The Importance of Year Round Pedicures

Why do we get pedicures? Most would say its because we like our toes to look 'pretty'. While the finishing polish on your 'pretty' toes is the icing on the cake, pedicures are much more than that. We have adopted an idea that pedicures are quick, easy, and for the summer. In truth, pedicures are better in the winter months. Why? Simple, a pedicure does many things for our health as well as our peace of mind.

When we relax back into a massaging chair and have our feet and lower legs worked on during the process of a pedicure, we are unknowingly releasing endorphins in our brain that stimulate relaxation. This stress reducing procedure of receiving a pampering service, such as a pedicure, makes us let go of a little of the stress that dominates our lives without even realizing it! Before our technician even begins our service, we are more relaxed, less stressed, and growing even more so by the minute.

During the pedicure process, critical hygiene habits are taken care of for us. Our nails are clipped, our cuticles removed, and our dead skin scrubbed away. These basic, yet often overlooked, hygiene items are important for us to maintain healthy feet and legs. When our toenails grow too long, the nail is pressed against the inside of our shoes. This can lead to ingrown toenails and bruised nail beds. When we have our cuticles removed, we are allowing our nails to breathe and continue to grow healthy nails. With the removal and scrubbing away of dead skin, we activate the regenerative properties of our own bodies in producing more skin which helps with elasticity. Many of us suffer from dry skin throughout the winter. Having a pedicure regularly throughout the year will keep dry skin at bay, at least on our feet. Applying lotion to itchy feet only compounds the problem of itchy skin. When there is a barrier of dead skin, that cannot absorb lotion, between your feet and the lotion, the lotion will 'sit' on top of that layer until worn away. This increases the feeling of 'itchiness' because your skin is smothering. The brain tells us to scratch it away so the skin can breathe again.

When you receive your lower leg and foot massage during your pedicure, your technician isn't just making you feel better at that moment. The massage they are giving you will last days. Your technician has been trained to provide a massage that will help your stress level, as well as increase your circulation, promote elasticity, and ease muscle tension. All of these things are part of a pedicure that is good for your whole body! When your lower legs and feet don't hurt, you stand and sit straighter, thus affecting your posture which will result in your back hurting less. When your feet do not hurt as much we tend to 'walk lighter' and this affects are hip movements and can alleviate lower back problems.  

Getting your pedicures all year round isn't crazy talk, it is healthy. When you think about pretty toes, think about your summer pedicures. When you think about moisturized, non-itchy skin, think about your winter pedicures. (Scratchy feet in bed are never attractive.) For those of us who have the pleasure of doing pedicures on your feet, and I believe I speak for the whole industry, we would love it if you would receive regular pedicures. This has nothing to do with an increase in income or salon traffic. This has to do with the level of care that we provide to you and the short duration that cares lasts due to how hard we all are on our feet. A good pedicure will only last about a month. Therefore, if you only come in every six weeks for your pedicure, you are starting all over again every visit. That means we, as technicians, get you looking and feeling great, then we won't see you again for six months when we will have to start all over. As important as it is to us that our work and level of dedication not be ignored, it is equally important that your health not be ignored by you.

Summer Hair Damage

It is summer, and that means fun in the sun! And boy have we had a lot of sun this year! Along with all of that great time on the beach and poolside, comes a downfall; damaged hair. We all get damaged hair from everyday wear and products, but adding chlorine and salt water can do a lot more damage than you might think. That is why it is so important to protect your hair to prevent the problem and/or use the right products to help fix the problem. There are several ways to prevent chlorine and salt water damage from becoming the disaster it might be. You need prevention, sustainability, and a solution. 

 The easiest prevention method is simply a hat. However, I don't look great in hats and some people should really never wear them, so let's look at some different options. Did you ever think of your hair as a sponge? When a dish sponge gets wet, it fills with water until it cannot fit anymore water inside of the sponge, then you have excess water that runs out. Your dry hair is like the dry sponge and it will absorb anything you put on it, even chlorine water. So to prevent this you should always wet your hair with normal tap water before getting into the pool or ocean. This will keep more of the 'bad' water out because it won't 'fit' into the 'sponge'.

Another great option that will work with ANY hair type, is to apply a leave in conditioner to your hair prior to getting into a body of water. ISO Hydra Moisture Creme is a professional leave in conditioner that is great for every hair type. Since it is a professional product it is slightly more concentrated than other products and requires less! Protecting your hair and your budget in one step!

