Beautiful You!

Do you fight each day with your curly, unruly hair?  Does it take an hour for you to style it each morning?  Well, we have the treatment for you!  Janelle, Linda and Amanda are offering Keratin Complex Smoothing Treatments which will tame that mass of curls.  This is a specially formulated revitalizing and rejuvenating treatment for the hair which will eliminate up to 95% of frizz and curl.  Keratin Complex works by restoring and restructuring hair by infusing a special blend of natural keratin (which is what your hair is made of) deep into the hair cuticle.

Now, I know some of you have heard the hype about the dangers of brazilian straightening treatments and we have too.  However Keratin Complex and the Brazilian straightening methods are not the same.  Keratin Complex contains over 40% pure Keratin to restore and restructure hair.  In addition, the formula includes Timonacic acid which is part of an aldehyde group that acts like an organic preservative.  This formula targets the inside of the hair shaft as opposed to the outside which prevents any harmful gases from being released when hair is flat ironed.

On the contrary, other Brazilian hair straightening treatments use anywhere from 2% to 20% of free-formaldehyde to straighten the hair.  When this is heated, the excess formaldehyde is released into the air as a gas that can be harmful to stylists and their clients.

I have not tried the treatments myself.  Frankly, I am one of those straight haired people who wishes she had a little of the curls you ladies want to lose.  However, I have seen both procedures done and I can tell you that I have never noticed an odor with the Keratin Complex like there is with the Brazilian straightening treatments.  The smoothing treatment may not leave your hair completely straight like the Brazilian treatments but it will be noticeably softer, straighter, more manageable and take much less time to style.  You can re-apply the treatment every 4-6 weeks because the build up of keratin will only help, not harm the hair.  However, if you follow all the care instructions your treatment should last anywhere from 3 – 5 months.
Imagine having 30-50 extra minutes a day because you no longer have to spend an hour on your hair.  Now, give Salon Glow a call to set up your appointment.  I guarantee you will be thrilled with the result!

As some of you know, I worked in a major hotel casino for 27 years before jumping into the beauty industry.  I loved my job and was good at it but when 50 started looming I really felt I needed a change.  In talking to my clients over the years, I think this is something that many of us go through.  We have spent our whole lives being wives and mothers along with career women.  Then, the kids leave home and we can’t really remember who we used to be, what we used to love to do.  In my case, I started small, by going back to the more creative things I used to love to do.  My very first real  job when I was 15 was working in a hobby shop and I loved all types of crafting.  So…..I made a scrapbook for my parents 50th anniversary, I started to make cards, I made jewelry and I started sewing again, creating  felted purses and hats.  I found that I didn’t have to feel guilty for doing things that I love and with the kids gone, I had time again!

Then, things started to go south at my job and I decided that I would make a HUGE change by quitting my job and going back to school to learn to do nails!  Whoa, where did that come from?  Well, my daughter Dani had started doing nails a few years before and she loved it.  I thought it would be something creative for me to do that I could keep doing into retirement.  Little did I know that we would end up buying the salon that she worked in and I would start a whole new chapter in my life. Was it hard?  You bet!  Quitting my job was probably the hardest thing I have done in my life.  And we have made lots of mistakes with our business. But we have done a lot of things right to and it was SO worth it.  I love the creative aspect to doing nails and I also love the business aspects of owning our own salon.  I love working with such a wonderful group of ladies who are so passionate about what they do.  And I have learned that you can live on a lot less money than you ever thought you could if you are doing what you love.

Getting older is really so wonderful because you learn what is important to you and you gain the strength to say no to the things that are not important.  I make the time to connect to my friends on a regular basis which makes me so happy.  We go for coffee (or wine) and discuss everything under the sun, helping each other handle problems, sharing good and bad times.  When you are younger, raising a family, working or going to school you are pulled in so many ways and you feel guilty if you take time away for yourself.  Trust me, taking an hour or two every month to chat with your BFF is time well spent!

So, I am not an expert in anything but I do know that you are never too old to reevaluate your life and see what is and isn’t working for you.  If you are unhappy, try to remember what you love to do.  Start small but remember that you gain so much when you take care of yourself!

Who doesn’t love it when their hands look good? After all, your hands are on display with everything you do. Now, I know that many women think that they can’t take the time out of their busy schedule to have their nails done regularly. I absolutely understand that but I find that I actually spend less time on my nails than before when I used to do them myself at home. I would have to set aside time at least once a week to polish and then wait forever for it to dry before I could do anything. And of course, if I got impatient, I would mess them up and have to start all over. Then, several times a week I would have to touch up the polish again because it was chipping – and again with the waiting for it to dry! Spending an hour every two or three weeks is a lot less time and my nails look fantastic every day!
We have 4 nail techs who would love to have the opportunity to make your hands look and feel fabulous. We specialize in gel nails but we love to do natural nails as well. We also do Mani-Q which is a soak off gel polish (like Shellac) that can be used on hands and feet, leaving them perfectly dry and strong at the end of the service – no more smudged nails! We have a huge selection of colored gel, glitters and polishes to suit your every whim. We also do nail stamps to personalize your nails by adding all kinds of designs from butterflies and flowers to zebra stripes or spiders. Give us a call to schedule your next nail appointment with us – we would love to see you!

