Finishing Esthetics School

I have one week left of esthetics school.  One week!!!  It seems like a lifetime ago that I started.  I am so excited to be done and fulfill a 10 year dream! 

I am anxious to get back to regularly scheduled programming.  I have a boat load of things I have been neglecting:
- The Laundry
-The Kids Bedrooms of which I don't even want to open the door and look inside at this point
- My Entire Freaking House
- The Grocery Store
- Home Cooked Meals
- My Workouts
- My Husband
- My Friends Outside of School
- My Family

Karen

Learning Basic MakeUp Application

Last week we finished our makeup certification with Miss Nancy Jackson.  It was a fun two weeks filled with lots of makeup tips and useful tricks.  Miss Nancy brought a ton of products and lots of brushes for use to try.  Though I love makeup, I don't think I was that great at makeup application.  I think I need some work.  There were some girls that really had a natural ability to make any girl they worked with look amazing. Luckily, as the picture shows below, I was fortunate to have a girl who had a natural ability to look good regardless of my work on her.  Got to love beautiful Manal pictured on the left below.

Pretty!

We learned a ton but here are the basics I took away when applying makeup:

1.  Apply Moisturizer to allow foundation to go on smoothly
2.  Apply primer to entire face.  Don't skip!  Primer makes everything smooth and also helps makeup last longer.
3.  Apply concealer on under eyes and also on any red areas and blemishes.  Concealer can also work to highlight so focus on the center of the face to brighten for example, sides of nose and forehead.
4.  Blend in concealer with a brush.
5.  Apply an eye primer to lid and blend in.
6.  Apply eye color.  Apply a base color (a light color) on entire lid first.
7.  Apply darker color in crease and on outer third of the lid in a side "V"
8.  Make sure to blend eye colors with a blending brush so color does not look too dark, blotchy or harsh.
9.  Line eyes.  For a soft subtle look, apply shadow or pencil to lash line and under eye. Blend.
For a bolder look, use liquid liner. 

10.  Apply a subtle highlight color to brow bone.
11.  Fill in brows with pencil or powder.  Avoid matching your brows to your hair color exactly.    For blondes, go two shades darker.  For brunettes, go a shade or two lighter than hair color.
12.  Curl Lashes
13.  Apply mascara
14.  Attach Falsies with glue.  Let dry before moving on to next step.
15.  Touch up eye liner to hide any glue from false lashes
16.  Contour face using a matte brown shade.  Miss Nancy swears by "Too Faced".  Contour the side of nose, under cheeks, jaw line, and top and sides of forehead.
17.  Apply color to cheeks
18.  Apply color to lips

The end result!

 

Basic Eyebrow Shaping Steps

In school I have been working on my eyebrow shaping and waxing techniques.  I am kind of obsessed with brows.  I find myself staring at people's brows in the grocery store, at parties and at school and re-shaping or grooming them in my head. Recently, I started to shape a lot of my friends and relatives eyebrows.    Nothing can make you look younger, fresher and more put together than well groomed eyebrows.

The question I get asked the most lately when doing brows  is how eyebrows can be maintained at home in between visits.  Like you, I really get annoyed by stray hairs that crop up a few weeks after getting my eyebrows done.  If your eyebrows have already been professionally shaped it is pretty easy to maintain them at home, though nothing beats a professional groom!

Here are some guidelines to help with your at home eyebrow maintenance.

1.  Identify Your Brow Shape
Work with the shape of your eyebrow, not against it.  Do not try to recreate your brows at home.  At home it should be about clean up only!

2.  To Avoid Mistakes, Mark Vertical Guides at the Starting, Arch and End of Brow (Use Guideline Below)
It is so easy to over-pluck or accidentally pluck just one necessary, important eyebrow hair. To avoid this often made mistake, draw guides using a white eyeliner pencil.

   1.  Mark a vertical white line at start of your brow, approximately the inner tip of your nose, using a white eyeliner pencil. 
   2 & 3:  Do the Same for your arch and also the end of your brow.

3.  Using the Above Lines as  Guides, Draw a Guideline of Your Eyebrow Shape 
(See picture here)

4. Pluck Stray Hairs.
Using quality, sanitized tweezers, pluck hairs ON OR OUTSIDE of the white guideline.  Do not pluck any hairs inside of the white pencil guidelines!  Pluck in the direction of hair growth to get the entire hair.  Again, be careful not to pluck any hairs inside the white guidelines - this is your eyebrow!  

