Awesome site alert: Skincea.com

I was cruising the internet looking for product reviews of night creams when I stumbled upon this awesome skin care site called Skincea. It's from a woman who has a similar story to mine: she struggled with adult acne in her twenties and became obsessed with skin care.

My favorite part of the site is her four golden rules (I might borrows some of these to add to my Beauty Philosophy post!)

1)   LESS IS MORE this is so true about everything in life. If you read my post, My Beauty Philosophy, you'll see that I love the concept of less is more. Less product, less waste, less stuff, less drama. Simplify!

2)   IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT this is a great idea that not too many people follow. Most everyone (including me!) wants to make things better, optimize, turn things into something awesome. That reminds me of my strength finder strength, Maximizer. I like to get the most out of everything. But sometimes stuff just doesn't need to be maximized.

3)   INGREDIENTS ARE THE ONLY THING THAT MATTER this is sooooooo true! My beauty school teacher, Ms. Angela, told us that if you are going to be successful in this business you have to learn to become a label reader. This is what I'm going to educate my clients on. All you really need to know is what ingredients are going in your skin care, whether or not they are active (interacts with or effects cell tissue), and what ingredients work on your skin. A lot of trial and error and research goes into knowing your ingredients.

4)   ALWAYS LOOK FOR PRODUCT REVIEWS I live and die by product reviews. Usually Amazon is my go-to place to read what the masses think about something. But for beauty products, I use two sites. Makeupalley.com and Drugstore.com are great places to read up on beauty products and what people/fashionistas think about the latest and greatest miracle skin cure.

Does anyone have any favorite product review or skin car sites? Let me know!

Find your magic

I love this little story told by Jason Reitman, director of Juno, about how he decided to follow his dream and become a director.

Ivan, who grew up in Toronto, discovered a sub shop in Montreal. He asked his father for some money to open his own branch in Toronto; he was sure it would be very successful, as Jason recounted: And my grandfather said: ‘You know, Ivan, I’m sure these sandwiches are very good, and if I gave you the money to open up a sandwich shop, we’d do very well for ourselves, and your mother and I would be very proud of you. But there’s simply not enough magic in it for you. You need to find something with magic.’ And this was a huge thing, my grandfather was a Holocaust survivor who came to Canada basically as a refugee, and he worked at a dry cleaner and a car wash, and then he had it within him to tell my father, find something with magic in it, and that’s I think what drove him to become a filmmaker. And my father told me this story, he said: ‘Jason, there’s no more noble a profession in the world than becoming a doctor, if you became a doctor, your mother and I would be over the moon, we’d be so proud of you. But I don’t think there’s enough magic in it for you, I think you’re a storyteller, and I think you have to follow your heart.’ And in that moment he became the first Jewish father to tell his son, ‘Don’t be a doctor.’

So what are you doing to fill your life with magic? Me, I'm building my own business, writing a young adult novel literally filled with magic, and surrounding myself with encouragers. The point is, find your way in life to something (people, career, hobbies, etc.) that fills your life with magic.

Spread the word!

So I've been brainstorming with my friend James about ways to become a famous blogger. No not really. We just want more than one person reading our blog. He sent me a great list of 10 things that I have to do. Number one is register with Technorati. So here is my claim number: HHQWF8AGG427.


Number 2-10 are pretty intuitive, although I liked #3 which was say something controversial. That's right. I need to really bring it on my beauty blog posts if I want people to start noticing me. Like my last post about toner. I thought the title was kind of controversial (Toner - awesome or scam?) since everyone in the beauty business is about selling more more more.


#8 on the list was about getting your friends to spread the word. So if you like one of my posts, make sure you Digg it or Facebook it or Stumble.upon it. There are so many crazy ways to share stuff nowaways. But as always word of mouth marketing is usually the best. So now I'm going to call upon my friends to help spread the word!

Toner - awesome or scam?

