Displaying items by tag: Skin

The scope of sanitation requirements from the Cosmetology Commissions, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), include basic cleanliness, consumption of food, and protection from microorganisms. In the June issue we discussed the importance of maintaining your business facilities and equipment. This includes routine maintenance, such as, keeping the area in good order, hallways cleared, and furniture and appliances in good repair. Maintain daily, weekly, and monthly housekeeping schedules, and properly maintain procedure rooms to prevent cross-contamination of your product, clients, or yourself. Food and drinks cannot be sold, but you can offer them to your clientele.

Health, whether good or bad, doesn’t just happen right before the symptom! Poor nutrition over a period of years will develop stages of a disease until a symptom appears and reversal of that disease will require lifestyle changes including improved stages of nutritional intake as well as a detoxification program and hormonal balancing over time.
Heavy metals in the body are believed to cause illnesses such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes, circulatory disorders, neuropathies, Alzheimer's disease, ADD, ADHD, Bipolar, Autism, Parkinson's, and atherosclerosis, to name a few. Heavy metals and toxins cannot penetrate a healthy cell membrane produced by a healthy and properly nourished body very easily.

Pat Hoffman suffered for years from osteoarthritis in her spine and hands and in her left shoulder, where she had the most pain and loss of motion. Fortunately for Hoffman, bi-weekly massage treatments proved to be extremely helpful in reducing tension and pain, which in turn helped to improve her mobility. Massage increased her energy, and the pain no longer awakens her during the night. "Usually the massage gives me a real high," Hoffman said. "Occasionally, I may experience several hours of pain after the treatment, but this goes away and is not a real problem."

Today’s clients are interested in more than just applying a self-tanning lotion. As an aging baby boomer in my early 50s, my body reflection doesn’t match my youthful self image and it is showing with brown spots, sagging thighs, and cellulite. I’ve followed a healthy lifestyle and exercised regularly since I was in my 20s. Certainly that helps, but I need more now to preserve what I have and to improve what I can. I decided to buy a self-tanner to cover up the flaws and make my white body look healthier as it does with a tan.

We have all heard it before: “Lose 40 inches!”, “Better than Botox!” “World’s best serum that will make you look and feel like you are in your twenties again!” Are these false claims? Did you get the results that the product advertised? Did the aesthetician not understand how to use the product correctly? Was the product applied to the wrong skin type? What went wrong? You bought the product in good faith and it didn't live up to the claim. Why not? There are several reasons why we don't get the results from the magic that is promised in the bottle.

It sounds relatively simple, doesn’t it? A cleanser, an aftershave balm, a sun protection product, possibly a lip balm. But what makes a product line distinctly male-oriented versus “unisex” can be elusive and much of the distinction lies in observing the male creature, as well as in the marketing and promotion of the products. A hard look at men and women’s skin care habits reveals very different routines, leaving a significant departure in the aspect of product acceptance by men.

Ask, “What is the definition of spa?” and most replies will have something to do with water. Many historians consider the origin of the word spa to define a place where water is applied therapeutically. The most common image used to identify spas in logos or advertising is water; and in a true wellness spa, water is an iatrical (healing) component at the soul of the spa business.
We all recognize the calming sounds of water. We know we should drink eight glasses of water a day. Soaking in hot, moving water is recognized widely as therapeutic.

Five years after writing my first article on how the digestive system impacts skin, I find that very little has changed in how those of us within the skin industry are educating clients. In fact, I find very little education being done at all, and I wonder why. Do not misunderstand me, please. Most of us do educate about the products and treatments used in client care, but when our clients walk away from us, what understanding does a client have of the nutrition needed for great skin?

New ingredients are being introduced into the skin care market everyday and with the market being a multi-billion dollar industry, this phenomenon won’t slow down anytime soon. Having narrowed down the hundreds of ingredients, here are the top ingredients to look for in current skin care formulations.

Peptides are Here to Stay
First and foremost, we must discuss the continued interest of the use of peptides in the industry. Traditional actives formulated in skin care products consist of natural sources such as essential oils, plant-extracts, and vitamins. As helpful as these natural sources can be, they can be limited in their overall effectiveness.

With all of the growth in the spa industry some of us curious minds are wondering just where all of this is going. Just five years ago, I recall delivering lectures to anxious crowds of newcomers, corporate drop outs, physicians, aestheticians, and spa owners. We discussed trends, tips, and spa management. While many would say that the spa industry is slowing down, I liken it to the restaurant industry with (finally) more leveled, readily measured, and stable growth patterns. For all of the anti-aging remedies and youth-enhancing formulations, the spa industry has grown sea legs and is growing up!