6.  Apply 1% Cortisone Cream to Calm Redness

7.  Fill in Any Blank Areas
Fill in any sparse areas with brow powder or pencil.  Personally, I like brow color to be two shades darker for light hair or gray hair, two shades lighter for brown hair.  Try to avoid to be too matchy matchy with haircolor.  Set with brow gel.

Viola!  Your done!  You look fabulous!

All the best Karen

Esthetician Interview #1

I have an esthetician interview tomorrow. I am so nervous.  I have not interviewed in a very long time. Oh lordy, I am stressed.  I am still trying to get my resume together.  I also have my final written exam at school.  I have not even started studying yet. Yikes!  I can't wait until this week is over.  I just want to eat some cheesecake.  I don't even really like cheesecake.

The Functions of Our Skin

With two weeks left to go, I started studying for our final written school test.  If you are thinking about esthetics school, I'll warn you that the esthetic chapters and theory classes are pretty boring.  Many days the clock literally stopped ticking in class.  But, going back, one of the more interesting theory chapters was about the functions of our skin.

Did you know our skin is the largest organ in the body?  Our skin has a ton of functions of the skin besides making us look good!

Our Skin is for:

Protection

Unbroken skin is a protective barrier protecting us from disease and infection.  To prevent irritation and water-loss, the skin's has a natural, built-in, barrier function.  Simply put, the barrier function helps moisturize our skin and keep irritants out.  It is made up of sebum, sweat, oil and water. Removing it is not good!  When all the oil from your skin is gone, guess what happens?  Your skin makes more oil to compensate for not having any to protect itself!   Daily stripping of oil can lead to chronic clogged pores in addition to irritation, sensitivity and dehydration.  It's a vicious cycle.  What I have learned is that part of a good daily skin care routine includes keeping your skin balanced so as to reduce or eliminate skin irritation, sensitivity and dehydration as well as protect it from the environment.

Sensation

The skin houses millions of nerve end fibers that detect stimuli and send messages to our brain so that we can feel and respond. 

Heat Regulation

Our skin adjust to warm and cool our body.  If our body is hot, we cool ourselves by sweating through our sweat glands.  If we are cold, our blood flow decreases and our vessels constrict. 

Excretion

Our sweat glands detoxify our bodies by excreting salt and unwanted toxins via sweat.

Secretion

Sebum, secreted through the sebaceous glands helps keep the skin soft, protected and hydrated.  It also lubricates the hair and slows down water evaporation.

Absorption

While absorption is limited, our skin can absorb oxygen and discharge carbon dioxide.  It can also produce Vitamin D when exposed to sun.

I think the last function of skin is the impression it gives others so take care of your skin and all of its amazing abilities!  Take care!

Karen

How to Get Glowing Skin from the Inside

I am now officially an advanced student and am working on clients in our clinic. Last night, I had the pleasure of performing a facial on male client.  Because of the beard and stache growth, a facial on a male client is very different from a facial on a female client.  It was a little intimidating at first but then I got the hang of it and adjusted to cleanse and massage in the direction of the hair growth and all was fine. :)

As estheticians, we treat the skin on the outside and can achieve great results with facials and other body treatments.  But another piece of the healthy and beautiful skin puzzle is to take care of it from the inside. In other words, you need to have inner health to have a healthy outside.  My nutritionist friend, whom I have done several cleanses with, Lisa Kristofek, owner and head nutritionist of  Fresh Squeeze Nutrition recommended the Glowing Green Smoothie by Kimberly Snyder for healthier skin and body.  After reading about it, I decided to give it a try.  It actually had me at "Glowing" but then I read on…

" This smoothie supplies you with the energy, vitamins and minerals to give your skin a youthful, sexy glow.  "Begin your day with celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder's Glowing Green Smoothie Recipe for breakfast. "My clients see a difference in their skin in a few days," says Kimberly.  "Because you're blending these greens into a liquid, it's easier to digest and the nutrients are immediately available to energize your body," she explains. While we were chatting with Kimberly, Haylie Duff texted to say that her under-eye circles went away after a few days on Kimberly's beauty detox! Amazing."

