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Brow Lamination: What Exactly Is It?

Since adding brow laminations to my menu it’s been made clear to me there’s a lot of misconceptions about it, so let’s set the record straight! If you’ve been interested in brow lamination, but have questions, keep reading!

What is a brow lamination?

Brow lamination, also called a brow lift, is like a lash lift for your brows! The process of lamination is to break down bonds in the hairs which makes it easy to move and manipulate the hairs anyway you want. This makes them really easy to style and makes them look very clean and neat.

How long does it last?

Generally 6-8 weeks! The better you are with aftercare, the better results you’ll have.

Here’s what people are misunderstanding…

A lot of people have the idea that when you leave your appointment with your slick, stylish brows that they will look like that for the next 6-8 weeks. That’s not true. They’re not styled and set for weeks, they’re styled and set for your day. You do need to style them daily.

Like I said, the lamination process makes them easy to move around the way you want. There’s nothing (except maybe a styling wax) holding them in place, making them invincible to crazy sleeping or water hitting them.

So, in short: you need to style them daily, it’s just a LOT easier and quicker because they’re now effortless to style.

Why get it done if they don’t stay in place? Who is this service for?

Brow laminations are not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s totally okay! Anyone with thicker, bushier, maybe out of control brows will really benefit from this. I also love the results for people with thinner brows, as it makes them look fuller and bolder. It looks great with anyone’s brows, especially if you add on a tint, but not everyone will find it worth their time or money.

If you spend 10+ minutes daily just doing your brows, this is most likely for you! It will make your morning routine so much quicker.

Brow lamination + tint?

The perfect combo! The lamination will make them sleek and stylish, the tint will bring in some color and make them appear fuller and bolder. This is definitely for someone looking to cut their morning routine time in half!

What about aftercare?

I always say the aftercare itself isn’t hard to manage, it’s just quite a list. I personally always go over this list verbally when the appointment is almost over, I also have a printed aftercare sheet to send home with clients, just in case.

But, for anyone curious, the aftercare is as follows:*

Do not wet brow hairs for 48 hours
Stop all retinols, Vitamin A, AHA/BHA, steroid topical use for at least 48 hours prior to and after the service
After wetting hairs again (after 48 hours) gently brush hairs back into place
No makeup or makeup removers for 48 hours
Do not touch the brow hairs
Avoid sleeping on face or using face masks for 48 hours
Do not wax the brow area for 48 hours
Avoid any and all steam including showers, saunas, dishwashers, and ovens

*As always, this is based on my personal business and the products I’m using. Other estheticians using other products may have different aftercare depending on the product. Always ask your service provider if you have questions!

If you’re ready to book your lamination, click here and get 20% off your first visit with me!

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Brazilian Wax: Service Breakdown

I’ve made some general posts about waxing, but nothing in depth about brazilian waxes. Here I’ll go over what a brazilian wax is, the difference between brazilians and bikini waxes, how my brazilian services go, etc. If you haven’t read my first posts “Waxing 101” and “Pre and Post Wax Tips” then I’d suggest reading those first as I won’t cover the basics of waxing too much.

*I would also like to note everything in this post and on my entire blog is mostly opinion not fact, and based on the way I run my personal business. Not every individual/spa/chain will have the same rules or protocols, so if you’re going elsewhere for your services talk with your esti about your questions!

What is a brazilian wax? What is a bikini wax? Bikini line vs bikini full???

A Brazilian wax will include 4 fingers width outside and above the panty line (demonstrated above in bikini full diagram), full front, labia, and the crack. With brazilians the crack is optional and you can leave as much hair in the front as you’d like, but when the labia is waxed that makes it a brazilian wax. It’s common for clients to leave a strip or triangle with this wax, it’s also common for clients to skip the crack.

A bikini full wax traditionally will include 4 fingers width outside and above the panty line. Not many people know it can technically include the entire mons pubis area if requested. The labia and crack are not included.

