east village spa – East Village Spa Blog

“Maskne” Solutions

Masks are vital to return our communities to health and keep our business open, but the aren’t always skin-friendly, causing breakouts that have been referred to as “maskne.” Despite the fact that this term will probably get as irritating as the breakouts it refers to, at East Village Spa, we’re leaning into it with solutions.

NEW! Maskne Facial

This 60 minute service offers an hour of relaxation and stress relief for your mind and therapeutic care for your skin. Our estheticians will select products to relieve clogged pores, breakouts and irritation. For a limited time, your Maskne facial includes $15 toward the Rhonda Allison products suggested by your esthetician, as home care is essential to prevent and manage future breakouts. Book yours online!

Manage maskne at home

In addition to the Maskne Facial, we can help with home care to help keep these annoying breakouts at bay. Our lead esthetician, Camille’s top picks:

Beta Green Tea Cleanser: anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, exfoliating with salicylic acid and green tea. Unlike many salicylic acid cleansers, this will NOT dry out skin!
Mandelic Au Lait Moisturizer: Even if you feel your skin is getting oily from wearing a mask, you still need a moisturizer. If you skip moisturizing, your skin will produce more oil to overcompensate. This product absorbs quickly with lightweight hydration and mandelic acid to heal and provide antibacterial support.
Blemish Serum: This spot treatment for breakouts can be used after cleansing and before moisturizing, morning and night.
Mandelic Arginine Serum: Exfoliating and supportive for breakout prone and inflamed skin, this multi-benefit serum should be used after cleansing morning and/or evening and before moisturizing.

Breakouts are annoying, but the benefit of wearing your mask far outweighs this minor convenience. The more we wear our masks, and wear them properly, the sooner we can get back to business as usual. We can help your skin get through this trying time, and reduce some of your stress in the process.

Products available in spa and online at www.shopeastvillagespa.com

What’s the best way to wax yourself at home? Don’t.

We’ve gotten questions from clients who aren’t ready to venture back out to the spa asking the best way to wax themselves at home. Our top tip: DON’T! Here’s why:

Wax quality matters

The wax we have is high quality and we’re comfortable using it. The wax you can order for yourself online or pick up at a store that doesn’t require a professional license is not stellar. Not only will a low quality wax hurt, but it could tear, burn skin, or be really hard to remove.

Not every type of wax is right for every person, or every body part

Your hair type, skin type, and any products or medications you take will determine the kind of wax (or combination of waxes) you need to use. Using the wrong kind can cause excess irritation, dryness, bruising or even skin tears. We have several kinds of wax on hand and our licensed estheticians will select the right wax for your hair type and any products you’re using at home.

Waxing hurts: ESPECIALLY when you DIY

Estheticians that are seasoned waxers are able to remove hair as painlessly as possible with different techniques that you won’t be able to do yourself at home. Inexperienced waxers are likely to just break hair off instead of pull it from the root. This leads to ingrowns, uneven results, bumps, and increased risk of infection.

Take it from one of our non-esthetician team members who shall remain anonymous. The first time she tried to wax herself, she applied the wax, started to pull the strip, saw stars and then panicked for a LONG time wondering how she’d get the wax strip off without ripping it (Call a neighbor, live with a strip of wax on your bikini area, or tough it out?) Sadly, once the wax is on, there is only one way to get it off and that’s to pull! It is REALLY hard to do that to yourself!

Remember the 90’s?

We’re STILL helping many of our clients with weird brow shapes courtesy of 90’s trends. If you try to wax your own brows, it could go very, very wrong. Worst case scenario, tweeze sparingly if you really can’t get in to a pro. Thankfully, full brows are in now!

Look for a safe esthetician

If you’re ready to take the wax out of the microwave (YIKES!) and put down the plastic butter knife, look for a safe esthetician. Our licensed estheticians wear gloves 100% of the time, pandemic or not, when waxing. Your esthetician should never dip the wax stick back into the wax after it has been used, and the space should look clean. You should also expect to complete a short health history so your esthetician knows if you are taking a medication, using a product, or have a health condition that could impact your service or make your skin more likely to bruise or tear.

During the COVID19 crisis, our estheticians will wear a mask and expect their guests to as well. For services where guests would have to remove their mask, like a lip or chin wax, expect your esthetician also to wear a face shield and work in a room with a HEPA air filter for your protection and theirs.

When you’re ready to book:

If you’re ready to book, visit www.EVDaySpa.com to book online. Not ready yet? This is the PERFECT time to grow out your hair for waxing. Remember, hair needs to be at least 1/4 inch long for the wax to pick it up and give you a smooth wax. If you’re isolating at home, there is no better time to grow hair you normally wouldn’t to get a great wax when it is safe for you!

7 years, 7 fun facts (and some throwback photos)

I always get a bit sappy on the spa’s birthday. I’m not a parent of human children, but I consider the spa to be my baby. Today the spa is 7 years old and I’ve spent my morning going through old photos and smiling about all the people I’ve gotten to work with over the years. I don’t have any photos of the spa in progress when we were building out the old location, which is a shame because the transformation was incredible.

That being said, some of the things we found when remodeling the first location were so horrifying I think it is best that I don’t have lasting images. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

I wanted to share 7 fun things about the spa for 7 years to mark the milestone.

We signed our lease in September 2008, the day before the market tanked! We laugh that when you start at the bottom, there really is only one way you can go!
Our team grew from 4 of us in 2008 to 18 of us in 2015
In 2009, our first full year, we did 2649 services. In 2014, our most recent full year, we did 10,234 services (we’ve already topped that number by a lot this year!) in 7 years, we have performed 51, 617 massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, and waxes
We have been voted Des Moines’ Best Spa every year since 2010! This is a photo of our group in 2011.
Our employees stay with us a LONG time, but sometimes switch roles. Our front desk manager Kelly used to be one of our amazing massage therapists. Our amazing massage therapist Tiffany, was our first front desk manager!
The old spa’s location was too small, had weird restrooms, and no parking, but it did have the prettiest storefront, especially at the holidays.
I hit my 10 year anniversary as a licensed massage therapist this year. While I’m mostly handing out chocolate at the front desk (trying to dodge my REAL projects) these days, you’ll still find me filling in for a shift here or there!
Me (age 27, seems forever ago!) in my private practice prior to opening the spa.

Thank you to all of our clients and employees throughout the years who have made this a fun journey full of such wonderful memories. Here’s to many more years!