Moonstone Skin & Body Care

Favorite Skin Care blog

moonstoneskincare — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:06:18 +0000

I enjoy surfing around looking for interesting blogs. Here’s the PCA one…love reading it for myself.
Smart Skin Solutions

Let me know if you have some favorites.

Skin Care Resources

moonstoneskincare — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:12:40 +0000

Cats love having a facial

I admit it, I’m a book nerd. Mostly fiction and the genres vary; right now I’m reading the novel “Hand Me Down” by Melanie Thorne, who just so happens to be my client…go Mel! My husband makes fun of me because sometimes I’m reading 3-4 different books at one time. For me reading is my escape and it usually helps me unwind from the day. That said, clients are always asking me about different skin care resources and here a favorite that I would like to share with you:

Skin Deep is regarded as the largest online safety guide for cosmetics and personal care products. I predominately use it as a resource to find out the ingredients of products and perhaps sensitivities my clients may be experiencing with their current product lines as well as for researching other skin care lines. However, if you really want to know the ins and outs of cosmetic ingredients most estheticians use the Milady’s “Skin Care and Cosmetics Ingredients Dictionary.” This book explains the basic skin physiology and provides the botanical Latin names and descriptions for product ingredients.

ASCP Skin Care is my professional website and resource on everything from marketing to training but I suggest it to my clients for two reasons:

It provides a great skin care glossary
There’s a tool to find a local esthetician or skin care professional in their area just in case they move or travel quite a bit.

Skin Cancer Foundation is my go to when researching on the right sunscreen to suggest for my clients as well as providing tips on prevention and what signs to look for in skin cancer when conducting my skin analysis with clients.

Happy Reading!

Facials and Massages Equals Sweet Escape

moonstoneskincare — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:11:38 +0000

Stress release

I’m not sure if it’s due to tax season or a full moon or just the unexpected ups and downs of life but we’ve been treating a great deal of clients who are going through a great deal stress. When I created Moonstone, I was committed to creating a place where my clients could escape and recharge from the daily stresses. Recently, I’ve been experiencing my own level of stress. No it’s not the stress of running the business that’s just part of the job but my Mom is dealing with my ailing Grandfather. It makes me sad seeing my Mom dealing with all matters surrounding the care of my Grandfather. Her heartaches are my mine and there I sit thinking of ways to make it all better. One thing I’ve done is to call her every day and just listen to her but I found myself thinking it wasn’t enough. Then I began thinking of ways I could support as well as provide some relief to her stress. Next, I found myself calling my sister to arrange a massage for my Mom while I was pulling together a basket of relaxing items – from aromatherapy to herbal teas – to mail out to her. It all reminded that this is what I strive to do every day for my clients – provide relaxation and place to escape from the daily stresses because you never know what each person is dealing with in their life, including one’s Mom. Always here Mom, thanks for being so strong.

Here are a few of my favorite ways of dealing with stress:

Taking a hike with my dogs or going for a run
Meditating solo or with a group. In Marin, there are several groups and Meetup groups but one of my favorite places is Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Dancing, one my client leads Souls Motion on Sundays.

What are some of your favorite ways of escaping and relaxing from the daily stresses of life?
Thanks!
Janie

Your First Facial

moonstoneskincare — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:55:16 +0000

What To Expect At Your First Facial

Your first facial

We all know the basic rules of healthy skin: cleanse daily, moisturize and slather on the SPF. But no matter our best intentions, the truth is that the perfect combo of stress, pollution, sweat and makeup (hey, we’ve all skipped that nighttime wash a time or two) can leave our faces looking a little … dull.

Read more by following this link
www.huffingtonpost.com

Eyelash Extensions

moonstoneskincare — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:25:08 +0000

Another popular service for the eyes is eyelash extensions. Lash extensions are applied individually on each eyelash to add length, thickness and fullness to natural lashes. Hollywood and HDTV have made eyelash extension a hot trend, the bigger the better. Eyelash extensions vary in prices from $100 – $500 and it takes approximately 2 hours to apply them the first time around. However, it’s a semi-permanent treatment and on the average the extension can last from two weeks to two months – it all depends on your
eyelash growth and it’s inevitable that the extensions will grow out. It’s also important you find an esthetician or cosmetologist who has additional training and certification in eyelash extensions. There are many companies who create the synthetic lashes, including: Novalash, Lavish Lashes, Lash Out and Xtreme Lashes (just to name a few). The good news is most of these websites have a directory where you can find local certified lash stylist. However, make sure you ask questions during you consultation including: the
cost to up keep the lashes; where the lashes are made; what the lashes are made of; and options on the adhesive that is used to set the lashes as well as any health or safety concerns.

