Author: Adrianna Mejia MacAloney

Bridal Facials

Prep your skin for your big Wedding Day or Special Event l Edmonton

Getting married is a one-of-a-kind special life moment. It is about the union of love, celebration and friendship, witnessed in front of close and far away family and friends. It is a decision that isn’t to be taken lightly, and with that comes an enormous amount of pressure that comes from planning, decision-making and everything in between. From the venue, photographer, makeup artist and the logistics of every guest, but both the groom and bride need to start new beauty regimes and routines months in advance to look and feel great!

Keep an eye on your daily habits

Let’s talk about stress. As wonderful a time as it is, it’s also an enormously stressful time too. Gathering more than 5 people in the same place at the same time takes commitment even for a simple dinner date with friends. Imagine having 50+ guests planning a weekend over your wedding day! So it’s not a surprise that both the bride and groom start to experience a high level of stress, something that our skin resents. Stress causes skin to break out, become hypersensitive, look dull and not-so-full of life.

Time management. Planning such an important event everyone wants to make sure there is no detail left out. And our fellow perfectionists and detail-oriented gals may suffer 2x more in this process. It involves long days and sleepless nights. And we still have to work our regular day jobs!

Bad diet starts planning also a BIG role in this matter. With so little time and so many details to figure out, I am sure it is easier for brides and grooms to spend less than three minutes in the drive-thru and get a quick meal than returning home and figuring out a healthy menu before any meeting to set up flower details. I would.

Wellness and Health should be the top priority

There are so many factors that involve Wellness left out when we are planning a wedding. As small as it could be, it is a whole process that we need to sort out and taking care of our body may not be one of them.

When I worked as a wedding photographer, I experienced brides begging to Photoshop face imperfections. One of them was even so tanned, that it was incredibly hard to deliver the gallery thanks to the amount of time that it took me to correct the tanned straps burnt in her skin. Especially in Alberta where the sun is so intense and the summer is so short that we all want to enjoy the outdoors: They did not think about how their skin would look on their wedding day.

There is a solution involving skin-prep months prior to the big day: Brides Glow packages. These facial series were thought for Brides that are one step ahead and are thinking about how their skin is going to look for not just their wedding, but the whole engagement/prior ceremonies happening before.

Best Skin treatments before your Wedding Day or Special Event

One of the best skincare procedures for Pro-aging and skin cell renewal is micro-needling, together with High Frequency and LED therapy is a great mix of technological tools that help us not just prep the skin but keep it looking amazing monthly. Because it is not just a party happening, there are prior engagements, religious ceremonies, and legal procedures happening. All these moments need us to feel and look great.

According to Daniel Martin, the celebrity makeup artist responsible for Meghan Markle’s jaw-dropping nuptial glow and on Rio Viera-Newton’s VOGUE Prepping Skin for Your Wedding Article, before your wedding, your skin care should focus on delivering layers of hydration and soothing ingredients to your complexion. Martin explains that the ideal base for wedding makeup is calm, moisturized, and firm skin, that way the makeup artist can focus more on enhancing your natural glow rather than concealing or correcting it.

You should focus on this statement to understand the importance of adding a series of skin treatments instead of filling your face with layers of foundation and concealer to hide impurities.

Get your skin prep for the big day

Our Skin Therapists at Skin High in Edmonton can help you set up a skincare routine and regime that will improve your skin’s face health months prior to a special event. Sticking to your series of appointments and skincare homework such as adding hyaluronic serums and cleansing your skin properly, will go further than asking to Photoshop it afterward.

Adopting whole foods and protein-rich dishes to your meals, exercising, and hydrating properly can give a boost to your skin as well as the skin treatment series followed properly.

LA VIE EN GLOW SERIES

La Vie En Glow series was designed for those who are in search of real wedding skin prep in dry weather like ours. With two series of Nanoneedling, High Frequency, Collagen Masks, and relaxation massages for the face and body beforehand and one super hydrating facial days prior to the big day, makeup will only enhance the beauty of your face, and those pictures will look amazing. The only problem will be choosing the right living room frame for them.

If you are against time and two series of micro-needling is not an option for you at the moment, La Vie en Glow Facial is the perfect source of cleansing and hydration for your skin!

This Facial is rich not just in products but its last-minute S.O.S. help to the skin’s first layer. The thought behind this facial was helping those in need of a quick fix to peach fuzz, breakouts, and clogged pores with close to no time left before a special event.

