Your Custom Text Here
One of my clients proudly told me she finally started wearing sunscreen everyday.
I asked her what motivated her.
She said she finally found a product that felt good on her skin.
Do you wear sunscreen everyday?
And, if you do, what brand do you prefer?
And if you don’t, why don’t you?
Wearing sunscreen is the best way to prevent aging, sunspots and skin cancer.
So, this is your friendly reminder to wear your sunscreen everyday.
Especially, in Boulder where we are.
A mile closer to the sun!!!!
I was riding my bike doing errands when I passed a sign that said, “Facial $79.49.”
Places that have low prices advertised add on for every item. But, in the end you end up potentially paying more for the same services; and, that gets under my skin (pun intended).
This dilutes the market and makes it so services that a nano-business esthetician or massage therapist is not valued.
I can do an excellent custom one hour facial for $95. That includes an enzyme exfoliant, facial massage, head massage and hand massage. I don’t charge extra for the extra TLC.
That’s my two cents! Take it or leave it.
Why support a local small business or better yet Nano-businesses?
Local businesses are more likely to utilize other local businesses such as banks, service providers, and farms.
For every $100 you spend at local businesses, $68 will stay in the community.
Independent retailers return more than three times as much money per dollar of sales to the community in which they operate than chain competitors. Independent restaurants return more than two times as much money per dollar of sales than national restaurant chains.
Small businesses employ 77 million Americans and accounted for 65% of all new jobs over the past 17 years.
Do you wash and moisturize your face every morning and night?
In the morning!
Cleanse: This is essential to keeping skin looking radiant and healthy. Cleansing the skin in the morning helps to wake you up and freshen your skin. Cleansing helps maintain proper pore size. This is because you are removing the oil and the pores are not getting as clogged.
Exfoliate: This can be as simple as using a wash cloth when you cleanse. This will remove the very top skin cells. Leave the deeper exfoliating for your facial treatments.
Serum: I always recommend a vitamin C serum in the morning for all skin types to prevent sun damage and increase collagen and elastin production.
Hydrate: Use the right moisturizer for your skin type. If you are unsure of what that is, ask your esthetician.
Protect: Use a sunscreen every morning even if you live where it is cloudy all day.
At night!
Cleanse: Cleansing your skin in the p.m. helps remove dirt, oil, sunscreen and makeup.
Treatment Product: This can be a retinol based product or a peptide serum. The retinol feeds the skin cells vitamin A which helps with anti-aging. Some peptides help anti-aging while others help with hydration.
Moisturizer: Use the appropriate moisturizer for your skin type.
Cold makes the skin DRY.
Hot makes the skin OILY.
How do you change your skin care routine when the seasons change?
How do you take care of your skin when there are 20-30 degree temperature changes in ONE day?
I customize all of my facials to what the skin needs.
At home if you are feeling like your skin is dry, you can use a moisturizing mask once per week.
If you are feeling like you are having extra breakouts, like I am... (I always get a little breakout on my jawline and forehead during the transition from winter to spring.)
First be kind to your skin and DON'T pick. Come see me instead!
If you want to treat minor breakouts at home, you can use a spot treatment on the breakout itself.
5 things that Spring weather can do to your skin. (I have two them!)
Acne breakouts.
Insect Bites
Seasonal eczema
Contact Dermatitis
Grass and Pollen Allergies
A facial can help you recover from both an ACNE breakout and DRY skin!
If you have any questions about spot treatments or moisturizing masks, please reach out or book an appointment.
What does self love mean to you?
It is a lifelong quest and its a hard practice.
Recently, I was meeting with my virtual assistant and I asked her what self love means to her.
And, she introduced me to this practice that brought tears to my eyes.
This is how she answered my question.
"When I was 18 or 19, I read a book that said the purpose of life was to learn how to love yourself. So, for years, I 'tried' to love myself. In a yoga class one time, the teacher invited us to think of something we love, cultivate that love and give it to ourselves.
Later another mentor, Katie Hendricks, taught the practice of love drops.
This is the practice:
Think of someone or something that you love without a doubt about it, with no strings attached, no baggage. Fill yourself up with that love and then drop it on yourself. Or, better yet, drop it on something you hate about yourself."
At age 7, I really wanted a spiritual practice. And, I didn't even know what that meant.
I always felt there was something else, something more, something bigger than me out there.
And at age 18, I also started reading books... buddhism and taking yoga classes as well as a meditation class. It was taught free at university at CSU.
Looking back on it, it was Buddhist. It wasn't called that... But it was focusing on your breath. Now I practice a Buddhist meditation.
My practices of self love are:
meditation and yoga
being outside
taking care of my skin
getting facials and massages
spending time with people I love and my animals
and being aware of the negative self talk
I'll be incorporating the love drop into my practice now.
Feel free to share your self love practices with me. I always love to hear what you have to say.
Please reach out and book an appointment.
As always,
Live in Beauty,
Sasha
PS Just for fun... the rest of the month of February I will be making a Chocolate Cherry facial mask! It will have dark cocoa powder which has high levels of anti-oxidants that help promote cell repair. The cherry comes from cherry kernel oil which also has anti-oxidants AND has oleic acid which improves dry skin. A couple of other ingredients I will add are Shea butter and hyaluronic acid.
I think it is interesting that all of the peels are called Chemical peels. They are made from fruit. The sugars from fruit make up the chemicals!
Chemical peels can be light, medium or deep. Differentiating between the peels depends on the ingredients and their percentage that are used. This is a method where a solution, usually and acid, is applied to the skin for a certain period of time. The solution penetrates into the upper most layers of skin creating the skin cells to peel off naturally. When you remove skin cells, the skin makes new cells.
