Education

Dermalogica Face Mapping

I was thinking to myself this morning about how much skin care is constantly changing and evolving- yet people are still largely uneducated about what ingredients and formulations are good or bad for the skin.

A recent perusal of Fashion Magazine’s Readers’ Choice for best skin care products had me shocked. It seems that people worship fashion labels and brands that are of a premium quality, but when it comes to skin care the drug store and department store brands still dominate the ranks.

In a culture that worships youth so fervently, you’d think that the demand for quality and effective skin care would be the norm. I think that effective marketing has a lot to do with it. If people are lured in by a  strong enough message and brand, they may not question its efficacy.

As a trained skin care professional, it’s my job to know ingredients, but it’s hard to keep track of everything that’s out there. I can only imagine how overwhelming it must be to the average consumer.

Then there’s the advice from dermatologists who prescribe soap as a cleanser for the skin. Yikes! It boggles my mind. And most people are not going to question this advice.

One of the most important factors in skin health is pH balance. If you use a product that is alkaline, it will alter the pH of your skin to become less acidic, which leaves it vulnerable to dehydration, sensitivity and acne bacteria. Soap is generally very alkaline- this applies to traditional shave creams as well. At the Dermalogica Shave launch last spring, they tested the pH of a drug-store brand shave cream and it was the same pH as a cleaning fluid. Ouch! No wonder men get such irritation from shaving.

In the end, I hope that through continued education and building client relationships, as skin therapists we can cut through the cosmetic industry rhetoric and get people investing in products and ingredients that will actually do them some good. Fashion Reader’s Choice here we come!

Here’s a great link to check out when researching ingredients. If you’re curious about what’s in your products, I’d suggest doing some research here to see where your products rank. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php

Need some product or treatment advice? Book in for a complimentary consultation and we can help make sense of your skin through face mapping.

Regulation of the British Columbia Cosmetology Association

Many people are unaware that in order to provide services for hair cuts and colouring, waxing, facials, manicures and pedicure- there is absolutely no governing body to regulate the cosmetic industry and therefore anyone can set up shop.  The Cosmetology Association of British Columbia used to be regulated by the Provincial government, but in 2003, this regulation was cut.  

When I did my accreditation for esthetics, it was mandatory to be licensed in order to provide cosmetic services.  At the time, the examination wasn’t exactly the most challenging experience of my life and I saw many ‘graduates’ during the exam who didn’t seem to have a clue about hygienic practices and safety. Is it any wonder then, that since the deregulation it is purported that complaints to the Cosmetology Association have increased 10 fold?

When it comes to public health and safety the government was rash in cutting this corner and the road is now being paved for licensing to come back.  

The interesting aspect about taking this regulation away and bringing it back, is that it is possible for the standards of practice and education to be completely updated and brought to a new level of professionalism that may have not been possible if the previous structure/ bureaucracy was still in tact. One of our very own ‘Sprucies’ (as we playfully refer to each other) is participating in a committee which will bring forth new ideas and standards of practice for licensing.

It’s a fresh page for the spa and salon industry in Vancouver and B.C. Thankfully we’ll be matching and hopefully surpassing the standards that are already set in most other Canadian provinces.