I deeply believe that organic skin care products can deliver dramatic and long lasting results. What we put on our faces should be as safe and pure as the food we eat. It should be like a fresh meal for your face! During my educational seminars for aestheticians, I like to swallow a spoonful of one of my masks or creams to make this point. After all, if a lotion isn’t safe to eat – why would we think it is safe to put on our skin?

The world of skin care is an ever-evolving market with the latest and greatest ingredients continually being touted by countless individuals and media outlets. While organic and natural formulas are growing in popularity (I know I like it when I can recognize and pronounce all the ingredients on the labels of my skin care items), there will always be customers looking for the newest chemical formulas to combat their skin care complaints. This article examines what the coming year could bring in the way of innovative skin care ingredients and how they fit into the growing skin care products market. 

Every spa has them — those treatment products and gift items that seemed like such a good idea when you added them to your inventory. Trouble is they’re sticking around like in-laws that have overstayed their welcome. It’s costing you money to keep them hanging around… money you need. Not to mention the space they take up that you’d like to dedicate to something more productive. By now your employees have soured on trying to sell the old stock, and customers never did seem to pay attention to it. What to do?
Before hauling out the old wicker sale basket and filling it with those seemingly dead items, consider an easy option that will not only get the items into shoppers’ bags but at full price too! This isn’t trickery we’re suggesting here; just the application of a little bit of human psychology. How can you go wrong?

Our bodies are incredibly complex, with each system intricately woven together in a brilliant web that keeps us functioning. It is often so easy to forget how interconnected the elements of our bodies really are. Even though the skin is the largest organ of the body and provides the first two lines of defense as the skin barrier and our immune system, it also can provide the first external sign that there may be something wrong internally. Over 80 percent of the 800+ skin diseases are a manifestation of an internal malfunction.

As professional aestheticians, we’re caregivers, “people” people, nurturers, and emotional laundry bins. We give all of ourselves to our work, our clients, our family, and our friends… often to find that there is simply not a whole lot left for ourselves. So this month’s article is just for you, and only you; this month, it’s all about you.
Perhaps you can relate… this year is a “significant” birthday for me… yeah, I’m not going to say it, but one that I truly thought would never happen. I have watched my babies grow from completely dependent tiny little beings, to five-foot eleven, 150 pound high schoolers’ (ugh).

There is an ancient Biblical passage that states life and death are set before us, but we must choose what we want. The ancient writer recommends we should choose life. In the 21^st century, we are again told we must choose life, but in a very different way. More and more people are now learning that to choose life, is to choose to detoxify. When you discuss detoxification, most people think you are talking about someone else’s problem, not their own. They think you are talking about drug users or the alcoholics needing to detox.

We live in challenging times and our health and well-being is dependent on our ability to not react to what is happening around us and to focus on what we can do to improve our lives without getting caught up with fear, anxiety, stress and now, the economy. There is a saying that we cannot control what is happening to us from the outside; we can only control how we respond. The more out of balance we are the more our relationships, careers, finances, emotions, and health will suffer. Chinese medicine believes that 90 percent of disease has its source in emotional imbalances.

As a practicing aesthetician, how do you determine the need for a light to mid-depth peel like trichloroacetic acid (TCA) or Jessner solutions? In some states, these peel treatments may not be permitted by stand-alone aestheticians – even then, it may not be the State, but an insurance carrier preventing the treatment in a facility. Once eligibility is determined, there is the wide-ranging availability of the peel in many solutions, protocols to be followed per the manufacturer, and training that may be required.

Microdermabrasion is an incredible invention! It has allowed us to give our clients spectacular results with little to no downtime. Are you using microdermabrasion in your own spa? If you aren't, you should be! It has gained in popularity over the past 20 years. However, do you know what it really does to your client's skin and why you are getting such great results? What about the newest form of microdermabrasion, the crystal free machine? Do you know the difference between crystal and crystal free and which is best for your clientele? Have no fears, I am here to tell you all the ins and outs of microdermabrasion, what it does to the skin, and educate you so that you can pick the best machine for your own practice.

What Exactly is Microdermabrasion?

Gemstones are so fascinating! The color properties, myths, and legends are diverse and intriguing. Folklore about stones has been revered and honored for centuries in all cultures. There has been so much buzz regarding gemstone facials, but is it hype or is there real benefit to the skin?
The radical change to our environment and lifestyle leaves skin deficient and degenerative. Skin conditions like inflammation, pigmentations, skin cancer, and blemishes are on the rise. These changes necessitate the need to seek innovative modalities and solutions. We have moved beyond skin type and skin condition. Most skin conditions we see today lack nutrients and are in dire need of supplementation and detoxification. As we learn more about the harsh side effects of synthetics and chemicals and the impersonal spirit of machinery, we turn back to nature for the answers.