A bikini line wax as pictured above, will include 2 fingers width outside the panty line and above. This is the simplest and what most people have in their brain as “bikini wax”.

#1 Question: How bad does it hurt?

I never lie to my clients. I’m not going to sit here and say it doesn’t hurt, or that it’s easy, because it’s not. But what I will say is: it’s tolerable and not nearly as bad as you may think! Especially if you follow the pre-wax tips , it shouldn’t be that bad. That being said, everyone’s pain tolerance is different. I personally have fidget toys available during all appointments for clients to use if needed, and a lot of people say that helps!

It’s also worth nothing that the more you wax, the easier it gets. Because of all the benefits such as hair less growing back, but there will just never be a worse appointment than your first wax. After that it’s all smooth sailing!

TIP: When getting your wax, use your hands to pull up on your stomach area. This will make the skin taut which will help your wax specialist, it also helps ease the pain for you. By making the skin taut there’s less tugging happening, plus it gives you something else to focus on while getting waxed.

How often should you come back?

Generally speaking, you’ll want to be getting waxed every 4-6 weeks.

When you’re first starting, whether it’s your first ever brazilian wax or just the first one in a long time, the first 3 appointments will want to be 4 weeks apart. From there it varies person to person. Your hair will begin to grow back less and slower after each wax, so eventually you’ll be able to push back to every 5 weeks, then 6 weeks.

Some clients move back to 5 weeks right after their first 3 appointments, while others could come every 4 weeks for a year before being able to adjust to 5 weeks. It’s very dependent on the person and is not one schedule fits all!

How long should the hair be for a brazilian wax?

For any wax, you’ll want 1/4″ (a quarter inch) of hair grown out. Generally speaking this takes 2-3 weeks for most people. The #1 complaint I get isn’t about the wax hurting or being painful, it’s the difficulty of letting your hair get that long! But you only have to do it once.

What to expect during a brazilian wax at Ronnie’s Relax and Wax

Always take a bathroom break before the wax if needed!
When we enter the room I’ll instruct you how to get ready, while I get ready. I’ll explain to remove everything from the waist down, wipe with a wet wipe front to back, then have a seat on the bed when ready. While my client is undressing and getting ready, my back is turned while I get my supplies out.
I’ll let you know to get in the butterfly position when both of us are ready, explain it will include full front, labia and the crack and check with you to see how much hair you want removed. I’ll also offer a fidget toy at this time!

Example of butterfly position. Clients will be laid flat like this instead of sitting straight up!

4. Cleanse and oil – cleanser will clear away dirt, oil, sweat, etc. A thin layer of oil is applied to make the wax easily roll off the skin without tugging too much.

5. Start the wax. My brazilian appointments take 20 minutes or less, so it goes pretty fast! We’ll do the entire front and labia (then I’ll apply post-wax oil), then I’ll have the client bring their knees to their chest, cannonball style, for the crack wax. There are several positions for this part, so if you’re unable to move like that we’ll find something that is comfortable for you!

6. Apply post-wax oil. The oil from my wax distributor is applied to calm your skin, calm irritation, calm stinging, get rid of redness, prevent ingrown hairs, etc. It has a few key ingredients like peppermint oil, lavender oil and tea tree oil.

7. Get up, get dressed, rebook, go home and follow my aftercare tips to prevent irritation or ingrown hairs!

Ready for your brazilian wax now that you have all the info? Book with me here & get 20% off your first visit!
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@ronniesrelaxandwax

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Using Canva To Make Your 2023 Vision Board

As we head into this New Year, like most people, I’ve set some goals in order to better myself. I’ve never made a vision board before, but was interested in doing it for the first time. I don’t have magazines or cut out scraps laying around, so I was going to make a digital version in photoshop. However, I found out Canva has templates for vision boards, and I was hooked! So I thought I’d share this process with you in case you didn’t know or maybe you want to try it for the first time too.

