Discover the person behind the blog. Sit down and have a cup of tea with me and I will share some chit-chat with you about me or just life in general. Don’t forget your biscuits!
How did I get into beauty?
In 1989 I lived in Brunssum, in the Netherlands. I was walking home from work with a colleague one afternoon and, just through general chit chat, she asked what I was doing that afternoon. “Waxing my legs” I replied. Then she asked if I would do hers!! Runaway! I had never waxed anyone’s legs other than my own. So I agreed.
Later when my wax was warm and melted, I called round to her flat and waxed her legs. Obviously I did a good job, but during my first client waxing experience, she was the one who planted the beauty seed. “You should be a beautician,” she said.
Even though I had been having my own legs waxed since I was 18 at a beauty salon, I had never thought about being a beautician.
It would be another 4 years before I returned to the UK to study. During this time I had researched places to study. There were not many as the beauty industry was nowhere near as big as it is today.
My choices were:
- Go to night school for 3 years
- Go to college in London for 2 years
- Go to private college for 6 months
I chose the last as I couldn’t afford to be out of work for too long. However, the week before I was supposed to start my CIBTAC course the college called to tell me that they would not be running the course. Instead, they offered to put me on the CIDESCO course, which was for a whole year at the same cost.
At this late stage, I was not going to turn it down. The CIDESCO course turned out to be the best decision for my beauty career and I loved every minute of it.
Where did I train?
I trained at Henlow Grange College of Health & Beauty – now known as Champneys.
From day one I knew it was my vocation. It all came naturally and, because of my age, 28 at the time, clients didn’t believe I was a student. I loved every minute of my training. My brain loves to learn and I just couldn’t get enough information in fast enough. To this day my favourite word from training is epicranial aponeurosis!
Beauty therapy training is the hardest thing I have done. It was full-on human biology training along with chemistry, cosmetic science, not to mention having to learn all the treatments. Then at the end of the year, you had to put it all into practice with an oral examination with three examiners, one who came from overseas, and two whole days of treatments from the tips of your toes to the hair on your head!
I can remember every second of those exams as if it was yesterday, and not 28 years ago. Shout out to Christina Steeley, one of my incredible tutors!
So there you go! It took a throwaway comment to lead to an exciting, fun-filled career.
See you soon for another Cup of T.
Tracy x
