On Thursday night, my friend, April, came in for an eyebrow wax. When we finished, I walked her up to the reception desk so that she could pay. On our way up, I ran into the difficult client that I wrote about in my entry called ‘What Kind of Operator Am I, Anyway?’ This woman answers her cell phone during facials, demands samples and requests only the best senior students to do her treatments. Since she comes in for weekly facials, I see her all the time. When I was going out to meet a new client the other evening, she was sitting out in the waiting area.
As I was introducing myself, Weekly Facial Woman decided to tell my new client how wonderful I was, and that she was in good hands with me. I couldn’t believe it. I honestly felt kind of bad because I haven’t had many nice things to say about her!
Well, anyway, she saw that I was done with April, and put her hands on her hips and said, “Well, why aren’t you giving me a facial?” I was a little caught off guard, but I told her I would be happy to give her a facial. I’m not quite sure how I’ve done it, but I’ve managed to get on her good side, and I figure that’s better than the alternative.
Her skin is always on the dry side, and she gets facials that treat dry, dehydrated skin every time she comes in. But this time, when I looked at her under the Wood’s lamp, she was extremely oily in the T-zone. Looking back at her chart, no one has ever made comments about her having problems with oil. I asked her if she usually got oilier in the summer, and she said no, never. Her pores looked very clogged, so we did some good exfoliation with a brush and I applied steam with an exfoliating enzyme mask. I extracted what I could in the congested areas and gave her a mask to apply before bed for 10-15 minutes to help pull everything out and control the sebum production.
Could it be that the weekly hydrating facials are becoming too much for her? I am trying to figure out what has caused this unexpected oiliness. Any thoughts?
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
It’s really tough to figure out what’s going on with the skin that is treated by all sorts of samples, and no regular regimen. This lady behaves as a child: tries to please herself with different discounted treatments and free products. And just as a kid needs (but doesn’t want) a discipline to relax and feel happy, your client also needs one skin care adviser that is going to keep track on her. I’d suggest to ask your instructor to perform a consultation in front of you next time as she visits.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:16 am
I am surprised by how many estheticians, whether they are professionals or students in a clinic, fail to pull out that Wood’s lamp. I’ve had new clients come to me that have gotten facials for decades and never have had their skin properly analyzed! Good for you for taking the time to do so. I agree with what Svetlana said; it’s hard to know what’s going on without more information and with all the products she may (or may not) be using.
at