Last Day on the Floor (At School)

Tomorrow will be my last day on the floor, taking clients at school. It feels like it was only yesterday that we were going on the floor for the first time to take clients. I remember the day before we went on the floor for the first time. I cried in front of my instructor because I didn't feel like I was ready. The truth is, no one is ever really ready. You just have to jump in and do it. You learn and improve your skills along the way.

The fact that tomorrow will be my last day on the floor is bittersweet news for me. On one note, this means that my graduation from school is right around the corner. After graduation will follow the State Board exam. Once I pass State Board, then I can work in the real world as a real-life esthetician.

On another note, I'm really going to miss school. I really enjoyed all of my 600+ hours at SFIEC. I tried to take advantage of every opportunity that came my way in school and took as many extracurricular classes as my schedule could hold. Seeing clients on the floor was certainly one of the highlights in my program. I enjoyed it so much that I even stayed an extra night each week just so I could see more clients and get more practice.

In school, it was very probable that we would have back-to-back clients every afternoon. That meant two 75-minute facials in a row without a break. On Saturdays, there could be four facials with a half-hour to 45-minute lunch in-between. It was hard work, but I loved every minute of it. Incredible practice for the real world.

Taking clients on the floor has taught me to be more confident in myself. This experience has reassured me that I picked the right career. I even managed to take my already existent multitasking skills from bartending all of these years and improved on them. I learned that if I really believe in a product, I can sell the crap out of it. All of these things deeming themselves to be incredibly resume worthy.

So here I am, fifty or so facials later, I am ready for the next chapter in my professional life.

(Video) Makeup 101: Basic Smokey Eye

This was my project for a networking event at school tonight. At first I felt weird about it because its not very comfortable watching yourself on video, especially without a lick of makeup on. But as the night progressed, people kept commenting on how much they liked the video. Most of them strongly encouraged me to post it on YouTube.

So here it is for your viewing pleasure, on YouTube:




With Kevyn Aucoin as my inspiration, I recreate the classic smokey eye and nude lip look in eight easy steps.

Video Contest: Vote For Me!!!

Dermalogica is hosting a contest where the grand prize is free Dermalogica products for a year. I just submitted my entry and now it's available on the Dermalogica website for your viewing and voting.

Click HERE to see the Five Reasons Why I Love Dermalogica.

And please don't forget to vote.

State Board Test Date

It's official. I got the notice from State Board in the mail yesterday. My test date is Tuesday, September 14th. That's only one month away. That means I'll be officially graduating from school in two weeks.

Having the State Board test date makes this all very real for me now. It's time for me to put everything I've learned in school into action. Time to turn this dream into a reality.

The Five-Star Facial

As part of our 600-hour esthetics program at school, we get to experience a five-star facial at a local, luxury spa before we graduate. The idea behind the experience is how are we to deliver a five-star facial to clients if we have never experienced one ourselves? Makes perfect sense to me. It's also another reason why I love going to school at SFIEC.

The five-star facials for our class took place at the Nob Hill Spa located in the Huntington Hotel. Upon arrival and check-in, I was escorted to the changing room where I was given a locker to store my belongings and a fluffy robe and flip fops to change into. Since I was early for my appointment, I waited poolside for my esthetician to call my name. I wished I had brought a swimsuit. The pool was indoors and looked refreshing, even on an overcast San Francisco day.

Once my esthetician had called my name, she lead me to a dark and cozy room lit and scented by candles. I hopped into the coziest bed ever. It was warm and fluffy. The bed alone could have put me to sleep. I fought the sleepiness and tried my best to stay present for the facial.

The facial began with a quick consultation. The esthetician told me what she saw regarding my skin type, skin conditions and then discussed the type of treatment she was going to give me. After the consultation, the cleansing began. It didn't even feel like a cleanse because the esthetician had incorporated smooth, massage-like moves through the entire routine. I have given my fair share of facials at school (around 50 or so), but my facial cleansing was no where near as fluid as hers. I could tell with just the cleanse alone that she was a true professional and had been doing this for awhile.

Once the cleanse was complete, then came the exfoliation and steam along with a wonderful shoulder and neck massage. After the massage, there was a mini hand treatment where for the rest of the facial, my hands got to rest in warm mitts.

It made such a huge difference that it was only the esthetician and I in the room and that all of her equipment and supplies were nearby. At school, we have to share our facial treatment room with five other beds. That's a total of six students, six clients and a Learning Leader. All of the products that are used during the treatments are located at the back bar. Before we even start the actual treatment, we have to have our Learning Leaders check in with us and our clients to make sure we are prescribing the proper treatment and product usage for our clients. During my five-star facial, there were no other people in the room with us, there was no leaving me bedside to grab product or equipment and there was no Learning leader to check in before our treatment. The lack of interruptions made it really hard not to fall asleep and provided for a very fluid facial.

