BeautySmack has been following Marina, and her life as the real beauty school apprentice.  We’re updating you for a taste of what is going on in this hairstylist – to – be’s life.  After a basic taste of all the aspects of hair procedures and applications, it’s time to move onto the skin and body.  Marina’s now taking on Pedicures, and her friends, well anyone who is offered free pedicures is lucky.

Miss Tonya and I had a relaxing evening in front of the brand new wood stove at her place last night where I spent the evening learning pedicures!  Tonya has a pedicure bath at her house so we decided to take a break from the early morning lessons, and work at night.   First, she gave me a full on pedicure to show me all the steps:

The trimming, filing, cuticle pushing, massaging, and polishing.

It was definatly nice to go home and learn that hehe (wink wink).  Afterwards it was my turn, and I practiced on her .  Who knew learning could be so tranquil.  It worked out for both of us, and our toes were happy.  The night class was a plus.

Pedicures are very beneficial to know; a good skill.  They’re not on the state test, but still good information to know all-the-same.  Now I can pamper my sisters and friends, and my Mama with free pedicures..tips are always appreciated though

cakes, cookies, and icecream will suffice

much love

Marina

I’m in love with this Brazilian Candy, Paçoca de Amendoim.  I found this really great recipe on pink bites .  I’m such a peanut butter fan that I had to find something to fulfill my cravings while abroad. This is probably the closest thing I can find to peanut butter goodness here.  Fairly often I find myself passing the kiosks buying these little treats:  Paçoquita

Now I can get to the kitchen and try out my own. My idea is to add some chocolate to this.  The candy is somewhat crumbly so it’s perfect to cover with chocolate and use as a filling.  Or possibly makes some butter cookies, fill with Paçoca, and cover with chocolate.. BINGO!  Delicious.

Enjoy!

meredith

Until Next Time!

Marina

BeautySmack has been following Marina, and her life as the real beauty school apprentice.  We’re updating you for a taste of what is going on in this hairstylist – to – be’s life.  During the Pennsylvania winter Marina has been squeezing in time for snowboarding, studying, and rocking some hair.  Since the graduation of perms she’s moved onto chemical relaxers aka hair straighteners.  It’s literally a chemical solution that “relaxes” or loosens curly hair.  

Aaahhh…Chemical relaxers! And that’s a relaxing aaaahhhhh!! This is more my style!  I’m not going to lie I’m still slightly intimidated by the perm, but it was time for Miss Tanya to move onto relaxers.  It’s actually not at all like it’s tranquil name, relaxer.  The tricky part to master is that you need to be super fast with a relaxer because the chemical starts processing as soon as it hits the hair!!! EEEEEP!  So, literally, I need to finish the enitire head from root to ends in 10 mins, and then I let it process.  I’ve been doing the chemical relaxers for about two weeks so I’ve come a long way.  My application time has gone down from the 45 minutes I started at.  I got an A+ in class today when I actually did the entire chemical process.   To practice without the chemicals I used conditioner and various gels, and then I was graduated to actually use the chemicals.  As you can see in the above picture the final product came out amazing!!  The hair doesn’t feel nearly as dry and damaged as I thought it might.  This is especially unique because I had just permed her hair a few weeks ago.  What do you think?

Before

After.  I even ran a straightening iron through it, a bit unnecessary, but fun.

Much Love,

Marina

follow Marina from the beginning

I got a A+ on my perms, and check out Ani’s new curls!!!

Processing the Perm!

Ani and Susy together.

Finished wrapping the perm..next the perm solution and plastic cap for 20 Mins processing…

Justine Pierre hair by Jesse Scavone at Salon Evol, Stroudsburg Pa.

570-421-3865

Allstar kid Andy!! Sits still in the chair and never moves his head…He looks like an adult.

“Keep your head straight, Andy, so u get an even haircut,” says Sean Henry.

A tip for stylists and dealing with children’s first haircuts is try to talk to children prior to cutting their hair; gradually introduce them to the tools you migh use so they fell comfortable and know it’s harmless.

