Confessions of an Esti: Confession 2

Confession Two:

Hi my name is Heather I am an esthetician and I struggle with washing my face daily. *gasp* This is truly a daily struggle for me, this is where practice what you preach comes to play. The thing is I'm tired!

Like most of america we love to work work all week long. I have two jobs that are both very demanding of me at times then I go home and I have obligations to family, I have friends who want to hang out, and I try to balance work and a social life. By the time I'm home and staying home I can barely get myself to change out of my work clothes let alone wash my face! When I was in school to become an esthetician I had facials, chemical peels, waxing, microdermabrasion every week and I had no troubles washing my face every day. I had healthy, beautiful, glowing skin! I thought I was blessed with great skin and I was going to help others do the same.

I then started working and the real world out of beauty school started. I come home from long days haven't seen my house since 8:00 am and it's now 10:00 pm and I tell myself I'll just skip it this one time. Now I don't want you thinking that I go weeks without washing my face because that is not the case, but I become very inconsistent when life gets hectic.

The REASON for this confession: I am human. I get when clients say life is busy and the last thing they want is to wash their face at night. I just like you feel the same way but here's the catch.. I thought that I was "blessed" with beautiful skin the fact was that I just always took good care of it. The second I stopped being consistent in my skin care routine I had acne, I had pigmentation spots from inflamation in my skin, I had comedones, I had white heads and then I lost it! 

• Your skin is exposed to dirt, debris, and pollution daily even if you don't leave your house
• Your skin daily produces oils/sebum 
• Your skin also produces new keratinocytes and dead skin cells regularly

If you do not wash your skin daily all of this builds up which can cause break outs, enlarged pores, even weight down the skin causing loss of elasticity and progressing the signs of fine lines and wrinkles

The Solution: For me I am a licensed and certified skin care professional and I needed to get my act together in order to be taken seriously to clients and everyone around me, for you it might be the fact that you just should not have "dirty" skin.

Step one: Commit to your skin care! Vow to having healthy skin! I have a "door rule" I do not walk out the door of the bathroom till I've completed everything I need to do to get ready for work or bed. I used to wander around or do everything out of sequence. Now if I brush my teeth I need to grab my face wash too because it's just as important

Step two: Even if you don't have time to put on all your serums or treatment masks at least cleanse and rehydrate your skin. I will always wipe off my make up, suds up my face, then seal it all in with a rebalancing cream.

Step three: If your routine is truly overwhelming for you and you are the type of person who needs 3 steps or less in your routine talk to your esthetician ask them what is the most important products for your routine. We are here to help you improve your skin and if you are not comfortable with your home regimen or just do not know what to do we will make subtle changes till you are!

Here's to clean faces, healthy skin, and embracing your natural beauty!

Your favorite esti, here to preserve and protect your skin,

xo Heather

Confession of an Esti: Welcome & Confession 1

Hello!

First things first, thank you so much for wandering on to my page! I appreciate it rather you clicked a link on it through my facebook, instagram, or just happen stance I  thank you!

Now for introductions, I am a young esthetician who is fairly fresh in my career and decided that a blog would be the best way to connect with you sharing tips, my own personal experiences in my skin care journey, and mistakes I make and learn from everyday even as a licensed professional!

Confession One:

Hi my name is Heather I am an esthetician and I used to be a tan-a-holic.  It is only fitting that since this is the number one "Skin Sin" that it be my first confession. I would like to recall back to 4 years ago specifically, my daily sun routine was: from 12:00pm- 3:00pm I would go lather myself up with oil and "layout" in the sun, I then would shower go to my nearest indoor tanning facility and bake myself in a bed for a minimum of 8 minutes and top it off with a level 3 spray tan with a added bronzer. This may seem like an exaggeration but this was truly my life. I have pictures to prove it. I was a Jersey Shore wanna be obsessed with being a bronzed goddess. At times I would get comments like "Is that color even humanly possible" to "Your the same color as the hawaiian tropics bottle" which coincidentally enough was my goal color. I was proud I thought I looked good!  Heck I even did a presentation in high school that beauty is pain and it was worth the melanoma to be "tan and hot"!    (Pause now for the face palm...) 

It took me doing this for years to actually get the brains to stop. Honestly it was probably a year before I went to school to be an esthetician that I finally cancelled my i-cough-tan membership.

The REASON for this confession: I truly understand everyone's love and obsession with being tan, bronzed, and golden! Not only as a recovering tanning addict but as a San Diego, California native! We walk around thinking we were born in the sun and as long as our burn turns to a tan in a few days who really cares lets suffer through the little discomfort to be brown for the season! Here's the thing whether you are Irish, Polynesian, African-American, Puerto Rican, Scottish, Persian, Chinese, or any other ethnicity; born and raised in Sunny California or Rainy Washington, YOU NEED SUNSCREEN! #thestruggleisreal

• 80% of aging comes from sun damage
• You can receive sun damage indoors through windows
• 1 in 5 Americans will have skin cancer
• 59% of Women know to wear sunscreen regularly but only 30% do
• The wrinkles you see when your 40 is from damage you did when you were in your teens

The Solution: For me being a "Some-what-vain California Girl" the idea of looking like a leather couch was enough to get me to want to quit the tanning life and do something healthier for myself.  For you it maybe something different, but just because you start making healthy "sun choices" doesn't mean you can't be a bronzed goddess. 

Step one: Start wearing a broad-spectrum (UVA/UVB protection) sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 30. My personal favorite is "physical" sunscreens with zinc

Tip: physical sunscreens deflect sun with minerals best way to know if its a physical sunscreen is if the first two ingredients are either zinc or titanium oxide. If not its a chemical sunscreen and needs to be applied 30 minutes before sunexposure

Step two: Spray/Airbrush tan! If you love that tan look spray tans can give you that effect! Shop around find someone you love to airbrush for you or a place with a nice booth. It may take a few times to find the right place or fit so don't get discouraged. Once you find it you will love it and your skin will too!

Step three: BRONZER! I use bronzer every day of my life! The best part is I control it. It adds color and shape to my face making me feel like a sun kissed goddess every day.

Spend this summer having fun, but having healthy glowing skin!

Here to preserve and protect your skin!
Your favorite Esti,
Heather