Memoirs

06/28/09
Memoirs of an Esthetician
When I think of my sweet Grandma Browning, a lot of things come to mind. I could go on to list those things, but that might make me a little weepy. So instead I will cut to the chase: Grandma documented her life. Beautifully. And in that way, I would like to emulate her. So here it goes. My memoirs. Memoirs of an Esthetician.
I’ve been working as a CA Licensed Esthetician for two months now. About a week after I got my license, I made contact with a woman who went to Marinello, Hope, and she hooked me up with a pretty good job at the small wellness center she was working in. The place is called Tova’s Beautique & Wellness Center, and it’s in Rancho San Diego. I work boothrent, which means I pay the owner, Tova, to work there. Hope and I share a good sized room as well as equipment, bedding, towels, and products. The only thing we don’t share is tweezers (or so she said)…but mine go missing quite a bit.
So far, so good. Things here have been a little slow. I think it’s because the industry I work in is considered to be more of a luxury or an indulgence, and people are giving those up these days. I can see why. I haven’t had my hair cut since January. Yikes! I just can’t afford it. But I’m hoping things will pick up sometime soon. For now I just keep giving services away for free or for a very discounted price. It’s a tough time to be a small business owner.
As for my actual work, I love it. I love love love giving facials and I’m starting to enjoy waxing more. Eyebrows always make me nervous, because my client has to walk around with my work on their face until the hair grows back. Something about it makes me skittish still, but it’s getting less scary day by day. Large-surface waxing, such as backs or chests, is my favorite. There’s really nothing you can do wrong there. It also really satisfies some weird part of my OCD to see all the hair gone off a large surface. Haha…I don’t know.
When it comes to clients, I greatly appreciate all of the people from church and all of my family members who have ventured out to Rancho to see me. I don’t think they realize how much that means to me. My other clients, people I’ve taken as walk-ins or people who have responded to my local marketing, are great too. In this profession, it’s easy for people to really open up to you and tell you all about everything that’s ever happened to them. We were taught in Esty school techniques for helping people shed their problems, without taking those problems home on your own shoulders. I remember the first time I really felt someone’s burdens slip through them and into me. I was in school and I’d reached 300 hours of training, so I was out on the floor taking clients. I had a dear, sweet woman who was battling cancer come in for an aromatherapy facial. I remember feeling a little bit of her pain slip out of her as I tried to soothe her sick body. When the facial was finished, she expressed her gratitude to me, and I expressed mine to her. I felt like I’d helped, and that reassured me that I was doing what I was supposed to. That was the first time I cried after a facial. Cue the violin...

So that's my career as an esthetician thus far. More to come.