The Story of Cosmetics

The Story of Cosmetics is a seven-minute film written by Annie Leonard and produced by Free Range Studios.This entertaining and honest video examines the rampant use of toxic chemicals in our personal care products from lipstick to baby shampoo. These toxic chemicals end up in our bodies, our kids and our waterways. Many of these toxins are linked to cancer, hormone disruption, infertility, asthma, birth defects and learning disabilities.

Resources:

Jane Iredale, a pioneer in the ecologically sound cosmetics industry, was the first to supply a makeup line that is truly good for the skin and based on minerals. Jane Iredale Cosmetics can be found at the Atlanta School of Massage bookstore. Check out Sense & Sustainability – Practical tips for greening your spa a free webinare with Jane Iredale.

Atlanta School of Massage is a member of Green Spa Network the only spa industry resource devoted to bringing greening and sustainability to the health, wellness and beauty community.  The mission of GSN is to promote the natural connections between personal wellbeing, economic sustainability, and health of our planet.

Visit The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of health and environmental groups working to eliminate harmful chemicals from personal care products.

Share This

The rules of the trade

This is my first blog and I know it won’t be my last.  I went through the Massage Therapy program in 2006 and am currently the Registrar of Student Services.  I deal with current and former students on a day-to-day basis.  I help them with everything from attendance and grade issues to life events and graduation.  I’ve also helped many current and former students with state licensure for Georgia as well as many other states

Georgia passed a law that everyone who practiced massage therapy had to be state licensed.  It was put into affect on July 1, 2007.  Massage Therapists could get “grandfathered” in if they submitted their application before June 31, 2007.  This meant that they did not have to take the National Board Exam.  Applicants were required (and still are required) to submit a copy of their transcript from an Approved Massage Therapy School. I was originally hired in the Student Service’s office to handle the thousands of transcript requests we were receiving.

I’ve had a couple of massage therapists express disapproval of the licensure.  They believe that it’s just a way for them to get money and regulate what we do.  These people are definitely entitled to their opinion.  However, the new legislation will hopefully weed out all of the people who are unqualified and/or non-ethical.  This is an excerpt from the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy website :
“Massage is therapeutic and regulations are necessary to protect the public from unqualified practitioners. It is in the interest of the public to set standards of qualifications, education, training, and experience for those who seek to practice massage therapy; to promote high standards of professional performance for those licensed to practice massage therapy; and to protect the public from unprofessional conduct by persons licensed to practice massage therapy.”

Resources:
If you live in or are moving to another state, you will have to find out the requirements for that particular state.
State Regulation Guide: http://www.massagetherapy.com/_content/careers/MTreg.pdf

In order to be considered for the Georgia State licensure an applicant must pass an approved nationally recognized test.  You may choose to take either the MBLEX or National Certification Board test:

The Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEX) offered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards.

Items needed from The Atlanta School of Massage
• No diploma or transcript required

National Certification Board – There are two options: NCETM (National Examination for Therapeutic Massage) or the NCETMB (National Examination for Therapeutic Massage& Bodywork (http://www.fsmtb.org/)

Items needed from The Atlanta School of Massage
• Notarized copy of diploma sent by the applicant
•Copy of official transcript sent from the school
•NOTE: Atlanta School of Massage has permission to send both diploma and transcript directly to the National Certification Board.

The Georgia State Licensure (http://sos.georgia.gov/plb/massage/):

Items needed from The Atlanta School of Massage
•Copy of official transcript sent from the school or by the applicant in a sealed envelope.

I hope this information helps with any questions you may have regarding Georgia’s Massage Licensure. If you have specific questions, please feel free to email me at kendrasweezey@atlantaschoolofmassage.com. I will return your questions as soon as I can.

Request your diploma and/or transcript from The Atlanta School of Massage

KendraSweezey

Share This

Skin Transition – Summer to Fall

Each year as one season transitions into the next, people often experience a change in skin condition and skin color. Typically, people’s skin color is darker in the summer than it is in the winter. As the skin continues to slough off cells during the fall skin care treatments should be done to clear the old season and dead skin to propel the fresher skin to come to come in. We must remove the old and stimulate the new growth. The best way to do this is an exfoliation treatment that is going to rid the skin of excess skin and to replenish it with hydration techniques. Microdermabrasion is one of the best ways to remove the dead skin and to stimulate the new cells. In addition, there are also certain serums that will help hydrate the skin better. This treatment can help improve both the condition and color of the skin during the transition from one season to the next.

