5 ways in which maths is used in the beauty industry

Happy Wednesday! 

Our blog post last week focused on our 'Finance for Life' workshop that we administered in Ysgol Maesydderwen. The workshop was very successful, and after evaluating the feedback we received from the year ten pupils that took part, we discovered that a high percentage of Ysgol Maesydderwen pupils dreamt of having a career in the beauty industry after being inspired by Emily Carter, a beauty entrepreneur, who came along to the event to share her experience of how she created her own beauty spa when she was just 18 years old! 

During the workshop, Emily Carter worked alongside pupils to show them how maths is used in the beauty industry, answering any questions pupils may have had, ultimately encouraging them to strive for their goals. 

So today we would like to continue our '5 ways in which' blog series, and show you the 5 ways in which maths is used in the beauty industry. 

1) So you want to run your own beauty salon? 

Ok, so you want to run your own beauty salon, but have you considered how much it will cost to run your business and gain a profit? Most beauticians will begin their business by renting a room in a hairdressers, this way the beautician can share clientèle and gain a profit in the process. However, for beauticians that are hired and placed on a contract that states  that the beautician must work for example, five days a week 8am-6pm, but the beautician will only get paid for two of the five days work, is it really worth working this way if you are not gaining a large enough profit? 

You may also consider starting your own mobile salon. If you do consider this option, you will need also need to calculate if you are making enough money to make a profit at all, e.g., if you are spending £7 travelling to your client, are you going to make a profit if your client only wants a treatment that costs £5? 
Just by considering where and how many hours you will work, you will need to use your maths skills to calculate your profit and loss margins. 

2) Are you good at time keeping?

 Running any business demands good time keeping. It is imperative that a successful beautician schedules their appointments properly; they may need to add extra minutes onto each scheduled appointment so they can ensure they meet their clients's needs. e.g., if they have an appointment at 10:30am and the appointment lasts for 1 hour, if they have scheduled an appointment for 11am, they would be overlapping the sessions, and could potentially be losing clients and money in the process. I bet you didn't even realise that keeping track of time requires you to use your maths skills! 

3) Timing with dye and patch tests 

Any beautician will know that it is very important to conduct appropriate tests to ensure your services are suitable for your client. The patch test assures that the client is not allergic to any dye you will be using, e.g., eyebrow tinting. After applying a patch test, you will have to wait a minimum of 24 hours before performing the treatment otherwise there could be serious consequences for the client's health, and your business's credibility. If you have performed the treatment without doing a patch test properly and the client was extremely ill as a result, your business insurance would be void, therefore you would be losing money and business in the process. 

3. Do you want to sell your own products in your beauty spa?

Emily Carter sells her own handmade candles, bath products, and skin treatments, but before she can begin selling her products, she needs to buy her produce for the best price possible. Once the produce has been bought, the production process begins which involves carefully measuring out ingredients to ensure she is making the products correctly and not wasting her produce. To make sure her products are worth making and selling, Emily also has to calculate how many products she will need to sell to make a profit. 
Emily Carter proved during our 'Finance for Life' workshop that it really is about correct calculations to ensure you make it in the beauty industry!

(Products sold by Emily's Beauty Spa- www.facebook.com/emilysbeautyspa) 

4) Do you have the funds to buy the equipment you need? 

Salon equipment is expensive to buy, and to ensure you can get the best equipment for an affordable price, you will need to work out how much each piece of equipment will cost, in comparison to how much it will be used. You may also have to consider if you have enough funds to buy a wider variety of equipment to be able to conduct more treatments, to suit a variety of skin tones, hair colours etc., Once you have bought your equipment, you will have to use your maths skills to calculate how much you are going to charge on each treatment to make a profit- is it worth investing in?

5) Makeup? 

Whether you decide to run a mobile business, or open your own salon, you may consider offering make-up services, widening your clientèle, resulting in a larger earning. To ensure you provide a professional make-up service, you will have to buy a large makeup set including brushes, foundations, eyeshadows, lipsticks, and make-up removers, that will have to suit all skin shades, and skin types. To ensure you make a profit, you will need to consider the cost of buying makeup, and if you can afford to replace the make-up on a regular basis. You will also need to calculate how much you are going to cost for your make-up services, for example, you could offer a package that could cater to all members of the bridal party. You will therefore have to use your maths skills to consider pricing, and profit and loss. 

