Esthetic news... What's new in the industry today

Welcome to this new group and thank you to ASCP for having such an amazing group of Estheticians!!  I hope that you will find this group helpful!

How awesome Sheila !! Looking forward to the discussions :)- if only this was around when I was a 'newbie'.

Here is a great article on benefits of pumpkin. 

http://www.dermalinstitute.com/us/news/?p=1638&utm_source=idi&a...

I just went to a Social media class today on Google + and it had me thinking of a good topic for this. 

Is anyone else overwhelmed by all of the social media platforms? Are you on any of them?  If so, which ones?  Do you feel as an Esthetician it is as important to be on every platform as opposed to face to face contact and word of mouth?

I am on Facebook mostly, and just joined LinkedIN...but everything else has my head spinning. 

I just went to a local social media class myself!  GREAT info!!  You should definitely join Twitter!  You can set up HootSuite to "pre-arrange" tweets to send out.  Using Twitter helps you "show up" on other's pages and it's much more direct than Facebook and also connects with Facebook so you only have to "tweet" once.  They taught that Twitter was more like one on one conversation, more personal.  Facebook was more "glass house" style.  I like to use as much free advertising as I can!

I use LinkedIn alot - in fact, I moderate 2 groups there called Acne Specialists and Real Solutions for Acne.  There are a ton of other great skincare pro groups too.   It's a great place to network.  I also use Hootsuite and post to my biz FB page, Twitter, LinkedIn biz page, profile and groups all at the same time.

I saw that you had a few groups on there Laura!!  I was afraid to join them because I thought you had to be invited by someone.  So confusing :).  I saw that you are on Pinterest too right? 

Brigitte, with twitter, can't you have people all over the world following you? 

I guess it's baby steps :).  I am confortable with the whole FB thing and just not getting used to LinkedIn so I guess Twitter will be next :).

Sheila, yes you can have people all over the world following you but you can block them at anytime if you don't want them following you.  It's easy!  You will get notified when someone follows you then you can chose to block them or do nothing and they will see your posts.  You can also follow anybody you would like, such as celebrities (!), or other skin care companies, etc.  Just be careful of who you let follow you (read their description of their bio) and look at their names, etc.   Sometimes you'll get some very inappropriate tweets!  But then you can just block or report them.  If you join Twitter, find/follow me!  I will follow you back :)

@Sheila - of COURSE you can join my groups silly girl!  For Real Solutions for Acne, you can join automatically - it's an open group.  For Acne Specialists, just apply to join and then I "approve" you.  It is for licensed pros only to keep out all the MLMers.

Thanks for the info ladies!  OOHh what celebs will I follow :).

Laura, thank you!  I am also going to get your Acne certification too (possibly a Christmas present to myself :) ).

Sheila- I have FB, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. I am only good with FB and just starting to understand Pinterest. I write a blog though and every time I post, it sends it to FB, Twitter and LinkedIn (and also my website). This keeps me active and "out there" in the internet world. 

I also have my information on every search engine type place possible. My brother works in the internet marketing and he has helped me with this stuff. He doesn't do it for me (unfortunately) but he has explained to me the importance of a presence on the internet. The more your out there, the more your name can come up. So even though I don't really get Twitter, it still looks like I tweet frequently enough. 

I'm also on Yelp! That is where I get 80% of my clients. I have great reviews from my amazing clients. 

Any chance you get to be on a site, you should be. And by the way, all this stuff I just mentioned above, is free. It has taken me a lot of time but not money. 

Hope that helps! :)

Has anyone seen this Stages of Beauty line that has different lines based on age?  If so, any thoughts?  It contains Monks pepper berry.

Monk’s pepper berry comes from a small, shrub-like tree native to the Mediterranean, but don’t let its unassuming appearance fool you—it is packed with beneficial antioxidants that can help eliminate harmful free radicals from your skin.

Looking for a New Mag light with stand any recommendations?

Mine is part of an 11-1 facial machine so I am not aware of a single one.  I think they probably all have their issues.  You would think that this equipment woulod be made better.  Mine is from LCL beauty and does the job I need it to but it's kinda eeehh too.