Clients care about how they look because their appearance can directly affect how they feel; therefore, the better they believe they look, the better they are likely to feel. More simply, people can look good to others, but not feel good themselves if they do not like what they see, regardless of what anyone else says. It is possible, however, for people to feel good, even if they do not believe they look their best.

Positive feeling is the key to a satisfied client; that result is possible even if little has significantly changed post-treatment. This feeling can be achieved by producing a facial experience that is serene and stress-relieving above any other implied benefit.

Age management begins with how clients live their lives. Stress is the predominant factor in aging and general health decline. The brain floods the body with age-accelerating cortisol while the deprivation of sleep, coupled with poor diet and pacifying indulgences, also take their toll. Clients are aware that their days are hyper-stressful and stretched between the heavy demands of career, family, and other time thieves. Often, the hour or so spent in a quiet facial room is the most personal and private time that clients get all month. In holistic skin care, professionals must account for the entire body and mind in the equation of age-management, not just the skin's surface.

The following treatment, the Youth Eterna Facial Treatment, is 75 minutes for the total appointment time and can be listed at $145. This facial is inexpensive to produce, highly flexible time-wise, and extremely pleasing. It also includes special attention to the hands and forearms –other areas of aging concerns for most women – helping to differentiate the professional from competitors who may not include such services.

STEP-BY-STEP PROTOCOL
1. The treatment room should be beautiful, enveloping, and tranquil. Turn on ambient music, soft lights, and delicate aromatics to help create a magical atmosphere.

2. Have the client change into a gown or lie down on top of the table blankets, whichever appeals to them. Encourage them to take a few deep, relaxing breaths and begin to let go of any outside thoughts or concerns they might have stirring around inside their head.

3. Apply a quick softening solution with cotton to the client's hands and forearms to prepare their skin. Perform a microdermabrasion treatment over the area, spray the skin with a toner, and massage in an SPF lotion. Cover the client's hands and forearms with warm mitts for increased absorption and relaxation.

4. Recline the client and provide a thorough cleansing under gentle steam, if it is appropriate for their skin type. Remove the cleanser and rinse the client's entire face.

5. Choose an exfoliation technique that is appropriate for the client's observed skin condition. This technique is frequently an enzyme process, but may also be performed as a 33 percent alpha hydroxyl-microdermabrasion combination if it is suitable for the client. The exfoliation process should last approximately 15 minutes.

6. Perform follicular extractions at this time if they are required and desired. Carefully introduce all clients to the extraction method and put them in charge of the process. Painful extractions should be avoided. This process should last approximately 10 minutes.

7. Perform a thorough face, neck, and shoulder massage with select aromatics to deliver a deeply relaxing release for the client. Mandarin orange and vanilla is a great euphoric scent combination! As clients tend to become especially quiet following this experience, use a guided meditation technique to enhance the "letting go" factor. The massage should last no more than 10 minutes.

8. Apply an alginate peel-off preparation mask for occlusive product penetration and a super soft feel. Apply a special treatment
to the eyes and lips during this process; this treatment can be a collagen mask or softening balm. Professionals can also use a unique serum cocktail covered by a light hydrating cream prior to the mask. This layering improves the finished result and also performs as a lubricating barrier between the skin and mask for easier and more uniform lifting. This step should take about 15 minutes.

9. Apply additional hydration or an SPF cream as a finishing cream to the client's entire face.

10.Remove the client's hand mitts and quickly massage lotion into their hands.

11. Ask the client to take a deep breath and then gently strike a Tibetan singing bowl, carrying it from one of the client's ears to the next; the powerful yet soft vibration acts as a perfect conclusion to the experience.

Professionals will know they have succeeded with the treatment if they hear phrases such as, "I feel like I'm on a cloud nine!" "Do I have to leave?" "Can I just stay here?" "Can I take you home with me?" These are the words that tell professionals that they have made a critical difference in the client's sense of well-being and serenity. These clients rarely ever look into the mirror before departing. They are focused on the personal, spiritual, and emotional elevation provided by the wonderful performance they just enjoyed. Furthermore, they want that feeling to last – at the very least, they want to revisit it.

Whatever products or machines skin care professionals use or however their spa or treatment room appears, the key element to client satisfaction will always be an experiential payoff – positive, personal, and perpetual.

Douglas Preston, president of Preston Beauty Professional, has a career that spans 33 years in professional aesthetics, education, and skin care career mentoring. His business articles appear in DERMASCOPE Magazine, Spa Management Journal, and others. He is a past president of Aesthetics International Association and a former committee chairman for The Day Spa Association. Preston has started and operated award-winning day spas, trains spa and skin care professionals internationally, and is a featured speaker at numerous spa and skin care trade events.