Eyelash tinting is an alternative to eyelash extensions that is a) cheaper and b) less maintenance! Eyelash tinting involves applying a dye to the lashes, and allowing it to set. Eyelash tinting is a great service to have prior to a vacation where you may not want to be applying mascara every day. 

What's involved in eyelash tinting?
When you come to Kelowna Esthetics Studio for an eyelash tint, you will be asked to fill out a form to ensure there are no problems or concerns with conducting the lash tinting service.

Next, you will lie on the warm, heated bed, and your lashes will be completely cleaned to ensure no traces of makeup remain. Vaseline will be applied around your eye to ensure the tint does not stain your skin. An eyelash pad is placed under the eye, underneath the lower lashes and the eyelids are closed. 

Contact us today to book your $22 West Kelowna eyelash tint - combine with an eyebrow wax and tint for $40. 

Eyelash tinting gives your eye definition without having to use mascara and is perfect for when you are taking a vacation and will be in and out of the water a lot. It lasts until your natural eyelash falls out. But some people have concerns about whether or not it is safe. There are 2 key pieces of advice:

1. Ensure your eyelashes are tinted by an experienced professional.
2. Ensure that the proper dye is used.

At Kelowna Esthetics Studio, we have been tinting lashes for a while and have never had any problems. As with all treatments, there is always a risk of a negative reaction to the dyes used. If you have particularly sensitive skin, we recommend coming in for an allergy test of the products a few days before you want to have your eyelashes tinted to see if you have any negative reaction to the product.

What is the eyelash tinting procedure?
Check out what's involved with eyelash tinting in this post: http://www.kelownaestheticsstudio.ca/education/what-is-eyelash-tinting-what-does-eyelash-tinting-do

What is in eyelash tint?
Eyelash tint is a dye which has been especially designed for use on eyelashes. ​At Kelowna Esthetics Studio, we mainly use RefectoCil although it is not the only brand available. RefectoCil is a vegan eyelash tint. We have the choice of brown, black or the most dramatic black which is called ‘blue-black’ and results in the darkest shade on the eyelashes - this is what most women choose.

Deciding whether to tint your eyelashes is a personal choice, and there is a risk no matter how small, as with with most beauty services.

Contact us today to book your eyelash tint!

The Brazilian wax is the most popular wax at Kelowna Esthetics Studio (and at $30 you can understand why!). However, what most people don't realize is that, when they are asking for a Brazilian Wax, what they are actually meaning, is a Hollywood Wax.

Different variations of a "bikini wax"
A regular bikini wax ($20 at Kelowna Esthetics Studio) removes the hair outside what would be considered the underwear line - it can be basic, where the underwear isn't moved at all, or it can be more of a full bikini wax where the underwear is pulled in to reveal more hair, without the need to remove the underwear, or expose any potentially embarrassing areas - some women are simply not comfortable with showing that much to their esthetician which is perfectly OK!

From there, the different bikini waxes basically start removing more hair. Traditionally, the Brazilian Wax keeps a small area of hair, often called a "landing strip" (but can also be a triangle, square, oval shape etc).

The Hollywood Wax is the full works, completely bare, nothing left! Sometimes, the Hollywood wax is referred to as a "full Brazilian". At Kelowna Esthetics Studio, we just keep it simple and refer to it as a Brazilian Wax!

I’ve been waxing for a while now, and have seen lots of ingrown hairs – when a hair grows back into the skin rather than out of the surface. Unfortunately, it’s a common waxing side effect, and can also happen after tweezing or shaving too. Not everyone gets ingrown hairs, but anyone can, and some have a higher tendency toward getting them – those with thick, coarser, and curly hair are particularly susceptible to ingrown hairs.

This isn't the news most ladies have been wanting to hear - after all, the waxing, shaving and tweezing we do down there is to make it look, and feel, nice. Smooth, and comfortable. But an ingrown hair does exactly the opposite! The ugly, red, painful bumps are not exactly what we signed up for when we wanted to go bare!

​What Exactly IS an Ingrown Hair?
An ingrown hair presents itself as a small round bump – sometimes painful, sometimes itchy, and sometimes it can become infected – this is because the body is responding to the hair as if it were an unknown object. Don’t squeeze the bumps as it could cause an infection or you could end up pushing the hair deeper into the skin.

Why Does Waxing Make Ingrown Hairs Worse?
The hair follicle has a bulb that it grows from. When you are waxed, this bulb is often visible in the wax strip once the hair has been removed. On the one hand, it's good, it means the hair has come out right at the follicle and hasn't broken. However, on the other hand, the rapid pulling of the wax can disrupt the lining of the follicle, it's this lining that guides hair, when it regrows, up to the surface of the skin and out a hole that allows the hair to actually exit the body. Waxing over long periods will slow hair growth, which means less waxing, and in turn, fewer new ingrown hairs. 