Skin concern: Dry Skin.

Skin concern: Dry skin.

As December approaches, our skin starts to change dramatically. And no, I am not exaggerating.

There is less moisture in our skin during winter compared to summer, as well as fewer lipids in the skin barrier contributing to dryness and irritation.

This irritation causes Dry Skin, and Dry Skin is a condition in which the skin looks and feels rough, itchy, flaky or scaly. Having noticeable dry skin during winter is the consequence of the cold outdoor weather, harsh winds, and rain can strip the skin of its natural, moisturizing oils.

HOW TO PREVENT DRY SKIN

My Skin condition is combination skin which means my T-Zone tends to get super oily and my cheeks and the eye area are very dry and reactive. I’m always on the lookout for some ooph to help moisturize my cheeks. I tend to discard my aggressive scrubs, hot showers and keep my daily skin care routine as simple as I can. This way, my skin doesn’t get stripped of its natural oils – which are definitely needed for dry conditions!

DRY SKIN ROUTINE

TUEL’s calm line is the perfect option for this skin concern. The Moisture Plus line carries a Superfoods moisturizer and face mask that replenishes and nurtures the skin, leaving it with that plump look that dry skin needs. In addition to this duo, its nourishing plus essential oil contains hydrating ingredients that act as a finishing coat to these nourishing treatments.

ADDITIONAL BOOST TO OF GLOW DRY SKIN

In addition to this nourishing regime, adding a glow facial is a great mini maintenance facial to remove the surface layer of dead skin and to keep the skin looking nurtured and healthy!

Booking monthly cleansing facials is my go to option to keep my skin healthy looking during the harsh winter months in Alberta. No matter how dry or oily my skin gets, I am well aware that my skin will need some cleanser every couple of weeks. Wearing sunscreen also contributes to the excess of oil I produce day to day and my constantly congested pores beg for some soothing steam and Skin High’s Painless Pore extractions!

Chem Peels for the winter time.

Post author By Adrianna Mejia MacAloney
Post date April 22, 2021
No Comments on Chem Peels for the winter time.

Chem peels in Edmonton's weather.

It is here. Winter is finally here.
After forgetting the fact that we have to endure the next three to five months with extreme weather conditions, we are back in that time again where our daily schedule means work, Netflix by the couch, sleep and repeat.
It is not easy for us Edmontonians to deal with this every year, but we’ve always managed the way to persevere.

Chemical Peels are the best facial option to book during the winter times. Light and Medium peels can take a week or two of healing before your skin returns to normal. This would be almost an impossible challenge over the summer because Sun exposure on Chemical Peels are a hazard to proper healing and may leave the skin reacting, causing dark spots or in the worst case, burnt. As I become more aware of myself going into my 30’s, I am more aware of the fact that whatever I do to my health and skin today will have consequences in the future. Knowing this, I am booking my first chemical peel during the first heavy snowfall in Edmonton.

BETTER BEFORE THAN LATER

Even though I still look young, my body is slowly leaving those good collagen production years behind! I used to eat whatever I craved, drink more coffee than water and leave home without sunscreen with no visible outcome from it. That’s over.

As I slowly became a 29 year old woman, I started noticing the repercussions of my skin reacting to one of my first enemies: Acne. Getting breakouts every time I order fried food and a sugar drink has become something that leaves me thinking twice about what I put into my body every single day. The worst part for me is that once the breakouts are gone, I can see the scars they leave. These scars don’t fade, this did not happen before. Being more conscious about my overall health comes with targeting potential consequences in the long future.

A chemical peel is a great skin treatment to target my acne scars, while giving me all the benefits from an enzyme peel, targeting hyperpigmentation, texture and some wrinkles I am slowly welcoming.

Starting young with chemical peels will help delay premature aging, target my few already visible wrinkles and help me get rid of my hyperpigmentation left by several breakouts.

Also making sure that I have sunscreen with me will be the best after care I could possibly do. I recommend TUEL’s Daily Protectant SPF.

THE BEST CHEM PEEL FOR YOUR SKIN CONCERN

Even though a chemical peel sounds like it will do the whole trick, it may not. That is why keeping in mind that one appointment is not enough, booking monthly appointments can benefit your skin in several ways. Sure, one chemical peel is going to make my face feel like baby skin again, I am well aware that in order for me to target the age of my skin, I need to make regular treatments a priority.

