Three Services You Can DIY….And Three You Definitely Should Not
Welcome to 2018, where between Pinterest, Google and HGTV, you can pretty much “DIY” anything you want. Everyone can be the expert with a cell phone and a few swipes. Personally, Pinterest has taught me that I’m a fairly decent cook, home decorating is a lot of fun, and if I want something cute and crafty, I’m better off buying it from someone with a little more artistic ability.
When it comes to beauty, there are some thing you can absolutely do on your own, and others that you really just need to leave to the experts (if you don’t believe me, just search Beauty Blogger Fails on YouTube).
1. Beach Waves – Everyone wants them and hardly anyone gets them just right. But with a few simple tips, you can get the style you’re coveting. Step one, you need the right size iron. You can use a wand, spring or marcel, whichever you are most comfortable with, but the most important part is the size. It can’t be too big or too small. I personally use the a 1 ¼” Babyliss Titanium Spring Iron and love it. Step two, you must leave the ends out. For the longest time, my attempted beach waves always came out looking a little more “glam” than I was going for until I learned this step. The third key to getting messy natural looking waves is alternating the direction of the curl. I like to start from the front by curling the first piece away from my face and switching back and forth on each section as I move around my head.
Give it a try and see how it comes out. If its still not quite there, book a blowout with your stylist and ask them to teach you! Who better to go to for a lesson than the expert!
2. Polish Change – I love a good mani/pedi…who doesn’t?? But if I’m being completely honest, I am TERRIBLE at keeping up with my nails. I’m too busy to get my services as often as I should and between washing dishes, bath time for two kids and hand washing, I feel like my poor hands are always in water and my polish is always chipping and peeling. This is where those retail bottles of polish at your nail salon come in! Do you have a go to color you use? At your next manicure appointment, grab a bottle for your purse on the way out the door. When you notice a chip, you can touch up a nail or two and keep those hands presentable until your next service with your nail specialist.
3. Mini-Facial – Let me start by saying there are two distinct reasons to get a facial. What I love about facials at Fresh is that in our spa, we offer both: a relaxing escape from everyday life while still providing visible results with products usually only found in medical facilities. So, while its pretty difficult to recreate a full spa experience at home, there’s no reason with a few great products and a little time in your bathroom you can’t give yourself a little extra glow. The secret though is in finding the right products for YOU. Ask your esthetician what she recommends, and if you don’t have one, you can always stop in for a quick complimentary consultation with any of our skin experts at Fresh.
Now, let’s talk about the DON’TS:
1. Hair Color – This is the service that people are most likely to try on their own, and in my opinion, the one that should never even be considered without an expert. Here are a few reasons why:
a. Color Formulation – Hair color is not “one size fits all”. Let’s go back to elementary school for this one. If you mix red with white, you get pink. If you mix red with blue, you get purple. If you mix red with green, you get brown or a muddy grey, depending on how much green you add. If you understand this, it should be easy to understand why the same box of red hair color from the drug store shelf is not going to create the same color on everyone.
b. Product Quality – Your salon has many options when choosing their color line and probably chose the one they use because they know the ingredients and what makes it a high-quality product. At Fresh we use L’Oreal color, but just because you see L’Oreal on a box in the drug store, does not mean it’s the same thing. The levels of pigment and ammonia can very greatly, and the additional chemicals can truly devastate your hair.
c. Expense – Most people who do their hair color on their own do it to save money. But please understand the risk you are taking. Yes, professional hair services cost more than a box of color from CVS. However, color corrections that must be performed after box color doesn’t turn out how you hoped are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than maintenance services. They also often require multiple visits, so between the expense of the color correction itself and the cost of the time you will be giving up to sit in the salon chair, is it really worth the risk?
2. Bang Trim – You know those Beauty Blogger Fails I mentioned earlier? Yeah. These are really some of the best. Just don’t do this. Kitchen scissors do not cut the same as professional shears and there are so many ways this can go wrong. I understand that you may need a bang trim before you’re ready for a haircut. That’s why we do them for free. And I would venture a guess that most stylists would rather clean up that fringe really quick for you, than have you chopping away at their work in your bathroom mirror.
3. Waxing – What could possibly go wrong with at home waxing? Burns, skin damage or over waxing are all possibilities. Like other professional salon and spa products, the wax available to the general public is rarely the same as the wax used by the experts. With lesser quality wax you are more likely to have a poor reaction. Also, a professional hair removal specialist understands the skin’s thickness varies on different areas of your body and will apply and remove the wax appropriately for that area, as well as use several types of wax. And when it comes to those more precise areas, like your eyebrows, cleaning them up is great, but you aren’t trying to rid your face of them completely. There is some serious skill in shaping the perfect brows, and once you accidentally go a little too far, there really isn’t any hiding that.
In conclusion, if it can be easily fixed, its probably okay to give it your best shot. But if we’re talking long term consequences, lets be smart, and leave it to the experts.
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