(Photos of Emily's makeup looks, found on www.facebook.com/emilysbeautyspa) 

So there you have it, our 5 ways that maths is used in the beauty industry!

Thanks for reading, and a special thanks to Emily Carter for letting us use her photographs to supplement the blog today (don't forget to also check out Emily's Beauty Spa FB page) 

Head back to this blog next Wednesday for a brand new blog post! 

P.S. We are still giving away FREE Learning Activity Packs, simply fill in the contact form on the left hand side of the blog, stating the age of your child and we'll send the pack direct to your email. 

Ysgol Maesydderwen Finance for Life workshop

It's Wednesday, which means it's time for a new blog post from SPS, and this week is a very exciting one! 

On Monday 3rd November, the Steam Powered Stories team headed to Ysgol Maesydderwen to administer a Finance for Life workshop. The aim of the workshop was to show students how the numeracy skills they learn in school will be eventually used in the workplace, and to do this, we worked alongside local employers for pupils to see first-hand how maths is used in each and every job role. 

On the day we worked with ninety year ten pupils, as the school, and us as an organisation believed this year group would benefit most from our services as they begin to work towards their GCSE's and ultimately their future career choices. 

We organised for four employers, Steam Powered Stories as a fifth employer, to work closely with pupils, to demonstrate how they use maths in their every day job roles. Pupils were split into groups, and worked closely with their classmates and each employer for twenty minutes.

Representatives of Swansea Health Board came along and showed pupils how to answer real everyday maths questions that they have to calculate in their everyday jobs, showing pupils first hand how maths is used in the health industry. 

Stephen Waldron from Stephen Waldron Architecture attended, speaking to students, answering any questions they had, and also showed students how maths is used in his every day job role as an architect, e.g., drawing, calculating dimensions, etc., 

Representatives of the Armed Forces also kindly attended, providing knowledge and experience of the physical job of being a soldier, and how they also use maths in their everyday lives, from ensuring they remain physically able, but also how maths skills is needed in estimating defence tactics. 

Emily Carter as a beauty and health care entrepreneur came along to show students how maths is used in the beauty industry. Emily's Beauty Spa was set up as a hobby, but Emily arrived on the day providing a professional, yet friendly approach to show the year ten students how maths is applied in her business. 

Steam Powered Stories also ran a stand, where pupils played our interactive Who Wants to be a Millionaire game, which consisted of maths questions that advanced in levels as the students progressed in the game. Students thrived in working together to work out the answers, and we gained very positive feedback from pupils who provided their feedback of our stand. 

In addition to the pupils working alongside employers, students were also taught how to use mind maps to help with revision, and to ultimately help them achieve their goals, and their dream career! 

Generally, the day was successful, as our aim to prove that maths is used in every job role was achieved. Every pupil whether they were aspired by Stephen Waldron, Emily Carter, or the members of the Armed forces left school knowing that maths is applied in each job profession. 

Thanks for reading! 

Stay tuned for more from SPS next Wednesday on this blog, but head over to our Facebook and Twitter pages to stay up to date with us daily. 

(Facebook.com/SteamPoweredStories) 

(Twitter.com/SteamStories) 

Do you want to be a pilot?

Happy Wednesday! 

Today's post features a very exciting news story involving Virgin Atlantic Airlines! 

( Photo found on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-29824064 ) 

Continue reading the main story

Virgin Atlantic is looking for six trainee pilots with no flying experience to take part on an 18 month programme with Southampton CTC Aviation.  

The six recruits will be take part in pre-flight training, flight simulation, and flight training in Phoenix, Arizona.

So let's get down to business. Have you got- 

1) A minimum of five GCSEs or equivalent including maths, science and English.

2) £109,000 as a bond that you would later receive back when you start work? 