Tips for parents and you child’s haircuts is to have your child attend one of your haircut appointments so they can feel comfortable in the salon and with your stylist.  Then they can see mommy and daddy do it too ..it doesn’t hurt.   Honestly who can blame a kid for screaming and crying at their first hair appointment when all they see is a pair of scissors coming at their face from a complete stranger!

xo

Marina

So following my own advice to “Beautify” yourself this holiday, I went and got a Mani-Pedi at a small salon in Copacabana.  Just arranging the appointment was enough of a chore to justify the spa treatment, let alone a Christmas gift to myself.  First, I don’t speak Portuguese.  Second, I scheduled my appointment for last Tuesday.  When I arrive, apparently I mixed up the times.  My appointment was at 18:00, 6pm, which I thought was 7pm.  Why are we the only country (USA) that doesn’t use 24 hour time?

So I then reschedule the appointment for today, but now at the correct time 19:00.  THEN I realized that I actually can’t make it at that time, so on my way to my morning beach swim I walk in to reschedule my appointment.  I had looked up all the words in my Portuguese translator so I could at least manage to tell them to change the appointment smoothly.  Luckily, this receptionist spoke English, and I was able to book a time that worked!  The salon was tiny, but always full.  I knew that in between the two holidays vanity is at it’s highest, so I needed to make sure I could make it to this appointment. I promised myself a mani-pedi for Christmas!!

I show up today around 12 for my mani-pedi… I was plopped in a chair and given a plastic bowl with a couple tablets to soak my feet in!  My pedicure was done in this sort of fashion

That’s right!  All I did was plop my foot up on her knee!  No fancy massage chair, no bubbling salt bath, just this.  Don’t be too quick to shy away.  My results were fabulous

Here’s my Christmas gift under the tree!!  My pedi!!!

The oddest part of this whole ordeal was the technique she used to paint my nails.  Literally she plopped the paint over my entire finger.  No tediuos strokes, no trying to keep the polish on the nail.  She did the exact opposite.  Followed by taking a pointed rod with nail polish remover to clean around the nail!  So simple!  Why do we waste all the time in America to paint only on the nail, when we can quickly just plop it all around!!

So for a mere $25R, about $12US I didn’t get a fancy massage.  My hands didn’t get all lotioned up, but boy did they sure clean everything up sweet!  I got the best gift a girl could ask for, confidence.  I enjoyed every bit of my pretty little fingers and toes as I ate my christmas dinner tonight, Beers and Pizza : )  It’s those little things in life that are the finest treats!

Enjoy your holidays!!!

xoxo

Christmas time= Cookie time!!! My Beauty Baker has a last minute recipe for Santa, Lemon Glazed Gingersnap Cookies!!!  With only 33 calories per cookie and 6 grams of carbohydrates these cookies are good to eat all the way into the New Year’s resolutions of healthy habits, and a great alternative to the Lemon Sugar Cookie.  Using fresh lemons for the juice is key.  They provide rich flavor, tropical aromas, and are full of Vitamin C!  Buy a bunch, not only are lemons great to cook with you can use the juice as a home remedy for blemishes. Just apply a dab of fresh lemon daily to reduce and heal your blemishes.  As with any home remedy, patience and consistency is imperative for results!

Enjoy the holidays!!

Lemon-Glazed Gingersnaps

2/3 c plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/3 c whole wheat flour

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ c granulated sugar

¼ c plus 2 tbsp 50/50 butter blend spread (we used smart balance)

2 tbsp molasses

1 large egg white

2/3 c confectioners’ sugar

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon (from 1 lemon)

1. Heat  oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk flours, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Beat granulated sugar, and spread in a medium bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until combined.  Add molasses and beat until combined.  Add egg white and beat until smooth.  Add dry ingredients in thirds, beating until combined.
4. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing 1inch apart.  Bake for 10 minutes.
5. Mix confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl.  Brush onto each cookie while warm.

Nutritional  Info per cookie:

33 calories

0.5 grams protein

6 grams carbohydrates

0 grams fiber

1 gram fat

0.5 grams saturated fat

21 mg sodium