You don't know what you don't know

Michael Gordon and Rubi Jones at (Salon) Study in the American Copper Buildings.

I recently visited my friend and fellow hairdresser Rubi Jones at her library (Salon) Study, a beauty research library housing and creating printed matter devoted to hair.

The books in Rubi’s library range from the more obvious cosmetology books to fashion & culture, to identity and relationships with hair and biographies and personal histories of hair. If you know me personally you know that I have an extensive library dedicated to hair, art, and fashion and I must say there are many books in Rubi’s library that I have never seen or heard of. I cannot express enough how inspired I was to be in this space, flipping through books, and just talking with Rubi. All I would need is a cup of tea and I probably would never leave. 

I had a brief conversation with Rubi about her experience over the last year and a half and we shared our thoughts on the salon industry. We discussed the lack of consideration salons and hairdressers received during the lockdowns and how many salons (Rubi’s included) had to close their doors. 

Rubi shared that many of her clients upon seeing her for the first time had lost their hair due to the stress of the lockdowns. This motivated Rubi to start doing more research on trauma and stress-related hair loss so she could better understand and guide her clients. This commitment to “study” partially inspired her to create this library in the hopes of sharing the knowledge and inspiration with the (hairdressing) community that she herself was looking for. 

Speaking of community, Rubi reached out to her friends and peers to contribute, donate, and lend her the books–I shared some of my personal favorites. The books are thoughtfully organized by Rubi’s librarians Rebeca and Fernando.

To my best knowledge, this is the first and only public library dedicated to the research of hair. We don’t know what we don’t know and the motivation to continually seek knowledge and inspiration beyond looking at our phones is vital for our industry and community. 

(Salon) Study and Rubi’s personal journey of getting there are very inspirational. The loss and grief of closing your salon is a story many hairdressers currently share. In Rubi’s case, it has brought an opportunity to question the previous systems and structures we were confined to as an industry, and she is exploring alternative ways of working with hair, learning about hair, and building community. I wish her all the best and I highly recommend you visit (Salon) Study before it closes on August 9. I look forward to paying her a visit again soon. 

(Salon) Study resides at the American Copper Building and is running from June 24- August 9, 2021. 

For more information and to book your visit please go to https://www.thisissalon.com/salonstudy

Rubi Aguilar Jones has been cutting and styling hair for 10+ years, primarily working on sets for fashion and advertising shoots while also maintaining a select clientele in NYC. She is represented by Julian Watson Agency, and you can find her hairstyling work here. Her haircuts are known to require little to no styling and look great for months.