ASCP Skin Deep

September | October 2019

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ascp now offers advanced modality insurance! ascpskincare.com/ami 71 Contraindications It's very important that you get—and read—an intake form from each client prior to performing a treatment. Here are some of the most common contraindications: • Accutane must be discontinued for at least six months • Active yeast or bacterial infections • Fragile, broken skin or open sores • Fresh or healing scars from C-sections, tummy tucks, or any still-active postpartum healing • Fresh tattoos or piercings • Hemorrhoids: You can still sugar the backside, but you need to be very cautious • Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and active herpes outbreaks • Skin tags • Sunburn • Undiagnosed bumps or rashes • Pregnancy: In some areas, your insurance company may stipulate that clients should be 12 weeks or further in their pregnancy to receive a treatment SKILL-IMPROVING TIPS If you are currently offering intimate sugaring, I'd like to share a few of my top tips to help you quickly improve your skill level. If you're totally new to sugaring, these tips will give you some insight into how sugaring works. There are many things to understand in order to be a good sugarist and provide comfortable intimate treatments. However, one of the most important and often overlooked factors is how you support the client's skin during the molding and removal of your sugar paste. Proper support impacts how well the hair extracts and can greatly reduce discomfort and breakage, as well as instill confidence in your client. You must stretch the skin so that it's taut in any area you are sugaring. This may sometimes mean your strips are going to be much smaller than you feel is time efficient, but pulling the skin taut should always take priority over strip size. Practice a two-way stretch by looking to see how you can pull the skin not only up, but also over or out, giving tension in two directions at once. Envision making the peace sign with your index and middle fingers and setting them on your client's inner thigh or labia, then pulling the skin upward, then separating your two fingers outward. This is a great example of a two-way stretch. On the labia, you can use this exact position for sugaring, molding your small paste strip right between your peace fingers. Another important key to sugaring proficiency is understanding and continually revisiting your "why." As I mentioned earlier, your intention with sugaring is different than that of wax. When we mold the sugar paste, our first aim is to stand the hair up into the sugar. Once that hair is up in the paste, we need to encourage the sugar around the hair and then gently down toward the follicle opening. If you are heavily pressing the pads of your fingers into the skin or scraping the skin with your nails, you will easily notice how your technique is not achieving its goal. If your treatment is not going as planned, the client is complaining of tugging, or the hair isn't extracting, then ask yourself, "Why am I molding this sugar?" Knowing and acknowledging why you are molding will instantly help you make better adjustments. IN SUMMARY Intimate sugaring treatments can easily become your main specialty or most popular treatment if you invest the time and energy into mastering your technique. No one is perfect at sugaring when they first learn, so give yourself some time and lots of practice to build your confidence and skill level. I promise, if you practice and remain continually mindful of your technique, you will gain mastery. It's important to always ask clients for feedback, such as if your application is pulling, if they feel their skin is supported, and if they are happy with their treatment experience. No one will give you better insight into areas you can improve on than your clients! In fact, if you encourage them to tell you in the moment, you can even make on-the- spot adjustments to improve instantly. I encourage you to ask these questions whether you're two months or five years in, as there is always room for growth and refinement when it comes to sugaring. That's why we call it an art and why so many find the learning process so satisfying.

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