Admit it. You've always been a little bit mystified by toner. Really what does it do? I guess when you go to wipe your face after cleansing and you still see residue on the cotton pad, you are convinced of it's magical powers. But that could easily be solved by washing your face twice and making sure you use a wash cloth to wipe your face down. Toner does have a nice property of returning your face to a natural pH balance after you've disturbed it with cleanser. Skin is close to 4.5 on the pH scale and cleanser typically around 9. So toner helps calm your skin's alkalinity down.

But that's not the real reason you use toner. My reason? At least when I first tried using toner, it was because of Clinique. It was drilled into me from a very young age by the beauty magazines that in order to keep my skin looking perfect, I would need to do the three step approach: 1. Cleanse 2. Tone 3. Moisturize. Luckily Clinique had all the products that I needed! It didn't hurt that they had very simple, yet effective advertising. I was convinced so I asked my mom to take me to the Clinique counter and buy me their three step system. I was able to cleanse and moisturize on a regular basis. My beautiful Clinique toner sat there, day after day, mocking me for not using it. I didn't need to use it since my skin looked great just by cleansing and moisturizing. But I still felt bad.

My second failed attempt at using toner came when I broke out in my mid-twenties. This time it wasn't the beauty magazines but the late night infomercials that convinced me to give Proactiv's three-step system a try. 1. Cleanse 2. Tone 3. Medicate. After about three months my skin cleared up and has stayed clear to this day. Due only to the fact that I used 2.5% Benzoil Peroxide Cleanser and Treatment lotion and having nothing to do with their toner. Face 2, Toner 0.

Sometimes all it takes is a new way of looking at things. While I was in beauty school, I began spritzing toner on my clients at the end of the service, right before the moisturizer. I asked my teacher one day why, since I had such a negative experience with toner in the past. She told me that it's a great add on to your moisturizer, helping prep the skin to properly absorb any humectants. So I started trying it myself in my daily routine, giving my face a few spritzes before putting on my sunscreen. My face does feel more moisturized. Also, I like the smell (a very light, fruity, lavender) and the experience (it just makes me feel good whenever I spray it on, like a fancy face perfume!).

So toner has finally made it onto my face products shelf after almost twenty years of resisting. The one that I'm using is what I started using in school, Dermalogica's Multi-Active Toner (3.9 out of 5 stars on MUA).

It's got lavender, mint and arnica flower which makes it so yummy smelling. And it's got Aloe and Sodium PCA (a not so great sounding word for a humectant) for all your moisturizing needs. Plus it has a spray pump, which is something unique to most toner products that I've seen in the drugstore or tried over the years. You can buy it from me and get a discount (just give me a heads up before you come in for a service). Or you can always get Dermalogica products at Ulta.

Just one last thing: Multi-Active Toner is great for all skin types. Normal, Dry and even acneic. I know I just spent an entire paragraph talking about it's magical moisturizing properties. You would be surprised at the number of people with acneic skin that spend their life scrubbing, exfoliating and stripping their skin in the hopes that will cure their acne. What it really does is strip a much needed layer of oil from your skin. Then your skin gets angry and starts producing more oil and you get stuck in a downward spiral of breakouts that you can't control. So you scrub harder, strip more and make it worse. So for acenic skin, I would recommend a moisturizing toner and a great moisturizer so that you can put an end to the cycle. If you truly do have oily skin (without the acne), I mean really really oily skin, the kind that gets shiny an hour after you've powdered your nose, then I would recommend using an astringent to help get rid of the oil. Something like Kiehl's Herbal Blue Astringent (3.8 out of 5 stars on MUA).

Connecting

I'm totally overwhelmed by all the ways to connect to people nowadays. And I'm especially overwhelmed by which are the right ways. Which mean, of course, the cool ways. Because apparently, Four Square is totally over. I kid, I kid! My guess is most of you, except my early adopter cousin-in-law Greg, have no idea about Four Square. Maybe you read the article about it being the new Twitter. But are you even tweeting? I'm not. I know I should be on one level (it's great for businesses!) and I shouldn't be on another level (everyone's leaving Twitter!).

