It’s amazing how much money and research is going into beauty. It’s no wonder when you look at the statistics and realize that the beauty industry has been booming since its inception in the early 1920’s. Every year more money is spent by consumers trying to stay young and beautiful. Even during times of economic crisis like the Great Depression the beauty industry was the ONE industry that made money…and not only did it make money, but it made more money than ever!

So here we are in a day and age where science has merged with skin care in an attempt at keeping us young and beautiful. And I use the word attempt lightly. Quite frankly I think we live in a time where if we take care of ourselves we may never need to age like our parents. BUT, and this is a big but, with science comes lies and misconceptions. All of which are swallowed whole by consumers because we don’t know how to filter the truth from the lies. We don’t have enough knowledge to understand what we read and hear, but we have enough to get us into trouble.

Nathan Zohner, a student in Eagle Rock Idaho, did a science fair project on the deadly chemical compound dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) entitled “Dihydrogen Monoxide: The Unrecognized Killer” This chemical has been implicated in the deaths of thousands of Americans every year and it’s in every single facial product we use. The chemical is so caustic that it “accelerates the corrosion and rusting of many metals, …is a major component of acid rain, [and] …has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.” Symptoms of ingestion include “excessive sweating and urination,” and “for those who have developed a dependency on DHMO, complete withdrawal means certain death.”

Scared?

You’re not alone. After reading Nathan’s report and looking at his research and statistical data on DHMO 86% of Nathan’s sample group voted to ban dihydrogen monoxide because it had caused too many deaths. This same report was used on the first season of Penn & Teller’s Bull Shit with the same results. Most adults who were asked agreed that DHMO should be banned based on the destructive nature of the chemical compound.

The thing is, DHMO is just water.

Nathan’s real science fair project was entitled “How Gullible Are We?” and was about people’s ignorant reaction to totally factual information they didn’t understand. His findings point out that anything can be spun to seem good or bad if you don’t understand all the information. In his report he discusses how any of the students could have asked the teacher what DHMO was, but none did, and in his conclusion he states, “I was appalled that my peers were so easily misled…I don’t feel comfortable with the current level of understanding.” Worse yet, in a Washington Post article about this story, James K. Glassman quotes David Murray, the research director of the non-profit Statistical Assessment Service in Washington as saying, “The likelihood is high that I could replicate [Zohner’s] results with a survey of members of Congress.”

The implications of Nathan’s research were so disturbing to Glassman that he decided to coin the term: Zohnerism – the use of a true fact to lead a scientifically and mathematically ignorant public to a false conclusion.

A little knowledge can hurt you. I am a firm believer in educating my clients, but in today’s market a little knowledge can be harmful just as Nathan Zohner proved. Products are marketed to prey on consumers belief that they know “what’s up” in skin care. They use key words and terms that mislead and virtually lie. For example, you read that vitamin C is good for the skin in Generic Fashion Magazine which recommends Orange4U Cream. You go to the mall and find the Orange4U vitamin C cream. But is that vitamin C cream a good cream? The right cream for you? Does it really even have active vitamin C in it? To know for sure you MUST seek an expert because the marketing of the cream is full of Zohnerisms.

Unless you read the study on vitamin C for yourself and fully understand it, you know close to nothing. Generic Fashion Magazine didn’t tell you that the study said you must have a certain amount of vitamin C in the cream to make a difference, and that it must be delivered to the skin in a certain way, AND that the vitamin C had no effect to the skin unless it was a particular kind of vitamin C combined with a certain amount of another ingredient. Generic Fashoion Magazine also didn’t tell you that Orange4U cream’s makers paid big bucks to get recommended as the vitamin C cream you should buy. So were you lied to? Can you sue? Nope. Technically you weren’t lied to, you were merely misled.

How can it all be lies? You’ve heard about the benefits of Vitamin C every where and the box of Orange4U cream even said its results were “scientifically proven”! Like I said it wasn’t all lies. Just some careful obfuscations. Hype is what it’s all about. Because Orange4U cream company actually owns ten other companies that make vitamin C creams under different labels they are paying for all of them to be marketed, and at the same time hyping vitamin C so that you as a consumer believe vitamin C is the next big thing. As to the scientific proof, well Vitamin C was scientifically proven. Orange4U cream never said that its particular cream was scientifically proven, just that Vitamin C was scientifically proven – which it was. Companies use your small amount of knowledge against you. There is truth in the lies, and that’s where the problem really is. Vitamin C WAS proven in this study to be good for you, but it was a very specific use and type of vitamin C. A use and type NOT used by any of these hyped creams.