This is the opportunity of lifetime for those that are seriously considering becoming a pilot, but £109,000 is excessive, and unattainable for many of us, but in sharing this exciting news, we hoped to prove further that maths is used in every job role-  

Did you notice in point one, that MATHS GCSE IS NEEDED to even be accepted to do the training, proving that if you want to be a pilot, or as we have proved previously if you want to do any job you need maths skills! 

 So if your ambition is to become a pilot, gaining at least 5 GCSE's including Maths is vital to you attaining your dream! 

To set you on your journey of becoming a pilot, below is the link to the Corbett Maths Non-Calculator paper for you to try.

https://corbettmaths.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/higher-set-a-non-calculator-model-solutions.pdf

As always, thanks for reading!
Don't forget to like us on Facebook.com/SteamPoweredStories, Follow us @SteamStories, and to head back here next Wednesday for another Steam Powered Stories blog post.   

Trouble with Numbers?

On ITV's 'Tonight' programme aired on 30th October, it was revealed that "17 million adults in England have a competence level with numbers roughly equivalent to that expected of children at primary school", and it's costing the British economy an estimated £20 billion every year! 

Our philosophy at Steam Powered Stories in our administration of the What you say COUNTS! scheme, is that everyone can be good at maths, whether you are 7 or 47, and it is never too late to stop saying you CAN'T do maths and start believing you CAN! 

What you say does actually count when it comes to speaking to your child about maths, if you speak negatively, perhaps you say in passing, " I can't do maths",  "I was terrible at maths in school", your child will start believing they can't do maths too. 

 MIKE ELLICOCK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ‘NATIONAL NUMERACY' CLAIMED-

"We think the biggest challenge overall is that it's socially acceptable in this country to say ‘I can't do maths’…We know for example from international research that good numeracy is the best protection against unemployment, low wages and poor health... maths is absoultely crucial to your everyday life chances". 

To help support the younger generation so they can develop their maths skills, we come directly to schools and work alongside pupils through our various workshops and projects, that are maths focused, that are fun, and are more importantly educational! 

To find out more about our workshops, head up to the top of our blog page, and click the 'What do we offer' link. If you'd like your child's school to take part in one of our projects, or even perhaps you would just like a chat about the What you say COUNTS! scheme, feel free to call us on 01685 872385, you can also tweet us @SteamStories, or message us on facebook at facebook.com/SteamPoweredStories 

For you, the parent, start believing you can do maths today by trying out the Telegraph's new quiz, designed to put your maths skills to the test! Try it out for yourself now, or involve your child when they get home and answer the questions together :) 

Thanks for reading! 

To try the quiz today click the link below- 
the http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationquestions/11189665/Can-you-pass-primary-school-maths.html

To watch 'Tonight- Trouble with Numbers' or to find out more about the programme, click the link-

http://www.itv.com/news/2014-10-30/tonight-trouble-with-numbers/ 

Trick or Treat?

It's not only half term, but almost Halloween, and we want to prove that this Halloween, exercising your maths skills doesn't have to be a scary experience! 

Emily has lovingly created a fantastic maths work sheet that will not only keep the children busy this half term, but will help to improve their maths skills while they're at home, as they count down the days until they can dress up and say trick or treat. 

Below is a sneaky preview of the maths sheet. 

If you want to receive the full worksheet with a set of instructions, simply fill in the contact form on the left hand side of the blog, and we'll send the maths sheet and instructions straight to your email for FREE today! 

We have so many exciting things coming up on the What you say COUNTS! project. We are administering two maths workshops in both Carmarthen, and Swansea in November, and we are currently working closely with the University of South Wales to develop and provide the best services we possibly can. 

Stay tuned for more on the workshops and our work with the University of South Wales by heading back to this blog next Wednesday for a new blog post.

We hope you have a lovely Halloween! 

5 ways that maths is used in the fashion industry

Happy Wednesday! 

Today's post is an addition to our '5 ways' blog series, focusing on the multiple ways in which maths is used in the fashion industry. Based on the feedback and evaluation we received from our last event in Builth Wells High School, we discovered that a number of pupils thought that maths is not applied, and therefore not needed in the world of fashion; this post today aims to prove this theory wrong.   

If you want to be a frow-er, a fashion blogger, a super-model, or even strive to be the next Coco Chanel, you need to be good at maths! 

