I PASSED!

Well, I passed the Practical Exam. I still have to take the Written Exam. Then I'll be licensed.

I am thrilled that I passed, but honestly I was so frazzled and made so many mistakes that I was surprised (but so so grateful) when I opened my envelope and saw "Results: Pass."

To start with, I was late. Nearly 20 minutes late! My instructions clearly said that I must arrive 30 minutes prior to test time. My test time was 8:00a.m. So I was supposed to arrive at 7:30a.m. I got up out of bed at 5:15a.m. so that I would have plenty of time to get ready and leave early. But then I had to get online and print a map and check my directions. I had breakfast, made some coffee, and then walked the dog. Unfortunately, on this morning, she took her time getting her business done. I came back, loaded up the car with my kit, the dummy, some lunch, some notes to study (cuz I planned on arriving early), and before I knew it....it was after 7:00am. CRAP! It usually takes at least 30 minutes to get to Aurora from my house. And this day turned out to be no exception. At about 7:20, I called them on the cell phone. I was on hold for over 5 minutes before I finally reached someone. She was very nice, but she gave me the bad news that I really had to be there 30 minutes before the test, and she couldn't get a message to them to let them know I was on my way.

I almost gave up and head back home. The woman on the phone had said that they might let me in if I was just a few minutes late. Judging from my progress and the time, I realized that I was going to be at least 15 minutes late. I doubted they would excuse that. I had heard so many stories about how hard-assed they were. But I went anyway. I practically ran into the room. I know I was out of breath. They were so nice. They had no problem letting me sit for the exam. There was even a woman that arrived after I did, and they let her take the test too.

The next step was a little instruction time before we started the actual test.

And, by the way, there were 4 of us taking this test and we were all crammed onto one table. I had been practicing with much more space allotment and this really threw me off. I was balancing things on my lap and layering things on top of each other on my little corner of the table, and several times we had to turn our dummies sideways to work on her.

Okay, so we get a little instruction on how this is going to go. One of the things they told us was that they did not want us to tape our trash bag to the table. It had to go under the table. Great. And we were to put our "Soiled Items" container under the table too. Well, I had made a small "Soiled Items" container for each scenario and put them with the items needed for that part. Luckily I had one larger bag, labelled "soiled items" that I hadn't intended on using, but was so glad that I had brought it. Both of these went on the floor at my feet.

Then they checked our First Aid Kits. I was so afraid that I would forget to set out the first aid kit that I had folded up a red tissue paper and placed it in the ziploc baggie holding the first aid kit so that it would stand out and catch my eye when I opened my box. The testor/proctor started to pull it out and then asked what it was. I quickly came up with a story about it being a drop cloth for spills. She bought it. I'm sure she thought I was weird, but hey, that's okay.

Now we get down to the actual exam. Our first scenario is Tweezing. Cool. I can handle that. The timer starts and I begin to expertly tweeze my hairless dummy. The proctor comes around and picks up everything on my area of the table and takes a close look at it. I'm feeling good. I know I have everything labelled correctly and all the right equipment. And then she picks up my trash bag. She turns it over, upside down, and sideways. Then she asks where it is labelled "Trash". Everything has to be labelled. Oh my gosh! So while we are in the middle of a timed test, I had to come up with a bag labelled "Trash" and still complete the task. Long story short - I came up with one and still managed to complete the tweezing in time.

Next was waxing. She told us to wax the chin. Now I'm starting to feel a little less confident. What the heck am I going to do wrong now? I remembered to test the wax on my wrist. I waxed the chin in the correct direction. Whew. I had it.

The following tests were the Manipulation and Facial Cleanse. The woman analyzed everything we brought out. She even picked up my "Soiled Items" container and had a close look. The thing I didn't expect was that she came around and felt our dummy's face at the end of each test. She was checking for leftover oils or lotions, I'm sure. I was very glad that I had placed a few extra dry cotton rounds in each kit section so that I could wipe off any extra product.