With that in mind, going to my appointment fully knowing that my skin therapist will advise me which enzyme or chemical peel is the best option for my skin concern. I usually get super oily T-zone and dry cheeks. You have to fully trust your skin therapist on this one! They know better.

Gua Sha is not only for your face.

Post author By Adrianna Mejia MacAloney
Post date April 22, 2021
No Comments on Gua Sha is not only for your face.

Gua Sha is not only for your face.

Since TikTok became a tool for people to get real time information, I kept seeing people talking about the benefits of Gua Sha. When I first heard about it, my first thought was: One more item that does face sculpting. Or some kind of item to give a massage to the face. It kind of reminded me of jade facerollers.

I tend to be very skeptical about new beauty trends. I am aware of companies developing new beauty products that lead to multi billion company revenues with products that may not be doing much to our face. Having this background from skincare, I imagined this tool being one more article that is around beauty stores in their aisles.

When I started working at Skin High, I learned about Gua-Sha technique’s history and I was shocked! Keep reading and you’ll be too!

GUA SHA direct translation comes from the Chinese words, “scratch” and “sand”. According to an article from Kala Herh for the NBC news the word Sha is referred to the bacteria or virus toxins, which break the capillaries and form hyperemia areas, or spots in the skin or mucus, and form sand-like scattered or condensed areas. Shaobi Wang, a chinese medicine expert shared with NBC discussed how “the sand analogy stemmed from the act of performing Gua Sha, where technicians gently scrape the skin and see tiny dots under the skin emerge; these little granules resemble pieces of sand, which led to their name.”

Gua Sha tools can range from jade plates, metal plates and even spoons! This method of massaging the face includes face oil, vaseline or water to stimulate a specific area of the body, and different from what we see on TikTok, Gua Sha is not limited to just the face.

While it is a massage sculpting technique, Traditional Chinese Medicine practices Gua Sha for energy flow, increasing body circulation and even lymphatic drainage! Turns out, our body accumulates the excess of toxins in our blood that were not able to circulate properly, producing fluid build-up that causes puffiness and swelling.

Learning about the benefits of Gua-Sha has been a game changer for me. I keep learning about the benefits of draining my body toxins top to bottom. I tend to enjoy seasoning every single meal that I eat, and as a good foodie, I tend to try everything. I am sure all that sodium tends to accumulate in my body, so Gua Sha has not led me to feel better, but to look better, I certainly won’t be cutting my diet to clean yet, so having that peace of mind that Gua Sha is helping me draining these toxins whenever I have an appointment at Skin High.

You can learn more about Gua Sha and it’s benefits for your body concerns by booking your appointment at Skin High Facial + Wellness Bar and feel instant results in your body.

Inclusivity in Spas.

Inclusivity in Spa's.

It is time to talk about Facial Spas.

Have you ever walked through a Facial Spa and seen even one man there? Me neither.

Why is that? When we think of spa businesses, men are rarely top of mind. Normally, spas are associated with being a woman’s sanctuary for beauty, relaxation and treatments for the face and skin.

When we think about men, we imagine barbers shops and maybe.. Saunas? But that’s it. There really isn’t a space where men go to speak to someone about their skin concerns and/or ask for advice!

THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUSIVITY

A year ago my previous employer opened up with me about her dad’s melanoma when we were talking about how obsessed we are with skincare and what our favorite brands were. We were passionately sharing our love for clean, full-nutrient products instead of commercial brands that are known for spending tons of money on targeted ads, content creators and influencers. She told me that it was very important for her to wear sunscreen, not leave the house during a heat wave, treat her skin monthly and going for regular skin checkups after her dad was diagnosed with his skin illness.

Her dad worked outdoors all his life, and never once has he worn sunscreen. And unfortunately, no one ever talked to him about skin health or potential issues the sun can have.

But imagine this: What if instead of only talking about skin health with our girlfriends, we started having conversations with our partners, brothers and event fathers? Sure, in the beginning it may be a little confusing–and maybe even a little awkward, but it would start a very important conversation. According to a study completed in 2020, a whopping 63% of men do not regularly use face wash to clean their face and 11% say they’ve never even tried it!

