Fast Glamour: Quick Spa Fixes Brighten Your Outlook
Give your looks and spirit a boost, holiday time or any time
links:
Elizabeth
Adam Salon
OneGoddessWay.com
CHICAGO— Downsizing or job hunting got you down? Anticipating the holiday blues? Or is Mother Nature just messing with you again? Whether you're dreading those weight-adding, nerve-wracking holidays, reinventing yourself for work, or battling the effects of PMS, pregnancy or menopause, hair artist Susan MacCoy has good news for you. Women of all ages can look and feel fresher and renewed — not to mention up to 20 years younger — in less than 90 minutes. Susan advises wiping away those tired looks with professional day spa Quick Fixes (see below), a series of helpful hints and tips for improving your appearance. Day spa beauty packages are generally available combining different spa services.
The 5-Minute Cuticle Fix: Your hands say so much about you and can look tired even when the rest of you doesn't. So keep them in shape! Apply cuticle oil or "9.1.1." treatment on nail bed, cuticles, and calluses, and rub away dry skin with a pumice stone or white buff bar.
The 10-Minute Anti-wrinkle Fix: Putting in too much overtime? Newborn keeping you awake? Or did you just party too late last night? Apply Eyesential Under Eye Enhancer. This non-surgical eye lift works in 10 short minutes and lasts for hours.
The 15-Minute Hair Condition Fix: Banish drooping locks and split ends! Get a deep conditioning treatment to add flexibility, which affects the longevity of a hairstyle and allows it to bounce and move in the shape it is cut (retail cost for home use, 6 treatments: $12). Pro Tip: buy professional conditioner from your hairstylist; after applying, wrap your hair in a hot towel for super professional results.
The 20-Minute Fuzzy Fix: Wax away unwanted facial hair caused by hormonal shifts. Don't forget to have your eyebrows shaped at the same time (salon cost: eyebrows $15, lip and chin $30).
The 30-Minute Make-up Fix: Still wearing that lip gloss you loved in college? Re-evaluate your make-up colors and techniques periodically with a 30-Minute Make-up Makeover. "Remember, your skin tones and facial shape have changed. We have a tendency to try the same techniques and colors we used as younger adults," even if they are no longer appropriate, warns Paula Sino, Elizabeth Adam's Day Spa's head make-up artist .
The 45-Minute Hairstyle Fix: Is your 'do dated? Upgrade to a wash-and-wear cut with a new shape that wind, work, or menopausal hot flashes cannot destroy in five short minutes. A hairstyle that can be washed and blown dry is a blessing on an exhausting day. The benefit of having your hairstyle "enter the millennium" is that when you look contemporary, you'll feel contemporary, too (salon cost: $125).
The 30-to-60-Minute Haircolor Fix: A single swipe of bright color may work for the club scene, but sometimes you need help that's a bit more subtle than a streak of shocking pink. Highlights and lowlights are the tool of choice for making your own hair color more dramatic, regardless of age. What you may not know is that the technique also works wonderfully for that unwanted gray hair. Nothing ages your appearance faster than gray — so wash away those cold grays in favor of a warm blonde in a one-step blending process to bring out the natural glow of skin tones! Or, weave in blonde highlights and add deeper lowlights than your natural hair color throughout your hair. This blending technique will make your gray hair totally invisible and lasts for months before needing to be re-colored (salon cost: $50 and up).
The 60-Minute Foot Fix: If you're working to maintain the rest of your body, don't forget your feet! A professional aromatherapy session pedicure with Sea Salt & Papaya Enzyme exfoliates dry skin and removes calluses from toes and feet, trims toenails to a flattering shape, and paints toenails in today's colors . Throw in a foot massage, and you're in heaven. Pro Tip: purchase your nail color from the manicurist for quick home touch ups. Include the purchase of a pumice bar (retail: $3.50) to keep that smooth, pretty-pedicure feeling twice as long.
The 60-Minute Pamper Fix: Here's stress management that should be a regular part of your routine. An hour of professional, stress-relieving massage therapy can transport you to a new relaxed and beautiful attitude adjustment.
The 90-Minute Face Fix: Environmental factors, inadequate sleep, and worry can take their toll on your face more than age does. Make your skin glow with a custom-blended facial to peel away dead tissue. Exfoliate, cleanse, and hydrate facial skin, then have a massage to recondition skin and muscle tone. Custom skin treatments, a trademark of Elizabeth Adam Skin Clinic, include ECHO2 Oxygenation Treatment, an oxygen cocktail of 87 vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes; vitamin/herbal treatments, and glycolic acid + vitamin C treatments. The result: a radiant look .
Finally, to reinforce these beautiful results, cultivate an attitude of serenity by meditating whenever you can. If you're stressed out and need help to meditate, you can visit an online meditation room — such as the one at OneGoddessWay.com — for tranquil music and harmonious viewscapes at your fingertips. It's within easy reach on the Internet!
Hair artist Susan MacCoy is based at Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa,
located in Chicago’s Water Tower Place. She has taught in venues
as diverse as the Goodman Theater of the Art Institute of Chicago; the
Clairol Summer Sessions at Northwestern University; classes offered by
Helene Curtis in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and Africa; Clairol,
Inc.’s Famous Haircolorists’ Educator Program; and sessions
for Glemby International, as well as in training videos for beauty professionals
and students. Formerly manager of the Glemby International Salon
at the Drake Hotel and long established on Michigan Avenue, MacCoy has
served many famous clients, including Barbara Walters, Princess Diane
Von Furstenburg, Lucille Ball, and Lady Bird Johnson.
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