Girl A real world definition: Being the person that does a specific thing well enough for a client to get recommended to an associate of that client. As in “My girl gives an amazing bikini wax.” or “You should try my girl.”

I can remember when it hit me that I was going to be someone’s girl. I was sweating grotesquely on the treadmill at the gym, and I heard one of my clients tell another person that she should go see her “girl” for facials. I knew she was referring to me since I see her monthly for facials. It was weird. I was someones girl. It felt strange. Messed up. Suddenly being someones “girl” made me feel menial. I am sure that I probably said something like that to one of my friends about my esthetician at some point, but I’d never noticed how owner-like and demeaning it sounded until it was said about me. I might as well be Kunta Kinte for all the importance my name and rank were. All my training, skills, and knowledge. All the unique qualities that made my work special had been reduced to one word “girl”.

Now I am NOT saying that my client did anything wrong. Please don’t take this post the wrong way. I am just sharing how I felt when it was said. In fact, after all those emotions I thought how silly feeling like that was! My clients love me. Hell, this one loved me enough to send someone else to me! What more could I ask for? And yet no one says let me send you to my “girl” or (God forbid) “boy” when referring to their dentist or tax attorney. So why does someone who has a life altering job like mine get reduced to girl status?

I think it may all come down to the stigma of what I do. Historically “Beauticians” are about superficial things. Ditsy things. Things that don’t take brains. I think this idea is changing. People are starting to respect my industry because they realize that what I do isn’t easy and brainless. Hopefully this blog is helping to correct any misconceptions about the beauty industry because in the end I don’t mind being someones “girl”, but I’d much rather be their Skin Fitness Expert and Esthetician.

It’s official. The holidays are here…and well almost over too! The new year is about to begin, and many of us are planning the new us for the new year. For me the new year holds a lot of change and I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has stood beside me.

To all those wonderful emailers. I love every email, and it makes me all warm and fuzzy to know that people from all over the world are learning from my blog. Thank you for the kind words of support and the thoughtful questions.

To all my clients, friends, & family, my days are filled with the search for the perfect spa space, and all your help in this has been wonderful. I have checked every lead you have given me and will continue to do so – keep them coming! Remember, Toluca Lake, Burbank, & North Hollywood are my target areas…

Finally a special thanks to all the people who have shared their skin with me. Thank you for allowing me to join in a partnership with you that has improved my skills and your skin. My clients are my friends, and I’m glad so many of you are going to continue our relationship even when I move onto other things.

Happy Holidays – however you celebrate them!

Water. It makes up 60%-75% of the human body. A person can survive months without food, but can only survive a week at the most without water. It is the most vital nutrient needed to live. It is also the most vital substance to healthy skin. When we don’t have enough water in us it causes dehydration.

The most common problem in skin I see is dehydration. It’s my belief that 90% of skin conditions can be solved by getting enough water on and in the skin properly. You see, although water is the most important nutrient for the body, our current Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, and fizzy water drinking society isn’t getting enough H20 to meet the bodies basic functions – let alone support healthy skin.

I know, I know. I hear it all the time. “But I drink lots of water.” Do you? Do you really? Let’s do a little test. Take your body weight and divide it in half. That is how many ounces of water you need for minimum daily existence. For example, if you are 140 lbs you need 70 ounces of water. Now add up the number of caffeinated (coffee, cola, iced tea) or sodium based (soda and often fuzzy water) drinks you have a day. Any idea how many ounces that is? Most of us haven’t a clue, but realize for every one of those above beverages, you need TWO glasses of water of equal size to replenish the H20 those drinks just leeched out of you. So if that 140 lbs person has a Grande Latte (16 oz) every morning they need to drink an additional 32 oz of water. That makes a total of 102 ounces a day for minimum functioning. That’s a little over 3 liters of water. If you exercise you need to drink between 4oz-8oz every 15 minutes depending on how hard you workout or sweat. You also must make allowances for hotter and dryer climes etc.

