Have You Told Your Mother How Much You Love Her?

I wanted to take the time to wish all of the Moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day. In my opinion, we should celebrate our moms every day. Just to show how extra special they are, moms get their own official day of celebration every year. Moms, you deserve to be showered with all of the cards, gifts and champagne brunches your kids are hopefully taking you out to today.

Just incase you were curious, this is how Wikipedia defines Mother's Day: Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March or May. It complements Father's Day, a similar celebration honoring fathers.

We would be nothing without our moms! If you live near your Mom, be sure to give her extra hugs and kisses today. If you don't live close, pick up the phone and remind her how much you love her.

My New Job Rocks!

This pretty much sums it up!

I've been at my new job, working as the Assistant Marketing Manager for SkinSpirit Skincare Clinic and Spa for the past three weeks. I can honestly say that I never thought I could love a job as much as I love this job. It's so much fun. There's never a dual moment. I've been incredibly busy and have been learning so much.

Here's a quick breakdown of what I've been up to in the new position over the last three weeks:

• Visited all three of our locations multiple times: Palo Alto, Walnut Creek and Mill Valley.
• Received laser hair removal on my underarms (twice) and bikini area (once)
• Received a SkinSpirit Signature Facial. This was my first medical grade facial and my first time receiving microdermabrasion. My skin feels amazing!
• Had one-on-one training with our SkinMedica/Latisse brand rep. I scored some product and get to go on Latisse this coming week. Stay tuned for before/after pictures and a detailed blog post.
• Helped create a Marketing Planning Calendar for the rest of 2013. It feels good to be organized and know what we have coming up each month.
• Organized each of our location's Facebook Pages. "Like" our Facebook Pages for Palo Alto, Walnut Creek and Mill Valley.
• Organized each of our Google+ Pages. Check out our Google+ Pages for Palo Alto, Walnut Creek and Mill Valley.
• Claimed all three of our locations on the Foursquare app and created a SkinSpirit chain since we have multiple locations. I didn't realize how many people were on Foursquare. This app is quite addicting!
• Created and launched a Check-In Offer on Yelp and Foursquare. The first 10 clients who check-in on either Yelp or Foursquare and show the admins at the front desk their proof of check-in receive an awesome goodie bag.
• Created an Instagram account for SkinSpirt. Find and follow us at @SkinSpirit.
• Took over the Twitter account. I'm now managing the account, engaging with our followers on a daily basis and scheduling a lot of fun tweets. Check us out on Twitter at @SkinSpirit
• Watched A LOT of training webinars from all of our partners and vendors. My brain hurts by the end of the day because it's so full of great ideas I want to implement!
• Researched and created an upcoming Facebook Page campaign that I'm getting ready to launch. Just putting the final touches on it this week. Stay tuned for details.
• Finished and passed two more Social Media Marketing classes at SFSU.
• Not to mention countless meetings with staff members, management, vendors and contractors-oh my!

Most importantly, I finally got a brand new cellphone that doesn't need to be plugged in each time I need to use it!! I never realized just how much I use my phone during the day until it started to die on me. I've finally upgraded from an iPhone 3GS to an iPhone 5. Get ready for amazing picture quality!

I've been a busy AND productive lady. Slowly, I've been checking off some big items from my To-Do List. Pretty soon, I'll be able to pick up even more tasks and expand my position. I'm really excited that I get to design my job to be whatever I want it to be. I even get to skip some of the nasty commute from Tracy to the Bay Area thanks to being able to work from home a couple of days a week. I find that the days I work from home, I work even more than I would if I were working in the office. There's not as many distractions at home as there are in an office. Plus, those four hours I would've spent in the car are spent working instead!

This week I'm going to finally tackle the company's blog and focus on writing posts. I have a long list of subjects I plan on covering over the next several weeks, a lot of them are common questions from clients. 

Do you have any medical spa, service, equipment or product questions that you'd like to have answered? Leave your burning questions in a comment below and who knows...your question might very well be a future SkinSpirit blog post.

I Can Always Rely on Bella Nails & Spa

Image Source: www.flickr.com/photos/foxybelle

Even though I still haven't found my perfect mani/pedi here in Tracy, there's only one place I've gone back to more than once...Bella Nails & Spa. This place isn't perfect, but it has never let me down. At least not enough to never want to come back.

There are a few things that work in this salon's favor for me:

• I've never had to wait longer than five minutes to get a mani/pedi service started.
• It's a three minute drive from my house.
• Prices are reasonable. I paid $30 for a basic mani/pedi today.
• This place has a 4 out of 5 star on Yelp.
• There's plenty of parking. Well, it's Tracy. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of parking anywhere here.