Lastly, you can always try out the eyelash or eyebrow enhancers like Revitalash or Latisse. There are also new mascaras or makeup techniques you can learn to enhance the eyes, especially on YouTube. You can find free tutorials on eye makeup but no matter your age have fun and be safe Remember, “The eyes are the window to the soul.”

Eyebrow Threading

moonstoneskincare — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:35:08 +0000

I recently got a new pair of eyeglasses and I love them! And it got me thinking what other ways can we highlight the eyes. One of the easiest ways is to have your eyebrows shaped. The best and cleanest way is to shape them with soft wax. However, threading eyebrow kiosks seem to be popping up all over in shopping centers. Threading is another form of removing hair from the root and it’s a technique that was introduced from India and the Middle East. I personally do not enjoy the process, I prefer getting my eyebrows waxed – it seems quicker and less painful. Many of clients have tried it out at least once and most of them prefer waxing because they’ve experienced discomfort or ingrown hairs and sometimes infection. I believe it all depends on the client preference. However, I would suggest you see a private esthetician who specialized in threading and avoid the kiosks in the mall because sanitation is number one priority amongst licensed esthetician.

Facials During Pregnancy

moonstoneskincare — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:24:27 +0000

Facials During Pregnancy – Yes, you can!

Recently, I had a Mommy-to-be come in for a facial treatment. Her first concern was it safe for her to have a facial during her pregnancy. And the answer is yes, during pregnancy you can enjoy the services of facials but there a few safety tips and recommendations to consider when receiving these services. Here a few that we recommend to my pregnant clients:

1. Set up a skin care consultation with your local aesthetician. This type of an appointment is usually free and it’s a good way for you and your esthetician have an open discussion on your skin care concerns as well as the status of your pregnancy and health history. I also recommend to my client to bring a list of their current skin care products so we can review the safety and concerns of the product ingredients.
Never lie flat. Make sure the facial or massage table is adjusted to be upright or slightly angled. You never want to lie flat down on a facial table; you can easily become light headed if your head is position lower than your body.
Stick to the basics. For a facial treatment, you want to stick to the basic such as a hydrating or deep cleansing facial. I’ve found that a good portion of my clients have dry to dehydrated skin during their pregnancy so a hydrating facial is a good option in nourishing pregnancy parched skin. On the other end, some clients experience hormonal breakouts and blackheads. Therefore, a deep cleansing facial that includes exfoliation and extraction is another alternative for cleaning out the pores and balancing the skin. Your skin can be hyper-sensitive during pregnancy so avoid galvanic current, chemical peels and microdermbrasion You can consider prenatal massages but avoid body wraps and scrubs, hydrotherapy, steam rooms and saunas.
Although facials are good way to relax and help maintain your skin during the influx of hormones and stress to your skin, always talk to your doctor before you schedule an appointment.

Skin Care tips for the Winter Months

moonstoneskincare — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:27:49 +0000

Forget saving grace, let’s talk about saving your face during these harsh winter months. In fact, many of my clients are suffering from dry to dehydrated skin. Seeing your esthetician for a facial will definitely help rebalance your skin and reset the pH level of your skin but there are several things you can do from home to help maintain dry skin. One of my biggest and easiest suggestions is to invest in a humidifier. There are different types of humidifier and they vary in prices. However, the point of having a humidifier is return moisture to the air which in turn helps protect the skin. To learn more about humidifier and which one suits you the best, visit www.consumerreports.org

Another suggestion is to review your current skin care regimen and consider switching out your current moisturizer for a thicker or more enriched version. Ideally, your local esthetician can match on what works for you skin. In the meantime, here are a few my favorites and most popular with my clients:

Lastly, consider traveling with a skin toner and sprit lightly on your face throughout the day. Most skin toners contain humectants. And humectants help keep the moisture from evaporating from the skin. There are wide varieties of skin toners available; however, one popular and budget friendly option is rose water. Try to avoid the ones that have high proportion of alcohol even if your skin is oily. Alcohol can be very drying to our skin and the idea is to your skin hydrated and balanced throughout the day.

