What's the point?

I was working today with a client that I have known for years, a wonderful lady from Germany.  She brought a picture from her last hair cut and said with a strong accent, "Remember this is what we are going for."  Wonderful, I know exactly what we are going to do.  I have laid the groundwork to get her to this hair cut in the previous months.  Today will be a trim.  I execute the cut, and she leaves very happy.

                      

Rewind 12 weeks, same client different story.  She comes in wanting a perm and cut.  I have permed this guest’s hair several times, and I ask what she is thinking for this time.  I hear her respond, "I want it more wild, and soft curls."  I agree this will look great.  I look at the "formula" that we used last time, and make the decision to use a perm rod that is bigger than the one we used before, to make this "soft" look.  Perm is done, hair cut is finished, and I say, "This is great, it's softer for you, and it’s what you said you wanted."  To this, my lovely client gives me a funny look- I said, "You did say softer, but more wild...right?"  She responds, "No, I wanted a tighter, wilder curl, not softer and looser.  I hope this works."

Right away I know I made a huge mistake.  I thought I was communicating with my client, I wasn't.  I heard her say more wild- but she said tighter.  The accent could have thrown me off, but I didn't reiterate what I thought she wanted.  I ended up having to re-perm her, thankfully she knows me and trusted that this was "miscommunication" and not lack of skill.  I did get it right the second time. 

My point here is, no matter how long I have been doing hair, the most important part- the one thing I need to refine and work on every day, work or home, is communication.  I strive to build my career and my relationships based on great communication. I can give a great hair cut, but if it's not the one you really wanted, it doesn't matter if it's technically perfect. 

Holiday Open House!

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What is a glycolic peel?

If we could only look this good forever!

I was at work this morning and saw one of my regular glycolic peel clients.  When we finished and she left our receptionist asked, "what does a glycolic peel do?".  I explained very briefly that a "peel" removes the dead skin cells, helping your skin look younger.  She then said, "how come more people don't do this?".  

When we are young, our skin regenerates rather quickly, every two to three weeks on the epidermal level.  As we age and our skin is abused with our day to day living (such as sun, stress, pollution), the cell turnover slows down causing the dead skin layer at the surface to be thicker because old cells build up and stay on the surface longer. We loose moisture and start to notice signs of aging, fine lines, wrinkles, loss of elasticity, etc.  Because collagen production is less, the skin becomes thinner. Collagen and elastin begin to break down, causing the skin to lose its flexibility and resilience. Daily exposure to sunlight causes the amount of pigment in each cell to increase, producing freckles or age spots and uneven skin tone.

A glycolic peel will help fight the signs of aging, by increasing cell turnover, thus helping the skin look and feel younger.  To really see the difference in what a "peel" can do, you should start a scheduled program.  I usually suggest doing one a week for the first month, and then one time a month from then on.  I was recently asked this question:  "How come you don't have that line in between your eyebrows- and you are older than me?"  My answer:  "I have been taking great care of my skin, doing peels, and using Aveda skin care.  You can help reduce that line too- you just have to be committed to it."

So, why don't more people get glycolic peels?  I have no idea!