So how do you navigate the lies? Well you find someone you trust, like me, to do this for you. Or you spend a lot of time researching products and staying up to date via scientific studies – the ORIGINAL scientific studies and data. Don’t fall prey to Zohnerisms. Make smart choices – even if those mean finding an honest professional to make those choices for you.

Knowing when to tip, when not to, and how much is always confusing. I can’t tell you how many people ask me about the “rules” of tipping, and not just about tipping me! I get asked questions about hairdressers, nail techs, and even a dental student once! So let’s get it out there. Let’s talk about tipping.

First I want to state the I hate tipping as a principal. And not just on a level that I have to do math to figure out how much to tip. No I hate the entire concept of tipping because the notion that I should somehow be obligated to pay more for a service than stated seems ludicrous. If you needed more money for the service why not just make the price more? Add to that the lack of a standard tipping manual, and the sheer guilt/confusion inherent in the current tipping system and you may find yourself nodding in agreement and saying, “Yeah I hate tipping too!”.

To me the only time I should think about tipping is if someone has gone above and beyond the required service. When I go to a restaurant and order a meal good service should be included in the price. Now if I have an opera singing waiter, or a waitress who notices that I’ve barely touched the “interesting sounding” side order I’d never tried before and asks me if I’d like to exchange it for something I might like more, or a waiter who helps me special order food I’m not allergic too by speaking to the chef for me (all of whom were Cracker Barrel waitstaff BTW)…well THAT all deserves tipping! That is extra service. Bringing me my food while it’s hot, refilling my beverage, and doing it all with a smile…well that’s what I’m paying for. Right?

Yes…and No.

In America almost any service based industry worker lives on their tips. They aren’t just “gravy” or “extra”, it’s how the bills get paid and food gets on the table. You see you might be paying $50 for a meal, but that waitress is only making $2.50 an hour. You maybe paying $125 for that facial, but your technician is making $20 on that service and NO HOURLY WAGE. You might pay $200 for a good cut and color, but your hairdresser is making 20% of that and NO HOURLY WAGE. All these service jobs also don’t come with benefits, paid time off, or any other perks like sick time or 401K plans. It sucks. I think it’s crap, but it’s how the system currently is. I heartily wish that we would throw the tipping system out the window, and pay people a fair wage. Leave tipping for those extra special moments and not as an annoying obligation, but until then please keep in mind that your tips really ARE important.

Now I am not saying you should tip for incompetence. If someone sucks tip them less, or don’t tip them…but tell them why. If you don’t they will just think you are cheap. You don’t have to be mean about it, but an honest word or two about how you wish you had been treated or what you thought was missing can help improve a good service employee.

Alright so what are the tipping rules? Well there really just aren’t that many which is why tipping is so darned hard! The New York Daily News just put out an excellent article on tipping (special thanks to the great Waiter Rant blog for pointing it out) that doesn’t even talk about Estheticians and Massage Therapists. Be sure to check out the article, but here’s what they are missing.

Esthetician & Massage Therapists: $10-$20 on a facial or body service depending on the service of the technician. If you are doing numerous services or getting a wax 20% of the regular price for the services is customary. If you get the service for a discount please don’t penalize your technician for your bounty by cutting into their tip. Trust me, they probably get a percentage of what you pay, so if you pay less they make less!

Doctors offices and Medi-Spas: Tipping in this area is tricky. If the tech is on salary then No. If the tech is on commission then Yes. You have to ask. Just say to your techinician “Is it customary for me to tip you?” Don’t be embarassed! They will thank you for asking and let you know.

Tipping the owner or a sole proprieter: The answer is you choose. Someone in this catagory should make sure they charge enough to give themselves a fair wage. But at the same time remember that quite often an owner is struggling to make ends meat. Owning a business isn’t easy and if business is hurting they aren’t getting paid.