The Pampered Goddesses

moonstoneskincare — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:00:37 +0000

I’m happy to report that Moonstone has expanded its team with Jocelyn Jacinto of The Pampered Goddesses, another amazing woman who offers even more amazing massages. Recently, Jocelyn had asked me to support her in promotion efforts by teaming up and offering a Groupon. I was a little reluctant to offer my services at an extreme discount but I wanted to support our girl, Jocelyn.

The good news is drove in a lot more traffic, the bad news a lot of the new customers were not local. I couldn’t believe we were getting people from San Francisco/East Bay and Sonoma to our shop just to receive a discounted mini-facial and massage. Since we are in social community of rating different services, I would have to rate my overall business experience in dealing with Groupon is 3.5 rating out of 5 star rating. The Groupon people were good to work with, the outcome of sales were decent but the outreach of clients is questionable…we did inquire about our target market and Groupon assured us that it included a good portion of Marin county residents. In addition, Groupon would not share a list of those subscribers who purchased our service. Similar services that I have worked with in the past had no problem sharing this service, in fact it’s part of the benefit when you offer a discounted service. Yes, it’s true when subscribers make it through our doors we can gather that information but there’s also a portion of people who will never redeem the services. Okay, stepping off my soap box now…just thought I share our business experience in working with Groupon. Moving forward, we’ll continue to work with our existing customer base and find local outlets similar to GroupOn that only target Novato/San Rafael residents. That said, you can find Moonstone booking appointments as well as offering FREE chair massages at the following events around town: “Holiday Market” @ Rickey’s Inn Marin on Friday, November 5th and “Shop Under the Oaks” @ Novato Oaks Inn on Thursday, November 17th.

A few of my favorite things

moonstoneskincare — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:31:16 +0000

The question “what one item would you bring if you were stranded on an island?” is totally absurd to me. The only island I could imagine being stranded on would be one with a resort and cabana (with or without the boy). That said, here are a few of my favorite items that I would take with me on any island:

Sunscreen. I know, I know it’s not glamorous. However, if you want to remain looking glamorous (and young) sunscreen is your friend. I recommend PCA Hydrator Plus SPF 25 because it offers hydration for the skin as well as sun protection. However, on my lazy days, I use Eminence SPF 30 Sun Defense. It’s sunscreen and makeup all-in-one, plus it’s effective, won’t clog pores, water-resistant, great for the whole family (safe for kids), and it’s easy to apply and carry anywhere.
Bobby Brown Bronze Shimmer Brick. I admit I rather hit the snooze button a few times and sacrifice my time on applying makeup. That said, the Brick is a multi-tasker, the-girl-on-the-run dream product. You can apply it to your cheek bones for blush or use it to highlight your eyes or both. In addition, the bronze gives you that sun-kissed look we all want whether we are currently living on an island or not.
Serum. Keep in mind, I’m an esthetician so I’m all about preserving your skin and combating the signs of aging. The sun is our skin’s enemy. What’s the best part of a face serum? Typically a face serum is used to fight wrinkles, lines and dark spots but the best part, a good serum usually has antioxidants and vitamins your skin needs. In addition, serum is made up of smaller molecules and penetrates deeper into the skin.
Probiotic. Thanks to all the past flu and illnesses I have fought over the years my stomach has become super sensitive and my immune system is not the best . However, I discovered probiotics to be my body’s best friends. Seriously, this past month my doctor put me on probiotics and what a difference it has made for my digestive and immune system. Apparently there is good bacteria that our body needs. That said, I’m fond of the Good Belly probiotic juice drink. Comes in all sorts of fruit flavors and you can take the 12 day challenge and get coupons when you visit www.goodbelly.com.
Fuzzy Socks. Forget the slippers, microfiber fuzzy socks come in all sorts of fun colors and crazy patterns plus they are super soft and comfortable. A perfect and affordable escape for my tired feet.