DIRTY ESTHETICIANS-RUNNING AMERICA
The topic of estheticians within in spas is one that greatly interests me in general because there are SO many estheticians and SO many spas. And what it comes down to is that they are not all run the same. My main area of concern as to how they are run that bothers me is cleanliness. Because I am an esthetician there are things that I immediately notice when I walk into a spa that I notice and I will immediate it dub it “dirty”, and would never have a service. It seems logical to not have a service to in a dirty place, but many people don’t realize the spa they frequent is dirty, or their esthetician is not being sanitary during procedures.
The whole reason we want to be very sanitary within the treatment room and during the treatment is to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. As technicians we are touching person to person contact guest after guest. Lets say you get your eyebrows waxed, they tweeze a little, then trim. I am positive at some point those tweezers picked up some bacteria and skin from around your eyebrow area, what if you found out that those utensils were not cleaned from the previous eyebrow wax right before you? Gross right? I have not experienced a bacterial infection myself, but have heard of technicians as well as guests catching bacterial infections after treatments. This is why it is important to KNOW your SPA and your ESTHETICIAN. Some things that you look out for at your next treatment for facial or wax in the treatment or wax to tell if the room is clean/ they are taking sanitary precautions are the following
- FOR WAXING
- If there is a spatula sitting in the wax pot, and they re-dip when they wax you( big no no) the heat from the pot is NOT hot enough to kill bacteria
- For bikini, brazilian, they do not have a piece of paper covering the blankets on the bed, it can become a messy service, and the coverings need to be protected
- They use a wax strip they used on your bikini/brazilian area-and use it on your face-spreading bacteria
- You should see a BARBICIDE JAR-filled with either a clear or blue solution all tweezers and scissors should be kept here to be sanitized in between clients If there is no BARBICIDE JAR your esthetician is spreading bacteria all day long
- *Not really a sanitary issue, but they should completely clear all excess wax from your body that is left over, and I always give a pad with oil when I leave the room so if you feel” sticky” at all you can remove it yourself if I have missed a small spot-common courtesy
- FOR FACIALS
- You should be lying between two SHEETS, not a sheet with a blanket, spas do not have time to wash those blankets fast enough in between clients, and so you are sitting in someone elses sweat.
- When your esthetician turns on the light for your consultation look to see if there are signs of “mask” like green or blue colors on the side of the handle. This means that she is messy and does not clean at night, also look directly up at the glass, look for fingerprints, probably hasn’t been cleaned in weeks
- If your esthetician is doing extractions, it should feel like a pinch, but she should ABSOLUTELY be wearing gloves, one if not two pairs. During extractions you as a client bleed and any if that spreads on a estheticians fingers to anywhere on the treatment room you are in trouble if she is not wearing gloves and doing this on the regular. A good esthetician will know how to properly take off the gloves and dispose off them so the blood touches nothing but the bottom of the garbage
- If you get a foot massage you should hear the sink( your esthetician washing her hands before she touches your face again), as well as after your hand massage. Hands are actually dirtier than feet because we touch so many things with them. If you are not hearing the sink running a great deal, you should be alarmed-that means she is also not cleaning other things like bowls and brushes
- If your hot towels smell AT ALL like mold, they ARE OLD and your esthetician is lazy, and her hot towels were made days before and have been sitting in her hot towel cabbie for a few days and she just pressed the ON button. Say something, It is not right by any means.
- Side Note-Never Use The Plastic Slippers they give you –those never get sanitized, if they are cloth and in a package that is fine, but otherwise just go barefoot, sounds odd, but less risk of getting athletes foot!
- WHEN YOU ARE ALONE IN THE TREATMENT ROOM/IN THE BATHROOM/LOCKER ROOM
- when you are alone in the room look for marks on the floor- these are waxing marks and this means that your esthetician does not take THE 5 MINS at the end of the day to clean her room. Also look to see if her professional products are dusty, look out-of-order. This also reflects her cleanliness
- In the bathroom look to see if there are random things on the floor-people(esp employees pick up after your self) and if there is stacked toilet paper
- If the locker room is clean that is a good thing, again don’t use the plastic slippers, but if by chance the robe that the hostess gives you is dirty or doesn’t fit, politely ask for a new one. Your paying for your service you deserve the right treatment.
BOTTOM LINE
HOW CLEAN YOUR ESTHETICIAN AND THE SPA YOU GO TO GENERALLY CORRELATES WITH
QUALITY OF SERVICE OR
IN LAMENS TERMS
DIRTY SPA=BAD/POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SERVICE
CLEAN SPA=GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND A RESULT ORIENT SERVICE
Come Visit Me at Arete Salon and Spa in Palatine, IL for a CLEAN SPA atmosphere, great customer service, and result oriented service.
CALL ARETE @ 847-907-4123
To BOOK A FACIAL OR WAX
and feel fabulous
-JULIANA
savvyskincarechicago 