After exfoliation came the extractions. I had never had extractions before. I have watched other people give extractions many times and have even given clients extractions myself, but have never gotten to experience them on my own face. Let me tell you they are as painful as they look. Think about it. Even though your skin is warm and your pores are open from the steam, it's still quite uncomfortable having someone squeeze excess debris from the little pores on your skin. Extractions are sometimes a bittersweet necessity during a facial. How else are you going to release the debris from the pores without a little pressure?

The rest of the facial was amazing. The mask with a facial massage almost knocked me out. I could hear myself deep breathing, but was still alert enough to experience the rest of the facial.

I left the facial extremely relaxed and a bit dazed from the treatment-just exactly how I should feel after a five-star facial. Of course sixty minutes is never enough. After any facial, you're always left wanting more. Now I need to hurry up and graduate so I can start making some real money and experience more five-star facials.

Tough Cookie

Sometimes, it doesn't matter how hard you try. You can't always win over every single client. I know this firsthand from bartending for the past seven years. There will be customers that love you. Then there will be customers who just want to come in and complain. No matter what you do, it wont be right and they wont be happy. As long as you did your best to please them, you can't take it personal when they still aren't happy. Some people are just unhappy and very hard to please.

With being an esthetician, you can give a client your best service with the most caring touch, but if they come into the service with a negative attitude and outside baggage, you can't take it personal when you're unable to turn them around. I had the fortunate experience of revisiting this concept last week.

My "tough cookie" client seemed relatively happy during her initial consultation. We discussed her home skincare routine, the types of products she prefers and what she was looking to get out of her facial with me. Then right before I walked her back to the treatment room, she told me blatantly, with a straight-matter-of-fact-face that someone very close to her had passed away recently and to not be alarmed if she started to cry during the service. I told her that I was sorry for her loss and ensured her that I would give her a relaxing experience.

From the moment I tucked my client into her bed, she gave me a run for my money. She didn't like being tucked in. She didn't want to keep her eyes closed. She wanted me to explain to her step-by-step everything I was doing during the service. She hated the gauze being on her face for a mask I was putting on her. Midway through applying the mask, she told me that the mask I was using smelled dirty and that she didn't like it. I quickly removed the mask and applied one that didn't require gauze and had a different smell. She then wanted to know every single ingredient that was in the mask I was using. When I told her that I wasn't sure what the ingredients were, she snapped at me telling me that it was my job to know. So I pulled out my product book and read to her word-for-word every single ingredient listed for the mask. I couldn't even get her to relax during the massage portion of the service because she was coaching me on my pressure. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate feedback, especially being a student. But it seemed like no matter what I did for this woman during her service, she was unhappy and had no problem telling me so.

Towards the end of the service, Tough Cookie told me that I would have to finish quickly because she had to use the restroom. I barely had a chance to finish applying the finishing products before she leaped out of the bed without waiting for me to unwrap her and take out her chest towel.

I couldn't help but feel completely defeated. No matter what I did for this woman, I felt like there was just no pleasing her and that I had failed to win her over. All I wanted to do was give her an amazing service, especially after she had told me about her recent loss.

As I was setting up for my next client, I told my instructor what had happened with Tough Cookie. I was miserable that I hadn't won her over. She told me not to take it personal. Sometimes people just don't want to be won over. The lesson I needed to take from this experience is that I need to make my skin a little tougher and not to take it so personal if a client doesn't respond positively to my service. I tried the best I could and that was all I could do.

Later on in the day I had gotten some really good news. Apparently, Tough Cookie was raving about me, my touch and how happy she was with my service to a fellow student. She even flagged down my instructor just to tell her how good of a job I did. Turns out I had won over Tough Cookie after all.

Mission accomplished.

Makeup Class-Muse Beauty: Pro Basic Workshop

Today was Day One of the two-day Muse Beauty Pro Basic Workshop. I love it. LOVE IT!! I'm the type of person that loves learning new things. I love being in school. I have to take a bunch of notes. There is something about being in a makeup class that really inspires me. It has been in the back of my mind since high school that I wanted to do something in makeup, whether it be putting it on other people for a living or getting really good at putting it on myself. I never really knew how to get into the makeup industry. Finally over 15 years later and now that I'm going through beauty school, I am learning how to work with makeup and quite possibly be able to turn it into a career.

The Pro Basic Workshop is a great introduction to makeup and a basic makeup application class. I don't feel lost, but am still quite challenged in this class. We started out this morning learning about careers in the makeup industry, types of brushes, face shapes, eye shapes, designing eyebrows and a hands-on basic makeup application. Awesome!! Not only is the information we're learning in the class interesting, but its cool that we get to apply the techniques we learn in class on a live model immediately. The class is small so there is a lot of one-on-on time with the instructors. Having a professional MUA standing over your shoulder giving you honest feedback is invaluable and not the least bit intimidating.

Tomorrow, we'll be covering color theory and expanding beyond our basic look on our live models.

My passion and confidence grows with each makeup class I take. Maybe one day I will feel confident enough to call myself a professional makeup artist. Until then, I will keep practicing on anything with two eyes.