Nail Stamps - cute, cute, cute!

By far the most prevalent comment I have been hearing from my clients lately is “When are we going to get Spring?”  Everyone is so tired of cold and wind and is looking forward to getting some warm weather so they can get out the summer clothes and start working in the yard.  Today is finally looking like a nice warm day with no wind and instead of getting out in the yard where I should be, here I am plugging away at this computer.  The older I get, the more it takes to motivate me to do some of the things I should be doing.  However, I am definitely going out there SOON!

At the salon we can tell that spring is here from the number of pedicures and spray tans we are doing.  Even though it hasn’t been great weather, people are getting prepared by getting those toes ready for sandal season after a long winter wearing socks, shoes and boots.  One of Dani’s long time clients came in yesterday for her first pedicure EVER.  She said she never wanted anyone to see how bad her feet were and was really worried about getting a pedicure.  Of course, she loved it – and no, her feet were not bad at all.  They were perfect little feet and looked amazing once they were all massaged and polished up.  Yours will look and feel great too so give us a call to schedule your spring pedicure – we would love to see you.

We all know tanning is so bad for us but OMG, that first time we put on the shorts or capri’s after a winter of being in jeans can be tough.  I don’t know about you but my legs are so white they practically glow in the dark!  Not a pretty look.  We can fix that though with a quick spray tan.  It takes only 15 minutes and will last for over a week if you prepare properly and keep your skin moisturized.  Then, you can either come back for another or keep your tan looking good by using Faux Tan self tanner by bareMinerals.  We love this self tanner because it has a bronzer in it so you can see exactly where you are applying it and therefore you don’t get the streaks and bare spots that you get with other self tanners.   It is so easy to keep that summertime glow going without risking the health and beauty of your skin by hitting the tanning beds.   When you are out enjoying the sun we have several great facial quality sunscreens by Cosmedix.   Of course, bareMinerals makeup has an SPF15 also so you have no excuse not to protect your skin when you go out every day.

We are seeing signs of spring everywhere.  Lawns are getting green, daffodils and tulips are blooming,  fruit trees are in full bloom and so beautiful.   My little grandson came home after being gone for a few weeks and ran out into their back yard.  He came running back inside and excitedly said to my daughter “Mom, did you do that to the trees?”  So cute.  Sometimes we are so busy with just getting everything done every day that we forget to look around and appreciate the beauty around us.  So…..today, take some time to get outside and look around.  Take a little walk or a bike ride, smell the air and enjoy the sun.

I am heading out to the garden right now!!

Do you have smooth, glowing, gorgeous skin?  If you say yes, then lucky you!  However for the rest of us, the years plus the exceedingly dry climate here in Nevada have taken their toll and left us with less than perfect complexions.  Now, I will tell you that most people know me as a pretty frugal (OK, cheap) person and in my previous life, before my daughter and I bought our salon, I would have told you that any old drugstore lotion or cleanser would work just fine.  And frankly, when I was younger, it did.  However, as I got older my skin started to show all those nasty spots and wrinkles.  It just didn’t bounce back like it used to and began to look kind of dull and dry.  So, because I was still building my nail clientele and our esthetician was building her clientele as well we decided to do some trading of services.  I did her nails and she worked on my face.   She started by doing facials, gradually extracting all the troublesome milia (little whiteheads that I had never been able to get rid of).  I will say that most estheticians are a bit sadistic and they just love poking and squeezing at your face and Mary was no exception.  However, after several sessions, she managed to get rid of them all and they haven’t returned.  And she spends a lot of time just pampering you, which makes you feel marvelous.   She also did a series of gentle peels, which really helped to exfoliate my skin, leaving it so soft and smooth!  We are not a medical spa so we don’t do the really heavy duty peels but  Mary has 4 or 5 different peels in her arsenal that she can tailor for any skin type.  And finally, she convinced me that using good products really does make a huge difference in how my skin feels and I was not the easiest person in the world to convince (due to my previously mentioned frugality.)  The drugstore products usually have many more fillers and stuff that you don’t want and a lot less of the good things that your skin really needs.  We sell CosMedix Skin Care, which is a plant-based, earth-friendly line, free of artificial colors and preservatives.  Their formulations boast the highest concentrations of active ingredients currently available which is what really makes these products work.  Are they expensive?  Well, they are certainly not the most expensive out there but they are definitely higher than most drugstore brands.  However, as in most quality products, a little goes a long way.   You only need a drop about the size of a sesame seed of Opti-Crystal, which is in my  opinion the most wonderful eye cream EVER.  Mary can tell you WHY the products work so well – I can only tell you from experience that they DO!

Mary working her magic on a client!

Now I am not going to tell you that finally taking care of my skin has made me look 20 again.  But, I can tell you that by using great products and having regular facials, my skin has never felt so soft, smooth and healthy.  So……are these products worth it?  You bet!  Are you worth it?  Absolutely!