To maintain your hair's healthy state, even if you don't have damage, it is always a great idea to add a professional conditioning treatment to a handful of your salon services throughout the year. Conditioning treatments are a great way to replenish the moisture levels in your hair, smooth out rough ends, re-balance dryness from chlorine damage, and add body and shine to your hair. A conditioning treatment is also a great follow up service after a clarifying treatment. This type of treatment uses a professional clarifying treatment to wash away the oil, dirt, and product build-up on your hair and scalp.

After your hair has been damaged, there is no overnight cure. Your hair didn't get damaged in a day and it won't be fixed that way either. The only way to completely reverse damage is to grow your hair out again. But don't give up hope! There are plenty of things you can do in the mean time to get the shiny, healthy hair you have always wanted. Talk to your stylist about what she would recommend for your hair and then LISTEN. These people have been trained repeatedly, most of the time, to offer you their professional advice, not their personal opinion. Take their recommendations and incorporate them into your hair regimen. Set a goal with your stylist and then work together to reach that goal. Use conditioning treatments, special shampoos and conditioners, protective sprays, and ease up on the flat ironing, and you will have great looking hair in no time! 

The Haircut Experience

Why do you get your haircut? The obvious answer is you need to. It helps keep you well groomed for work and makes your life easier. How many times a day do you do something you 'have to do'? Too many to count for most of us. Why not make it a little better? Not a lot mind you, we can't go turn the world upside down, but a little goes a long way, right?

If your experience getting your haircut is a spray bottle of water showering you in mist and a comb running through your not-so-wet-not-so-dry hair then finishing off with a blow out that feels (and looks) a lot like what you do yourself every morning, then why, oh-why, are you handing the person treating you like that money? A stylist is responsible for the quality of her/his work. You are wearing their work everyday for the next 4-6 weeks. Shouldn't they care a little more about what it looks like? Your current/former stylist should be consulting, shampooing, professionally cutting, and styling your hair at every appointment.

When you return to a salon or it is your first visit, it does not matter in the first two minutes of your time. You should ALWAYS have a consultation done. Even if you haven't changed your hair since 1982, your stylist needs to know if;

• Anything has changed since your last visit: medical issues, medication, extreme weight gain/loss, unusual damage such as chlorine or salt water on your hair, and if the last visit was satisfactory.
• Your hair has 'given you fits' since the last cut
• You were doing great until this last week-(you may need to come in a week earlier or have your stylist take more off)
• Your interested in other hair services or solutions

Before cutting, unless your stylist is doing a dry cut, you should receive a shampoo. This allows for the following;

• Clean your hair of any residue caused by products
• Your stylist can inspect your hair and scalp for damage or any problems
• Even saturation of the hair allows for even pulling when it's combed. Easily translated this means that your hair will be cut even because all hairs will be saturated at the same level.

It may be hard to tell the difference between professional cutting and non-professional cutting. Professional cutting will usually NOT have;

• Your stylist talking on the phone while cutting your hair
• Your stylist forgetting where she was on your head because she is not concentrating
• Your stylist stopping in the middle of your haircut to ask you 'what is it you wanted again?'
• The constant drama and chatter of your stylist communicating more with her co-workers than you

• The feeling you are hearing things that should not be discussed.

If you are worried your stylist has not gotten the idea that you wanted, i.e. you think she is cutting too short, SPEAK UP! She may be able to hide the shorter parts under longer ones or change the design to blend but she cannot do anything if the whole head is too short.

When it is time to check the haircut, you should be asked and informed of any products used on your hair to aid in styling. The blow out should be done in a gentle and easy way. If your stylist has achieved a level of volume you though impossible, ask how it was done. They should be more than happy to show you so you can duplicate it at home.

Every person's hair needs are different and every stylist is different in meeting those needs. Find a stylist and salon that works for you. Remember he/she may have a great personality, you may be caught up in their love drama they like to dish about, but if they cannot do a professional job with concern for you and your hair, you may need to consider being friends on Facebook instead of allowing them to work on you.

Clean Services

It amazes me the services that you can receive in a salon setting. Everything from getting your hair done to waxing your bikini line. With so many salons and spas in this nation they all offer roughly the same services. So how do you know where to go? You educate yourself. A good salon or spa will educate their clients about the services, products, and sanitation procedures without lecturing them. For instance, you can go to salon A and receive a haircut and enjoy your visit. You can also go to salon B receive a haircut and enjoy your visit. But did you really receive the same service at both locations? The answer is usually no.