Skin treatments are not only for women, but for everyone. We all have human skin, our lymphatic system works the same, we are working in the same type of jobs equally and overall, genetically, everything works the same. Skin diseases caused by environmental and lifestyle damage chooses its victim with no bias towards gender… and for that reason we have to start taking part of the conversation about inclusivity on Facial spaces and help everyone treat their skin for both men, women and nonbinary equally.

SKIN HIGH FACIAL + WELLNESS BAR VISION

At Skin High, our goal is very clear: to help Edmontonians, men and women equally, to treat their skin concerns to achieve healthy skin that looks good and makes you feel even better!

It does not matter what your skin concerns are, routine, lifestyle or what’s your gender, our Skin Therapists can help you treat your skin and keep it looking fresh and healthy with its monthly memberships.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY.

Like every good thing in life, it needs maintenance. It works the same with skin.

When I follow my regimen daily, it makes me feel productive. And the best part is, the more stric I am with my skincare regime, the more I find I am actually achieving my dream skin!

Monthly memberships are a great way to introduce the men in our lives to start taking care of their skin and their overall look. In addition to skin health, it just helps with self esteem. Just like acne, there are tons of different issues that could impact a man’s self esteem such as acne, dry skin, oil, visible pores, dullness…the list goes on.

For parents who have teenagers, if we are talking to our daughters about her skincare routine and products, it may be a good time to start talking to our sons too. Our best advice would be to start slowly introducing the benefits of what a facial, treatment, and skin products will do in the short and long term for our skin to get the conversation started early so they can preserve the best skin they have at any age!

Let’s talk facial extractions.

Post author By Adrianna Mejia MacAloney
Post date April 22, 2021
No Comments on Let’s talk facial extractions.

Let's talk facial extractions.

Facial extractions is the step people remember the most when leaving a facial. I remember my first professional facial and just how excruciatingly painful it was to extract my little friends…though I’ll be honest, the pain wasn’t too different from my very first facial extraction…

My First Facial

Here’s the setting: I was in University, a burnt out babysitter on a Friday night, going through typical college woes and trying my very best to keep calm after a volcanic emotional meltdown when suddenly– I had a great idea: I am in dire need of treating and spoiling myself!

I’ve already been thinking for months that I should book a facial and I recalled learning that people would steam their faces to open their pores which would help clean out excess oil, congested pores and blackheads easier and faster. Being a broke college student, I decided to try it myself (of course!) So I grabbed one of my mom’s pots, filled it up with water and boiled it until it was steaming and piping hot. I took it off the stove, my face over top, and a tea towel over my head…sounds relaxing, no?

JUST KIDDING. It was not a nice feeling. My face, my neck and my shirt were drenched and water was dripping down my face. I looked like a waterlogged pooch! I took off to my bedroom and proceeded to extract all the blackheads out of my nose. How? By pinching together the tip of my nose with my fingernails of course. By the end, my pores were mostly blackhead-free, and I had little tiny crescent moon divots all over my face…and that was my very first “facial”!

Today I’m closer to 30 than 20, a little more financially able, so I decided to book something nice to treat myself at the local Spa close to my home. It had amazing reviews. When I arrived, the checkin was breezy and I was feeling very calm as the facial started…until the aesthetician started to extract my pores. I was in tears. I was in TOTAL pain, it was awful. How can something so calm and relaxing be converted into something so painful and I couldn’t even make it stop. It was done so fast I didn’t even have the time to ask for some mercy.

Skin High: Painless Pore Extraction Technique

When I booked my first Skin High facial, I was prepared to tear up. I gritted my teeth waiting for the pinch: Nothing. No pain. I was so confused.. Is she getting anything? Am I totally clean? Is she being extra careful? It did not make sense.

When my Skin Therapist finished the facial, I asked her: Why didn’t I feel a thing when you were extracting my pores? This is our painless pore extraction technique at Skin High, she said. Congested pores have always been my number 1 issue since I became an adult. My skin routine consists of exfoliating up to three times a week to get rid of some of my blackheads and excess build up around my T-zone…and don’t even get me started about how it goes when I add fried food to my diet… The breakouts!

Knowing a Wellness Bar that cleans congested pores and blackheads without any pain, is priceless. Having it done with such a painful experience before makes Skin High my absolute favorite zen zone to go to when booking a facial in Edmonton. Living in such a dry place like Edmonton, our skin produces more sebum to make up for the lack of moisture our skin needs to be hydrated. We are destined to live with congested pores and blackheads.