Today I went in for a basic mani/pedi. It had been over two weeks since my last service. I didn't want to go back to the other place, so I decided to come back here since it was so close to home. My experience today was on par with all of the other experiences I've had at this salon previously. I received a quick, efficient, basic manicure and pedicure service for under $40, including tip. It's no surprise that this place is always busy every time I come in.

As for sanitation, I like how the tools used on me during the service always come out of a sealed bag. This leads me to believe that they've been cleaned and sanitized. Once the service is complete, the tools don't get stored in the station's cubby. They get brought to the back, hopefully to be cleaned and sanitized once again for a future client.

All of the manicure stations had licenses posted. I did notice that one of the licenses expired in December 2012. Whoopsie. I hope it wasn't the license of the manicurist doing my service. I wouldn't have had any way of knowing either. She introduced herself by asking me to pick out a color (of course I already had my own color) and never gave me her name. She didn't utter a word to me during the entire manicure and pedicure service. The lack of conversation certainly wasn't a deal breaker for me. I came in with a book and was happy to stick my nose in it the entire time.

The overall service was good. I was in and out within 45 minutes. I did feel a tad bit rushed once the pedicure ended and the manicure began. A few hours after I left the salon, I noticed that one of my nails hadn't quite been painted all the way on one side. Oh well. You get what you pay for.

I'm still bummed that all of the salons I've received a basic mani/pedi at here in Tracy don't come with any fun extras. There's no scrub, no warm towels, the massages are mediocre at best and everyone uses those dang pedicure sinks that never get properly flushed out or cleansed in-between clients like they should. There's always a sense of urgency during the service, even if the salon isn't busy. So far I've found that if I want to get the perfect mani/pedi service I'm used to, I have to drive all the way to San Francisco to The Beauty Company.

What's Your Greatest Strength and Biggest Weakness?

Are you ready for your interview?

I think the toughest thing for me in any job interview is having to talk about myself. I'm pretty comfortable with talking about myself to my own friends and family members. Who isn't? It can be challenging when you're trying to convince someone you don''t know why they should give you the job over someone else. It can be even tougher when trying to convince an interviewer how awesome and skilled you are when you're in the midst of making a career change.

Job interviews are stressful, no matter how you dice it. Half the battle is being prepared. Once you've done your research on the company you're interviewing with and the position you're interviewing for, it's important to think about the types of questions you could be asked during the interview. You don't want to memorize your answers, but you should have an idea on how you would answer certain questions, before the interview.

One of my favorite questions to ask job candidates during an interview is:

What is your greatest strength? What's your greatest weakness?

Your greatest strengths should consist of skills and previous job experiences you have that qualify you for the position you're interviewing for. This is your chance to shine in the interview and tell them how amazing of an employee you are.

Your greatest weaknesses should showcase skills you've improved upon in either your current or previous job. You could also discuss how you managed to turn a negative situation into a positive one. Always focus on the positive during an interview. You want to show the interviewer how you are able to save the day with your positive solutions and forward-focused thinking!

When I went from bartending to working for Sephora, I didn't have any professional beauty industry experience other than my four months in beauty school. My lack of professional experience was a weakness. How was I going to convince this huge corporation that I would be an amazing Beauty Advisor? I made a list of tasks and skill sets that I had acquired from bartending and applied them to the Beauty Advisor position. Turns out I already had a number of strengths from bartending that qualified me to be a Beauty Advisor. I came up with three key areas that I would focus on during my interview: sales, customer service and flexibility.

Sales
I knew being a Beauty Advisor would involve sales. I would be paid to talk to clients all day long, answering questions about products and helping them place their order over the phone. No problem! As a bartender, I was responsible for selling drinks all night long. The more drinks I sold, the more tips I'd make. I learned and perfected the art of up-selling a drink to anyone who sat at my bar, which ultimately translated into higher sales in the register and more tips in my tip jar.

Customer Service
Proving my customer service skills was easy. It doesn't matter what industry you're in, customer service is customer service. Being a bartender for eight years, I was in the people business. I learned how to have a conversation with anyone who was drunk or sober. I figured out how to handle sticky situations with intoxicated customers like a pro. My personality helped me build up a repeat clientele in the bars I worked at. My patience level helped me keep my cool when dealing with some of the crazies that would come in every now and then.

Flexibility
Since the Beauty Advisor position was designed to be a seasonal position, I had to be very flexible with my schedule. That meant being able to adapt to whatever start time they might need me to work: 5am, 6am, 7:30am or 11am. It also meant being willing to work weekends and holidays. This wasn't a problem for me. When you bartend, there are no holidays or weekends. There also aren't any sick days or paid vacations. I was already used to not having Saturdays and Sundays off and I almost always had to work on holidays, even Christmas.