By removing the upper layers of the epidermis you are creating small wounds that the skin repairs. By doing that, you are replacing old cells with new cells. When you slough off the old cells, it can help to remove sun damage, scarring, and fine lines. Of course, as with anything, one peel is not going to magically make everything go away.
I always use the analogy that working on your skin is like exercise for your body. The better you take care of it and the more consistent you are with getting facials and peels, the better results you will have.
There is a caveat to peeling the skin, one in Colorado in particular: most of us are outside all year round! So, that needs to be taken into consideration, if you decide you want to start receiving peel treatments. You do not want to do anything other than a light peel if you are going to be outside after.
Being an outdoor person, I will do light peels on myself and ride my bike a day later. But, I apply sunscreen every two hours.
I think that aggressive peeling can be done in short increments; but, you don’t want to be doing them all of the time.
Light peels can be “glycolic acid peels, AHA (alpha hydroxy acids) chemical peels, beta hydroxy acids, or salicylic acid chemical peels. Glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that occurs naturally in sugar cane, is the most common ingredient of light chemical peels.” -https://www.docshop.com › chemical-peel › type-light.
The www.docshop.com also says AHA chemical peels often contain:
Glycolic acid (extracted from sugar cane)
Lactic acid (extracted from milk)
Malic acid (extracted from pears and apples)
Citric acid (extracted from oranges and lemons)
Tartaric Acid ( extracted from grapes)
“A medium chemical peel removes skin cells from the epidermis and from portions of the upper part of your middle layer of skin (dermis). It's used to treat wrinkles, acne scars and uneven skin tone.” -https://www.mayoclinic.org › about › pac-20393473
Medium chemical peels often contain:
TCA (trichloroacetic acid)
Higher percentage of glycolic acid, retinol and/or salicylic acid
Pumpkin enzyme
Practicing in the scope of my license, I can’t go any deeper than medium.
Think that brushing and flossing your teeth is only good for your oral hygiene?
According to most dentists, oral health affects the appearance and health of your skin.
The bacteria that builds up in your mouth affects your skin. If you are noticing breakouts around your mouth or lower cheeks, it could be related to your teeth and gums.
Imagine if you have a cavity or gum disease, and every time you swallow, where does that go?
Do you floss?
Flossing your teeth is proven to be beneficial to your skin. It can even help prevent breast cancer and heart attacks.
If you are concerned about aging, you want to have regular dental check ups and a flossing routine.
We all know Sugar is connected to cavities. It is also connected to inflammation and affects on our Good bacteria/ Bad bacteria balance.
P. acnes, propionibacterium, the bacteria most often found in pimples is Propionibacterium acnes is “a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium present on human skin as part of the normal flora, as well as in the oral cavity, large intestine, conjunctiva, and external ear canal,” according to https://journals.asm.org › ... › Vol. 54, No. 4).
So, go to your dentist twice per year, and brush twice per day, and floss everyday. See if you notice a difference in your skin.
ADVICE. You would never take advice on your skin from your car mechanic… and vis a vis…. you would never take car advice from your esthetician. Estheticians are licensed professionals and we study skin anatomy and physiology. Having a deep understanding of this knowledge allows an esthetician to have the ability to recognize when you need to see a dermatologist, when an esthetician needs to see you, as well as optimizing your facials to best suit your skins needs.
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE. I am a product nerd and love knowing about all of the ingredients in the products I sell and use. I can recommend the best products for you to achieve your skin care goals at home.
WELLNESS AND STRESS RELEASE. All my facials include at least one stress relieving technique such as gua sha massage, lymph drainage, or led light therapy.
MEDICAL FACIALS. Microderm abrasion, micro-current, LED light, nano needling, and lymphatic drainage are all specialized medical modalities that help your skin be at its optimal health.
BEING AN EDUCATIONAL PARTNER. I continue my education so that I can pass on the most up to date research and information in the esthetics world.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE. With both services and products that fit what you as the client need, I am here to help guide you in caring for your skin. You can ask me anything about your skin. I will do my best to give informed advice.
FRIENDS FOREVER. The bond we create while you are on the table goes beyond skin care and towards self care. Allowing yourself this time to nurture your skin not only helps you look younger, it keeps you feeling younger as stress and worry falls away. Our connection is important to me.
As a holistic skin therapist, I am always looking for modalities and products that help your body, skin, and face work at its optimal level in producing collagen and elastin.
This is why I chose my new piece of equipment.
The LED Light combined with the radio frequency help to firm up tissue.
Deep relaxation helps alleviate the stress of our modern world. Which in turn, helps to slow down the aging process.
Low grade everyday stress does cause the body to produce a stress hormone called cortisol. The body produces this as a natural response to stress.
Unfortunately, elevated levels of cortisol can cause aging of the skin such as fine lines and reduced immunity in the skin.
Not only am I using this modality, I also have created a very relaxing facial. Check out the video below to see what I have created for all of you.
I love creating new facials to keep your skin looking fresh and your cortisol levels low.
What is LED Light Therapy?
I use a skin safe, professional grade LED that also does radio frequency and ultrasound.
This low level light uses different colors and wavelengths to enter the skin at different depths.
Benefits of LED Light Therapy:
Eases fine lines
Makes the skin softer
Stimulates skin cells called fibroblasts which help make collagen
Collagen is important for healing wounds and keeps our skin bouncy and youthful looking
Eases inflammation and redness
Helps with acne
Can help with pigmentation
I am grateful for the view from my office!
The view from my office!
Read more