Head master

MANILA, Philippines - So what does a certified CPA, schooled with an MBA at the Asian Institute of Management, a masteral in international finance at the University of Illinois and another one in taxation at the Golden Gate in San Francisco, want to become when he grows up? After 20 years in the rather stiff corporate world, Jeave Gabiana is finally doing what he’s always dreamed of: to be in the beauty industry. Quite Zohan-ish, true, but the difference is that Jeave has since stopped looking at numbers (instead of guns and grenades) and has concentrated on being the Basement Academy’s co-founder and education director (instead of being just a hairstylist).

Jeave again studied, but this time focusing on hair color and cut at the Vidal Sassoon in Santa Monica in Los Angeles and later on at the Cinema Secrets School for makeup. He teamed up with Basement Salon and the Academy has been fully operational since May 2008 with almost 250 students comprised of salon owners, hair and makeup stylists and those who, like Jeave, are dying for a career change.

“Establishing a hair and makeup school, and one that specializes in precision cutting, makes a significant difference in our country,” says Jeave. The main goal of Basement Salon is to make the Academy their training ground with the latest trend and techniques in haircut, hair color and makeup, but its flagship course is the Foundation Precision Haircutting Course, which focuses on the visual and technical aspects.   

“As far as I know, no one teaches haircutting to students with zero knowledge in just eight days, here and abroad,” he laments. “The courses that last for a week are geared towards professionals, not newbies.” They teach their students how to design hair, not to copy what they see in magazines. They are taught to study a client’s bone structure, face shape, maintenance routine and lifestyle, ergo, you must not expect to look like Katie Holmes down to the last strand.

They also offer personal and professional makeup courses, as well as one just for airbrushing. For the professional makeup course, students are taught bridal, photographic and avant garde looks, covering a solid ground on color theory, face and skin analysis, eyebrow design, and highlighting and contouring.

Says Jeave, “With the advent of high definition cameras, where the smallest of pores and blemishes can be seen, and the desire to have long-lasting makeup under heat and humidity, comes the birth of airbrush makeup.”

The precision cutting course lasts for 64 hours and costs P26,000, inclusive of cost of all the models, capes, towels, shampoo and conditioner at the Academy.

They only accept nine students per batch. The personal makeup course runs for eight hours, costing P9,000. Each class only has two students and schedule may depend on the student’s availability. The professional makeup course costs P18,500 and classes last for eight days, four hours a day, four days a week. The airbrush course’s tuition is P20,000 which covers all the makeup specific to airbrushing and equipment for usage at the Academy.

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Basement Academy is located at Basement Salon, Ground Floor Carpark Building, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City (tel. 409-9999, 638-6666, 0915-6458483/ Website www.basementacademy.com).