Hair Products may be Causing your Clients' Skin Issues

Most seasoned Estheticians have seen enough back acne to recognize that often the culprit is the client's use of hair conditioner. The whole point of conditioner is to coat the hair, and that is not necessarily limited to the hair on the head. Humans have vellus hair on every part of their body except palms of hands and soles of feet. When hair conditioner runs down the client's back, it coats the vellus hair. To make matters worse, the back is a hard-to-reach area so proper cleansing and removal of hair conditioner is difficult. 

But here is what Estheticians may not realize (I didn't until it happened to me): Hair products might also be the cause of congestion on your client's face, specifically around the hairline. I am not referring to hair conditioner now. I am referring to hair styling products, especially for curly hair. 

I am a life-long curly girl and I am speaking from experience when I tell you that many of today's styling products for curly hair require the styling products be applied on "dripping wet" hair. As you can imagine, unless you have some sort of cloth or towel near your hairline, that drippy water/product mixture will run down your face. It may also run over your shoulders and down your back.   

There are so many curly hair products, and so many instructions about how to use curly hair products. And that's because all curly hair is not created equal. Even the curl on your own head varies from front to back and side to side. It's crazy!

Some will instruct to "plop" after applying the stylers (curlies know what that means), or remove some of the excess water/product mixture with a microfiber towel. But for some, that will disrupt the curl pattern and you'll end up looking like a frizzy poodle. 

 This drippy wet styling method may not cause a problem right away, however continued use of this protocol may eventually cause some sort of congestion somewhere, as it did with me. As an Esthetician, I am always aware of proper cleansing, exfoliating, etc., but this was atypical and it snuck up on me. Ultimately, my solution was to stop using the "apply on dripping wet hair" products completely. However, there are other solutions for those who love these "drippy wet" styling products.

Here are 3 things you can do to avoid problems:  

1. After the product is in your hair and has at least partially dried, cleanse the skin at your hairline. My go-to product for this is Le Mieux's Vita C Pads which I buy in pro size for my own use. (Le Mieux Skin Care also has a similar but stronger version called Skin Clarifying Pads.) Here's a link to the ones I use: Le Mieux Vita C Clear Skin Pads
2. Wear a wide terrycloth headband near the hairline during application of hair stylers to absorb the drippy product. Many professional esthetic supply companies sell these headbands, so you could retail these headbands to your curly clients. 
3. There is a way to keep drips away from my shoulders and back. This item can be used as a turban or cape and is reversible. One side is cotton and the other is a water resistant fabric. I put it on as a cape while I'm still in the shower with my head upside down so nothing drips on me. I can see that Amazon is out of these at the moment, but I assume these would be sold at a beauty supply store. Here's a link: Hair towel

Estheticians who want customize their menu or become known for a specialty, this would be a great opportunity for you to develop specific services to help out your Curly Clients. In my book, The Heart of Esthetics: Creating Loyal Clients & Achieving Financial Success, I wrote a whole chapter on Customizing and Specializing which includes a long list of creative ways to specialize (most of which I'm sure you've never thought of!).