Within our society, the professionalism of service industries has fallen dramatically. We can no longer take everything at face value. Salon A has given you a great haircut and style and you were smiling when you left. You don't think about whether their implements and combs were properly sanitized, whether the client before you discovered they had lice, or if the stylist doing you hair had washed her hands that day. Salon B on the other hand, explained their normal sanitation procedure to ensure your safety in a 30 second 'speel' woven into the conversation to make you aware that they took your visit to them seriously. 

Salons and spas everywhere are held to standards by their state cosmetology board, much like restaurants fear their health inspections. The State Board of Cosmetology has jurisdiction over the salon services, sanitation, employees, products, and ethical standards. Some of the worst violations are;

            http://www.cos.ohio.gov/

• Double Dipping Waxing Implements
• When a technician 'double dips' that means they have used the same waxing stick at least twice. Once to place the wax on a client's skin and then returned the same stick to the waxing pot to remove more. This is highly unsafe. When hair is removed from skin, it opens pores in the skin that allow for bacteria and sometimes blood to come to the surface. Placing a waxing stick back into a waxing machine to use again contaminates the whole waxing pot and could then infect another client.
• For example: (please understand this is a hypothetical case) Mary gets her eyebrows waxed at her local salon where she frequents. The new technician uses the same waxing stick throughout the whole procedure thus contaminating the entire pot of wax. Not knowing her co-workers error, Lisa then does an eyebrow wax on another patron. Several days later the second patron calls the salon complaining of an infection on her eyelids. It turns out that Mary was getting over a staph infection and did not tell anyone. If her waxing technician had not 'double dipped' the entire situation could have been avoided. Now the salon owner waits for further phone calls from other clients who may have been infected.  

• Improper Sterilization of Pedicure Implements
• When a pedicure is given, dead skin is removed to reveal the softer skin underneath, making the client feel better. The cuticle of the nail is also trimmed to allow for the nail to properly breathe and for the nail polish to be more evenly coated. When pedicure implements such as cuticle nippers and foot files are not safely sanitized it opens up the public for a serious infection.
• For Example: there have been cases all over the United States of actual DEATH caused by unsanitary procedures at nail salons. When cuticles are trimmed, it is possible to break the surrounding skin, causing in a very minor cut that produces less than a drop of blood. However, that is blood. Something to take VERY seriously. If a salon fails to properly sanitizes their implements and machines, any blood related infections/diseases will go straight to the next person who is given a pedicure with those same implements. This is a bad way to catch AIDS or any other blood disease.

• Sanitizing hands Prior to a Nail Service
• Technicians see clients all day long. Their hands touch clients all day long. Technicians are also people who eat, use the restroom, handle money, and a variety of other things. You are also people. You went to the bathroom before visiting the salon, you shook hands today, maybe you had a stuffy nose yesterday, and so forth. Having both the client and the technician sanitize with alcohol or hand sanitizer prior to starting a manicure or nail service is not only proper manners but keeps each person safer from the other.
• There is no way to count the number of things we touch during the day, unless you have that kind of time then go right ahead, but we can imagine. I know where my hands have been and because I care about my client's safety and well being I sanitize IN FRONT OF THE CLIENT at the beginning of every nail service. It is part of the procedure at my salon. This ensures the client that I care about their safety and health as well as my own and that I will probably not be calling into work sick the next time they need a manicure. Bacteria, germs, diseases, etc., live under our nails and on our skin. Getting a staph infection from a manicure is not my idea of a good time.

Every salon and spa in America has the same basic standards that they are upheld to for cleanliness and sanitation. The above examples are extreme but have happened and will happen again. It is easy to forget you need to watch what you technician is doing when you are busy relaxing and enjoying yourself. If you feel that you have visited a salon that was not up to YOUR standards of cleanliness, then they probably aren't up to their STATE'S standards either. Every state has a Board of Cosmetology with a website and phone number. You can call and ask about a salon's license status, their last board inspection results, a particular technicians license status, or to file a complaint. Please remember that the Board of Cosmetology is not for complaints outside of a salon's environment. They cannot help you get your money back for a perm that fell out, they will not file a complaint because of bad service, and they do not have jurisdiction over anything monetary.

Also remember that every salon is required to have a copy of their latest report from their State Board in plain sight on location. Ask to see it. That is what it is there for!

I hope this was informative, if a bit lengthy, but without the consumer's help we will never be able to raise the bar in the cosmetology industry to where it should be!