Henna $35

Sandy at Misbehaven did the Henna on my chest. it only lasted a couple days, but i loved it while it was there. by the 3rd day, it was faded out just enough to look kinda like splotchy patches, and with my freckles, it just kinda blended. Sandy told me before the whole process that henna doesn't last as long on the chest because of the skin being thinner there. it lasts longest on hands, arms, feet & legs.
there is all kinds of tradition that go along with henna, for example the bride to be will have her feet and legs henna'd before her wedding, and the more detailed and intricate the design, and the higher up her leg, the more patience she must have. also, her husband to be's initials will be hidden somewhere in the design and it isn't until he finds his initials that the wedding can be consummated. an ice breaker for sure, since they may not have ever had a chance to talk, prior to the wedding. but the most intriguing tradition is that after the bride and groom are wed, the sisters and his mother will stay with them and do all the chores, cooking, cleaning, etc., until her henna is completely gone. Hence the care and attention to preserving the henna, such as putting olive oil on it, and covering it will vaseline before bathing, to help preserve it.
Sandy started by drawing the peacock design on my chest, and then filling in the details. she finished with dusting it with green, teal and blue glitter dust, then filled in the circles on the feathers with jewels. the adornment is just a way to make the henna, which is like a brown looking toothpaste consistency, look pretty while it is setting on your skin. i had the henna applied at 2:30 in the afternoon, and then had to wear a strapless top to keep the area free of anything that could rub the henna off. that evening before bed, i put olive oil on the henna and let it just soak in for a bit, before wiping it off. i used a little warm water to try and get the excess glitter and oil off my chest. at that point, the stain was very faint, almost unnoticeable, but by the next morning it had turned to a darker brown shade. by day 3 it was, like i mentioned earlier, it was not really obvious that i had a henna on my chest, and looked more like splotchy skin. the henna was almost the color of my freckles so i think that is another reason it didn't show up very much.
i had several people who saw the henna the first day, with the dusted glitter comment how gorgeous it was.
i think for $35 it's well worth the experience. i know i will have it done again. next time i am going to have my feet done with an intricate design. put on a pair of flip flops and you look like you have the most beautiful slippers on.

Follow-up on Spray Tan

it's been 8 days since my spray tan and i still have color. it has faded slightly, but in a very even pattern. it's not blotchy at all. i thought by this time i would be needing to exfoliate it but it still looks very nice.

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Spray Tan $25

i woke up this morning with my tan. it was darker than normal because not only had the color set in, but i still had the temporary color that Megan initially sprayed on me. once i showered, the color is fairly mild. i was hoping i wouldn't look like i had a fake tan, and i don't. i don't think the photo shows the little bit of color as well as it should, because even though it is very subtle, i can definitely tell i have a sun-kissed face. i did notice that the dry "age spots" on my skin, absorbed the color more than other spots. i don't know how i could have avoided that. i have a spot above my lip that my dermatologist has frozen off several times, and that particular spot is darker than the rest of my face. also, on my chest there are several spots that absorbed more color, where the DNA of my skin has changed from sun damage. my face is a little lighter than my chest, but i think if it were any darker, i would feel conspicuous, especially since i don't normally have much color.
Megan chose a golden color for my skin, which i think compliments my hair color very well. Megan recommended that i moisturize daily to help lengthen the life of the tan. i actually put on shorts today, since my legs have color. that is a rare thing for me. i like having a tan.

Spray Tan

"before"

"various shades of tan"

spray booth




Today i went and had a spray tan. Megan informed me to exfoliate beforehand and apply moisturizer. you can wear whatever you like in the spray booth; it all depends on the amount of lines/amount of tan you want.
i pinned my hair up and put a plastic hair net on. once inside the booth, megan sprayed me with the mostly organic tanning solution. she sprayed the front of me first, then the left side, my back side, then my right side. she then did the detailed spraying, like around my hands, feet, my face & neck.
between sections she dryed my skin off with a blower. when she was finished, she gave me the dryer to dry myself off for 2 minutes. when i left, my skin was still tacky. it has been about 45 minutes since my spray, and already my skin feels much less "tacky". megan recommended that i don't rinse the spray off until the morning when i shower. she recommends waiting about 7 hours. the initial spray has color in it, so when i left the salon, i already looked like i had a tan. the color or pigmentation of my skin will darken over the next couple of hours. by the end of the day, i will probably be ridiculously dark, but once i rinse off the spray solution, only my darkened skin will show; the temporary spray will be washed off.
one thing is certain, i would not be able to go outside in this heat with the spray solution on me. the sweating would make me streaky. i purposely planned this spray on a day that i knew i would not be out in the sun after.
someone who is following my blog asked me yesterday what service i had coming next. i told her i was getting the spray tan, and that i was sooo excited to have some color. she said "don't you think it will look odd, with your "tan" being solid color, since normally people have lighter spots, like their stomachs, or inside of arms, etc.?" it made me think that maybe i should wear a t-shirt and get a farmer's tan. that would be more realistic. haha.
so in answer to her question, "Yes, it seems to be a very even colored tan, but my arms which already had some color, are still darker than the rest of my body.
i took a picture of my face before the spray tan, and i will take another one tomorrow to compare.

Enzyme Peels (follow up)

i am a little disappointed in myself, as far as the enzyme peels go. they are supposed to be done in a series of 6 treatments, 1 a week, with each one progressively stronger than the previous. the first two i had on schedule, then took a two week break because of my cold sore, had the 3rd treatment, then went on vacation for a week. i am going to schedule my last two enzyme peels and then will blog about my final results. if the results aren't as thorough as they should be, it's because of my inconsistency with getting in and having them done.
with that being said, i am taking much better care of my skin, and i really love the Eminence daily skin products that i have been using. i have found a deep interest in the skin care field. i think if i wasn't doing photography, i could see myself going to school for skin care. it's such a fascinating thing, so many products, and i just want to learn about them all, and be able to tell people about them and show them how they can benefit.
the two photos that i posted are from my very first facial in February, and after my last treatment.

Enzyme Peel (series of 6) #3

i just had my 3rd Enzyme peel. i had to reschedule the last two appointments because i spent a weekend in the sun, the weekend before, and ended up with peeling skin and a huge cold sore on my lip. Megan said that she could not give me an enzyme treatment, because it could spread the cold sore germ around my face. no thanks!
she started today with a cleanser, then the peel, and followed with a masque, eye cream, a serum and moisturizer.
it was a quick appointment, but very relaxing. i could have fallen asleep during the treatment today. my skin looks lovely.
i talked to Megan about my sunburn issue. the day i got the burn, i had applied a 30 spf moisturizer, and then twice during the day spritzed myself with 70 spf. Megan said that i should be reapplying spf every 2 hours, so clearly i did not re-apply often enough.