I Now Know What Hives Look Like....

Can you kill someone during a facial? No really...can you? Cause I think I almost did today. One of my repeat clients had an appointment today and we decided to go crazy and use a different product line because she's very dry but otherwise good skin. So we'll use a product that's a little more active and gives a huge boost of hydration, what can go wrong....everything! Started out normal enough, cleansed her, analyzed her, went over allergies and meds, then started the facial. Finished cleansing and was moving into putting on the first mask with steam streaming over her face(has to stay moist). Her face began to turn red pretty quickly(which isn't abnormal)as I applied the mask, of course it's kind of low light so it's hard to see just how red it was getting. I plopped on eye pads and began to give a scalp massage as she steamed...ding 7 mins up, begin massage. I noticed on the first pass over her face I felt a bump on her forehead, but the mask can clump together so no worries...moving on to the cheeks. I make my pass around her brow bone and go to dig in a lift up her cheeks when I feel a row of bumps...I continue to massage thinking I don't remember bumps on her cheeks during analysis. I lean to the side to see what I can and my eye is caught by a horrific site. ALL over this wonderful lady's neck is white bumps and her skin is so red from the neck up it looks like I've tried to boil her. Holy shit she's got hives!! I must admit I panicked and stopped mid massage and was ready to give mouth to mouth if she stopped breathing. OK...breath...this is just an allergic reaction we can handle this remove the product apply cold compresses get client the hell up out of bed and insert Bendaryl. After I got all the product off, her face looked like a lobster and by now I could see the hives in all their glory. I wake her(yes she slept through the whole ordeal)and explain that she is really red and looks like she had a reaction to the product. She's calm and a good sport about it but I feel like dog shit for making her puffy and red(the day before her vacation). We proceed to the front desk with me offering to go home with her, tuck her in, and feed her chicken noodle soup(she turned me down). She laughs it off and tells me it's not big deal coulda happened to anyone and tries to tip me....are you insane keep your money better yet go buy Benadryl with it! I need tequila...Estheticians Unite!!

Never Been Waxed? Go Get A Brazillian....

I'm often curious what goes through a persons mind on a daily basis. Come on,admit it, you've seen a person wearing pants three sizes too small and a shirt that does nothing to cover their large mound of a belly and wondered what the hell where they thinking? I mean really what kind of mirror do these people own and where can I purchase one? But I digress, lately at the spa we've had a lot of newbies coming in for summer waxing. Great, good, fine, glad to wax you...but what would possess someone who has never been waxed to come in for a Brazilian?? For all you non-esthetician out there this would be the equivalent of a person who's never seen a car signing up to race in the Indy 500. Baby steps, people, baby steps! Lets start with a brow or a lip or hey go crazy and get your underarms waxed,but a Brazilian for your first wax.....inconcievable(O.K. I loved Princess Bride so shoot me). It's kind of hard to describe the pain of waxing to the uninitiated. Burning, stinging, in general it hurts like a son of a bitch; now imagine that sensation in your happy place. If nothing else get a bikini to kind of break you in, get you used to having a strange woman between your legs staring at your crotch. Trust me it's for the best. Estheticians Unite!!

Long Live The MetroSexual....

As you all know it's bathing suit season but in the world of aesthetics it's known as waxing season. Yes during this time of year I spend most of my days hunched over pulling crotch hair out of Nashville's women, but recently Metrosexual season started, oh happy day!! See you think I'm being sarcastic...but it's a nice change to leave the crotch area and work on a back, and just like crotches all backs are not created equal. I've had the guys with just a few patches on their shoulders and I've had the guys with a built in afghan covering their back(those are the best). They always seem slightly embarrassed when they enter the feminine domain of our spa and whisper that they have an appointment. I had a first timer last week and he gave me my first Kelly Clarkson moment. Unfortunately the guy had the afghan going on and it took some time to get it all off and it was hard to tell where his back hair stopped and his chest hair started. I put some wax down along his side thinking it was coming off his back and low and behold it had wrapped around from his chest...yeah it was a long appointment. He took it like a champ after the initial yell and actually re booked when I explained to him that it would go easier on him if he kept it up instead of waiting until it was three inches long to have it waxed. I did ask the guy what made him come in to have this done. I mean he was an older guy so what possessed him to wax after not doing so for all these years? He gets this faraway look in his eyes and smiles slightly and tells me his wife recently had her first Brazilian and he liked it, so he felt the least he could do was return the favor. So maybe he isn't a Metrosexual, but he's in training to become one. My metrosexuals come in tanned, toned, perfect brows and smelling of Aqcua di Gio lie down on the bed like the seasoned pros they are and tell me they prefer hard wax over strip wax and hand me their own bottle of tend skin to use afterwards...brings a tear to this Estheticians eye. We proceed to spend the next 30 minutes or so talking about reality TV, the best exfoliaters on the market and if laser hair removal is worth the pain and money. I love these guys so I say long live the Metrosexual Man. Estheticians Unite!!