1) Cath Kidston, Julien Macdonald, Vera Wang, Karl Lagerfeld... 

So you want to be a fashion designer? You can draw, you have an eye for the next big trend, you have imagination, but do you know how to measure in inches, centimetres, and metres? Can you convert European sizes into UK sizes? Would you know how to calculate how many metres of fabric you would need to create that beautiful skirt to fit a model that is a size 10? 

Focus on developing you're maths skills and you'll be the next Christian Dior in no time! 

2) I'm a writer not a mathematician! 

If you're set on becoming a fashion journalist, you're going to have to work with strict deadlines, so calculating how much time you need to write and finish your piece is vital to you succeeding as a writer, and more importantly, to you keeping your job. In addition to meeting deadlines, many writers will attend meetings with editors, other team members, and perhaps you will have to schedule in meeting someone for an interview that could be vital to you developing in your career. 

3) Discounts 

 If you're a fashion blogger, or just simply enjoy retail therapy, you will need to use basic maths to work out how much that new dress is going to be when you take away e.g., 30% off the retail price. 

E.g.,

30% of £30 

What is 10% of £30= £3 

£3 x 3= £9 

£30-£9= £21 

4) You want to be the next Zoella? 

For many, writing an online fashion blog can start as a fun hobby that can actually lead into a full-time job, and profession. But, even though blogging is all about freedom of speech and the blogger's own interpretation of the season's hottest trends, most bloggers plan their time and their posts regularly, managing their time, and resources. Some fashion bloggers will search the high street to find the look for less, therefore using their money effectively as well as saving their money accordingly. Many famous bloggers will be invited to PR events, and fashion shows, having to again use their time effectively to work events around their jobs/lives and plan the succeeding blog posts. Additionally, some bloggers may choose to monetise their blog, therefore having to use their skills as a writer to calculate money from advertisements, and work out how many views they'd have to have make a profit, and a name for themselves. 

5) Sell, sell, sell! 
So you've got the designers, the writers, the models, and the shops that provide a platform for the new ranges, but perhaps you want to be a customer assistant or personal shopper, helping customers find the best outfit for an occasion. In this specific job role, yes, you've guessed it, you'll have to use your maths skills! Most customer assistants will have to know what clothes will suit each customer's body shape, therefore working with clothes sizes, that work in generic 8,10,12 etc., and inches for male clothing. For those that work the tills, they'll have to be able to give correct change and apply discounts and percentages, therefore using their maths skills! 

So, there's our 5 ways that maths is applied in the fashion sphere. 
We hope you've enjoyed this post, and it's proved, or at least highlighted that if you want to be a fashion designer, journalist, or a customer assistant, you need maths to succeed! 

Don't forget to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and head back to this blog next Wednesday for a blog post just for you. 

100% feedback!

It's Wednesday, which means its time for a new Steam Powered Stories blog post!

Today we have exciting news to share with you. 

Over the past couple of months, we have not only been developing our services by considering how our workshops can be better and more effective for the pupils taking part, we have also asked pupils, parents, and employers to fill in evaluation forms so that we can analyse how others perceive us as an organisation, and more importantly, our services. 

After gathering and analysing the feedback received, we have had 100% positive feedback
and we would like to thank all pupils, parents, and employers that have supported us!

Below are ten comments from pupils that took part in the workshop that we administered in Builth Wells High School last month. 

1) "Makes me want to try harder" 

2) "People were nice. Quite fun" 

3) You are doing good in the world" 

4) "It was eye opening" 

5) "They made me realise how important it is" 

6) "A variety of jobs need maths" 

7) "Many more jobs use maths than I had expected e.g hairdressing!" 

8) "Very useful and informative people"

9) "Didn't realise how much maths was used in these jobs" 

10) "It is in more jobs than you think"

If you have taken part in our workshops, or perhaps we met on an event, feel free to fill in our contact form (on the left hand side of the blog) stating who you are and what you think of our services. Your opinion is greatly appreciated! 

We are still looking for employers for our events coming up in November. If you are an employer that would like to take part in a workshop that helps pupils see that maths is used in every job role, call Hayley today on 01685 872385

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook!