murphy.linda•3d agoMost Upvoted

My client's mom was a licensed esthetician in the 80s and she said something that shut me up

I had a client last Tuesday who brought her mom along for a consultation. Her mom used to run her own skincare studio in Portland back in the late 80s. She watched me set up for a hydrafacial and just goes "you know, we used to do extractions with a warm washcloth and our fingers and got better results than half the machines I see today." I kinda laughed it off at first but then she showed me a trick for reducing inflammation around the nose by pressing a specific lymph point for 30 seconds. Wild. I mean, I love my tools but it made me wonder if I lean too hard on them. Has anyone else had an old-school esthetician drop a tip that totally worked better than your usual method?

3 comments

3 Comments

evaallen1d ago

But doesn't her knowledge come from decades of hands-on practice while most of us are still learning, and isn't there a reason estheticians moved to machines for consistency and sanitation? @the_charlie, that old school wisdom is valuable, but your $2,000 machine can treat more clients in a day without causing hand cramps and carpal tunnel.

the_charlie3d ago

That old school mom just casually dropped 30 years of wisdom on you in two minutes flat! I had a similar moment when a 70 year old facialist showed me how to do lymphatic drainage with just my pinky fingers and I nearly threw my gua sha tools in the trash. Now I'm side eyeing my $2,000 machine wondering if it's really doing more than a warm towel and some elbow grease. Maybe we've all been fooled by shiny gadgets when grandma's hands are the real MVPs.

the_adam3d ago

Funny you mention pinky fingers, my grandpa fixed a leaky sink with a paperclip last week while I stood there holding a $40 repair kit. Makes you wonder if we’re all just paying for the privilege of overcomplicating stuff.