Cut from the same mold

Three generations of women spend their days cutting, styling and coloring hair and manicuring nails at Carol’s Clip N’ Curl in Hayden. The youngest, 25-year-old Rashell Hoss, often finds herself chatting with customers who watched her grow up in the shop.

“She’d nap in here in her little cradle,” said her mother, Dawn Schaffer.

When Hoss got a little older, she’d try to help with the hair and nails of her mother’s clients. And when she got a little older, she started running out of the shop toward busy Government Way. That, and the arrival of Schaffer’s son, prompted her to take a few years off, but she came back

Hoss said it was only natural that she started working there too. “I definitely knew I wanted to do this for a long time,” she said. “I’d have friends over and we’d do each other’s nails and hair.”

Carol Aresvik bought the shop in the strip mall at 4055 N. Government Way 33 years ago. The name was originally Curl Up and Dye, which Aresvik kept for a year before changing it to the name that currently hangs over the door.

She’d previously run her business out of her home, but Aresvik said she wanted to move her business out of her house because the neighborhood was changing. “I’ve been licensed for 50 years,” she said.

Each woman has her own niche. Schaffer does a lot of nail work as well as hair. Hoss does mostly hair coloring. Aresvik still takes care of the hair of clients she’s been taking care of for decades. Some of them come in every week on the same day each time.

“She does a lot of shampoo sets and perms,” Hoss said.

Hoss said she enjoys coloring hair. “I just love being able to be creative,” she said.

One of the newest trends in color is balayage, which Hoss has been doing more of. “That’s really new,” she said. “You’re basically hand painting the hair. It’s about getting the blend.”

On a recent Saturday one of Aresvik’s regular hair customers, Ida Cummings, was in the shop having Schaffer do her nails. She’s been coming to the shop since 2004.

“To me, they have become just like family,” she said. “They’re so friendly.”

Cummings said that even if she’s feeling a little down when she comes in, she’s soon laughing and joking with them. “They do wonderful, wonderful work,” she said.

Aresvik, who is 70, has been trying to cut back her hours and generally works in the morning. She’s been thinking about retiring, but finds it difficult to leave the shop every day when her daughter’s and granddaughter’s clients are there to chat with.

“I just get caught up in their people,” she said. “It’s still hard to cut myself off. This is where all the stories begin, in the beauty shop.”

Aresvik said she likes that she’s been able to see the same customers – and their children – for years. “That’s what’s nice about this business,” she said. “You see them get older, grow up.”

Quite a few of their repeat customers are men, Schaffer said. “Maybe they’re not so regular, but they come in for years,” she said.

Aresvik said she loves being able to work with her granddaughter. “What a pleasure, it really is,” she said. “She’s done really good.”

Hoss has no regrets about going to work every day with her mother and grandmother. “It’s like home away from home,” she said. “I love being here. I love being in this environment. Doing what I do, I don’t consider it work.”

Carol’s Clip n’ Curl is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.