Espiritu Salon and Spa

Your Everyday Retreat, Bringing You Back to You

01923 858052/850465
Monday & Saturday: 9am-5pm
Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 9am-6pm
Thursday: 9am-8pm
Sunday: 10am-4pm
  • Welcome
    • Our Values
    • Recruitment
    • Room & Chair Rentals
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Services
    • Hair
    • Beauty
    • Facials
      • Aromatherapy Facials
      • Crystal Clear Hands On Facials
      • Crystal Clear Microdermabrasion Facials
      • Non-Surgical Facelift
      • Environ Facials
      • Environ Skin Analysis Events
      • Jane Iredale Makeup Events
      • 100 Days To New Skin
    • Body Treatments
      • Aromatherapy Quartz Spa Body Treatments
      • General Body Treatments
    • Aesthetics
    • Semi Permanent Makeup
    • Male Grooming
    • Children
    • Parties
  • Health & Well Being
    • Cryotherapy
    • Far Infrared Light Therapy Treatments
    • Reflexology
    • Healing And Coaching
    • Clinical Hypnotherapy
  • Prices
  • Packages
  • Promotions
  • Products
  • Weddings
  • Vouchers
  • Book
  • Tips & News
  • Contact
  • Find Us
You are here: Home / Archives for Lifestyle Tips

Top Ten Nit Tips!

March 14, 2016 By Lisa Pearson

Headlice Removal Tips

It’s that time of the year again, and we have noticed how many of our clients are struggling with those horrid little monsters; the nit (egg) or head lice (insect)!

Firstly, please don’t be embarrassed – it happens to most mums at some point.  If it doesn’t, it probably means that they are lucky, rather than that they did anything different to yourself!

12 Things you Need to Know

Some things you might not know:

  1. The nit is the egg.
  2. If the nit is white it has already hatched, the unhatched ones are difficult to find as they are transparent.
  3. The lice are the insects.
  4. They like dirty and clean hair.
  5. Afro hair can get nits, but it’s less frequent.
  6. They don’t jump – they are transferred by head to head contact or sharing of hats, pillows or hairbands
  7. Just removing the insects isn’t enough as the eggs will then hatch and you’ll get more.
  8. It takes 7-10 days before the lice can lay nits
  9. The nits take 7-10 days to hatch.
  10. Animals can’t catch nits from us
  11. You won’t necessarily itch if you have nits.
  12. Ignore Nit removal products – in my experience they are expensive and no longer work due to the lice developing immunity.

12 Tips On Nit & Lice Removal

  1. Olive Oil – Smother the hair over night with olive oil or something similar.  Pop a shower cap on top and a towel on their pillow.  This will smother the lice and loosen the nits from the hair strand.  The lice can hold their breath for several hours, so it needs to be over night.
  2. Use a Tea Tree Oil Shampoo & conditioner – tea tree oil is quite potent smelling, but that must be the key to it’s success – we recommend the Jason brand.
  3. Use a Thick White Conditioner – this will make the whole process much easier
  4. Use a Nitty Gritty Comb – this seems to be the best make of nit comb available.
  5. Section the hair into small areas and comb carefully through.  The eggs are near the scalp.  Hold at a 45 degree angle and go from root to ends.
  6. Keep going, from one side to the next until you find nothing in the comb.
  7. Use a magnifying glass to check the tissue/towel that you wipe the comb on.  Also check the edges of the bath once it has settled, incase any fell in there.
  8. Wash their hair every other night and comb with the nitty gritty comb until completely clear.
  9. Use the olive oil trick each weekend for an extra removal and assistance.
  10. Once your child has been infested you will need to keep checking for ATLEAST 2 weeks to make sure that you have got all the lice as they hatch.
  11. Wash all their bedding and clothes on a hot wash, including hats & scarves.  Keep washing the pillowcases every 2 weeks during the removal process.
  12. If one member of the family has nits, you need to check everyone.

4 Deterrent Tips

Now once you have got rid of them, the next step is to keep focussed on deterring them:

  1. Check your child’s hair with the magnifying glass and nit comb whenever there is a scare at school, or once a month.
  2. Tie their hair up – Plaiting your daughter’s hair or tieing it up for school is really important to help stop them from getting infested again.  Boys get nits too, but girls are more prone due to their longer hair.
  3. Leave in Spray – I use the Vosene leave in Nit deterrent and it’s been brilliant.  I probably use it 3 times a week.
  4. There are electric nit combs, but they didn’t work for me, possibly due to the thickness of my children’s hair.

I’m going to tell you a funny story now.  My Mother was a very romantic woman and also a nurse in WW2.  She decided to send a lock of her hair to her new boyfriend who had just been sent out to war.  Sadly, she had to send him another letter a week later to burn the lock, as she had caught nits from the children on the ward.  How embarrassing is that.  (Don’t worry he returned safe and sound from both the war and the nits!).

Please check your child’s hair before going for an appointment with your hairdresser, otherwise we will need to charge you a cancellation fee.  I your child has nits we won’t be able to book another appointment for you for 14 days to ensure they are totally clear.

