Extractions (DISCLAIMER: CONTENT IS KINDA GROSS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

Extraction: an act of removing something from a hostile area to a secure location (or in aesthetics, popping a zit/removing a blackhead)

I get a seriously sick satisfaction out of doing extractions.  It might be wrong, but if it is, I don’t wanna be right. Maybe it’s because my mother always told me that you should never squeeze a pimple. Maybe it’s because there really is a learned skill behind performing extractions. Maybe I just like seeing the nasty contents of a zit come out and knowing that I’ve brought it to a new stage -- a stage that speeds healing.

There’s quite a bit of scheming/strategizing that occurs before an extraction in our class. It looks kinda like a huddle on a football field. It’s me, my teacher, and my classmates, all huddled around a facial bed going over the play. Miss Kelly will say, “Ok, here’s what were going to do with this one. First, we’re gonna do some exfoliatation. Then, we’re gonna put her under the steamer for about 7 minutes. Then,  Rita’s gonna add some scaling fluid to that spot on her nose…..”

I’ve started using words like papules and pustules.

Before beauty school, popping a zit was simple. It was like Nike, you Just Do It. Not anymore - there are all kinds of things to consider now. In what direction does the pore lie? What is the best side of the extractor to use? What would cause the least amount of trauma to the skin? Sometimes the right decision is to lance it (create a tiny incision at the bottom of the pimple) to get the guck out. Other times, the best decision might be to just stop for the day and return tomorrow to see if your efforts have “come to fruition”. There are some times when you just have to pause and ask yourself… is this pimple ready for extraction? or am I just tearing the room apart to find the tiny spider that escaped behind the desk when I tried to grab it? You get the idea.

The most important thing to remember with extractions is to NEVER force anything. When I think of the drastic and terrible things I’ve done to my face over the years, it makes me cringe. If I only could have learned some of this years ago!

When you DO manage to execute an extraction perfectly, there is a tremendous satisfaction. You can stand tall from your ergonomically correct aesthetician stool and hold your extractor high (with gloved hands, of course). You can say, “Yes! I have performed a successful extraction, and that was some nasty stuff!”

Side note: Don't let extractions scare you. Most people want them included in their facial, but it is totally acceptable for you to ask your aesthetician not to do them. We sincerely have no problems leaving that part out. (Although, I will say that it’s a no-brainer to let them take care of blackheads… most of them are so easily extracted after steaming.)

Gettin’ Beauty Schooled,

Rita

What's in a $700 Beauty School Kit Anyway?

Getting your beauty school kit feels a lot like Christmas. It’s exciting. In general, you kinda know what’s coming to you, but the details are still a bit of a mystery. As an aesthetics student at Nashvegas Beauty U, you receive two boxes of goodies, two textbooks, and a Dan (see my previous post about Dan) for $700.

The First Box

We received our first box on the first night of school. I was thrilled. I had been told by a cosmo (cosmetology student) that we wouldn’t get a kit for about two weeks. She said, “They hold on to your kit so you’ll keep coming for a while.” (My thought? I just committed to >$8,000 for this gig, so short of having some kind of Jack Bauer level chemical mishap at NBU, there’s very little they could do to keep me away.)

So, I agree. The packaging isn't very sexy --  but the products are fantastic.

The first box included professional sized Dermalogica brand products for our skin. This makes sense. Good marketing would tell you that the students need to be using the products that NBU uses and sells in with their skin care services. I’m normally that stone hard client that goes into a spa for a facial and doesn’t want to hear BOO about how I need to spend an extra $35 on your breakthrough take home cleanser. 

BUT.... 

Turns out, their masterful plan worked. Now that I’ve used these products for almost four weeks (and learned way too much about premature aging), I’ve transformed into someone that won’t entertain the thought of going to sleep without my 3 essential steps – double cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize. 

The good part = my skin has changed significantly for the better in four weeks.
The bad part = now I’m beginning to face the reality that at some point I will run out of these amazing products (which my student loan so kindly purchased for me). I’m sure the Dermalogica Sales Rep is somewhere wringing her hands and cackling as she thinks of all the newly addicted NBU aesthetics students.

The Second Box

The second box was definitely the more exciting, but much of it contained supplies, which was a little disappointing, because… well, supplies run out. Yes, yes, I know things like swabs, gloves, and makeup applicators are necessary for aesthetics. So again – it’s a little reminiscent of opening the all too necessary 10-pack of socks at Christmas.

Here are a few of the more exciting things:

pro makeup

more makeup

pro brushes

a set of the sharpest tweezers I've ever seen

The Books

• Milady’s  Standard Esthetics Fundamentals (Fitting name for a beauty school book, right? All of us in the class have had a little fun saying “Milady’s” in our best English accent.)
• “The book” by Dermalogica

The Dan

Then there’s my Dan. I won’t go into details here. You can check out my previous post about the Dan. Since I’m approaching week four and I’ve pretty well mastered the facial basics, Dan doesn’t seem very practical any longer. In fact, I’m beginning to think of alternate uses for Dan:

• Severed body man laying in the yard to scare the trick or treaters? 
• Ebay?
• Perhaps the next Adventures of a Beauty School Giveaway gift? 

Alternate uses for Dan are welcomed!

Gettin’ Beauty Schooled,

Rita 

Getting ZAPPED.

Part of the clinic floor (where client services are performed)

I got zapped this past week.

Remember when you were a child and little boys thought it was funny to take a rubber band and snap it on your hand when you weren’t looking? It was kind of like that. Except, it was an electric rubber band. And, it was on my face. Perhaps I should start at the beginning of the story. 