Here are the ways that I like to connect right now: I've finally embraced text. I'm only up to 500 messages sent/received a month still, damn you Verizon and your $20 unlimited plan. I still remember when I used it so little that I was on the pay as you go plan. Facebook is fun for sending out random links and not so deep thoughts and actually getting a response from people you may or may not talk to that often in real life. Voicemail is dead to me. Until I get a smartphone with Google Talk and visual voicemail. Then I might re-embrace it. But right now it's more of an annoyance. Except for business purposes. Email? Mostly stuff I've signed up to read and don't get a chance to read since I'm busy Facebooking. I do use it for longer thoughts that I've decided my sad little thumbs can't type out on my 2006 Flip phone.

Then we come to the last way: Blogging. Which is so 2001. I remember when a total dork at my work showed me his blog, which he used to share photos with his family. That's really lame, I thought. Damn I'm not good at all with the trend-watching. I tried my first blog in 2006, I heart TJs, an ode to my love of Trader Joe's. That faded after I stopped cooking TJs meals as much. My friend Jodi just let me know that a "I Heart Trader Joes" cookbook is being published, so maybe I am a little bit good at trendwatching. I tried my second blog in 2008, Deep Thoughts From Milt & Edie, an ode to my love of the inspirational quotes that my local dry cleaner put up. My fans (okay my mom and my friend Tia) encouraged me to write my thoughts about the signs. After a couple of attempts, I just gave up and started to post the pictures only. The best Milt & Edie compliment came from my friend Maren, who is an agent to photographers. She called the blog a cool art project. Which was cool because she is really cool. And she knows cool art projects (living in the photography world).

My current attempt you know about if you are reading this post. That's the interesting thing about blogging to me. Who reads this stuff? My mom, that's for sure. When she remembers to log onto "The Internet" and amble over to Facebook. I tried this thing called twitterfeed.com which is supposed to post my blog postings to my facebook account. That's the only way that I could imagine someone in Internetland finding this blog. Unless I start doing some serious blog promotion, like the way Ramit at I will teach you to be rich says I should.

So why am I writing a blog? Partly to share when I have more than 160 characters on my mind. Also to have a sample of my writing up so that if anyone ever contacts me about writing a book about my life, I'll be ready. I read an article by Diablo Cody about how she hasn't updated her blog in a year since she's too busy twittering. Like most trends, I think blogging has come and gone, and now only the people who are seriously interested in writing will continue it (sorry Diablo!). For example, my mom gave up on her blog because it was too hard. Honestly I get that. I might give up on this blog. But I like having a forum to write longer musings. I should be working on revising my book right now. Instead I'm blogging, which feels a little bit good because I'm at least writing. Yeah that's right, the real reason I'm using blogging is to procrastinate. That's the reason the internet exists, for me at least. That and to try to catch card fraud through my online banking website.

Oh and in case you are wondering there is one last way I like to connect: in-person. This is my favorite way. Coffee at Porto's. Hanging at a salon or spa. Taking a walk around Los Angeles. Chillin' on the L-shaped couch.

Encouragers

For a graduation gift, I got this awesome little book from my friend Sara called Rules Of The Red Rubber Ball. It's one of those inspirational, find your way through life books that you are supposed to get people who've just graduated. I love those type of things, anything to inspire people to follow their dream. Another friend, Annie, recommended that I read a similar type of book, The Alchemist, when I was thinking about making the job shift to skin therapist. The Alchemist is a much more alegorical, fictional tale about a boy struggling to find his way in the world, while the Red Rubber Ball book is a simple non-fiction book about a man who found his way in life. Both books have the same message about finding your true place in the world, commiting to it, believing in in.

My favorite part of the Red Rubber Ball book is the second rule, "Seek Out Encouragers".  The author states, "Sustaining your life's work cannot be done alone and you must build relationships with people who have a geniune interest in you and appreciate your commitment to your red rubber ball... most importantly, they give you the courage to act." I've had several moments in the past couple of months filled with encouragers, people who loved the direction I was going in, but more importantly, helped me keep on going on the path that I was thinking about taking.