I’m sorry that we can’t help by de-nitting your children at the salon.  Unfortunately for us, if we got infested it would be disastrous.  If a child comes in with nits, and we start the service without noticing, everything that was in the vicinity of them is either boil washed or bleached to high heaven afterwards.  So instead, we thought we would try to help by coming up with these top tips.  If you have any more tips yourself, please do add them in the comments, we’d love to know!

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tips Tagged With: child constantly infested with nits, electronic nit comb, head lice removal, nitty gritty review, tea tree oil, top tips for getting rid of nits

Your Guide To Looking Good At A Festival!

July 10, 2014 By Lisa Pearson

Festival TipsIt’s summer yay!  Which means it’s festival time!

I didn’t start going to Festivals until I had my children – I decided I’d better start then, or I would never go!  (I have a secret plan, that by taking them now, they will take me to Glastonbury when they are teenagers; we’ll have to see if that one works out!).

If you are unsure on where to start, then just look locally for 1 day festivals initially;  Folk by the Oak is lovely (20th July).  There are a couple of festival websites for families: Festivals for all and Festival Kidz.  Many festivals have ‘glamping’ options as well, so that you can take your first visit more easily, and have everything set up for you.  There are lots more tips here on camping and festivals.

 

Here are some tips on how to ‘Look Festival’!

 

1) Clothes that adapt to all weathers!

The problem is that the weather changes all day long, so you literally have to take a whole wardrobe.

– Take wellies and flip flops, make sure they are fun and bling (amazon is packed with festival wellies)

– Have a colourful pack a mac!  These are light enough to put on and off.

– Leggings under a skirt work perfectly – you can take them off if it gets warm

– Scarves/Paschmina’s are a light way to add some warmth when needed

– Have lots of light layers e.g. a vest top, floaty shirt and hoodie

– If you are brave enough to wear wings and a tutu, of course that is a bonus 😉

– Remember your sun tan lotion – try to find one like the Arbonne range that have as few chemicals as possible.  Think of sun tan lotion as the ‘new clothes’ – something you never go out without.

 

2) Wet Wipes Rule

The big question is how to keep clean for 3 days and the answer is WET WIPES!  If you are lucky there might be showers, but they maybe pretty grim by the end of the festival.  Wet wipes will get you through the weekend in pretty good order.  (But be careful – just because they are for babies, doesn’t mean that they are free of nasty chemicals – make sure you get natural ones).

For best result, have a few beauty treatments that mean you don’t need much makeup:

– Spray tans will keep your skin glowing and mean you don’t need lots of foundation

– Eyebrow and eyelash tint mean you don’t need mascara

– If you tend to wash your hair frequently, then get our Unite dry shampoo (you put it on straight after the first wash and then each morning).

– Otherwise buy some of the Unite Beach Day styling product, and go for that ‘Festival hair’ look

Festival Nails

3) Hands and Feet

With the potential for flip flops, you definitely need those feet seeing to!

– We sell a great Arbonne cooling foot cream at the salon if you like to ‘do it yourself’, otherwise a pedicure is a lovely treat

– If your feet and ankles tend to swell, then try the Arbonne Body Gelee

– Try gels on your toes as well as your hands, to make sure that they last the whole weekend

– Remember to add some bling!  We have a gorgeous range of nail art

 

The most important thing is to remember that it’s about building lovely memories, so don’t let nerves hold you back.
Go out there and HAVE FUN!

 

Filed Under: Arbonne, Lifestyle Tips, Unite Tagged With: family festivals, Festival tips, how to keep clean at a festival, how to look good at a festival, wet wipes festival, what to wear to a festival

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) for exam/performance stress

May 27, 2014 By Lisa Pearson

We have the most amazing EFT practitioner at the salon.  Being a mum herself, Melanie Bundock from TherapHealing has used these techniques over and over on her children, which shows how much she believes in this simple but powerful therapy.

Here is her article on using EFT to help children and teens with exams, which shows how versatile it is as a therapy – it could be used for anything that you are nervous or anxious of.

 

I recently wrote a blog post about Emotional Freedom Technique or Tapping as it is also known.  In this post I talked about the effectiveness of this amazing therapy can have on children of all ages for issues such as childhood fears and worries, boosting performance before a sports game and even physical symptoms. I have had a few people ask me if EFT can help with exam stress, and the answer is absolutely yes!

Rewind 20 or so years ago, I can honestly say that this was perhaps the most stressful time in my life, my university place, my future career and the rest of my life depended on these results (or so I thought at the time). I found revision boring, facts didn’t want to stay in my head (so I thought – again!) but my overriding thoughts were of fear and worry. This stress manifested itself as severe eczema on my face and chest, which to me looked awful and made me feel even worse and the most awful insomnia.  I wish I had known about EFT then – how different things would have been.