“Everyday is a Supernatural Day” TM

AIA Program Director

Share This

Know your numbers

I have been passionate about this topic for decades! It is absolutely not okay to seek medical attention or have routine blood work and be told over the phone by a nurse that “everything is fine”, or that “your sugar is a little high”. An educated patient is one who is armed with vital data to which a life-style change, if in order, can be monitored for efficacy.

I urge you to request written copies of all lab results and tests. Keep these results in a file or scan them into your computer. You can have great fun being the subject of your own safe investigations. If your cholesterol ratio is not in a healthy range you might consider dietary modification and more exercise. Have your blood evaluated again to determine whether or not the changes had a life-saving impact. If not, then you and your medical practitioner should together plan the next step in your treatment protocol which may include medications along with your positive life-style changes.

What Numbers Should You Know?

• Blood pressure
• Blood glucose (sugar) level
• Cholesterol – this should include a total lipid profile that differentiates between high and low-density lipoproteins (cholesterol) as well as fat levels in the blood (triglycerides)
• For African American men over 40 and white males over 50 – prostate specific antigen/ cancer screening (PSA)
• Bone Density to screen for osteoporosis

Debbie Hellmann

Share This

To picture or not to picture….business cards

Business cards are the primary way most businesses advertise their business on a personal level.   Business cards should represent the nature of the business without being an overwhelming  graphic production.  For the skincare and massage industry, one should think about what sector of the market they want to capture.  For example a make-up artist’s card may be different from a medical aesthetician. A make-up artist may include many colors and different photographs representing their work.   A medical aesthetician may choose to put only the name of the business with a simple logo on regular heavy card stock.

To properly understand what type of business you are trying to bring in you must be represented visually. Visual representation made include a logo or a picture.  The use of color is also an important issue when selecting business cards. Not only must people be able to see what is going on but they must also be able to distinguish the correct contact information easily. *Information that must be on card:  Name of business, Phone number with area code, Address and email or website if possible.

The biggest questions I get when mentoring students in business development is if they should put their picture on their business card.  My first question to them is to think about what industry uses pictures.  Immediately, you think of real estate.  Right?  Well, again one must determine what type of market you are trying to go for.  In addition, pictures of people are similar to trademarks.  Remember that people must see the same symbol at least 11 times, hear it 11 times before they even recognize that business.  It is what people call branding.  Your company or business will be branded based upon how you portray your company.  Therefore, if you do choose to use a picture of yourself,  you cannot change the picture every time you need new cards.  People like to see consistency in a business.

Well, this is something to think about isn’t it.   To picture or not to picture, this is the question.  What do you think?

“Everyday is a Super Natural Day!” TM

Debbie Hellmann

Share This

Dyslexia and the Desire to Succeed

As a teacher of adult learners, I have at times found myself sharing the frustration of students with dyslexia. Although there are many manifestations and types of dyslexia a common thread for an adult is the perceived futility in managing technical terminology and concepts such as the language of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology.

Dyslexia is a specific learning challenge that primarily affects reading and spelling. Some statistics indicate that about 10% of the population is affected by dyslexia to some degree.

I have been privileged to witness life changing “miracles” for some students during my career. I highly recommend the use of colored overlays from the National Reading Styles Institute. These overlays often help students overcome visual challenges that may include slow reading, poor visual perception, eyestrain, headaches, problems tracking, letter/word reversal, or poor comprehension.

I urge any parent, educator, or reading challenged adult to consider trying this system. Students at Atlanta School of Massage and Atlanta Institute of Aesthetics can contact me to try out sample color overlays.

Debbie Hellmann

Share This

Vision: Being

About 15 years ago we articulated the school’s vision:

“Together we grow to serve through healing touch”

Growing to serve is about being not doing. It’s not only about skills or techniques or what we’ve learned about structure and function. It’s about serving from our center, our core and observing what is present with compassion.

What do you love about your experience here?
A student, who is completing our program today, wrote in response to that question: “I like the person that I’ve become and it’s been an enlightening journey”.

The school’s unique contribution is our commitment to a holistic, client-centered approach not only to teaching massage and skincare but also in our day-to-day function as an organization. Remaining true to the vision while growing a business isn’t easy. It’s about work.