Making your vision board

First step is go to Canva and sign in or make an account. I’m personally a Canva Pro member but you can definitely do this with the free version!

Search “vision board” in the search bar and lots of template options will come up.

The beauty of Canva is picking whichever template catches your eye, then you can completely customize it to however you want it. I really wanted something with a mix of images and words, so I chose a template that suited my vision.

You can use the elements feature in the left sidebar to choose from Canva’s variety of graphics, photos, videos, and more! The Canva Pro subscription gives you even more options. I also pulled up a list of “Words of the year” to see what words best suit my vision. This board was made specifically with my business in mind so I wanted to keep it relevant.

You can also use the Uploads feature to upload your own photos and videos! I added a few of my own pictures of my work and my space to really tie myself to my vision.

And that’s it! Add as much or as little as you want, use a template or start from scratch, Canva makes it super easy either way!

To show how easy it is (and because I really wanted to) I made another version, one for my personal life and goals, and I wanted to show how you can really work a template to make it specific to you.

Here’s the template I originally chose:

And here’s my final version of it:

I really encourage you to try this if you’re big on goal setting and/or manifestation! You could easily make it a phone or laptop wallpaper to look at every day. Let me know if you try it for yourself!

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Lash Lift & Tint: Service Breakdown

Since opening my business, lash lifts have quickly become my most popular service and what I’m known for. A lot of my clients don’t know what a lash lift is, how it works, why people do it, etc. So I’m here to answer all those questions!

What is a lash lift? Why would someone get one?

Side by side before and after photo. Left photo shows natural eyelashes, laying naturally, dark brown and hard to see. Right photo shows lifted and tinted lashes, the lashes are much more visible and tinted black. Very curled and easy to see. — Before and After: Lash lift and tint

A lash lift is also known as a “lash perm”, and is just what it suggests. A semi-permanent lift to your lashes using a perm-like solution. There are lots of reasons to get a lash lift, for example if your lashes grow straight out, or being tired of extensions, or not wanting the upkeep of mascara. Depending on your lash type, results typically last up to 12 weeks when done correctly.

Lash lift vs Lash lift and tint

A lash lift is as described above, a semi-permanent lift to your natural lashes that should last about 10-12 weeks.

A lash lift and tint, is just a lash lift and lash tint combined. Adding on a lash tint will make your lashes darker, bolder and appear fuller overall.

So, lash lift = curls the lash, lifts it up, makes it more visible
Lash tint = coloring the lash, making it bolder and usually darker

Side by side photo comparison. Top photo shows clients natural lashes, hard to see and drooping down. Bottom photo shows the lashes lifted, much more visible. — Before and After: Lash lift

Lash lift and tint vs lash extensions

Up close shot of eyelash extensions, long and whisky, but look a little fake. Some lashes are far apart or missing — *NOT* my work. VAMPD Brow & Lash photo from Google

Getting lash extensions is the process of adding false lashes onto your natural lashes, when properly cared for can be worn for roughly 4 weeks with some fills in-between. There’s different styles you can get, there’s different size lashes with different curls, it’s an insane world over there! They’re glued to your individual lashes to appear more natural. Extensions also require quite a bit more aftercare than lash lifts, including needs to get a fill roughly every 2 weeks. A fill is when some of the lashes naturally fall out, so you go in for a touch up appointment to make them look full again.

2 pictures stacked on top of each other, before and after showing lash lift and tint results. Top picture shows very short stubby brown lashes, bottom photo shows after lash lift, lashes are much longer and spread out and noticeably darker — Lash lift and tint: Before and after

With lash lifts, there’s no false lashes added, you don’t need to come in for touch up appointments unless you want your tint re-done! For me, a lash lift and tint takes about 45 minutes where lash extensions can take up to 2 hours at a time. Aftercare for lash lifts is super minimal. Mostly just in the first 24 hours following the appointment, after that it’s just maintaining your lashes with a spoolie and lash treatment which I provide for you.

