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Velvet and Coronavirus

 In News

First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that has been so supportive at Velvet, particularly over the recent weeks with the government guideline changes. Choosing to close last week was a really difficult decision for me, as I’m sure many of you know through knowing me and my dedication to Velvet! I am self-employed as you all know, and at the time of writing this (though apparently something is coming, whoop!) there is very little support for people in my situation. I had to therefore weigh up this need to keep bringing money in or closing. I implemented new, more stringent hygiene procedures into the salon to help prevent exposure and any possible spread, however it simply reached a point where it was no longer viable and safe to do so, both for you, myself and my family. My Dad falls into the high risk bracket and over the last few weeks has finally decided to take it seriously! With all this in mind and the fact that this May will be Velvet’s 9th Birthday, it was a tough decision to make.

Now it has been made though, I can’t lie – I feel massively relieved and like a huge weight has been lifted! Knowing there is reduced risk for you, me and my family has made me feel so much better. I simply couldn’t have righted myself with my conscience if any of you had got ill as a result of coming to Velvet. The next stage is to get through the next few months, however I am very lucky to be able to have my family and boyfriend’s support, and I sincerely hope that you are all also fortunate enough to be able to say you are in a similar situation.

So what will I be doing in this time, between closing and when I can officially re-open? Will I have my feet up watching Netflix? Well the truthful answer is yes haha, some of the time at least, as I hope you will be too! I will however also be using this time to push Velvet forward towards the plans I have had now for several years, but for different reasons haven’t been able to implement in the timescale I would have wanted.

Some of you will have spotted many clues dotted around the salon, this website and procedures in place at the salon (note I don’t do all treatments I once used to…) that have recently changed. I have been quietly working away at my CIBTAC Level 4 Diploma in Advanced Skin Science and Aesthetic Practice which I will be finally completing this year, after delays that were out of my hands. This means that I will have the ability to relaunch microneedling, sometimes known as dermal rollering (yey!!), step up my chemical peels and offer something totally new to Velvet and something I am REALLY excited about – blemish removal! This means any skin tags, warts, cherry angiomata, thread veins and seborrheic warts (to name a few!) will all be able to be safely and effectively removed and got rid of!

Tying into this, ELECTROLYSIS will also be on its way! I trained in this many years ago but am excited to finally be able to bring this to Velvet! I know a good few of you have been waiting on this for some time, but the wait has been in part due to the machine I will be using. The machine I will be bringing in is a state of the art machine used by nurses and other medical practitioners because they know how superior it is to its competitors. This machine gets you more effective permanent removal of hairs with a fraction of the discomfort associated with electrolysis. For those who’ve had the treatment, that 5-10 second wait on a typically used machine can feel like forever. How about a better result delivered in less than ONE SECOND? By the time you feel anything at all, it’s already done. Seriously, it is AMAZING!

I have also been beavering away doing numerous skin courses too, to advance my knowledge further in the other area of treatments I love. I have a new skin analysis machine that I will be introducing this year, to enable me to treat your skin concerns more precisely and effectively, and better serve you as your skincare professional.

As an extra nugget for when I am able to reopen, I am also launching an amazing new CACI Hand Rejuvenation treatment, which in a perfect world was meant to have been launching right about now… this treatment will be perfect for seriously hydrating your skin after the ritualistic hand washing and sanitising that we are currently all being forced to do (and rightly so). The microcurrent traditionally used in CACI treatments energises the cells to firm up the collagen and elastin in your hands (so reduce the appearance of veins and bones and plump the skin), intensely hydrates and reduces those pigmentation age spots – the before and afters I have seen for this treatment have been truly amazing, and it is something I would highly recommend when we all get back to normal.

In case you haven’t cottoned on or you didn’t know me, I like to keep busy learning haha! So do you think all that is enough for me? Erm… nope! I’m also going to be doing a laser hair removal course, to fit in with my aim in adding this treatment to the salon repertoire either late this year or early 2021. I know A LOT of you have asked me about this, and I’m so happy to now be able to let you know that it is on its way!

My goal for many years has been to specialise in the treatments I really love, and as you can see this is where my plans are to take Velvet! So now that you know what these are, are you excited?! I hope so!!!

But…as none of us know however when life will return to normal and when I’ll be allowed back into the salon, I need to know how I can help you in the meantime! You’ve possibly read that I will be embracing a whole new (and terrifying!) world for me of video, so make sure you are following me on Facebook HERE for those oh so precious nuggets. But I need some help in order to make myself not look totally ridiculous please! What would you like me to do you a video on? Is there an ingredient, a product or a treatment that you’d like to know more about? Although I can’t tend to your skin, hair and nails physically, I want to know how I can help YOU in the coming months of lockdown in whatever way I can, so PLEASE do let me know. I won’t be disappearing and I’ll be in touch with you in some form regularly so that when we get out of this (which we will!) we’re all raring to go! As things stand currently, I am also able to deliver any products out to you, so please let me know if you need any Environ or Alumier to keep you going. I know quite a few have asked me about this, so I hope this helps – and thank you for still choosing to support me at this time.

The time has come for us to take this virus very seriously and self-isolate where we can, so please those of you that can… STAY AT HOME. There is plenty of stuff to keep our hands busy – it really all is in your mindset. With this in mind, please be careful what you read. It is too easy to have BBC News on constant loop, but will that do you any good? With record numbers of anxiety cases being confirmed, please PLEASE look after yourselves. Try and use this time to do what you never get the time to do, or you never give yourself the time to do. Learn a new skill, a new language, read those books you never get round to reading, clear out your wardrobe, learn to cook some new recipes, play some games with your family… it might not feel like it right now but within your walls the world is still your oyster! We are lucky enough to live in a digitalised world, where we can access so much information at our fingertips like never before; make the most of it. There are free courses popping up all the time on the Internet right now because everyone knows we are all at home and bored. This is the time that life has given us to make time for the important things – ourselves. This is the time to make us better versions of ourselves so that we emerge from hibernation as beautiful butterflies!

Take care my lovelies, be sensible and more importantly be safe, and I’ll speak to you soon.

Helen x

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Showing 4 comments
  • Sarah Hulbert
    Reply

    Great blog Helen! Thanks for caring for us all in this way. All the new treatments sound very exciting. Great chance to save up as I can’t treat myself to cafe coffees.
    I would love to hear more about rosacea, what causes it and how to manage it. Stress hasn’t treated my skin kindly!

    • Helen
      Reply

      Thanks for your comment Sarah, and hope you’re well over in Leeds! Thanks for your suggestion, they’re on the list! x

  • Laura Smith
    Reply

    Amazing! Will definitely need laser hair removal once we’re allowed out of our houses again!

    • Helen
      Reply

      Glad you like the sound of it Laura! Haha I think there’s going to be a fair queue! Hope you’re keeping well and sane! x

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