The writing was on the wall

It is a nostalgic week as I think of how where I am today links back to childhood dreams, habits, and experiences.

These are in the end the things that define us in a variety of ways.

The time I noticed that my mom was just tired and offered to massage her feet for her. As any mom would, she accepted but was so tired that she did not realize I had the wrong cream in hand! It was an epic foot massage and she felt much better, and I was so proud of myself for making her feel better! We went on to the next thing not paying much attention until about two hours later when she went to put shoes on and noticed her very orange feet and my oddly matching hands ??. Without realizing it, I had grabbed her self tanning cream instead of moisturizer. The colour of the product should have been a giveaway, but I was not good at paying attention to detail back then. Needless to say while thankful for the great foot massage, she was marginally frustrated with the unintentional look she was sporting for the next few weeks. We learned that mineral oil is good for one thing only: removing fake tan!

Years later, after we moved to New Zealand, my maternal grandmother came for her final visit, and she became too ill to fly back home to South Africa. While I am sure the rest of the family was devastated that she was all the way over in New Zealand, I remember how blessed I felt that I could be there during that time. It was just before my final exams in Beauty Therapy, and I went home every other week and gave her manicures, and pedicures and lash and brow tints throughout the year to hone my skills, but also to give her treats with my newly acquired ‘craft’.

My time working in care aid proved valuable as I could also help my mom to give my grandmother the most awesome bubble baths when I was there since I knew how to lift and move her properly. I now realize the level of trust it took from my grandmother to allow me to help my mother.

Anyone who knew her can attest to how strict she was (teaching me great life lessons along the way) and how resourceful she was. We did lie to her about water consumption in New Zealand as she was always concerned about the cost of water growing up. So, with her thinking water was a ‘free commodity’ she allowed us to run full bubble baths for her to enjoy for what I believed was the first time in her life.

She would thank me for days for painting her toes or tinting her brows, and it allowed for memorable bonds that will last me a lifetime. What a blessing to be in a position to give, assist, and receive in what was her most vulnerable time.

To me, it laid the foundation for me in my approach to my work. It does not matter if I am speaking from a stage, busy giving a facial or doing business consulting. People are sharing with me vulnerably and trusting what is shared will be kept sacred. Beyond helping build thriving businesses and loving the skin they are in, by nature, I am also the keeper of information.

You know that clients often share things with you while it is in the thought stage, well before it is shared ‘publicly’, I see it as part of our professional obligation to fully inform and keep the information shared safe, even when seemingly unimportant.

Me using the wrong cream to massage my mom’s feet - trust FAIL. Even today she will ask if I have the right cream before I do any service for her. I don’t blame her, and I’ll never live it down.

Me and my experience in being able to treat my grandmother and help my mom care for her - that was my moment of redemption in doing it better.

Most importantly - when we know better, we do better.

What experiences do you look back on and think - yes, I see how even then I was heading toward aesthetics?

PS. In this article, I was honoured to contribute to for Your Tango I shared the foot massage blunder story along with tips on using Self Tanners.

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Written by: René Serbon - Skin Expert

www.reneserbon.com