For the people who only drink decaf and are really good about their water consumption congrats! You are a step ahead of the game. On most days this is me. But like me, I am sure you have days where you don’t get enough water. When this happens your body needs even extra water over the next few days to make up the deficit. Also if your body is ill, or having any problems it’s very possible it needs extra water.

And this brings us back to the question, are you getting enough water? Many people don’t realize that the skin is the last organ of the body to receive nutrients. This is why when you aren’t feeling well the first thing people say to you is “You don’t look so good.” The other organs of your body take what they need and the skin gets whatever is left over. So if you aren’t getting enough of something, such as water, there won’t be enough to feed your skin, and your skin will suffer.

Even people who drink water religiously may not be processing the water correctly. The type of water you drink matters just as much as the type of food you eat. Knowing what water is best for you can really help alleviate dehydration.

When I first began working as an esthetician I was awed that on the client questionnaire, in the same section as “Do you smoke, drink coffee, eat candy?” I saw “Do you drink tap water.” Kind of horrific isn’t it? When I moved to Los Angeles my cats wouldn’t drink the tap water. My poor orange cat Milton just walked around the bowl mewling his thirst and wrinkling his nose at the bowl of water I filled from the sink. Now I am not condemning all tap water, but check to see what’s in yours. I know that NYC has some of the best water in the country, and my boyfriend’s home in Maine has lovely water too. There is good tap water out there, but there is less and less of the stuff.

Distilled water is water that has been boiled and the evaporation has been captured and bottled. It really is the purest example of H20 since it has nothing else in it, but it isn’t the bodies answer to hydration. I know some people swear by distilled water only, but our bodies also need minerals and water is an excellent source.

Bottled water comes from many sources and can be processed in a number of ways. The one you choose to drink often depends on taste preference, but there are some waters out there that stand above the pack such as Penta, Fiji, and Trinity Springs Water. These are waters well known to be from pure sources, or have exceptional filtration systems.

All this said, most people still won’t drink enough water to meet their skin’s needs. This is why topical H20 and water binding products are important. You can’t just go spraying Evian onto your skin. The water molecules are too large to penetrate the dermis, but products like Jane Iredale’s D20 that has a hydrogen molecule that’s twice the weight of the molecule in ordinary water and is therefore 10% heavier than H₂O, or Bioelements Equalizer which is an ionized water that is perfectly pH balanced, will immediately hydrate and prepare the skin for the next product. Products that have Hyaluronic Acid which binds water to the skin and pulls it from the air such as Bioelements specific are what you want to use to lock in hydration all day.

In most cases once dehydration has been eliminated the skin will balance itself and many skin disorders go away. Certainly the skin looks and feels healthier. I know it seems simple, the idea of just adding water, but for every client I see it is their first step to better skin.

Hello again! I know I haven’t posted for the past two weeks, but that’s because I just got back from a 2.5 week vacation that started with me at a Medical Aesthetic conference in San Fransisco and ended with me in Britain touring castles and studying advanced skin care. All of this will make for some excellent future blogging (additionally fueled by the $600 worth of skin books I couldn’t stop myself from purchasing in SF), but this weeks blog is about change and the need for it.

This isn’t the first time I have spoken of change. It very well might be this blog’s “theme” since I do deal with a lot of it. Change in the skin, change in the environment, change in products, and most of all change in lives. For a while now, I’ve known that it was time for a professional change in my life. I love my clients. I love my work. I love what I do. But I don’t love “working for the man”. I am an entrepreneur at heart and over the last month I have been taking a serious look at my life. The start of this blog and launch of this website were all steps in the direction I want to head – which is owning my own practice and freeing myself of the constraints that bind me from doing the best job I possibly can.

For some reason Britain is a country that speaks to me. When I look back at my life a trip there always leads to a revelation and life altering decision. This trip is no different. I have put in notice at Total Woman and reduced my hours drastically at the laser place. I plan to use this time to seriously look for a location for the first version of my Skin Fitness Studio, and begin writing my Skin Fitness book.

I know there is a mixture of joy and sadness with this news. Many of my clients are comfortable with how things are, but I think we all know that this is a change for the better. At my current locations I am not given the freedom to take my skills and my clients skin to the next level. With my own location I will be constrained by nothing but a need for results, and my clients desire to receive them.