It’s also worth noting they give very different results, lash lifts are definitely more natural looking, where lash extensions can range from natural to super dramatic.

What’s the process of a lash lift?

Some people may perform them differently, so I can only speak to how I do them. But this is what you can expect if you were to come in for a lash lift with me:

Quick Consultation About Expectations – depending on your lash size and length there may be different curl options for you, which will affect the final result. Most clients do want the most curl can they can get, but sometimes all they want is just enough to see a difference. It’s always important your esthetician is starting with consultations.
Cleanse Eye Area – very straight forward, just cleanse the eyes to remove any dirt, oil, makeup before starting the service
Rod & Lash Placement – silicone rods are used to create the curl in your lash, there are several sizes depending on lash size, which is why consultation is important. These rods have different sized bumps on them, which will create and hold the curl in your lash. After placing the rod, your natural lashes are glued up onto that rod and separated, to stay in place and be as straight as possible.
Perm & Conditioning Solutions – Timing for these vary by lash type, but there are two solutions applied to the lashes. Perm-like solution is used at the base of the lashes to hold the curl in place that lasts up to 12 weeks. The second step is similar to a conditioning treatment, it put’s nutrients back into the lash after the perming and makes sure to neutralize the first product.
Lash Tint – If the client wants their lashes tinted we’ll have a separate consult about this between solutions 1&2. Most clients already have pretty dark lashes and their main color choices are black, blue black, or occasionally dark brown. However some people come in with very light lashes and they have more of a variety ranging from a light brown to blue black. Whatever we decide, it’ll be put on for 3-6 minutes
Spoolie, Remove Glue, All Done – Spoolie the brushes, remove any excess glue or tint, I’ll inform the client of the aftercare and then the service is over!

What is the aftercare?

Simple! For the first 24 hours your lashes will still be moldable. So, for the first 24 hours avoid getting your lashes wet or sleeping on them. If you do, just use your spoolie brush to correct the curl and they’ll be okay. I also provide a small container of lash treatment you’ll apply daily to keep them healthy and moisturized and that’s it!

Hopefully I covered all the basics. These are definitely the questions I get most often. If you have additional questions about lash lifts or want to know more about other services I offer, drop them below!

@ronniesrelaxandwax

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Vitamin C: What is it and why is it so popular?

Vitamin C is loved by derms and estheticians everywhere, but do you really know what it does?

It helps to slow signs of early skin aging, prevents sun damage, and can even improve acne, wrinkles, and dark spots when used consistently. It’s also an antioxidant, which means it fights against free radicals (toxins). Free radicals can be external things such as smoke, air pollution, UV exposure, or it could be internal in processes like the metabolism. Vitamin C is a great answer for fighting against external free radicals.

Who Should Be Using Vitamin C?

Anyone looking for help with acne, uneven skin tone, dull skin, and wrinkles. Use it in your daily AM routine for best results, make sure it’s followed by a good SPF!

What If I’m Already Using A Serum In My Routine?

You’re allowed to use more than one serum, but vitamin C comes in all different products! For example, FarmHouse Fresh has a wide range of products containing vitamin C, here are some of my favorites:

“C the Future” is one of FHF’s newest products! This product has glycolic acid and vitamin c and leaves your skin brighter and smoother than ever! And it’s even gentle enough for daily use.

These peel pads are another new one from FHF, a perfect exfoliation step, and also contain vitamin C!

Mighty Brighty is chock full of Vitamin C! It has orange peel which is super rich in vitamin C and leaves your skin brighter and smoother! It also contains some cucumber extract, which also contains vitamin C.

So You See, This Is Why Everyone Loves Vitamin C!

It’s an antioxidant so it fights free radicals, it slows signs of aging, and can improve the look of wrinkles. It can even make your skin brighter and smoother. There are so many ways to incorporate vitamin C into your daily routine!

And in case you don’t know about the hype with facials.. read this post!

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