Since November is Healthy Skin Month, I wanted to focus on what healthy skin truly is. In the age of social media and the internet, its representation gets skewed by the idea that perfect skin is the only way to have healthy skin, which is quite the opposite of the truth. 

Continuing with part two, here are the last four of our featured estheticians. 

The Power of Touch

As an esthetician, touch is an integral part of what we do in the treatment room. It is a way to help your client to relax while you are caring for their skin. It is a way to heal, treat, and relax your client’s skin in its most basic sense. While this is a big part of the healing process, what you do in the treatment room goes beyond what can be seen physically. The face is connected with the body through pressure points that correspond with vital organs and body systems. Touch can also release immune-boosting chemicals known as endorphins into the body, which can help your client unwind and relieve stress on a mind and body level. 

In this article, we will discuss ways you can utilize the power of touch in your treatments. These healing forms all focus on things such as de-puffing, smoothing, etc. You could use all or a combination of these options; it may just be your personal preference.

One thing to keep in mind with these is it does include lymph drainage, so ensuring proper technique and pressure is vital for the health of your clients and or your skin if you perform it on yourself. Excellent prep for these treatments could include dry brushing. 

Lymphatic Drainage

Lymph drainage massage can first and foremost be done with your hands to stimulate it. The lymph nodes do not have a system to push lymph around, so the lymphatic system relies primarily on our body’s muscle action and movement to maintain its fluid movement. Lymph drainage massage is a manual massage technique that works on the lymphatic system, stimulating it to work quietly by moving the lymph to the lymph nodes. 

Benefits of Lymphatic Drainage

• Stimulates blood circulation and tissue regeneration
• Directs and increases lymphatic flow
• Reduces swelling and water retention
• Improves the immune system due to the elimination of toxins
• Promotes body and mental relaxation
• Energizes the body, and provides an overall lightness in the body

Gua Sha

Gua Sha is traditionally performed on the body, but a more gentle form can be utilized on the face. It’s performed with a stone that is shaped to contour the face in different ways. It can release built-up tension to help your skin perform essential functions such as eliminating waste and detoxifying, allowing the skin to come back to its more natural, healthy, balanced state. 

Benefits of Gua Sha

• Stimulates circulation
• Helps improve collagen
• Softens lines and wrinkles
• Decreases puffiness and inflammation
• Diminishes dark circles
• Temporarily tightens skin
• Brightens complexion
• Sculpts facial muscles
• Releases tightness

Jade Rolling

Jade rolling is similar in a sense to Gua Sha, just with a different type of tool. While the Gua Sha is a handheld stone, Jade Rolling is a handheld stone that typically has two-sized tips for rolling on the face. They come in various stones from rose quartz, jade, black obsidian, and many more.

Benefits of Jade Rolling

• Lymphatic drainage
• Improved circulation
• Better product absorption
• Tighter looking skin

Real skin is beautiful

Every person’s skin will have varying degrees of acne, texture, discoloration, and scars; it is just part of being human. Your skin is how you can regulate heat, protect from dehydration and infection, and respond to temperature, pressure, and pain, to name a few. Your skin is constantly working and doing all it can to keep you protected. With that in mind, as humans, we need to be kind to ourselves and know that what is advertised is not always portrayed as “normal” and can be very unrealistic if not unattainable standards to meet. 

Natural skin is “normal,” and all that exists in its natural state before makeup, filters, and products. This is what makes us beautiful and human. When we are constantly bombarded with what we are told we “should” look like, it will affect our view of ourselves and how we think others view us. It can cause extensive effects on our mental health and well-being. Our world seems to revolve around this idea of perfection being labeled as “normal” when it is typically photoshopped—utilized through company branding, advertisements, social media, tv, and movies. The campaigns, social media, and everything in between need to show what real skin looks like to undo the conditioning that having anything other than clear skin is not okay. 

What can we do?

We, as estheticians, must work to help normalize the conversation around this. We need to talk about skin texture, acne, pores, rosacea, vitiligo and much more. This is normal, and it is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed by. The skin is the largest organ and is not one size fits all! Our industry and our world could do a better job setting the tone and helping every individual feel comfortable in the skin they are in. Minor changes are being made to show this, but there is still a lot of work to continue bringing positivity to this topic.

It is important to note that every person should feel free to be confident and comfortable in their skin no matter where they are at in their journey. It is okay to have goals you want to accomplish with your skin but still feel beautiful regardless of where you are at the moment.

You will never regret washing your face

Everyone loves traveling. Traveling gets portrayed in the media as glamorous and decadent, an escape from the daily grind. While that's true, it can be very taxing on you physically and mentally. Prepping correctly for travel will ensure that you are prepared to feel your best self and enjoy your trip. 

Protecting Earth Matters

Earth Day has been celebrated for over 50 years. The first earth day was in 1970 when over 22 million Americans were able to celebrate clean air, land, and water. It has become an annual event celebrated worldwide when people appreciate humankind's connection to the Earth and raise awareness of our environmental challenges. At GlyMed Plus, we pride ourselves on the initiatives we can do and are always working on improving them.

When caring for rosacea, it is important to have a balance of both active and reparative ingredients in the treatment room and in your client's home care regimen.