Great Skin Requires a Home Skincare Ritual

Products in TUEL’s Balance line have helped me reduce blackheads and clean congested pores since the moment I started using them. When I had my first skin consult at Skin High, my Skin Therapist talked to me about how oily my T-Zone gets and how I would always build up excess oil and as a consequence, my pores would need deep extractions. For this, TUEL’s Balance Deep Pore Duos have been so helpful to keep my T-zone under control.

After learning this information, I knew I had to follow my Skin therapist advice religiously, so I started building my skincare routine with the BALANCE line from TUEL. My Balancing Act Cleanser helps my skin stay hydrated without making it oily. The Balance Act Essential Oil keeps everything together when I add my absolute favorite serum, Absorb. This serum helps me keep my face matte ALL DAY. Not a single shine to my nose anymore.

Trust me on this: congested pores need treatment, and they need it regularly. When we book our facials it is important to follow a regime to keep the results. If your skin concern is Oily T-Zone, Congested Pores, Extractions and blackheads, book a skin consultation with Skin High’s Therapist so they can give you all the information you need to follow and the best treatment for your skin.

Facial treatments are a necessity.

Post author By Adrianna Mejia MacAloney
Post date April 22, 2021
No Comments on Facial treatments are a necessity.

Facial treatments are a necessity.

My very first memories are of my mother washing her face at the start of her day and before going to bed. I remember her mentioning that she would do it because our skin absorbs toxins from the environment. She said we should clean them to keep our complexion clear and to not let toxins sink deeper while we sleep. This really stuck with me, and as I was becoming a teenager, both my friends and I started experiencing breakouts and what my mother said really started to make sense. This is back to the early 2000’s, when nobody was talking about skincare. Sunscreen was only for the beach and serums were an expensive item only a small percentage of women would add to their shopping lists.

Thinking back to my teen years, it was really then that I started to mirror my mother’s beauty rituals. These habits that she inspired helped completely clear up my skin–at a time when most of my classmates would continue to struggle with teenage acne for the next few years and well into adulthood. Surprisingly, my classmates whined about it everyone now and again, but we didn’t really discuss the issue of acne that much. We thought this was normal, because we were teenagers, right? Wasn’t it just a rite of passage?? Truth is, it isn’t.

What is Acne Caused by?

Acne is caused by overactive oil glands in the skin and a buildup of oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria, which leads to inflammation (swelling and redness) in the pores. If you want to add that to the fact that oil glands get stimulated when hormones become active during puberty, it makes sense why we break out if we are not washing, moisturizing and taking care of that excess oil, sweat, and bacteria built up in the face.

The Role of a Skin Therapist

Today, we are bombarded with information about why taking care of our skin is a priority if we want to stimulate collagen, reverse aging and avoid melanoma and skin cancer in the future. Having a skin therapist (aka licensed aesthetician) can give us all the information we need to cleanse the toxins our body absorbs every single day from environmental pollution, excess oil or dryness, rosacea, dermatitis and in some serious cases, they can warn us about early stages of melanoma that could potentially lead to skin cancer.

Facials are a necessity

Booking a facial is not a luxury, it is not back to the 2000’s when skin treatments were only available to a small percentage of women who could afford it. Facials have become a regular treatment you would do–like a dental cleaning or a physician’s check-up! Age is also not an important factor to determine if we need a facial or not. We don’t get facials out of vanity, we need facials because we constantly build up oil, fluids from our lymphatic system need to be drained and to help us stimulate blood circulation under the skin. It is a health matter.

Facials not only make us feel better about our skin health, it goes way farther than that. The facial exfoliation helps us clean our blackheads, visible pores, and it significantly improves your skin’s ability to absorb all the lovely goodness (think: nutrients, antioxidants etc) in your skincare products! Plus, if we want to add a mask, it soaks up all the benefits from it for days… Until you get your next appointment.

Monthly memberships to facials are a great way to keep the brightness, plump and clean look that getting a facial gives you, for a long-lasting healthy skin.

Book a skin consultation to talk about your skin concerns. This is a great way to start the journey to a healthier and better living that starts from the inside and shows on the outside.

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Prep your skin for your big Wedding Day or Special Event l Edmonton

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