The Moves & Integrity

THE MOVES
It's only week 2 & we are starting to learn the beginnings of the facial. Yes!
It's really cool to go to school & get a facial, even if it's only the beginning of one. We have a great time in class learning the moves.

First we learned - cleanse the eyes & lips
Second we started learning the massage aspect of the facial - only 5 moves of 50
Third, last night we learned the cleansing moves - cleansing the face, neck, decolate & trapezius areas.

Tonight in class we are pretty much just practicing on each other for 4 hours. Fun!

INTEGRITY
I will be doing some soul-writing this weekend, starting it anyway. After listening to a dvd of the Euro founder, Annemarie Camenzind, it's very clear that I'm doing the right thing, and I have some integrity issues to face as I dive into this profession. Professional image is huge. Living your talk or having integrity in what I'm practicing is huge as well. Huge. Here lies the life-change. It's time to start making choices for optimal health.
More on this at a later date.

Week 2: It Hit Me Today...

Yeah, so I'm just starting realize how much I have to know, memorize, test for & practice in 9 months. I am still pretty peaceful, but coming to the conclusion I really do have much, much less time in my week for dilly-dally now that the first week of school is over. Although I know there's a ton to know, I am only letting myself take it one day at a time & not allowing myself to get overwhelmed. Especially since I am so new. We will go over this stuff time & time again, so it's not like I won't hear it, read it, practice it, then test on it. Anyway, just had to share where I am at the start of my second week.

Helpful Tidbits

My first week was complete on Saturday evening. I'm pleased to report it was quite a good start. Granted, we haven't gotten into our days where the first half is theory & the second half is practicals on fellow students, then clean up. But, I was reassured each day in my spirit that I am doing the right thing & have a good grasp, so far, on how I should manage my time & what we are studying.

Now for the fun stuff. I wanted to share, without crossing proprietary boundaries, some little tid bits I've already picked up & am thinking about or changing in myself:

Wash Your Face (well) Just At Night: this was a big one for me! For years I have been told it's best to wash your face twice a day. Well, after learning just a little about the skin & it's function, I realized & was advised by my instructor that it's best to wash off the dirt at night. To create balance in my skin (being fairly normal to dry), my NIGHTIME regime should be:

• cleanse with luke warm water,
• gently exfoliate w/ a wash cloth (best thing to get ALL the makeup off)
• moisturize

For my MORNING regime, after your skin has renewed itself after sleep & not collected more dirt, I only need to:

• rinse with cool water,
• pat dry,
• apply a gentle toner &
• spf/face moisturizer.

The difference here is I will not strip my skin of it's natural oils that help keep the skin balanced, moisturized & dewy (healthy glow from the sebum that it secretes). Also, exfoliating (like at home microdermabrasion) only needs to be done 1 -2 times a month. You can be exfoliating gently the first layer of skin, the squamous (or dead) layer, with wash cloth each night.

Estheticians Are Not Massage Therapists: kind of a given, right? Well, I guess it's tempting for clients, especially those getting body treatments, to ask for a "deeper" massage during the facial or other service. I've decided that I won't just say, "No, that's not in my scope of work...". Instead, that I will remind the client what I AM there to do - to relax them & stimulate their skin.