I will be finishing out my December as usual. After that…well we will wait and see what the new year brings. 🙂

While walking through Bed Bath & Beyond and hearing Christmas music yesterday it struck me that Fall is in the air everywhere but Los Angeles. It was here for about a week, but with the temperature spiking to 90 again today I have to wonder. Regardless, that obscene, too early, holiday music reminded me that Fall is here and it’s time to talk about the changes your skin needs to for the winter months ahead.

The weather is a major factor in what your skin needs and doesn’t, so it’s no wonder that as the air gets cooler and drier that you will need to boost with additional hydration. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that more hydration isn’t the only thing you need. You need a different sort of protection as well. In the Summer and Spring your main protection is from the sun. In the Fall and Winter you need protection from wind and cold as well. You NEVER put away the sunscreen, but just as you add a few more layers of clothing for the colder seasons so too do you add a few more layers to your skin care routine.

Basic Skin Care 101 states that all anyone really needs is a cleanser, a pH balancer (a.k.a Equalizer, Spritz, Spray, or for an out dated term “Toner”), a moisturizer, and a sunscreen. Of course there are TONS of specialty items, but I am just going to focus on the basics. As the cooler/harsher months come into play you will need to change up your routine so that you can battle the electric heaters and variable weather. This means taking a serious look at your cleanser and moisturizer. Usually your skin balancer can stay the same. If you use an SPF for your daytime moisturizer consider taking on an additional moisturizer under it.

If you are oily/combination then you want to be sure you are on a gentle cleanser. This doesn’t mean it has to be creamy, but it can’t be stripping. Every skin care line has at least one cleanser that meets this requirement. It is usually a soft, mildly foaming cleanser. My personal favorite is Bioelements Sensitive Skin Cleanser It won’t necessarily leave your skin feeling squeeky clean, but trust me it’s better without the squeek this time of year. What it will do is clean it and leave it perfectly balanced and protected.

For a moisturizer you want to be sure you are using something with enough water hydration to keep you moist all day long. This feeling is often described as “sticky” or “tacky”. Neither seem flattering, but try feeling a baby’s skin. See how it has a little moisture to it? A bit of a stick? That’s all you are looking for. You don’t want to be gummy, just moist. It’s a fine line, I know. I find that most people don’t know the meaning of real moist skin anymore, but once you begin to experience it you will see the light. The type of moisturizer you are looking for is usually housed in a gel, but can also be in a very light cream base. You should NEVER feel tight or itchy. If you do you need something with more moisture. Often I move my clients from a gel based moisturizer to a cream.

If you are dry/mature then something with oil is going to be necessary. Your cleanser can probably stay the same, but you need to seriously up your daily moisturizer. You will probably need a special night cream as well that has a lot more oomph to it. I know we live in a world where “oil-free” is the answer, but this is all bogus nonsense. Oil isn’t the devil. Bad oil is. Be sure you are using good products and the oil that’s in them won’t clog or sit on the skin. Dry/Mature clients NEED oil as well as water hydration. What they don’t need is mineral oils and lanolin’s. Stick to essential oil enriched products or jojoba, olive oil, and grape seed oil. For night time use get something heavier than day time use since you can wash off any remnants in the morning.

Dehydrated/Acneic/”Oil Slick” skin. I put all these together because they always seem to go hand in hand. I have an entire article in the making about dehydration and H₂0, but you will all have to wait for that one (Update! Here’s that article: H₂0 SOS). The number one thing I preach to clients is that if you have oily skin you are probably dehydrated. If you have acne you are probably dehydrated. Dehydration is the number one cause of skin problems and it comes mainly from improper skin care. Period. The best thing I can tell this skin type is to seek out professional assistance. Really. Only a professional can discover what type of skin you really have and then help you take care of it.

Acne. Well you are kind of the hardest. You can’t really change your routine too much because it is catered to keeping acne at bay. What you can do is add an additional water hydrator. This is usually a gel based item. Be sure to check with a professional or your dermatologist. But always ask for it. I bet you need it. Acne patients are the number one patient I sell hydration too. All those products that help your acne don’t necessarily keep your skin hydrated.