I can’t speak for everyone, but as an owner myself, I make sure my prices pay me fairly, but tips are still greatly appriciated because they show me that I am appreciated by you for what I do. For an owner a tip isn’t just money it can be a small gift or a thank you note. I have one client who brings me hand made grape leaves, one who gives me the most thoughtful gifts and cards, and another who sends me more clients – which is truly the best tip of all.

My personal feeling about monetary tips to an owner are that they should go back to the clientele. This is why my tips go into a seperate account that is used for advancing my education, new equipment purchases, and as emergency funds. As any of my clients can tell you I am always training and experimenting, and it’s all thanks to my clients’ generosity.

Hopefully this has shed some light on the ambiguous world of tipping. I know it’s all very complicated and can make people upset and embarrassed, but until America changes the system it’s here to stay.

So I was in getting a haircut recently when my technician told me I had amazing skin and asked me how I did it. I told her skin care was my profession. She then booked an appointment with me, all because my skin looked good. I always think this is funny because most esthetician’s will tell you they got into this field because they had bad skin no one could fix. I’d sure tell you that! And here I am getting compliments.

I take pride in my work. I take pride in your skin because it is my work. It’s also my calling card. Who is it that has the tag line, “We look good if you look good”? Brilliant slogan because it’s SO true! I want your skin to look amazing – even on those days when it isn’t. My job is to make you look good no matter what. Thank god for Jane Iredale Makeup!!

It’s important to remember on this mission to have great skin that what makes my skin look good isn’t what makes your skin look good. It’s like the idea of one size fits all. Such BS! Even if you think that someone has skin like yours it doesn’t mean the same things are going to work. You are unique. You are special. Try to remember that when struggling with your skin. And keep in mind that a little makeup, as long as it’s GOOD makeup, never hurt anyone.

As bikini season comes on I get more and more questions about ingrown hair and what to do about them, but the real question people should be asking is what they can do to prevent them.

Regardless of how you remove your hair you can get ingrown hairs. There are three reasons people get ingrown hairs. Most ingrown hairs occur when the hair isn’t removed from the root properly and is shaved off or broken off at the top of the skin.

Notice how the tip is thinner and pointed in the hair diagram to the left? It’s shaped like this so that it can penetrate the skin. When hair is shaved or broken (breaking often happens with improper tweezing and waxing) off at the surface of the skin the hair no longer has a tappered top. Because it’s blunt and thick it has trouble getting through the skin. This creates dysfunctional hair that can’t escape the skin’s surface.

You can also get ingrows from curly hair that grows back into the skin. This is often seen with pubic hair and men’s beards. As the hair gets longer it is either rubbed into the skin by clothing, or curls and pushes back into the skin. This irritates the skin and creates an ingrown hair.

Finally there is hair type. Thin or fine hair is weak and will have more trouble getting through the skin. This is why a long time waxer may suddenly start getting ingrown hairs when they never did before. When you wax the hair follicle is damaged and the hair gets weak and thin. This means the hair is dying (hurray!) but it can also create ingrown hairs.

Reducing ingrown hairs is really very simple. You need to exfoliate and use an ingrown hair product every day. My regiment for clients with ingrowns is Bioelements Cactus Cloth and Hovan’s In-Grow Gold. Many people tell me they are already scrubbing the area, but unless you are using something as hard as a Cactus Cloth on a daily basis you aren’t exfoliating hard enough or often enough. Using an anti-ingrow product like In-Grow Gold every day is essential too. The formulation of this product is designed to help prevent in-grown hairs AND to heal ones you may already have.

If you already have in-grown hairs you need to scrub daily and use your anti-ingrown product 2X a day until they go away. I know many people want to remove the hairs by, as I call it, performing surgery, but give this routine a week before you start digging into yourself. If you MUST perform surgery, please use clean tools – YOUR NAILS ARE NOT TOOLS – like a tweezer and a lancet. Release the hair from the skin and don’t pull it out unless you are sure you can get it by the root. If you break it off you are going to make the problem worse. If the area is red or pussy put a product like Neosporin on it to keep the infection down.

I hope that helps everyone! No one hates ingrown hair more than me, because I have suffered them too.