Then we did the Masque. Good, I thought. I knew this one had loads of extra time built into it and I could chill out and try to calm down. But, of course, this was not meant to be. As I'm taking some deep, calming breaths, the proctor came around to check all our stuff again. When she got to mine she asked where my toner was. What?! Toner? I knew this scenario did not include toner, but I was not about to argue with the woman who held my license in her hands. I quickly said that I could get it and dove into my box and pulled out my "emergency items" bag. Thank goodness I had a baggie of toner soaked cotton rounds. So much for chilling out.

The final scenario was the Makeup, my worst subject of all. By now I am so frazzled and so convinced that I am going to fail that I kept dropping stuff. If you drop something, you have to pick it up, sanitize it, and then continue on. This takes away valuable minutes, and this particular test is very tight on time. So I'm dropping, sanitizing, and rush-rush-rushing through the makeup. I wish I had a picture of the final result. That was the ugliest makeup job I have ever done. So awful! And when we finished, what did she do? She came around and picked up each dummy and had a nice close look. I knew for certain that I had failed.

So, we are finally done. She tells us we can go get a drink or use the restroom, but don't leave. She will give us our results after she records them. That was the longest 10 minutes, I have to say. The entire time I kept repeating in my head, "please please please pass me."

We are handed our envelopes and are instructed to not open them until we are out of the building and in our cars. Unbearable! We all rushed right out of there.

Unfortunately, I went out the wrong door and found myself on the wrong side of the building. I had to go back in, which probably made everyone think I was going back to complain or something. But I rushed through the building, got in the truck, and took a deep breath while I opened the envelope. There it was...."Results: Pass". I had to keep checking to be sure I had read that right. Then I text messaged everyone I knew.

Then I checked it again to be sure that's what it said. A half hour later, I checked again. And then again. And again.

Yep. I passed.

Now I'm studying for the written exam.

State Licensing Exams

Finally, we are nearing the end of our course. We have each assembled a kit to use in taking the state licensing exams. And here we are practicing for the exam.

Anne named her dummy, "Lisa". Her young boys really like Lisa.

Anne looks stunned. It was a long process working out how we were to perform each of the mock scenarios in order to pass the exam.

Here Rachael is preparing to give her dummy a facial.

This is Anne practicing makeup on Lisa.

Electrifying

We had a visit today from Val. Val is a beekeeper who also records her bees for therapeutic purposes. Today she brought an electrical contraption for us to try out. Why am I doing this? Electrical current circling the body just sounds crazy really. It sorta made my bad shoulder feel good. Maybe it was just suggestive, I don't know. It certainly didn't last though.

Hmm. Rachael's body language is definitely closed to the idea.

Eyelash Tinting

Here Gillian is getting her eyelashes and eyebrows tinted by Rachael.

Gillian gets a facial

Occassionally, but very rarely, Gillian gets a facial.

Belly Dance

One evening our guest speaker was a belly dancer who happens to work at one of our product suppliers. She gave us about an hour of instruction on belly dancing and then Gillian and I gave her some reflexology in exchange.
Here I'm trying to imagine that I have "pretty hands". Good golly, when did I develop such a saggy chin? Don't stare. It's rude.

Now we're getting into it.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, by the way.

Hot Stone Facial

One nice thing about this school is that we get to practice on each other. So, whether or not we have clients, we get plenty of opportunities to perfect our skills.

The trick here is to ... hold .... very ... still.

Eyelash Tinting

It looks a little like Clockwork Orange. We are tinting Tereza's eyelashes. It can really create some stunning effects. The advantage of tinting the eyelashes is that you don't need to apply mascara afterwards. It lasts for several weeks. Unfortunately, my lashes are already black so it doesn't do much for me.

Paraffin Me

Do not be afraid. This is not a monster. It is me! I'm sporting a warm parrafin mask. Parrafin is a wax, and in this case it was painted on over a gauze mask. It can be useful in driving an underlying mask. It's really not as messy as it looks and comes off quite easily. We all really liked it.

What do you think? Do I look relaxed?

Tereza looks relaxed. But why does it look like her head is nearly hanging off the bed?

