Brooke Moinet

I understand there can be confusion when it comes to tipping in the salon/spa. My belief has always been to tip a solid 20 percent to the stylist. Depending on how much work the assistant does, tip no less than five to ten dollars, especially if the assistant does more than shampoo your hair.

It is not customary to tip salon owners who also perform services. Some actually refuse tipping, yet I have known salon owners who gladly accept tips. The reason for not tipping a salon owner is because the owner receives the payment for services rendered in full, as opposed to stylists working within the salon who only get a percentage. Whether or not you tip your stylist who also owns the salon is up to you. If you love your style there is nothing wrong with showing appreciation with a tip, if accepted. Also, there is no need to feel guilty about not tipping your stylist who also happens to own the salon. 

Tipping doesn’t get thrown out the window when it comes to going to the spa either. So, please don’t forget to pay gratitude to your facialist, brow specialist, makeup artist, masseuse, waxer, and nail tech.

To tweeze or to wax? That is the question…. Well, when it comes to your face if at all possible I would advise tweezing.  This is because it’s less stress on the skin. Waxing actually removes a layer of skin (and if you’re unlucky, more than one layer of skin. Ouch!) with the hair. This causes excess irritation, pulls on the skin,  and exposes you to a greater risk for hyperpigmentation. So, if you wax any part of your face, stay away from the sun! Believe me when I tell you I have treated several cases of hyperpig on the upper lip, do to girlies that get a wax and sun their faces soon after. A brown patch above the lip on a woman is not a good look.

Although it takes a bit more time I would go for a good tweeze, or threading, and even a good a laser treatment above the lip. Also, tweezing and treading has a much lower chance for error, because wax has a tendency to spread.

*Threading is another form of hair removal that uses a special technique with “thread”. It’s like tweezing, where it doesn’t harm the skins surface.