I know that all this seems rather simple, but I think we often forget to change up our skin care with our wardrobe. As usual, any questions feel free to email me or post it as a comment below.

I am sick. Really sick. It almost never happens. Quite frankly, since I started taking Propolis on a daily basis I haven’t gotten sick in a year and a half. I can only chalk up this horrible illness to being lame enough to forget to add the stuff to my water bottle on Sunday. So here I am nastily ill two weeks before I go on vacation, working double shifts to fit all my clients in, and training. Can I just tell you all how bad this is?

You see, when I go on vacation it’s a little different than when most people go. Sure I have to work longer days to fit everyone in, but lots of people have to do this. No, what’s different about my vacations is that they always revolve around massive educational events. Events that I need to be fully functional to get the most out of.

Take for example this month. I have freaked out all my clients and employers (but I gave them all 3 months warning!) by requesting 19 days off. But all those days are for educational events. This should be a wonderous thing because I am only as good as my knowledge you know. And yet not as many people as you think understand it when I have to take that many days off in the same month. The thing is, I don’t plan when the trainings and educational events occur. I just make sure I can go to them, and shell out the cash for them. I have an Jane Iredale Master Class Makeup Training, a Bioelements Sensitive Skin and Microtreatment training, a Medical Esthetics Conference, a La Roche product knowledge and advanced medical facial seminar, an Epicuren product knowledge class, a Kobido Japanese facial workshop (which was just moved to January thank GOD), and two courses on new esthetic technology. So it’s not like I am slacking for 19 days!

But this damn plague has thrown me off my game. I have moved some clients around and have thanked each and every one who let me cancel on them. I even jumped for joy … well maybe it was more of a hop since I am feeling pretty crap … when Master Shogo called telling me they were moving my Japanese facial class to January. Nothing sucks more than having to learn while sick. I did okay in my Iredale class yesterday, but that is something I already know a lot about. The Japanese facial class is my first one on one training session. Damn do I need to kick this cold!

So as I type cocooned in a heating blanket, the smell of disinfectant floating around me (I have to smother myself and all my equipment in it between every facial so I don’t spread the plague), I pray the Day Quill will kick in before my next client arrives. I’m proud to have written this weeks entry considering how miserable I feel. Hopefully you can all find some deep hidden message in this post because while writing it I was just praying for clarity. 🙂

As I move into November the warning I started giving my clients three months ago is sinking in. November and December are notoriously slow in my industry. People don’t have enough time during the holidays and tend to let everything but family, parties, shopping, and school events slip to the wayside. Knowing this, I have learned to do most of my advanced training in these two months as well as any major vacations. What does this mean? Well it means I am working a total of 11 days in November and those days are split between three locations.

I started warning my loyal clients in August that this was going to happen. I pleaded with them to book ahead. Some did, but unfortunately not everyone is as freakishly anal as I am and now my books are full and I really don’t have any additional days to fit people in. I had hoped to come in on Friday’s to try and accommodate more clients, but my new spa supervisor just doesn’t get me and what I do. She has made it very clear that I am not “special”, so I must play by the same rules as everyone else. This means no coming in special for a client here or there. No making decisions for myself. I am just a cog in the corporate machine and I have no voice. This is a real shame since it cuts off my ability to please my clients. Clients that I care about and do everything in my power to keep happy.

Ahhh well, I don’t imagine it will be a problem much longer. For me change is afoot. I have been moving towards it for a while, but recent events have given me a kick in the butt. It’s time to move on. As one of my clients reminded me yesterday, change is a double edged sword. It’s scary but always leads to better things. Sometimes those better things take a little while to get to, but they are always right around the corner.

Here’s to a rapidly approaching new year and better things to come.