Rachael is really enjoying the parrafin.

Ah, the bowls...

Tibetan Bowls create vibrational energy that can be useful in alternative therapies. The bowls themselves come in various sizes. Made from a combination of about 7 metals, they look to be created in the hammer method of metalworking. When you strike one of them they create a vibrational tone. Each one is designed at a different pitch or note that is meant to correspond to the different chakras of a person's body.

We experimented by striking them inside and outside of the bowl, holding them, not holding them, and using different strikers. The picture above is of me with my head in one of the bowls. I've discovered that I am a bit sound sensitive and have a hard time tolerating the bowls near my head.

Sunburn Facial

Melissa came in with a bad sunburn today. So we worked out a sunburn facial treatment plan, and then watched the transformation as Gillian gave her the facial.

This photo doesn't really show how much better she looked after the treatment. It really cooled the inflammation.

Tibetan Bowls

Gillian has a set of Tibetan Bowls that she uses every now and then. This is the fireplace in our classroom. She hasn't officially "taught" us the use of them yet, but she has had us gather around on a few occassions while she played them. She has also used them in some of the therapies.

I like the vibration. I like the relaxing sensation. I just have trouble with it when we do it at the end of the day. I am usually struggling with exhaustion by that point and need to keep stimulating myself to stay awake. The bowls do the exact opposite, so I find myself wanting to make them stop.

Microdermabrasion

Tereza really likes getting Microdermabrasion. This is Gillian performing it.

Skin Analysis

Skin analysis is hurting my head. All these terms: couperose, comedone, maleo-something. I have got to find some time to make some flash cards and learn these dang things.

Facial for Men

We don't get the chance to do it very often, but men get facials too.

Marmas

Here is another facial that we learned. This one is done with the light therapy machine. Kathleen is giving the facial to Rachael in this photo. She's getting ready to do the Shiatsu and Marmas.Here she's doing the Marmas.

This is Gillian demonstrating the Marmas on the rubber dummy.

The Connie Treatment

There was one day that I showed up for class, just as they were trying out the new Micro Current machine. I was asked if I wanted to try it too. Well, yes, of course. But, they started by giving me a Microdermabrasion, then doing the microcurrent. All the while, I'm laying on the BioMat. It was a great way to end a very hard day at work.

Rachael's mom heard about it and asked to get a facial with everything that Connie got. It has progressed and is now called the Connie Treatment. These are photos of Rachael giving her mom the Connie Treatment.

More Hot Stones

Next, I gave Rachael a Hot Stone Facial.


Here are her feet.

Hot Stone Facial

Hot Stone Facials are nearly decadent. There's just something about a hot stone sliding around on oiled skin. When I was checking out possible Esthetician schools, the CHI school gave me a free Hot Stone Facial. I loved it! And here I am now giving one to a fellow classmate. You can't see it in the picture, but she is laying on 2 rows of hot stones that run parallel, and on either side, of her spine. Another large stone is placed in a pouch and set on her belly. Smaller stones are used to massage her neck, shoulders, and face. And while she rests with the masque on her face, we use the stones to massage her hands and feet.

Doesn't she look relaxed?

Foot Ionics

This is Kathleen and Rachael. This is the night we all tried out the foot ionics. Each of us took turns putting our feet in a tub of salted water with a machine designed to draw out toxins from our body using negative or positive ions. It's a little disconcerting at first since we are putting our feet into water with a device that is plugged in to electricity. As you can see in this first photo, Kathleen looks happy. Rachael is distracted with her cell phone - texting, as usual. But as time goes on....

A little bubbing now...

It's getting thicker....Ewww

Meanwhile, Rachael's is getting interesting too....

But not enough to keep her from texting.

Rachael is getting some dark water too.

But, finally, we clean off the feet and set them in some clean water with lavender oil and lavender buds.

This is Gillian taking her turn in the ionic foot bath.

But then there's mine. Mine was by far the grossest of them all. That's mine in the following photo. It erupted like a muddy lava flow. It was quite disgusting.