If you are struggling with anything in your life, job, friends, passion, anything at all, it's crucial to surround yourself with these encouragers. List them out and maybe take the time to thank them for their unending support. You could even write them a letter as a special way to show how much their encouragement has meant to you. I know, letters are so 18th century. But that's what makes them so special! Can you imagine the look on your encouragers face when they get something in the mail, instead of something through email, text, status update, tweet or blog?

Last day

Well sort of. I graduate tomorrow from beauty school. I have six more hours I have to complete, so I'll be going in next week to finish up. But technically today was my last full day. Which is amazing. It's been only four months since I started. I'm finally beginning to appreciate what our director of the program means when she goes off on how short the United States Esthetics educational experience is. Too short. Four months. Really? That's all I need and now I'm going to be loosed upon the world? I'm feeling good about the basics. I've definitely got the basics down, plus safety and sanitation. So I won't hurt anyone with my facials and waxing.

But I understand why there is such a high turnover rate in the industry. They give woman just a couple of months of training and then expect them to figure out how to make it out there. It's a tough business where you have to hustle and market and network just to make a couple of bucks. There should be advanced academies that have whole curriculum devoted to selling yourself as a beauty expert.

Even though it's my official last day, I've definitely signed up for a lifetime of learning. That's why I love this industry. I'll be taking classes until the day I retire. I love studying and learning new things. I can't wait to apply to a scholarship for Dermalogica to get 100 hours free education. I can't wait to go to the Vegas show now that I know 1000% more than I did last summer when I went to the Vegas show. I can't wait to search out even more advanced education opportunities.

Something sweet from James

I remember the day in February pretty clearly. James was coloring my hair, trying to fix what some other stylists color had done to my base color. He was talking about his new salon, Matthew Ray Salon, and what it was like to be an owner. He sounded so happy and excited about the possibilities of life outside of the corporate world. So I decided to confide in him. Don't we always to our hairdressers? But James was different. He worked with me at a corporate job that wouldn't be too happy with what I was about to confide in James.

"I'm thinking about leaving my job. You know I haven't been happy since the acquisition. Okay forget that. Miserable is more like it. So I'm looking for other jobs. One of the things I'm thinking about doing is getting my esthetics license."

James looked surprised but in one quick second he shot out "That sounds cool. How about you come work here at the salon? We've even got a room for you."

We continued to talk about my dreams, about how I'm writing a novel and working in the corporate world wasn't very emotionally supportive to my writing. James told me a story about how as a hairdresser, he typically works multiple jobs, behind the chair, on set, at photoshoots, writing articles, educating. Working behind the chair is all about multi-tasking and finding time for jobs that you love. It was his positive attitude and excitement about his multi-faceted career that ultimately convinced me that I could be a skin therapist and a writer at the same time.

I decided to go to school in July. After a few short months, I was a senior and I invited James to come check me out. He was brave enough to get his eyebrows waxed and then a facial. The main reason I went to school was for waxing, but James gave me some nice compliments on my facial technique, enough that he's convinced me to pursue jobs that allow me to give facials and also wax clients. He even posted those sweet words on his blog for all the world to see! 

I'm about to graduate on Wednesday with a Certificate in Skin Therapy. In a couple of weeks I'll take my State Board exam, pass (knock on wood, I don't want to jink it) and then start working my career as a Skin Therapist. I checked out that room at his salon that he mentioned back in February this past Sunday and it still looks like an awesome place for facials and waxing.

Testimonials

"Ilana did a fabulous job waxing my very coarse and stubborn chin hairs and reshaping my eyebrows.  She was focused and super attentive and made sure every last hair was removed.  When she finished I felt it was the best waxing job I had ever had.  Often after a waxing I have to go home and tweeze some hairs that were missed.  Not this time!" -- Carole T.

"Ilana's waxing technique was so quick and pain-free that I felt like I could wax on a regular basis, not just twice a year." -- Deborah C.

"I refuse to ever shave again! Now I always wait to wax instead, no matter how much complaining my boyfriend does." -- Lacey P.

"Ilana took her time and made sure that every hair was gone. My boyfriend was very happy." -- Tati B.

