April’s Juliette Armand Therapist of the Month is the wonderful Helen Molloy from Sunflower Beauty Salon in Donabate.  Helen has been in the beauty industry for a number of years. (Helen, we won’t tell 😉 ) and qualified at Bronwyn Conroy collage when they were based in Grafton Street. Helen took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for us.

What made you want to set up your own business?  I worked and gained great experience in a salon for 10 years so opening my own I had great confidence.

What’s the most important thing about working as a Therapist to you? In our work we have the opportunity transform how someone looks and feels so for me dedication and loyalty to the customer are so important. I believe when someone is paying you they should receive the best advice and treatment you can give.

What is your favourite Juliette Armand treatment to give? My favourite treatment is the Opsis Eye Therapy, wow, the effect is superb, the lift on the lid area and lines and wrinkles dramatically reduced.

What is your favourite Juliette Armand product and why?  Again the Skin Booster Antiwrinkle Eye Cream is my favourite, I really find it effective and the nozzle on the end has dramatically reduced my baggy under eye area.

Please tell me about your most rewarding or satisfying experience, your proudest moment, since you set up Sunflower Beauty Salon? My greatest satisfaction is delivering what a treatment promises, I need to believe before I sell and my Juliette Armand treatments never let me down.

You’re happiest when? I’m very blessed in life and love spending time with my wonderful son, Max; we enjoy outdoors living beside a beautiful park. I’m lucky I work at something that I love and enjoy people. I believe the simpler your life the happier it is and we all have the power within to make it as happy as possible

Thank you Helen for your time, it’s a pleasure working with you and your salon

Although we can often assume that most people know what type of skin they have, sometimes this isn’t always the case. Treating skin in the wrong way can actually lead to damaging results so it’s important to help educate your client on their skin type and what treatments they should be using to best support their skin.

How can you go about diagnosing your clients’ skin? There are different ways to analyse the skin but first things first the client must fill out a consultation. These answer so many questions for the therapist for example the client’s skin may be prematurely aging and on their consultation form she states she is a smoker, this allows the therapist to realistically plan her course of facials and tell the client that the results will not be the same as a non-smoker. The client may drink tonnes and tonnes of water and yet their skin is dehydrated. This informs the therapist that the client need’s Hyaluronic acid and professional creams that do not evaporate.

Are there any machines which can help you look at your clients’ skin in further detail? The skin scanner is brilliant for showing up the underneath surface of the skin by using an ultra violet light, the sun damage can be seen in the reflection of the mirror, any oily areas and dry patches are evident.

There is also a digital machine that will detect the pigmentation and broken capillaries on the computer screen. There are different colours that indicate the skin conditions.

What should you do after confirming your clients’ skin type? It is best to find out what products the client is using at home and acknowledge if the products are suitable for the client’s skin. Sometimes a product may be causing the unwanted conditions of the skin and best to be binned like comedogenic product which block the pores and cause spots. Or simply advising your red, sensitive, skinned client to avoid tap water on her skin and your acne client to lay off the thick moisturiser.

Is there a care plan which you can offer customers to help treat their skin? A fully detailed prescription sheet is advised for all therapists to fill out. Imagine you are your client’s ‘skin doctor’, recommending the correct skincare regime may change her life and not just her skin. Never underestimate the power of building trust with your client, this will help retailing and allowing your client to achieve her desired skin.