Even though I lacked professional experience in the beauty industry, it didn't mean that I wasn't qualified to be a Beauty Advisor. I was able to show the good folks at Sephora that even though I was fresh out of beauty school, my passion for the industry along with my experience as a bartender for the past eight years would make me a great asset to their team. Guess who got the Beauty Advisor position?

Next interview question I like to ask: Why Should We Hire You?

My First Medical Grade Facial

The SkinSpirit Signature Facial From Cheryl

There are nice, fluffy and relaxing facials. Then there are medical-grade facials that really get into the skin and take care of business. This week, I was the lucky recipient of a SkinSpirit Signature Facial from Cheryl. This was my first time ever receiving a medi-spa facial. It was also my first time ever having microdermabrasion. The exfoliant junkie in me was super excited to learn that the SkinSpirit Signature Facial includes microdermabrasion during the service.

What is microdermabrasion? Microdermabrasion is a physical exfoliation that helps repair the skin's surface from sun damage, acne, scars and unwanted signs of aging by vacuuming up all of the dead skin cells from the outer layer of the skin, the epidermis. Microdermabrasion not only gets rid of the dead skin cells on the skin's surface, but also promotes the growth of new, healthy skin cells while leaving the skin smooth. This treatment is best performed by a trained, licensed esthetician.

My time in Cheryl's treatment room was spent tucked into her warm and cozy table while she worked to revitalize my tired looking, sun damaged skin. I spent the next seventy-five minutes having my face cleansed, a full session of microdermabrasion all over my face and decollete, a warm, enzyme exfoliant and mask, a round of much needed extractions and an extensive and amazing arm and neck massage. The treatment ended with the application of finishing products, including a moisturizing sunscreen. She even sent me home with a deluxe-sized sample of sunscreen to try: SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50.

Cheryl certainly has the magic touch! My treatment left me in a facial-drunk daze. My skin looked radiant immediately after my service. I couldn't believe how soft my skin felt, even after two days of receiving the facial.

All of the facials offered at SkinSpirit are designed by Dr. Vistnes to address all different skin types and conditions. I love that each and every facial is customized for each client's skin. When it comes to facials, one size does not fit all. Everybody's skin is different with unique skin conditions. At SkinSpirit, your current skin type and condition will dictate the type of facial treatment you'll receive and the products that will be used during the service.

Being a licensed esthetician over the last couple of years, I've had my fair share of facials. I had several different types of facials while I was in beauty school from my classmates. I've experienced plenty of soothing and relaxing facials in five-star spas performed by a variety of talented estheticians. But getting a medical-grade facial from Cheryl at SkinSpirit was "the cherry on top of a sundae" kind of a facial. These treatments are medical-grade facials specifically tailored to your skin and designed to give you results, all while being treated in a calm, soothing and serene environment. These treatments certainly take care of business on the skin, but they're also extremely relaxing during the process.

What is the REAL Deal With Rodan + Fields?

Who is Rodan + Fields?

Over the last year or so, I've been receiving numerous emails and messages through my Facebook Page from different people wanting to talk to me about a lucrative business opportunity with Rodan + Fields. At first, I just ignored these messages. I receive messages from people all the time, wanting to sell me their latest and greatest skincare product line, in hopes of having their products featured on my blog. I don't tune it all out though. I do keep my eyes and ears open for the really interesting and fun stuff, but nothing is a bigger turn-off than a hard, cold sell.

The emails I've received about the "incredible opportunity" with Rodan + Fields have felt pretty pushy. They always come from different people, asking if I'd be interested in partnering up with them to sell this amazing clinical skincare brand. I'm EXTREMELY picky about the products I add to my own home skincare routine. I think everyone should be. What works for one might not work for all. Half the battle of achieving good skin is about finding the right products and ingredients that work for your own skin. That's why when I find a product or product line that I love and helps me achieve gorgeous skin, I stick by it and talk about it on my blog. I'm really unlikely to buy a skincare product I've only read about online and have been pitched to multiple times by multiple people about.

Even though I've ignored all of the emails and messages I've received regarding the Rodan + Fields business opportunities, I decided to do a little investigating on my own. What was this company all about? What's the deal with their products? Why were so many people wanting me to work with them? Was I missing out on a great opportunity or even worse, was this a scam?

Turns out Rodan + Fields is a legitimate business. In 2002, two Bay Area practicing dermatologists, Katie Rodan, MD and Kathy Fields, MD, decided to partner up and start a clinical skincare brand. Between these two ladies, their credentials include being Stanford-trained professors, practicing dermatologists, board-certified and creators of Proactiv, an acne treatment system sold exclusively through infomercials. Creating a skincare product line seemed like the natural next step for these two women to do. Rodan + Fields was originally sold in department stores. In 2009, they took the skincare line out of stores and turned the business into a direct selling company. This meant that instead of the stores doing all of the selling, they'd have independent consultants do the selling for them.