"Her facial was fabulous. My skin felt so soft right after the facial and it was noticeably soft for days. Plus it was so relaxing because she has a very intuitive and comfortable touch. What I enjoyed most about my facial was that she was able to diagnose my skin care needs and recommend appropriate treatment." -- James J.

"Ilana gives an amazing facial - she is very conscientious throughout the whole process, making you feel incredibly relaxed and at ease.....and at the end, your skin looks phenomenal." -- Tia C.

"Ilana is a consummate professional in all aspects of the word. The facial I received from her was one of my most enjoyable. From my skin diagnosis, product and personal recommendations to the massage every step was delivered with the utmost service. Friends commented that my skin was glowing for a week after my facial. I have had many facials and Ilana truly has the "gift" of touch." -- Annie L.

"Ilana's facial was magical.  She had a soft, confident touch which made the experience both refreshing and relaxing.  She was knowledgeable about skin products and gave me several practical tips on how to take care of my skin.  I felt the soothing effect of the facial for days afterward."  -- Carole T.

About

Contact info: 
323-804-9197 (text is the best way to get a hold of me!)
weinbean@gmail.com
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About Me:
I've had a love affair with beauty as long as I can remember. My mom would say it started when I was three years old and I insisted on picking out my own outfits. My beauty love affair would develop slowly after my toddler years. In high school I would go to the make-up counters before big events so that I could get a free make-over along with the perfect shade of lipstick. In college, I met my gay best friend Dale who advised me to start shaping the catipillars that were sitting above my eyes. After college, I devoured beauty magazines like Vogue and Allure, trying to learn as much as possible about skin care routines, hair and fashion.

About five years ago, I was lucky enough to get a job working for a Hair Care Manufacturer called Wella Corp. While I was there, I discovered my love for the salon/spa industry. All the stylists that I met were so happy with their choice of career because they were privileged to make people smile all day long. I was starting to realize that those moments of happiness that I had in the salon, after a great haircut or a perfectly shaped eyebrow wax, were moments that I wanted to recreate for my own clients. So I decided to go back to school and get my esthetician license.

Currently I'm looking for work as a skin therapist, doing facials, waxing and make-up. At the same time, I'm working my other passion, writing. I'm developing a reality TV show centered on the beauty industry and a young adult fantasy novel. Beauty is in everything that I do and work on. Beauty on the inside, beauty on the outside, bringing happiness to the world through beautiful things.

My Beauty Philosophy:

When I first started to discuss becoming a skin therapist with my friend Ken Baker, he told me that I had to come up with my beauty philosophy. I hadn't even gone to beauty school yet and already I was being asked to come up with an entire outlook on beauty?

Well I've graduated from school and I think I'm ready to start formulating my philosophy. Here are a couple of my thoughts on beauty and life:

• Wear sunscreen everyday rain or shine. You never know when those UVA and UVB rays are going to sneak out and attack you. And you should reapply every 3 hours if you are in the sun.
• Start with a good foundation. For your skin that means great color, smooth texture, even tone and firm elasticity. And yes it could mean a great foundation, although tinted mosturizer works for some people. For your life that means getting a good education and continuing to learn throughout your life, even after you've left school.
  
• Less can be more sometimes, although if you want more go for more! Don't feel the need to layer on tons of make-up if you don't feel comfortable wearing tons of make-up. Focus on the areas of your face and your body that you love and want to play up. Same thing goes for life, subtly works best most of the time. Except when you need to shout to be heard because no one is listening. Then feel free to shout.
• Always work within your budget. If you've got problem skin, spend the money to get your skin to a great foundational state. But if your skin is relatively normal, spend your money on one really awesome product, something that your skin will love you for. Same thing is true for everything else. There's no need to buy a closet full of clothes if you've got a couple of great foundational pieces. And do you really need all that fancy stuff in your house? Unless it's falling apart, the answer is probably no.

I'll be adding to this post as my philosophy shifts and grows. Also feel free to add your own philosophical thoughts on beauty and life in the comments!

My Philosophy

When I first started to discuss becoming a skin therapist with my friend Ken Baker, he told me that I had to come up with my beauty philosophy. I hadn't even gone to beauty school yet and already I was being asked to come up with an entire outlook on beauty?

