Facial at a Beauty School
Back in Seattle, I found a great esthetician to do my eyebrows. The service was only 15 minutes but we always had the most honest conversations about ourselves and treated each other as good friends. In Los Angeles, I’ve been searching for a good match and in the process, found that services can be like a quick turnaround kind of thing. One time I got them done by an old Asian lady and my eyebrows looked short and thin, just like hers. After a day or so I grew them out but I realized how important it was to find someone that either is the personality I want or has the skill to tailor my beauty to me.
Services at a beauty school are a great place for me to meet a beauty expert and talk about my needs. I’m interested in studying esthetics so getting a facial at a beauty school was also an opportunity to ask questions about being an esthetician, going to this school, and observing her techniques.
Facials have the benefits of meditation and more because you can see its cleanliness, feel relaxed, and experience mental clarity all in one. When I’m chatting with my esthetician, I get to drain all the swirling thoughts out of my brain and after, my body relaxes. Talking to a caring esthetician creates a safe place to discuss how I view my face, what troubles me, and how I can take better care of my skin like drinking more water.
During all the steps, she poured so much love through her hands that it just melted my muscles, mind, and worries. I didn’t have to do anything but lay there under a blanket, with a bolster under my knees. There was also a warm facial steamer that cacoons me from the spacious room and drew my attention back to my body.
When she tended to my neck with a massage, she mentioned how tense I was. It’s true and I’m glad she called me out on it because that was my reminder to bring in my meditative practice. I let my shoulders go, dropped into an empty mind, and listened to the stillness within my body. I brought my outward attention to the ease in my breath and cherished the joy of experiencing a facial.
My esthetician said “I thought you were asleep, you were so zoned out” and I replied, “I kinda was”. My dedicated meditation practice has trained my mind and body to drop into a theta brain state quickly. In this state, the parasympathetic nervous system shifts from socializing to rest, digest, and healing, much like being asleep.
This massage taught me that my meditation is not yet physically strong enough to release my tense muscles. Taking action with a facial and massage provided physical healing and dissipated the tension I was holding.
After a 90 min facial, my skin looked healthy, plump, and dewy. Other estheticians complimented me on my beautiful skin, as the environment cultivates, and I was full of good feelings. My skin looked lovely but I was mostly taken by my facial expression. My eyes were glittery and my smile felt so authentic and expressive. As you know, I’ve been doing research on all kinds of spas and nothing has quite brought me to this kind of self-love. It’s such a heavenly experience.
The esthetician that worked on my face helped me heal my physical, mental, and emotional wounds, and made me want to love my face even more. This self-love practice is so important and is why I want to study esthetics. It nourishes my health through cleanliness, cellular regeneration, and stress reduction. Above all the learning I gathered, what I valued most was spending time and money on my face. I’ve dedicated my health practice to my identity so more of me can shine through.
February 23, 2023