Sold!  

I am now about 30 days into 90 days of drinking the Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast.  Each morning I am blending up spinach, celery, cilantro, romaine, pear, apple, lemon juice and banana into a surprisingly tasty, very fresh smoothie packed with far more greens than I would ever normally eat.  It is quite the blending process in the morning and requires many trips to the grocery store to replenish all the fruits and veggies but I think it is worth it.  I feel energized and my skin seems to be hmmmm, how do I put this in scientific terms... Smoother???  I honestly can't figure it out but it is different.  Wait - No circles fur sure!!!  It is more glowy but the thing I notice the most is that it is noticeably less red and smoother.  One note, sometimes I mix it up a bit and add Kale instead of romaine and/or spinach!  A whoppingful of super, duper fun right?

My morning smoothie!

Here is the recipe for the Glowing Green Smoothie:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped
3-4 stalks organic celery
1/2 head of a large bunch or 3/4 of a small bunch of spinach
1 organic apple, cored and chopped
1 organic pear, cored and chopped
1 organic banana
Juice of 1/2 fresh organic lemon
Optional: 1/3 bunch organic cilantro (stems OK) and 1/3 bunch organic parsley (stems OK)

Directions

1. Add water and chopped head of romaine to blender. Blend at a low speed until smooth.
2. Add spinach, celery, apple, and pear and blend at high speed.
3. Add cilantro and parsley (which help chelate heavy metals out of your body).
4. Finish with banana and lemon.

*Makes about three 16-ounce servings.

All the best,  Karen 

What is the Difference Between Dry and Dehydrated Skin?

In Chicago today it was 5 degrees.  Awfulrrific.  

It has really been terrible both on driving and the skin!  Along with the temperature drop comes dry, tight skin.  What is going on with our skin?  Is it dry?  Is it dehydrated?  Before starting esthetics school, I thought dry and dehydrated skin were pretty much the same and that if your skin was dehydrated it meant you needed to drink more water.  Wrong. 

In class we have learned that dry and dehydrated skin have different underlying problems and need to be treated very differently.

Dry Skin:  First, Dry skin is a skin type.  It  is alipidic, meaning it lacks oil.  Dry skin is often the result of hormones and is mostly seen in mature skin.  As we age our skin produces less oil and dead skin cells do not shed as often leading to dry skin.  Healthy skin requires oil to protect and hydrate our skin.  It is very important to the health of our skin.  Without oil our skin is unable to hold in moisture.  Without oil our skin's natural barrier function (a protective barrier of  oil and sweat that protects and nourishes our skin) is damaged which not only leads to dry skin but also sensitivity and inflammation - which then lead to premature aging).  Dry skin requires oil!

What can help dry skin?

- Regular facial massage to encourage oil production .

- Using moisturizers containing occlusive ingredients that will hold moisture in and create a barrier to reduce water loss and prevent dry skin.

- Using creamy, non-foaming,  cleansers

- Using serums under moisturizer that contain water binding properties to help hold and attract moisture (for example hyaluronic acid and glycerin).

- Chemical exfoliants to help shed dead cells, promote cell renewal  and encourage product penetration. 

 Dehydrated Skin:  Dehydrated skin is a skin condition.  It lacks water.  Anyone can have dehydrated skin, including oily skin.  Dehydrated skin can be caused by the extreme weather (for example, 5 degree temps!), by the environment, by hormonal imbalances or by products we use on our skin (think foaming, harsh cleansers and alcohol based toners).  Dehydrated skin can feel tight and deflated and is often irritated (red) and sensitive.  The texture of dehydrated skin is typically rough and has fine lines due to lack of water.   Dehydrated skin requires water!

What can help Dehydrated Skin?

- Using moisturizers and serums containing humectants which are ingredients that attract water.  (for example hyaluronic acid and glycerin).   These ingredients will help hydrate the skin.

- Using mild, non foaming cleansers (avoid soap and other alkaline products!)

- Using hydrating, soothing masks to rebalance skin.

At school we have learned that the best defense against both dry and dehydrated skin is a good daily skin routine that is specific to your skin type or condition.  By using products specific for your skin type or condition on a daily basis, both dry and dehydrated skin can become balanced, healthy, glowing skin!

All the best!

Karen