founder Winn Claybaugh, who has opened 70 Paul Mitchell hair schools across the country, including one in Sherman Oaks this month. ``If we do our job, if they graduate here and they loved it, they are going to carry Paul Mitchell through their entire career.''

New schools like the one in Sherman Oaks won't have to look hard for students. The number of people going to cosmetology school in California is growing, according to the state cosmetology board that handles hairdresser licenses. In the 2000-2001 fiscal year, about 6,500 passed the practical and written exam. Five years later, about 10,500 people passed the tests.

Job market

Students who get licensed won't have any trouble landing a job, suggests a Job Demand study by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts & Sciences from 2003, the most recent available.

More than half of salon owners had open positions. Professionals with less than one year of experience filled 27 percent of those openings.

Those new to the field can earn anywhere from minimum wage to 50 percent commission on the services and products they sell, according to salon owners Michie Sujishi of Michie's Place in Van Nuys and Jim Yates of Yates & Company in Encino.

A good student can come from anywhere, Sujishi and Yates said.

``It doesn't matter what school they go to,'' Sujishi said. ``It's the individual person and how much they want to do it.''

There are a handful of other cosmetology schools in the San Fernando Valley, but none has the name recognition of Paul Mitchell.

Nor the high tuition. The Academy of Aesthetics and Cosmetology in Sylmar charges students $8,700 and the Newberry School of Beauty in Granada Hills costs $11,933.

What sets Paul Mitchell hair schools apart, according to the founders, is the attitude the company tries to instill in its students, who are referred to as ``future professionals.''

The school emphasizes that it is crucial to deliver solid technique with an upbeat attitude. When students don't feel perky, they should fake it.

``We tell them from Day One they will be hired more on attitude than technical brilliance,'' Claybaugh said. ``You can train skill.''

During one motivational class, students who asked questions and provided answers were applauded by their peers. Students are encouraged not to gossip and to resolve all personal challenges with love.

Each day at the school starts with students writing a positive message like ``I love myself'' or ``I am passionate'' and posting it on the wall. Students can also post their fears and ask questions through the message boards.

School days

New groups of students start the 10-month program every few weeks. The school gives out up to 400 cosmetology certificates per year and among the 38 who have already started classes, just three are men.

The main classroom is a light-flooded studio with 60 hair-cutting stations looking onto Ventura Boulevard. Students spend half their days there after covering the basics in a six-week crash course. In smaller adjacent classrooms, lessons are written in colored markers on butcher paper that is taped to mirrors.

Instead of taking notes, students create ``bubble maps'' by circling ideas and linking them with a line. One poster board gives tips for how to ``create magic'' by being in the moment with customers.

From their first day, students practice on mannequins with real hair. A few weeks into the program, they practice on people who pay $10 and sign a waiver in case they are unhappy with the end result.

Having the school open so close to home was a ``dream'' for student Starr French. The 29-year-old from Northridge wants to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who is a devotee of Paul Mitchell hair products.

``The products are really good, but it's about the culture and how you treat people,'' French said during a class on graduated razor do's. ``You'll never find nicer, more caring people.''

The school's boutique in the Sherman Oaks Galleria mall is already selling $2,000 to $3,000 worth of product each month, according to a chart in the teacher's room.

Students receive a 40 percent discount but after graduation can purchase items through a beauty supplier.

``We do a high volume of sales,'' said teacher Stella Davis on a tour of the school, which is co-owned by Paul Mantea.

Still, it will be two to three years before the school turns a profit, said co-founder and CEO John Paul DeJoria.

Capitalizing on students as a retail outlet for its goods is not unique to the Paul Mitchell brand.

``Redkin's doing it, L'Oreal's doing it,'' said Anthony Fragomeni, president of the American Association of Cosmetic Schools, to which Paul Mitchell does not belong. ``It's just that Paul Mitchell is probably doing it best right now.''

julia.scott(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Visiting artist George Morales demonstrates hair-styling techniques for students at Paul Mitchell The School in Sherman Oaks. The recently opened facility is the flagship cosmetology school for the major player in the beauty industry.

(2 -- 3 -- color) George Morales uses student Alexis Kuykendall as a live visual aid at Paul Mitchell The School in Sherman Oaks. The students, however, get to train on mannequins with real human hair, right.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

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