A FLAWLESS CANVAS

To deny that great makeup looks better on beautiful skin would be nothing short of insane. In our western culture, we are negligent when it comes to our skin. In her book The Color Of Beauty, Iman said that she was taught that "the skin you take care of in your teens and 20s is the skin you inherit in your 30s, 40s, and beyond."

When I read that statement, it struck a nerve. I remembered a conversation that I had with my Aunt Sheila (my dad's sister) back in 1999 when we were roomies down in Georgia. I'd gone in her room to say good night, and there she was standing in her bathroom with a white mask on her face.

That moment opened up a ritual of weekly masks and girl bonding. We would wash our faces and put on our masks and talk. Now my aunt Sheila has the most beautiful skin I have ever seen on an individual. Her complexion is perfect, but so is her skin care routine.

Every night she cleanses her face. "I don't care what time of the night it is. I never wear makeup to bed." She learned that from her mother. She will occasionally use a toner if she feels oily and uses plenty of moisturizer and avoids her oily zones.

Now her excellent skin care habits totally rubbed off on me and played a part in my decision to add esthetician to my makeup artist resume. Flash forward to 2009 and here I am makeup artist/ esthetician with my own blog about skin care and beauty.

GETTING DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY!!!

So here is a little glimpse inside of my world. Here is an email that I received this week with the person's name removed...

Actual Email

"Hello, I had a question about brazillian waxing. I got my first brazillian waxing done at a waxing place and it hurt a lot so i only got it done halfway. I heard that its only supposed to hurt right when the strip is pulled off. But that day and the day after i was even avoiding to pee even bcoz it burned a lot and it still hurts. I wud have gone thru all the way but since waxing is supposed to take hair from the roots, when i looked the half side that was done had all the roots intact. so i stopped from doing the other side. I am wondering how long is it supposed to hurt? Right now i can't even touch the spot.
Thank You"
_____

Thank You, Anonymous email person. This email is exactly the point that I have been preaching. Thanks for giving me leeway. So now I am going to sit high atop my Ms. Esthy cutesy pink soap box and preach until I can't preach anymore.

When you are waxing your girl, or boy bits for that matter, precision, not speed, is the name of the game. I constantly hear of places pushing the time limit. "I can do a Brazilian wax in about 7-10 minutes." Well, don't ya know that "I can too." If I am just slapping on wax, using one nasty applicator (that will be dipped & re-dipped {possibly used on several folks} until it is broken), and just ripping like I have lost my natural mind.

Ripping what you might ask? Oh, let's see your skin, your skin and your skin. That is why this poor woman couldn't pee. Well, my question to the technician is "What the heck were you doing over there?"

There are one of two reasons that this happened to this poor unsuspecting soul. She was trying to save a buck and went to the cheapest place to get waxed, or the technician is not qualified to do Brazilian waxing. There is a possibility that both play a role in her horrible Brazilian bikini wax experience.

Please - do your homework when it comes to the person you are choosing to do your Brazilian bikini wax. The Internet is a great source, as well as asking their existing clients for their opinions.

Wishing you a happy and waxing this season.

xoxo
Ms. Esthetician

ESTHYS VS. STYLIST

When it comes to your skin care and waxing who should be doing it? Well I will say this cosmetologist in the great (using this term very loosely) State Of Michigan are required to have a minimum of 1500 clock hours before they qualify for their licensing. Estheticians have just 400 clock hours.

Typically Cos-students spend a week or so on skin care(facials,extractions, etc). Depending on the school they attend. For instance David Pressley has a full-time esthetic department while another school only offers cosmetology, leaving their students to provide facial and waxing services.

This my friends is the Jack of All Trades Master of None theory that I frequently discuss among peers. Students forced into doing things that they have no interest or specialized training in doing will lack passion. Is that the kind of person you want working on you? Someone that doesn't even care about what they are doing. Food for thought.

Henry Fernandez said it best. "Sometimes we bring people into our lives that end up costing us more than if we had just paid the big bucks and had it done right". What do you think?