Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/191415
At the same time, the holiday season is replete with food and drink, too much to do, too little sleep, and often a lot of stress. The result? Just when your clients want to look sparkly and terrific, their skin gets the holiday blues. As you embrace the season, you can encourage clients to explore new products and services, and teach them to nurture their skin during the coldest months. Let It Snow Cold temperatures, windy weather, and low humidity all make it more difficult for the skin to retain moisture during winter months. This takes a toll on healthy skin and worsens any existing problems. The mainstay of winter skin care is an increased use of moisturizers. Your goal should be to combat transepidermal water loss and teach clients to keep their skin hydrated. If the client doesn't already use a creamy daily cleanser, recommend one. Educate your clients about the drying effects of water. It sounds counterintuitive to most people, but each time we wash, we strip moisture and natural oils from the skin. Harsh soaps that contain irritating chemicals and fragrances increase the damage. Hot tubs and pools, so appealing in the chillier months, are especially drying because of their chlorine and bromine content. We wash our hands multiple times a day, so moisturizer needs to be applied more frequently to the hands than to the rest of the body. A good hand cream is essential in winter. For each tube of hand cream you sell for home use, suggest the client buys an extra tube to keep at work or in her bag so hands can be moisturized every time they are washed. What about skin that needs more than just daily maintenance? Autumn and winter are the best times of year for clients to begin a progressive series of corrective treatments. Unless your clients are involved in snow sports, their amount of daily sun exposure is likely to be much less than in summer. Of course, your clients still need to be sunscreen-compliant after a peel or similar corrective treatment, but the risk is greatly reduced. I have also found that clients can better tolerate stronger treatments during cooler weather. Regardless of the time of year, everybody wins when you promote a series of treatments instead of single services. Clients get a superior outcome, and you get increased client commitment and more bookings. Red-Nosed Reindeer You'll also want to watch for new or worsening dry-skin conditions among your clients. A well-rounded skin care therapist should have an educated knowledge of the services available from other professionals so he or she can make the most appropriate referrals for the client's needs. Many winter woes are simply a result of skin irritation from the weather and can be solved with proper hydration and protection, but others— Get connected to your peers @ www.skincareprofessionals.com 13