Lexi Reeves – BEA’s Future Star
My name is Lexi Reeves. I am currently enrolled in Taylor Andrews Academy. I started September 2018 and will be graduating this January 2020. I have technically been doing hair all my life. I started teaching myself how to braid around the age of 5. Ever since then I have been doing different aspects of hair! I am very skilled with all kinds of braids and updos, as well as cuts and color. I’m working to enhance my skills in as many aspects of hair as I can.
Some of my biggest achievements so far is teaching other students how to braid and helping those around me who don’t fully understand like I do. As well as entering into the Beauty Envision Awards. The BEA contest is the first contest I’ve ever entered. To have made it into the top 3 was truly an honor.
Once I learned the changes Wella and Coty made for us students I was excited and grateful. I can’t thank everyone enough for making that dream possible!
My inspiration and passion tend to be one in the same. I am 1,000 percent passionate about all thing’s hair, makeup and nails! My passion drives my inspiration to where I can see what my result will look like long before the process is done.
My mentors are a huge inspiration for me! Especially all my mentors that I have gotten to know at Taylor Andrews. I would list them all but that would mean the entire staff! I could not be more grateful for the people around me that have shown me and helped me throughout my hairstylist journey thus far.
I’m super excited to see where it takes me in the future! I love what I do, and I do what I love! Think about it, if we all found that one thing, we are passionate about the world would be a different place.
What one word describes how you felt when you found out you were a finalist?
Passionate!
I say passionate because it covers most everything that I felt at the same time. From excited to nervous and everything in between. I couldn’t have been more surprised and grateful. For the rest of the week I was unable to control my excitement and gratitude! My passion for this industry is greater than even I fully understand. That is why I say passionate is the one word I would use! Passion is what drives the Beauty industry, and passion is what is going to take what we do and change the world. I believe everyone that is alive on this earth needs to find what they are passionate about. Passion can change the world and make a difference. It certainly has changed mine!
What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter competitions?
My advice for someone wanting to enter a competition would be a few different things.
1. Don’t be scared to show what you can do! Our individuality is what makes us who we are and having that show in a hairstyle makes a ton of difference!
2. No matter how far you get in a competition you are a winner! In every competition there is a winner who takes the trophy home, but truly everyone who made the effort to enter are also winners!There is a lot of work and money that goes into entering a competition, but the work is worth the entry.What it takes to enter makes you a winner for having done it!
3. Don’t be afraid to let your ideas change. My entry turned out different than how I wanted it to, and for a minute I was unhappy with it. Knowing how much dedication I put into my work I came to love it and I learned a ton. The day you do the photo shoot, remember to be flexible. Your result might change a little but that does not make it wrong or bad! I had to learn that the hard way. No matter how you felt your work turned out or changed, love it. It’s your creation! I came to love how my entry for the BEA’S turned out! This picture is going to hang on my wall for the rest of my life! I love what I do, and that picture reminds me of the first contest that changed my career, life goals, and who I thought I could become! “Never give up on what you know you can do!” I came up with that quote and I challenge everyone to live by it.
4.If you decide to enter do not stop or give up! The work that is put into it will be the work that you get out of it! Give your entry your all,All your passion and love! It is your baby! And the money you put into it is worth it!
5. Learn and grow from it! I may not have won the BEA competition, but I learned so much met so many people in such a way that I went home feeling like a winner more than I thought possible! Be yourself! Don’t change because you got somewhere big! Stay who you are but let competitions change how you think of your work and everything you can learn!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In five years, I would love to be on the other side from where I was. I’d love to be the mentor helping the students fast track their carriers! Or at least at some point in time I hope to give the same chance to others that I was given! Because at the end of my career I want to be teaching and helping just as the people who have helped me! I want to give to others that which I have been given!
How does competing help you as an artist?
As an artist competing helps you push your limits and expand your creative mind. In our industry we must be able to learn and grow. Times change as well as hairstyles. Right now, all the bright colors are huge but soon color correction could be huge. We never fully know. Therefore, by competing you step outside of your comfort zone and enter into a state of freedom where you can create more than what you can imagine! Without creativity we are merely people who create what our clients imagine. But by competing you get to look into your own creativity! You get to create that which you can imagine. As well as play! There’s nothing better than seeing something you see in your mind come to reality! While I was preparing to go to California, I had the chance to test out different color combinations on swatches and played with color. By doing so, I came to better understand how Wella color works! Without being able to create that which we can imagine, can we truly create what our clients imagine? We are miracle workers! So why not show ourselves what we can do and make is to others can see it as well? If you haven’t entered into a competition find one you can now! Let yourself finally create that hairstyle you’ve been thinking about!
What’s one thing you would have told yourself on the first day of cosmetology school knowing what you know now?
If I could have given myself advice, I believe it would have been before my first day in school. The reason I say that is because it took me about 8 months to get in school. I had a good job and had just gotten married when I started to consider cosmetology school. If I knew how big my passion is for this industry, I would have told myself to get to school so much sooner than I did! And to prioritize school more than when I first started! So, if anyone feels they might like doing hair, makeup, or nails, find a school you will love and go! It will change your life and work will disappear as you do what you love and love what you do!
Being brand new to the industry, what do you think the biggest struggle stylists are experiencing today?
The biggest struggle stylists are experiencing today is Social Media. Everything nowadays seems to revolve around how many followers and likes do you have. Post what looks the best. Hashtags and tagging people. We as a nation are now more on our phones and social media. That in person experiences are starting to decrease! As well as all the YouTube channels showing how to do this and how to do that at home. Social media is our competition for clients now a days and that is our biggest struggle.
What traumatic hairstyle have you been guilty of rocking?
I have been guilty of wearing the in between colors from a violet red to blond. I had the fire red-orange highlights with red violet. Here is a picture not too long before I lightened it again. So, I am very much guilty of wearing all the hair colors from red-violet to white blond. It was an interesting 8 months.
I knew I was a Hair Nerd when…
I’ve known I was a Hair Nerd since I was little. I’ve always done hair for different things or just because I could on a Saturday. Before school I honestly thought that I would only ever be just a hair nerd, watching videos, scrolling through pictures, and trying different styles on my friends and family. The moment that I knew I needed to embrace how much of a hair nerd I am and go to school, was just after my husband and I got married. The day after we got back from our honeymoon I went and cut my hair off. I’ve always had long hair below my shoulders. So to chop it was huge and scary! The crazy thing about that day was I could not stop watching how my stylist was cutting my hair. I literally could not take my eyes off of the shears. I was truly memorized. It was a couple months after that I started looking into schools and getting myself into Taylor Andrews Academy. Being a student at Taylor Andrews has truly changed my life! Being a hair nerd is who I am. I love it and live it every day!