Well I've graduated from school and I think I'm ready to start formulating my philosophy. Here are a couple of my thoughts on beauty and life:

• Wear sunscreen everyday rain or shine. You never know when those UVA and UVB rays are going to sneak out and attack you. And you should reapply every 3 hours if you are in the sun.
• Start with a good foundation. For your skin that means great color, smooth texture, even tone and firm elasticity. And yes it could mean a great foundation, although tinted mosturizer works for some people. For your life that means getting a good education and continuing to learn throughout your life, even after you've left school.
  
• Less can be more sometimes, although if you want more go for more! Don't feel the need to layer on tons of make-up if you don't feel comfortable wearing tons of make-up. Focus on the areas of your face and your body that you love and want to play up. Same thing goes for life, subtly works best most of the time. Except when you need to shout to be heard because no one is listening. Then feel free to shout.
• Always work within your budget. If you've got problem skin, spend the money to get your skin to a great foundational state. But if your skin is relatively normal, spend your money on one really awesome product, something that your skin will love you for. Same thing is true for everything else. There's no need to buy a closet full of clothes if you've got a couple of great foundational pieces. And do you really need all that fancy stuff in your house? Unless it's falling apart, the answer is probably no.

I'll be adding to this post as my philosophy shifts and grows. Also feel free to add your own philosophical thoughts on beauty and life in the comments!

Contact Me

Ilana Weiner
weinbean@gmail.com
323.804.9197

Inspiring Advice from Jane Wurwand

I made the trip down to Carson last Thursday, Nov 12th, for Undergraduate Student Day at Dermalogica. It was a great day of education where I took classes on hyperpigmentation, back treatments and how to incorporate technology into your practice. But the best part of the day was that Jane Wurwand, the founder of Dermalogica, was there to give us a motivational speech.

I love being motivated. That was my favorite part of working in Corporate America - the motivational speaker that they hired to pump you up during your conferences. I've heard a couple of great ones and one really bad one (to be fair she had to compete with a room full of 600 people eating dinner). Jane is one of the great ones. She's got a cute Cockney accent, a spunky haircut and an attitude to match. She shared a great story about a woman at her daughter's football game who looked down on her when she told the woman that she didn't go to college and instead went to beauty school. I wonder if that woman ever found out that Jane is in charge of one of the most successful skin care lines in the world.

Jane gave the undergraduates in the audience three pieces of advice on how to be successful in the beauty business.
1. Attitude is number 1: you have to like people if you are going to be in this business and you have to like women because 98% of skin therapists are women and 92% of your clients will be women. She also encouraged us to be passionate and positive, two of my favorite traits. So I'm feeling good and excited about my choice to be a skin therapist! (ha passion and positivity all in one sentence!!)
2. Know your stuff: learn your craft, know your product, understand ingredients, knowledge is the arsenal in your weaponry. I liked how she incorporated a metaphor for us going into battle.... kind of aggressive for beauty but she also shared that the industry has a 90% turnover rate two years after graduating. So be aggressive, Jane! She also gave out another interesting factoid that 50% of a skin therapists' revenue comes from retailing. I thought that sounded high since that stat that usually floats around for cosmetologists is 8.5% of their revenue comes from retailing. But I talked with my friend Ken Baker, an industry guru and beauty retailing consultant and he said that sounded about right. Considering that most of the products that skin therapists are retailing have much higher price points than for hair.
3. Ability to be authentic to who you are: She gave a great quote from Oscar Wilde - "Be yourself, everyone else is taken." She encouraged us to make a difference in the industry and be authentic, which will help you connect and be truly present in our craft.

The biggest impact of Jane's speech came from a factoid that she repeated several times: Skin Therapy as a career puts more women in business around the world than any other industry. After leaving Dermalogica, I wanted to go open my own spa, start a chain of skin-only professional beauty supply stores, develop my own brand of professional wax and open up an advanced wax academy. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do all of those things during my career as a skin therapists, but with Jane's voice in my head inspiring me and encouraging me to make a difference, I will definitely find some area to channel my passion for beauty!