What makeup you use is important. Many people ask me if they can apply makeup after the facial. My answer is always, “If you are asking that you must know you are using something that is bad for you.” Unfortunately most makeups on the market are manufactured by the same 5 major companies. I don’t care what the names and labels say, they are all the same darn thing. And they are all CRAP! They contain toxic binders, harsh chemicals, and harmful dyes that stop your skin from functioning properly. It is not uncommon for me to be performing extractions and tell you what brand and color makeup you wear by the leftover makeup that has built up and clogged your pores. Bad makeup = bad skin. It’s just that simple.

So what should you use? Well mineral makeup has really come into its own over the last two years mostly due, in my opinion, to the infomercial success of Bare Escentuals. But mineral makeup has continued to grow because people are realizing you can have a flawless finish with a healthy makeup. Mineral makeup is made of pulverized micronized mineral elements. These are natural substances that come from the earth. Think rocks.

Mineral Makeup is the ONLY makeup I recommend, and Jane Iredale is the line I recommend as #1. There are lots of great mineral lines out there right now. Glo, LadyBird, Bare Escentuals aka Bare Minerals, Young Blood, and Mineral Mine are just a few of them, but if you really want the BEST then you have to use Jane Iredale. There is no competition.

After years of using Iredale myself and selling it to satisfied clients I can say that Jane Iredale is the best on the market. I have used just about every other mineral makeup, and trust me, each have a few products I love, but when it comes down to a line that leads the pack it’s Iredale. Jane Iredale began the line because she wanted something natural and healing that effectively covered bruising and redness from peels and surgery. She also wanted it to look perfect in photos, on film, and television. She succeeded so well that the Iredale has not only won an Emmy, but is one of the only makeups that holds up to the perfection needed for HDTV quality.

The first major mineral cosmetic on the market, Iredale sets the bar high for it’s competition because Iredale is about coverage and skin care. It is oil free, contains no FD&C Dyes, or fillers and binders such as lanolin, mineral oil or talc. This makes it completely non-comedogenic. Iredale is so safe it is used on babies as sunscreen!

Iredale is known as “The Skin Care Makeup” because every product is designed to help correct what you are concealing and to enhance your daily skin care routine. Oily? Use Absence, Pure Pressed Powder, and Balance Spray. These products contain ingredients to clean, blot, and balance oil production. Dry or concerned with anti-aging? Use Liquid Mineral, Amazing Base, and D2O. These products will add moisture and antioxidants to your skin while they cover any imperfections. Just had a peel or stayed in the sun too long? Liquid Mineral, Circle Delete, Absence, and D2O will cover the damage flawlessly while healing the skin and reducing the inflammation underneath.

Many women tell me their dream is to have skin so perfect they don’t have to wear makeup. This is a wonderful goal, but with a makeup like Iredale you will stop thinking of it as “makeup” and start thinking of it as what it really is – an extension of your skin care routine. Makeup isn’t just about covering imperfections. It also supplies a barrier between the gunk that touches your skin throughout the day, and highlights your finest qualities. With Iredale you can know that you are getting ingredients that benefit the skin and an SPF that the FDA has given a “very water resistant” rating. I always brag that I apply my makeup in the morning, workout with my personal trainer, shower, rinse my face, blot it dry, then go to work. I never re-touch or re-apply and yet my zits, redness, and brown spots are all covered.

What makeup you use matters just as much as what products you use matters. You wouldn’t workout and then eat Burger King would you? I didn’t think so.

What makeup you use is important. Many people ask me if they can apply makeup after the facial. My answer is always, “If you are asking that you must know you are using something that is bad for you.” Unfortunately most makeups on the market are manufactured by the same 5 major companies. I don’t care what the names and labels say, they are all the same darn thing. And they are all CRAP! They contain toxic binders, harsh chemicals, and harmful dyes that stop your skin from functioning properly. It is not uncommon for me to be performing extractions and tell you what brand and color makeup you wear by the leftover makeup that has built up and clogged your pores. Bad makeup = bad skin. It’s just that simple.

So what should you use? Well mineral makeup has really come into its own over the last two years mostly due, in my opinion, to the infomercial success of Bare Escentuals. But mineral makeup has continued to grow because people are realizing you can have a flawless finish with a healthy makeup. Mineral makeup is made of pulverized micronized mineral elements. These are natural substances that come from the earth. Think rocks.

