Sisterhood of the Traveling Esthetic Licenses
My 20s were the living worst. I was constantly broke, I had a job I hated, & my skin was simply wretched. Perpetual acne & incessant oiliness plagued my face. I was experiencing a new set of breakouts every single day. I poured over magazines & beauty sites to find new acne fighting products to try. I came [this close] to buying Proactive. I'd spend most nights extracting my own pimples in the bathroom after washing my face with the strongest acne cleanser I could buy without a prescription. Nothing worked. Every product I tried either made my acne worse or made me so dry I could barely touch it. It got to the point where I would just cover it all up with makeup & hope no one noticed. I kept my hair long to distract from all the things that were wrong with my face. My self-confidence was fairly non-existent. I was convinced that nothing was going to improve my skin and that acne was going to be my cross to bear for the rest of my life.
Until I got my first facial...
At 28 I moved to NYC and started working for a spa & skin care brand. Part of my new employee on-boarding was getting a facial. I had never been more excited about anything ever. Honestly... the idea of someone going to work on my face like Myra's feet made me giddy. I was crazy self-conscious about my skin and I needed all the help I could get. I was booked with a lovely & amazing esthetician named Apolonia. A former Esthetics instructor, she was incredibly kind, genuine, and knowledgeable. Apolonia, in the sweetest & gentlest of ways, read my ass for filth. Before she even touched me to cleanse me she took one look at my face & ran down all the things I was doing incorrectly in regards to my skin. Apolonia could see I over-used acne products, and was severely dehydrated (because I all but ceased moisturizing). This was the cause of my hyper-sensitivity. She could tell I talked on the phone on the left side of my face and slept on the right... she knew I slept on my right side and I rested my face on my right hand as I slept. Her expertly trained eyes knew everything about my life without even touching me. Apolonia proceeded to give me a thorough yet gentle facial. It was the best 75 minutes of my life up to that point.
At the end of the facial, Apolonia gave me a completely new regimen to get my skin on the path to health. It involved gentle cleansing, weekly exfoliation, & twice daily moisturizing. I was under strict instructions to use one Salicylic Acid product per day. Uno. Un. ONE. That was the hardest advice to adhere to of all. If there is such a thing as a Salicylic Acid addiction, I had it... still do. (It's the greatest ingredient for oily skin in the history of the world and I will not hear otherwise so save your defense of the liquid evil know as Benzoyl Peroxide because I will hear NONE of it.)
It was hard at first but I made a commitment to follow her advice to the letter and thank God I did. Within two weeks my excessive oiliness had subsided & my skin was less irritated. Within a month my breakouts had lessened by about 50% and my blackheads were significantly reduced. After two months of consistently following my new routine I had an entirely new face with no redness, less oil, and only the occasional breakout. Apolonia, an angel from Poland, saved my skin.
Here it is, nearly nine years later, and I've been an esthetician for five years. Apolonia, while still my angel, is also my peer, mentor, and friend. She, along with so many other generous & highly skilled women, have taught me everything I know about skin. How to give an effective peel, how to give a good skin care consultation, how to safely remove milia, how to minimize the look of fine lines with microdermabrasion, how to properly and safely give a Brazilian bikini wax, what pressure points to activate to drain the sinuses, how lasers work to not only remove unwanted hair but get rid of broken capillaries... EVERYTHING. The experience from that first facial put me on the path to becoming an esthetician. I've proudly paid forward all of the skin care love & advice I've received to every client that comes into my treatment room. I relish the moments I get to educate a guest on how their skin works and what they can do to make it glow. This path has helped me meet so many amazing people and led me to a bevy of wonderful opportunities that I never thought could come from popping pimples and waxing eyebrows.
Being an esthetician in many ways is a Sisterhood. I am eternally grateful to my "Sisters in Skin" for mentoring me, supporting me, and loving me. I would't be the kind of esthetician I am without them. I don't think I'd be an esthetician at all... how sad would that be? So, to Apolonia, Rachel, Beata, Dorothy, Carol, Fanny, Tess, Kiee, Prapa, Keisha, Sybil, and all my other Sisters in Skin I say I huge and heartfelt "Thank You" for not just saving my skin but, in an entirely unexpected way, saving my life.