Am I a Stalker Esthy?

What's the definition of a stalker? Someone who calls your house begging you to come in and see them again, e-mails trying to entice you to come back, mails you an envelope full of glossy pictures? Well...guess I'm a stalker. I've been at my new job almost two months so my employer tells me it's time to work your books. Go back through to the clients you had one month ago, call and invite them back. Sounded easy enough, right? Wrong. It's kind of like that awkward first phone call after a first date...you know you both just sit there and breath heavy into the phone trying to figure out what to say. Yeah, so my first phone call was a lovely client who I wrote fond notes of in my files; sweet, great skin, good tipper,etc... I had my spiel figured out ahead of time so it wouldn't sound stupid when I actually spoke to the lady so I launch into "Hi my name is _____, from____ I've noticed it's been a month since your last facial and we'd love to have you come back in and see us. Could I interest you in booking for another service?" I get about 30 seconds of complete silence then she says 'well you see the thing is, well I can't, well when, hmmmm, well could you hold on one minute?' Click we are disconnected. So I call again because I know that was an accident right?(Stalker mentality at work) After about ten rings she picks up again and says she's not there...I just talked to the lady five seconds ago. I know her voice, it's her, so I give in and hang up. Second call I begin my spiel she cuts me off mid sentence and starts asking me why I'm calling if she wanted a facial she'd call me, she knows the number and keeps on so I hang up on her. Third call the lady develops static that sounds mysteriously like her making noises in the background so I drop the call and call back a minute later she won't answer the phone. I just want to book some appointments people is that so wrong?? I'm just following orders is that so wrong?? I swear I won't do drive-bys...well not many. I'll let you know how next weeks stalker calls go. Estheticians Unite!!

What's That Smell?

In my short career as an esthetician I've seen a lot of scary things. No, really you'd be surprised what some women have going on. Today however I had my first extrasensory experience. It's Monday and generally that's a slow day for us so I actually get excited if I get to pull crotch hair, or any kind of hair for that matter. So when I had a bikini wax walk in I was doing cartwheels, yay something to do!! Well this was the lady's first waxing and she warned me she didn't do much upkeep down there so I pulled back the privacy towel expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised to see normalcy(Wuuhuu!!). So I'm explaining each step of the procedure, cause she's a newbie, and as I'm doing this I'm cleansing her and putting oil down for the wax. I take one of her legs to move it to the classic number 4 position and....about lost my lunch. I've heard the horror stories, but always hoped it wouldn't happen to me,alas, there on my very own bed was a stinky crotch. She was so nice too, which for some reason makes it worse. If they're bitchy or full of themselves I consider it a nice God smack, if you will. If you've never smelled that particular smell may I suggest you go out of your way to avoid it. It lingers even after the service, all day I could swear it would waft up to torture me. Do you think it's kind of like perfume? You know after you wear perfume a week or so you can no longer smell it, maybe it's just something she's used to smelling so it no longer registers. Makes one wonder about oneself doesn't it? You know this woman doesn't know she emits such a foul odor so what if you do and don't know? How will you know? I'm asking my man tonight to do a check for the sake of mankind. May I suggest you ladies also do the same, for mankind's sake of course. Estheticians Unite!!