Another cause of ingrown hairs can be dead skin cells blocking a pore that has a hair follicle trying to grow out of it. Since the pore is covered, the follicle cannot escape, and instead grows underneath.

How to Treat an Ingrown Hair?
Usually ingrown hairs will go away by themselves, but if you’ve noticed one for a while, and it doesn’t seem to be going away, you might need to take action.

Here are 5 tips to treat an ingrown hair:

1.  Remove dead skin cells   - one of the leading causes of ingrown hairs. Dead skin cells can clog follicles or trap hairs below the surface of the skin, and cause ingrown hairs. Gently washing and exfoliating around the ingrown hair will help the hair return to the surface of the skin. Sugar is a natural exfoliator, and can be mixed with honey to create a paste that will moisturize the skin and kill bacteria. You can also use exfoliating gloves which are a little more gentle on the skin. Exfoliate before each hair removal session and then once every two-three days. Follow exfoliation with a non-greasy moisturizer which can also help to get rid of dead skin cells. Chemical exfoliation is another option – especially if you suffer from very bad ingrown hairs. The most effective chemical exfoliators contain alpha-hydroxy acids or salicylic acid. These should be used less frequently because they can irritate the skin. They can also cause skin thinning so you should wait a few months before safely waxing.
2. Stop your hair removal routine until the ingrown hair has gone – whether that is waxing, shaving, or tweezing the hair.
3. When the hair emerges above the skin, use two Q-tips, and apply gentle pressure on either side of the area to gently roll the ingrown hair fully out without breaking the skin. Do not tweeze it out completely until the area is healed, or the skin will heal over the hair again. Never dig under the skin to get the hair out.
4. Tea tree oil diluted with water and applied with a cotton ball can be used to reduce swelling, or a topical steroid cream prescribed by a doctor can also reduce swelling and irritation around the hair.
5. If you commonly get ingrown hairs from shaving, try a different method of hair removal like hair removal creams, waxing or using an epilator – then follow the exfoliating steps above to ensure you reduce the likelihood of getting an ingrown hair.

If the ingrown hair gets infected and very painful, go see a doctor immediately. 

Why are you growing hair in places you never even knew you had?? For women, hormonal disturbances cause can the production of androgen to boost resulting in more hair in unwanted places. Frustrating as it may be, there are several things you can do to slow down hair growth naturally.

Try not to worry about excessive hair growth
​Above all else, try not to stress about it. When I was going through a divorce, I had the opposite problem - the hair on my head was thinning and falling out in handfuls. That's a stressful thing to happen! But the thing that made it worse? Stressing about it.

Stress will increase the production of androgen in your body. Testosterone (an unwanted hormone for hair growth) over produces when we are stressed.  It’s one of the body's natural processes. Hard as it may sound, one of the key ways to stop hair loss, or stop excessive hair growth (in fact, to slow many health problems) is to take a deep breath, and relax. Being relaxed and free of worry has so many health benefits! For hair growth, you will force the androgen production to normalize and balance itself which can help slow hair growth.

Take Supplements
There are many natural vitamins and herbal supplements that can help you slow unwanted hair growth, for example, Palmetto is a natural herb and can be used to even out hormone imbalances and increased production of androgen.

Slow Facial Hair Growth With Regular Waxing at Kelowna Esthetics Studio 
The best way to slow facial hair growth is through regular waxing! Facial hair is shorter and can be either peach-fuzzy or coarser. At Kelowna Esthetics Studio we can use a combination of strip wax and hard wax to remove even the most stubborn unwanted facial hairs, and slowing down the production of future hairs.

While stressful, unwanted female body hair is manageable. If your excess body hair in causing you to lose confidence, get the smooth, silky skin you are looking for by breathing, relaxing, taking supplements, and waxing those pesky hairs away!

Contact Kelowna Esthetics Studio today to book your wax in West Kelowna. 

If you stand next to your boyfriend, is it hard to judge who has the most hair?
That's not a good problem to have!
​
But, seriously, are you worried you're too hairy to wax? Don't be! I don’t think anything could surprise me at this point. I have seen all different levels of hairiness, and it really is the same from one lady to another. Waxing yourself is hard, yes - and not something I'd recommend. But waxing itself is pretty straightforward, and if the person waxing you is a professional, it really wont matter how long the hair is. It might just take a little longer, and use a bit more wax (for which I do not charge extra!), but one thing that you don't have to worry about is being judged! I wouldn't think twice about it, and it's my job to make you comfortable. So, rest easy, come hairy or trimmed, whatever you want, but leave smooth, and happy!