All of the emails I've received over the last year have been from independent consultants wanting to either sell me products or become a partner with them so that I could sell products to people in my own Circle of Influence. Either way, the independent consultants would receive a commission off of anything I'd buy or anything I'd sell. Of course Rodan + Fields would take their cut from all of the business transactions from both parties, including the actual product sales. At first, I wondered why a company would pull their product out of stores if their line had been selling so successfully. Then I realized that the cost of selling the product line in department stores was probably a whole lot more expensive than having independent consultants who work on a commission base sell the product for them. What a smart business model! Rodan + Fields is really no different than companies like Avon, Herbalife, Mary Kay, Amway, The Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Nerium and Isagenix. The only thing that is different is the product they're selling.

Okay, okay, so what about the products? Rodan + Fields considers their product line to be a clinical skincare brand. There are seven different categories within the brand: Redefine (for fine lines, wrinkles and pores), Reverse (for brown spots and sun damage), Unblemish (their solution to acne), Soothe (for sensitive skin types), Enhancements (includes scrubs and peptides), Essentials (where all of their miscellaneous items live such as body lotion, body sunscreen, sunless tanning lotion, lip treatments and supplements) and AMD MD, which looks like a mechanical exfoliating tool. All of the products "combine pharmaceutical ingredients with active cosmetics in aesthetically elegant vehicles." Definition: super charged products loaded with active ingredients in pretty packaging. Plus, all of the "systems" are packaged in 60-day quantities because we all know that any skincare regime doesn't start to show any effects unless the products are used consistently for at least four to six weeks.

This company was really interesting to research online. Anytime I thought I'd come across an article talking about how Rodan + Fields was a scam or a pyramid scheme, the article would end up being a sales pitch for a multi-level marketing company. Most of these type of articles would defend Rodan + Fields for not being a scam and then offer to sell their "secret" on how to be a successful, independent consultant for the company.  It's extremely clever marketing on the MLM company's part. These MLM companies knew that people thinking about becoming an independent consultant for Rodan + Fields might do a Google search for "Rodan + Fields" or even "Rodan + Fields scam." What better way to advertise your marketing services to the very people who are looking to getting into marketing their own business as an independent consultant?

I did check out a few reviews online for a some of the products in the line. The general consensus I found online was that either people really loved these products or they really hated them. For the haters, they consistently stated that the products they used left their skin in a worse state than what their skin was before they started using them. I also stumbled upon a controversy about the actual ingredients being used in some of the products and a debate on whether or not these products had been tested on animals. According to PETA, they don't.

I have never used any of the Rodan + Fields products on my own skin. If you're thinking about trying these products, treat it as you would with any other skincare purchase. Do your research. Find out if these products would work well with your skin and treat the skin conditions you're concerned about. Don't be afraid to ask for samples. Always try a product before buying it.

My recommendation? If you're treating something as complex as hyperpigmentation, acne or Rosecea, ALWAYS seek the advice of a licensed esthetician and/or dermatologist FIRST before prescribing skincare products and treating these conditions on your own. Always take the advice of a licensed professional over any salesperson or independent consultant who's looking to make a commission off of anything you buy.

Want to Win a Dermalogica Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum?

as seen on Dermalogica.com

Fun Skin Fact: Did you know that the skin around your eye area is the thinnest layer of skin on your face? This is why it's so important to be extra careful when applying any sort of products in this area. You should always use the least amount of pressure in this area of the face by applying products with your ring finger.

If you are a sensitive skin type, your eyes probably water a lot more than most. This can make wearing any sort of eye makeup and treating annoying conditions like fine lines and dark circles really challenging. There's good news for all of the sensitive skin types out there! Dermalogica recently launched the newest member of their UltraCalming product family, the Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum. This serum helps stimulate collagen and firm the skin in the eye area, targets dark circles and gets rid of eye puffiness with powerful ingredients like brown and red algae, golden chamomile, vitamin c, oat kernel extract, hyaluronic acid and the UltraCalming Complex.

To use the Ultramoothing Eye Serum, you'll want to start by cleansing the area first. Then gently smooth the serum all over the eye area. For an added benefit, the Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum can be layered underneath any eye cream.

Excited to try the brand new Dermalogica Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum? The product retails at Dermalogica for $50 OR you can enter to win one for free through my giveaway this week. Click here for your chance to win a full-size Dermalogica Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum.

Good Luck!