Mineral Makeup is the ONLY makeup I recommend, and Jane Iredale is the line I recommend as #1. There are lots of great mineral lines out there right now. Glo, LadyBird, Bare Escentuals aka Bare Minerals, Young Blood, and Mineral Mine are just a few of them, but if you really want the BEST then you have to use Jane Iredale. There is no competition.

After years of using Iredale myself and selling it to satisfied clients I can say that Jane Iredale is the best on the market. I have used just about every other mineral makeup, and trust me, each have a few products I love, but when it comes down to a line that leads the pack it’s Iredale. Jane Iredale began the line because she wanted something natural and healing that effectively covered bruising and redness from peels and surgery. She also wanted it to look perfect in photos, on film, and television. She succeeded so well that the Iredale has not only won an Emmy, but is one of the only makeups that holds up to the perfection needed for HDTV quality.

The first major mineral cosmetic on the market, Iredale sets the bar high for it’s competition because Iredale is about coverage and skin care. It is oil free, contains no FD&C Dyes, or fillers and binders such as lanolin, mineral oil or talc. This makes it completely non-comedogenic. Iredale is so safe it is used on babies as sunscreen!

Iredale is known as “The Skin Care Makeup” because every product is designed to help correct what you are concealing and to enhance your daily skin care routine. Oily? Use Absence, Pure Pressed Powder, and Balance Spray. These products contain ingredients to clean, blot, and balance oil production. Dry or concerned with anti-aging? Use Liquid Mineral, Amazing Base, and D2O. These products will add moisture and antioxidants to your skin while they cover any imperfections. Just had a peel or stayed in the sun too long? Liquid Mineral, Circle Delete, Absence, and D2O will cover the damage flawlessly while healing the skin and reducing the inflammation underneath.

Many women tell me their dream is to have skin so perfect they don’t have to wear makeup. This is a wonderful goal, but with a makeup like Iredale you will stop thinking of it as “makeup” and start thinking of it as what it really is – an extension of your skin care routine. Makeup isn’t just about covering imperfections. It also supplies a barrier between the gunk that touches your skin throughout the day, and highlights your finest qualities. With Iredale you can know that you are getting ingredients that benefit the skin and an SPF that the FDA has given a “very water resistant” rating. I always brag that I apply my makeup in the morning, workout with my personal trainer, shower, rinse my face, blot it dry, then go to work. I never re-touch or re-apply and yet my zits, redness, and brown spots are all covered.

What makeup you use matters just as much as what products you use matters. You wouldn’t workout and then eat Burger King would you? I didn’t think so.

Busy day for me today – which I both loath and love. Sometimes my profession, and probably most people’s, is a love hate thing. As my clients know I work INSANE hours. If you look at the hours posted on this site you will see part of the insanity. What I don’t reveal to most is that I take clients before and after my official hours. I don’t like doing it, but I love my clients and love the work so I will do whatever I can to fit a good client in. This often means a 6am-9pm day…like today.

While I give a good facial I am immersed in what I do. I forget the time and just ride the ebb and flow of the energy. I trust my instinct and have faith that the energy will keep me on track. So far its served me well. Of course, I have off days. Days where the energy and I can’t seem to sync up. Days when I just pray that no one notices the extra effort I’m exerting to make up for the disconnection I am experiencing. Thank goodness that those days are few and far between. Even on an insane 8 facial and 4 wax day like today I end at home tired but happy.

Today I was on. Today the energy was flowing and I was changing my client’s lives. I made them feel wonderful and look better and that does the same for me. So today I loved my job even though I came home to see the sad look my boyfriend tried to hide. He doesn’t see me enough. My back is aching and tomorrow is going to be one hell of a long day. I think of it now with loathing, buy if I’m lucky the energy will allow me to come home with a smile on my face. It just takes the right frame of mind. Oh and the right clients always help!

I may not be a doctor or lawyer, but this Skin Fitness Expert has to admit she is one hell of a workaholic. I loath it and I love it.