Education Evolving and Exfoliation

What a weird title, let me explain.  I am a beauty therapist, and education is very important to me, this is one of the reasons I decided to train at a private college where outside examiners come in and observe students working under exam conditions, imagine for a moment doing a busy 8 hour day with an examiner looking over your shoulder and asking you in depth questions all while you are maintaining a professional environment in front of your client, its stressful, but I do have a sense of achievement knowing that I was tested and proved myself.


When a newly trained ITEC / CIDESCO therapist leaves college they do so with a huge knowledge of the human body and the detailed workings of electrical salon equipment and off they go to do what they love to do, which is make people feel good in their own skin.


The problem comes when a therapist thinks they know it all, don't get me wrong I do know it all about the products that I use and the equipment that I use along side them, this is because I have not stopped learning and evolving as a therapist, I attend classes at least every month on subjects from skin, massage, nails and waxing etc.  But I do not know it all about what is coming next in terms of ingredients, techniques, trends and new equipment and this is the reason that I have made a promise to both myself and my business to stay educated by attending classes every month of every year.


Now were does exfoliation come into all of this, well in my experience this is where most clients are going wrong, the skin care world has moved on a lot from scrubbing our faces with crushed apricot kernels (though granular scrubs are beneficial for younger very oily skins).  Get into your local professional salon and find out about lactic acid, salicylic acid, rice bran and lots of other goodies.

My body is a temple

I am 14 stone and 5ft!  Now that is out of the way I can get onto telling you of my plan to slim down.

I am going to follow the food plan of Slimming World but have decided not to attend class, the last class I went to was simply getting weighed in and then the class leader calling out each persons weight loss and a round of applause for each, that's not really motivational for me and as Slimming World give most of their food plan upfront I feel well equipped to get going.

I am going to weigh in each Tuesday with my friend, using the Wii.  We might even have a "play" on the Wii and definitely get out for a walk on dry nights, I don't do rain.

I am also going to use my Silhouette faradic machine at Bliss, this machine contracts and relaxes muscles while you relax, it is a weird sensation, I love it!  It also increases metabolism, blood circulation and lymph circulation to help the body remove toxins.  It can be used on lots of areas, tummy, arms, thighs, and buttocks.

Blowing away the cobwebs

Today we headed to Tullymore forest park for a big walk to kickstart my slimming attempt and just to get outside in the fresh air.  I enjoy the walk but always forget about the hill climb at the end, I am soo unfit.

The day was very cold and so I was bundled up like this

Yes shocker, beauty therapists do leave home without makeup, infact I am not really into makeup at all.  Let me explain my huge sunglasses, firstly I was in disguise lol and secondly I have rosacea on my face and all the protection I can give to my upper cheeks the better.

My youngest sibling has been staying with us for a few days so I grabbed him for a photo, he doesnt really do hugging, my bad

Of course Bentley loves Tullymore, lots of new sniffs

After our walk we decided to visit click ---> Paws 4 Tea in Dundrum, a cafe that welcomes doggies.... Bliss!

Our food was simple home cooked snacks with lots of tea top ups, and it was soo lovely to have Bentley there, please check out their facebook page and go along and support them.

Day 1 in the 2012 world

Last night we had the usual new years celebrations at our friends house, we stay over with them as they have a baby and none of us can be bothered to go out, we were all in our jammies by 10pm...........  Next year I would like to go somewhere fancy and have a lush late dinner and some bubbles.  This wont happen, and even if it did I probably wouldn't enjoy it as I don't really relax at events, I feel a weird pressure that everything should be perfect and life just isn't like that.

Today I have been narky and irritable, like I want to stand on top of a mountain and scream my head off to release something.  I think this comes from days and days of holiday time, I need to get back to work and give myself some purpose.

And so I shall say goodbye and go achieve something.
Chelle

New Years Eve Eve

Today I am cooking for family, last minute arrangements and easy tasty food.  This is one of my favourite things to do.  A lot of us Murrays are feeders, this comes from Nanny Murray.

Later I am going to the pub with my brother James and hubby G, we will have a few drinks and shoot some pool - I will win.

This is me for today, cosy and comfy.......... Bliss

Cardigan - Zara
Leopard Top - Oasis
Leggings - H&M
Boots - UGGs

My bag was an amazing little bargain from a second hand shop in BT9

Chelle

Who I am

My name is Michelle, Chelle, Mrs Prentice or Mrs Michelle Prentice IRI ITEC CIDESCO, I am 35, married to G and have a boxer dog Bentley who is 5 and rules the roost.  In 2009 I changed my life by leaving behind 16 years in an accounts career to train as a beauty therapist and now have my own business which operates right beside my home, Bliss.  Everyday in the world of Bliss is different, but the main idea is to help others feel good in their own skin, be that working on skin conditions, massage therapies or the instant glamour of freshly manicured nails, I truly love it all.

Going forward my plans for 2012 are to shift the weight, yes I have a lovely relationship with food, its one of my best friends, a best friend who is secretly poisoning me and cutting years of my life, I need to delete this friend from my list, pronto.  I also plan to continue my education with Dermalogica and The International Dermal Institute, though this is not a plan for 2012, its been a big part of my life in 2011 and will be for the rest of my working life, learning about skin amazes me and in turn helps my clients.

I am the eldest of 6 siblings, its not an easy task, I want to help each of them so they dont make some of the mistakes that I have, but I have to accept that they live their own lives, its not always easy though.  I care about people way too much which usually only leads to me getting upset, sensitive little scorpio that I am.

My circle of friends is small, quality over quantity.  We dont see each other very often, and thats ok.

I shall sign off now and go read some blogs :)
Chelle