Today's well-heeled kindergartener can skip the mundane pizza party or sleepover and celebrate with a makeover party.
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
Published April 30, 2004
SOUTH WESTSHORE - Kindergarteners Madeline King and Bella Giordano are best friends. For fun, they play "mommy" by strapping Baby Bjorns carriers over their chests and strutting in high heels. Their Hello Kitty kits of lip glosses, blushes and eye shadows complete the motherly look.
When Madeline turned 6 earlier this month, she didn't ask for a slumber party, a skating party or a celebration at Chuck E. Cheese's. She wanted a "Princess Birthday Party" at a beauty school.
The Manhattan Hairstyling Academy, which has locations in South Tampa, Brandon and North Tampa, has become a hot spot for a generation of little girls who take their lead from actors and pop stars.
Here, cosmetology students practice cutting hair, mixing dyes, exfoliating faces and painting nails. Birthday girls love the pampering. Their parents like the prices, which are significantly lower than at regular salons and spas.
Academy students hone their craft on mannequins and walk-in customers. On Saturdays, they pamper the birthday girls.
Madeline, whose family lives in Maryland Manor, picked the school on Manhattan Avenue after an older sister attended a party.
"She's a big hair and makeup girl," said her mom, Beth King. "I tried to talk her out of it because it's limited to the number of people, but she insisted."
King relented, baked a Hello Kitty cake for her third daughter and prepared to throw a party for a princess and 10 maidens.
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The 44-year-old, family-owned beauty school is the largest in the Tampa Bay area, said owner Robert Valdez.
While popular for its affordable haircuts (which start at $6.95) and spa treatments (a basic facial is $9.95), its Princess Birthday Parties and Teen Make-Up Parties make it unique.
Princess parties run $11 per person. Teen parties cost $16.95 per person for groups of three or more and include skin care and makeup lessons. Each girl gets a basic facial, a full makeup application with do's and don'ts, and a set of makeup brushes to take home.
The school also offers custom packages for moms and daughters, and pajama parties for college students.
All of the services are performed by senior students who are about to graduate, Valdez said. Instructors wear name tags that say "Miss" so-and-so.
Susan Carlson runs the show. The scene inside this 5,500-square-foot building is a madhouse the day of Madeline's party. At least 15 are getting their manes cut and coifed. Eight are waiting in the lobby.
Two, sometimes three or even four students, crowd around one head of hair, gaining tips on technique and style.
Madeline and her friends sit among other customers. Miss Carlson directs the students, who slam her with questions.
"Miss Carlson, how much am I suppose to mix in this?"
"Miss Carlson, I need your help."
"Miss Carlson, how much makeup do I put on the little girls?"
"Just keep it light - eye shadow, lipstick, a little bit of blush," she answers. "We don't want them getting any breakouts. They can experience that later."
Each girl in Madeline's party emerges with rows of twisties or braids, held together by colorful rubber bands.
From the barber's chair, they move to a classroom where beauty students sweep lipstick on pouted lips and paint polish on tiny nails.
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All around them, other students who don't have enough hours to work on real people practice on mannequins with human hair.
Cosmetologist-in-training Aleida Eliason prepares to paint little Bella's nails with Aquamarine Bliss - a sparkly blue. She makes an interesting discovery while cleaning underneath her nails.
"That's my first time ever digging out Play-Doh!" Eliason says, laughing.
After the makeovers, the girls disappear into a small back room that King has decorated with apple green tablecloths, colored balloons and carnations.
Plastic purses filled with party favors take up one table, along with the Hello Kitty cake that matches the party plates.
The girls eat Doritos and potato chips and bask in their beauty.
"Close your eyes," instructs one of them.
Behold, bright blue eyelids.
Bella gingerly opens her Kool-Aid Jammer so as not to smudge her nail polish.
"They were so excited about this," says Bella's mother, Angie Giordano. "They were in heaven."
The parties started as a fluke about five years ago, Valdez said. A customer came in after attending a party at Chuck E. Cheese's and said how much she wished she could have thrown a party at the hairstyling clinic.
At first, they laughed about it. Then, they decided to give it a try.
"It just caught on and the next thing we knew, people were calling," he said. "At times, it's been overwhelming. But mothers and daughters get such a kick out of it."
The Manhattan Hairstyling Academy offers affordable beauty services by cosmetology students at three locations in Hillsborough County: 4315 S Manhattan Ave. in South Tampa, 837-2525; 2317 E Fletcher Ave. in North Tampa, 264-3535; and 3244 Lithia Pinecrest Road in Brandon, 655-4545.