“Human relationships are why we are here. Through them we grow and awaken. Our purpose here in this school called earth, is to remove all the fears that block our true nature, love, from emerging and expressing itself. We accomplish this through our interactions with others. Though this may be somewhat more obvious in our family and social relationships, this is no less true for the relationships in our work-lives. Nor are these work relationships any less important to our learning process. Though relationships take many forms, each comes with the same lesson, to teach and learn love, for that is what we are here.”

Robert Roskind, In the Spirit of Business

Leticia Allen

Share This

From misfit to Ms. Fit

Well, maybe not really Ms. Fit, but at least more fit than previously. I am going to tout the benefits of a personal trainer and a fitness program. Athletic I’m not, nor do I ever intend to be so inclined, but frequent falls up and down the stairs led to the grim realization that my brain was not communicating with my skeletal muscles effectively. This is not good! Due to a number of different events over the course of a life and a gene pool spilling over with connective tissue compromise, I find myself among a group of individuals challenged by degenerative disk disease.

Now this could be a much more uncomfortable situation, however, I have access to the finest massage therapists in the country, graduates from Atlanta School of Massage. Additionally, I have a wonderful, if not slightly wacky chiropractor. All of this is well and good, but the disconnect due to nerve compression and interference resulted in these less than lady-like spills. The contusions, bone bruises, and bloody shins, forced me to conclude that I needed to spend time facilitating new neural pathways.

Just as a baby repeatedly practices a new skill, I am continuing to work toward creating better brain/body connections. I am no Ms. Universe, but as a more aware user of my body, I have had fewer spills. I intend to continue getting stronger to improve the quality of my life.

Debbie Hellmann

Share This

Swedish Massage Series: Intro

One thing that I find interesting is the popular reputation Swedish massage has for being a modality well suited for relaxation, but not much more. It’s interesting to me because I’ve always thought of it in therapeutic terms. Each Swedish stroke has a physiological effect which can have a very therapeutic benefit. How one applies and combines the various effects of these techniques during the course of a session determines the treatment’s overall effect on the body.

How does one determine whether a particular protocol is appropriate?

The answer is another question: Do the physiological effects of the techniques in the protocol complement the process occurring in the body?

Do we want to increase venous and lymphatic return? Break up fibrous adhesions? Normalize muscle tone, proprioception, and nociception? Have general goals of reducing pain and dysfunction or increasing range of motion?

The six classes of Swedish massage strokes (effleurage, pettrisage, friction, vibration, tapotement, and joint movements) have effects which are well suited to these goals. I’ll discuss each one in turn in a series of posts over the next couple months.

Lovelace Linares

Share This

Time Management

Time is such a precious commodity. Without time we would not have anything to judge different periods of our life that really make a difference. Most massage therapists, aestheticians and cosmetologists are really challenged in this area because they are normally creative people. Creative people tend to not have as much structure as some other people in different professions.

It has even been a challenge for me to always stay abreast of what is going on the industry, doing financial paper work (which is HUGE), meeting new clients, maintaining clients, nurturing necessary relationships with close friends and relatives, and don’t forget time to go to the gym.

I have found that the easiest way for me to maintain my sanity and manage my time effectively is to live by a 6-point time management system.

1.) Keep God first.
2.) Take care of my body.
3.) Prioritize schedule. Meditate. Put goals in order.
4.) Execute goal list.
5.) At end of day, check all things off that have been completed.

*Remaining items must go on to the next day. After all Rome was not built in a day. Therefore, I congratulate myself for accomplishing my first priority goals and immediately move the next goals onto the next day during my time of meditation.

Typically somewhere in my day I manage to touch base with all areas of my life that are important to me. For example, in order to make sure I spend time with my family, I call my mom at least 2-3 times a day to check up on them. Although we may not have long extended times to talk, I am able to tell her I love her, which is very important to me. All of the other goals are secondary to making sure I take care of the needs of my family.

Everyone is different. Just make sure that you find out where your value system lies. Think about it. Is it your family, career, fitness, or religion that make you feel the best? Whichever one you put first will ultimately satisfy you at the end of the day if you make it a priority to at least accomplish one goal.

Yes, time is surely a commodity and a precious jewel. Make sure that you use it to your advantage and get the most out of it.

“Everyday is a Super Natural Day!”

Debbie Hellmann

Share This