Recycle

You’d be surprised how many items in salons can be recycled but aren’t. Shampoo and conditioner bottles, hair color tubes and styling product containers can all be recycled. In an effort to do their part to save the environment, Origins Cosmetics will accept and recycle cosmetics packaging from any brand as a part of their Return to Origins Recycling program. To recycle other beauty packaging, visit Earth911.com to find a recycling center near you!

Save Energy

Though energy efficient hairdryers and styling tools are not yet a reality, you can still save energy throughout your salon. For starters, you can swap your traditional lighting out for florescent or LED bulbs. Check out Eco-Lite for energy efficient lighting made specifically for salons. Go the extra mile and turn off lights in areas of the salon that aren’t being used. Another great way to conserve energy is to unplug styling appliances from the wall outlet when they’re not in use. Even if the appliance isn’t on, it is still pulling energy, so unplug it!

Clean Green

Chemical cleaning solutions are big culprits when it comes to hurting the planet. Changing to eco-friendly cleaning supplies is a simple way to make your salon more green. You don’t have to compromise cleanliness and sanitation with natural cleaning products. Try the products from All Green Janitorial Products to keep your salon sparking clean without harming the environment. You can also take old, hair color-stained towels and use them to clean surfaces instead of using wasteful paper towels. Be sure to wash your salon’s towels with eco-friendly laundry detergent and softener to keep things green.

For more tips on making your salon more earth-friendly, visit PlanetGreen.com.

What steps has your salon, spa or cosmetology school taken to “go green”? Share!

The Brookhaven location of Atlanta’s Natural Body Spa & Shop has just been awarded a LEED Platinum certification, which is the highest environmentally-conscious building standard. The location features beauty and cosmetology services from both a Natural Body Spa & Shop and a 10TEN Nail Bar. But the buzz about LEED standards means that they’re doing it with the lightest environmental footprint possible, and that keeps their karma in line with their community.

Natural Body dedicated themselves to boosting their environmental responsibility by using regional building materials in the design of the salon, and incorporating up to 50% post-industrial material and low-energy lighting sources for the finishing touches.

The Natural Body location is especially noteworthy because it’s in a high-density, mixed-business development with mass transit, trendy shops and green space side by side. Awesome! Natural Body gets it, and we love it!

Do you know any LEED standards building projects being planned in your area? If any of them are eco-friendly spas, salons or resorts, we want to hear about it.

Holistic means ‘whole’ and holistic health focuses on the whole self: mind, body and spirit.  The practices used in holistic therapies are also sometimes referred to as alternative medicine.  These holistic and alternative approaches to medicine may not be a part of mainstream health care, but they are growing in the world of cosmetology.  The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine , a research group, has found that 38% of American adults use some form of alternative medicine.

People may think that the holistic health industry is separate from cosmetology, but that simply isn’t the case.  Cosmetology has extended far beyond hairstyling alone.  Many cosmetology schools offer programs in esthetics and skin care, nail care, hair care and massage therapy.  Each of these areas of cosmetology can work well with a holistic approach to health.  Cosmetology schools and beauty schools focus on outward appearance, and many people may not realize that outward appearance is often a reflection of our health.  When we are stressed, we may have tense muscles or more skin breakouts.  If we aren’t eating right, we might have brittle hair and nails.  All of these outward issues may be indicators of bigger problems.  As a society we need to be less stressed and focus more on our health.

Cosmetology and holistic health can work together to reach this goal.  We need to focus on our minds, bodies and spirits, and we need to be training future cosmetology professionals to help their clients find that same focus.  Getting a beauty treatment can help relax your clients.  As an esthetician, you can give advice on not only soothing broken out skin, but also mind/body/spirit exercises that can help prevent skin problems from coming back.  A session with a massage therapist can calm clients’ muscles and keep them relaxed as they go through their busy lives.  The health of the whole self is linked to outward appearance, so the cosmetology industry and holistic health industry should work more closely together to help our society become and remain healthy.

What about you? How does your cosmetology school or beauty salon tie holistics and alternative medicine into your services?

Another bikini wax or Brazilian wax mishap has been highlighted in the news. Women’s Health has an article featured on msnbc.com about a woman, Jennifer, that spent 15 days in the hospital after a bikini wax infection. 15 days!

The article claims she received her wax at a reputable New York salon. After the wax, she developed a 102 degree temperature, chills and pain in her left thigh. Jennifer thought it was just a cold (that’s some cold!) and waited 5 days to go to the doctor.

Well, turns out, it wasn’t a cold. Her doctor diagnosed her with cellulitis – a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection of the skin and underlying tissue. She had surgery to drain the infection and was hooked up to an IV that pumped her full of antibiotics and pain-killers. One doctor even said she could have lost her leg.

So how does this happen? Any procedure, no matter how small or how common, comes with risk. But 15 days in the hospital after a bikini wax! I argue that waiting 5 days to see a doctor with symptoms like that isn’t terribly smart.

I wouldn’t say this is a common occurrence, but it’s not the first time it’s happened. New Jersey even considered outlawing bikini waxes because of problems they were causing. That is why it is so incredibly important to visit educated, licensed estheticians you trust. Ask lots of questions of your esthetician and follow all the pre- and post-wax instructions closely.

These recent Brazilian wax and bikini wax headlines got me thinking. What safety precautions and pre- and post-waxing care techniques are current students learning in esthetician school to avoid these problems? What precautions are salons and spas taking to avoid these mishaps and subsequently getting sued? Has anything changed at the place you attend school or work at – or are the normal safety routines still working?

According to their CUT IT OUT web site, it is a program of the Salons Against Domestic Abuse Fund, dedicated to mobilizing salon professionals and others to fight the epidemic of domestic abuse in communities across the United States.”

The Alabama-founded group works to build awareness of domestic abuse through awareness materials to be displayed in salons, the Adopt-a-Shelter initiative to involve salons in helping local domestic violence agencies, and training salon professionals to recognize warning signs and safely refer clients to resources. This would be a great program to implement in beauty and cosmetology schools, too!

Training sessions help salon professionals learn to identify domestic abuse and know what to do when they suspect it. Because domestic abuse victims are often held captive by their abusers, but still held to a high physical standard by the same captor, salons are often some of the few places that they continue to visit.

Kudos to CUT IT OUT for an important initiative that has already been backed by groups including Salons Against Domestic Abuse Fund – a partnership between Clairol Professional, the National Cosmetology Association, and Southern Living At HOME.

Is your salon or beauty school interested in getting involved with CUT IT OUT? Visit their site today to find out how!

First great thing – they had me in right away. And “Amy”, the student who used me as a guinea pig, was great. I originally wanted a French manicure, but she hadn’t had the chance to learn that yet. She offered to find me a more experienced student, but I told her it was fine.

The salon itself was nice – it was huge and divided into smaller sections. The equipment looked top notch. The teacher-supervisors were all cheerful and smiling and things felt busy but not chaotic.

Amy was new enough that she still had an instruction card she referred to, in order to make sure she was completing all the steps. But she did a great job on my pedicure – my toes look like little gems! I am definitely planning on going back to see if I can get a beauty facial in the near future.

Checking out a student salon is a great way to get a feel for the local schools while giving yourself a little treat. Just don’t forget to tip!