One of the fun things about beauty school is being surrounded by professional equipment (even if I don't know how to use it yet). During our first tour of the clinic floor, Miss Kelly pointed out that our “8-in-1” facial machines could perform 8 functions (hence the name), including vacuuming the face and services with electricity.

One of our 8-in-1 facial machines (aka the zapper)

Last week one of the cosmetology students walked over to the esthetics side of the building. She came to our practice area and began a conversation that would probably be taboo in most other environments - - in beauty school however, it's as casual as talking about the weather. “Pardon my red lip” she said. “I just had someone wax off my mustache.” She asked Miss Kelly about a pimple on her face, and Miss Kelly asked if she wanted to be zapped. “Well, I got zapped yesterday, so I think I’ll just wait and get it tomorrow" she replied.

I won’t go into detail about what “get it” means… just know it would probably require the use of an extractor, or a sharp lancet.

The extractor

I was intrigued. Apparently, our 8-in-1 machines could zap away zits? Nice.

I woke up on Wednesday to find…. well, a good reason to be zapped. Right there on the right side of my face. This was no normal “congestion” - - you know the kind... about two layers deep and painful. When I got to school, I went straight to Miss Kelly and pled my case for a zap. We negotiated a deal. I volunteered to be her facial example for the other students, in exchange for zit zapage at the end of the treatment (nobody wants to volunteer for their third facial in three days).

Was the zap a success? I was astounded at the results. The next day I woke up and, well… if you really want to know the details, you can send me a message - -I’ll spare the general public. I will say this. If you have a spot of “congestion” on your face, and you need to get rid of it quickly, your esthetician can help. Just ask for a zap. Hopefully I’ll learn the technical name for zapping soon. I’m sure it will sound much more professional.

Conclusion? If zapping found it's place in politics, there's no question - I'd be pro-zap. It's not as much fun as Clinique bonus week, but it's by NO means intolerable – and totally worth the results.   

What’s that saying? Oh yeah. Beauty is pain. 

Gettin’ Beauty Schooled,

Rita 

Meet Dan! (And other facial discoveries)

The Dans. Chillin' before class starts.

Meet Dan.

Just like cosmetology students get those crazy heads on a stick with real hair, aesthetics students receive a “Dan” with a belt.  The belt is used to strap this bodiless representation of a person to a facial bed. Then, as you probably guessed, you practice all your cleansing techniques and facial massage movements on Dan.

Yes, Dan gives all of us a little of the heebie-geebies. He's a little smaller than the average person and he strangely resembles one of the pre-cogs from the movie Minority Report.  

This is pretty much my view of Dan during facial movement practice.

We began the cleansing portion of facials last week. I did a cleansing for one of my classmates and she did the same for me. There is one technique in the cleansing we're learning called “scissor the lips"… meaning that you take your first and second finger and run the first one above the lips and under the nose, and the second finger below the lips. Get it? Scissor the lips. Anyway, the first time Tasha did this on my face, we both couldn’t help but giggle like we were kids sitting in the last pew at church. We quickly composed ourselves and got back to cleansing.

An interesting tidbit about facials… did you know that your aesthetician should always remain in some type of physical contact with you throughout your entire facial? It’s just good aesthetics etiquette. While this sounds easy, it really is a challenge. Anytime we need to “refill” our hands with something (water, a cleanser, etc.), we have to keep one hand touching the head or face of the client and use the other one to get whatever it is that we need. So - - what happens when you need both hands to open up a container or reach for two sponges? I’m glad you asked. It’s what I call the “lean in” technique. You lean your body towards the client so that they feel your “presence” and grab whatever stuff you need as quickly as possible. J Luckily your client’s eyes are closed for almost the entire time, so they’re pretty oblivious to some of the chaos that can happen around them during the process.

In summary, I’m giving my first shot at non-Dan facial cleansing a 7.6! We have a short time for feedback when we finish a facial. My classmate only had two pieces of feedback for me - to use heavier pressure on the face and to be extra cautious with a couple of my movements that potentially cut off nasal airflow. What??  

Gettin’ Beauty Schooled,

Rita   

The Beauty School Adventure Begins...

I’ve learned that we always come back to what excites us - - especially those things that excited us as a child.

There was something about clothes and makeup that got me starry-eyed from about six years old. It was about this same time that I began a feverish relationship with the violin. Financial support is everything when you’re SIX, and let’s just say my parents were far more excited about spending their hard earned cash on violin lessons than buying me a Caboodle or a pair of Jordache Jeans. The violin claimed victory over my childhood and adolescence, and while it has forever earned a very dear place in my heart, I still get that flighty feeling in my belly every time I walk past the MAC counter or pull the latest edition of In Style magazine out of my mailbox.

On September 13, I'll begin classes as a part time aesthetics student at "Nashvegas Beauty U". I’ll go to class four nights a week from 5-10 PM, and my program will last about 10 months. I’ll have to balance school with my full time job and my marriage. Lucky for me, I’ve got a husband with a big “S” on his undershirt.

Have I considered the fact that 75% of my classmates will be 10 years younger than me? Yes. Does that excite me? No – and yes. Younger people always breathe a little extra life into me - - it doesn't seem to matter if they’re babies, teenagers, or super-hot 22 year old gals with haircuts that are way cooler than mine.

So, I hope you enjoy this journey with me. For all you ladies that genuinely get excited when you learn a new trick with your eyeliner, this blog is for you. And for the men who take notice when your woman comes home and has done something new with… her makeup? her hair? Perhaps you don’t know exactly what it is… but you still enjoy the view… in a weird way, this is for you, too...

Gettin’ beauty schooled,

Rita