EFT works by talking and tapping on acupressure points on the face and body whilst repeating phrases, a bit like acupuncture but without the needles. As we talk and tap, we focus on the overriding emotion, in my case it would have been fear and worry.  So how would EFT have helped my 18 year old self?  I would have addressed my fears of not getting the university place I wanted, I would also have addressed my fear of failure and ruining my life (oh how I wish I could go back and tell that 18 year old she had NOTHING to worry about), and I would have addressed the insomnia.

After a few rounds of clearing the overriding negative feeling, I would then focus on positive phrases (all the while tapping on the acupressure points). This reinforces self belief, confidence and an attitude conducive to a positive mindset upon entering that exam room.

I wish I could say that EFT can replace revision and studying – wouldn’t that be great? However EFT can take away any negative  thoughts, feelings and worries that surround this highly stressful time.  Whist the process of EFT itself is rather strange, there are some discreet tapping points that are easily accessible that you can use just before the exam, or even during the exam itself. Once the basics are learnt, the process can be used at home as often as needed.

So that’s the kids sorted out -what about the parents? EFT is fabulous for dealing with the day to day stresses of parenting.  Being a mum myself, I know full well the emotions that are tied to raising our children, we delight in their joy, we feel their pain as if they were our own, and as for their emotional pain –  well that is probably the worst of all. EFT has helped me enormously in my daily life of being a mum, those times they stress me out and frustrate me, yes you guessed it, I tap on it, often!

I hope that by the time my children are of exam age, they will be happily tapping away their fears and worries, and as for me, I will relax in the positive belief that whatever the outcome of the exam – they will be entering adulthood with a lifetime of happiness and success ahead of them.

Update: Melanie no longer works from the salon, but we still adore and recommend her.  Please do ask if you can’t get in touch with her via her website.

Filed Under: Holistic Therapies, Lifestyle Tips Tagged With: Battlers Green Farm Salon and Spa, EFT, EFT for exam stress, EFT in radlett

Spray Tans For Beginners!

April 4, 2014 By Lisa Pearson

Spray Tan RadlettI have just been converted to the joy that is a spray tan!  All my friends were so impressed with my tan today with comments like ‘Oooh it looks so natural’ or ‘You are glowing!’ or ‘Wow I want one!’.

We use Sienna X which is a paraben free fake tan that uses lots of natural ingredients to look after your skin and make a great tan.  I used 8%, but we go as low as 6% and as high as 12%; so there is a tan there for everyone.

As a newbie I found it a little scary, but if as the boss I can stand naked (apart from paper knickers) in front of my lovely beauty therapists, then I promise you that you can!

 

Preparation Day Before

– Do all your hair removal the day before – either come to us for waxing (leg, arms, bikini, chin, upper lip, brows etc) or shaving

– Exfoliate and moisturise the night before (we can do the scrub on the day if you prefer)

 

Preparation On The Day

– Then on the morning of the tan have a shower to wash off the moisturiser

– Don’t spray yourself with perfume

– Don’t put on makeup, or take it off before you come

– Don’t put on deodorant (I put a little on)

– Wear lose clothing – like yoga pants, flip-flops or sandals and strapless bra’s

– Go for a pee beforehand!

– Bring your phone if you would like to listen to something for 5 mins afterwards while you dry

 

What Happens

– You’ll get an attractive pair of paper knickers to change into, and some things to stick on the soles of your feet, and a lovely shower cap to protect your hair (ears out – even more attractive!).

– They’ll pop some barrier cream on your feet, elbows and hands.  I don’t need much barrier cream as it works really well on me  – this is something that we’ll know more about after your first tan.

– The girls will tell you where to stand.  But my tip is to be aware of skin touching skin, holding your bottom up a little, bending your knees a little, and making sure your elbows have a smooth shape

– It’s a little chilly when they spray you, but not awful!

– Then they’ll blow you with warm air to help the drying process – I like this bit!

– Then they’ll suggest you wait 5 mins before putting your clothes and jewellery back on

– Take the opportunity to check there are no white bits – the girls can always wipe a little extra tan on if they missed a bit

 

Afterwards

– Watch yourself get browner by the minute!

– Try not to get wet – e.g. don’t have a hair cut afterwards, or do the washing up (great excuse!!)

– Leave it on overnight (don’t wash your face) and wear long PJ’s and a top with sleeves (or expect a few brown patches)

– Shower in the morning, pat dry your body and moisturise lots over the next few days

– Don’t use body scrubs

– It lasts between 5-7 days

 

What if you can’t be bothered to wait the day?

Guess what, we have a new tan we are trialling called ‘Tonights the Night’!  It get’s washed off after 3hrs (one of our beauty therapists tried leaving it on overnight and we can promise you that this is NOT a good idea!).

 

 

Please let us know if there are any tips you would like to see added to this ‘Spray Tan For Beginners Guide’.

Filed Under: Arbonne, Beauty, Lifestyle Tips, News Tagged With: paraben free spray tan, Sienna X, Spray Tans, Tonights the night

Welcome to our Espiritu Tour

Espiritu Salon & Spa from Nutty Amber on Vimeo.

Espiritu Salon & Spa

Battlers Green Farm
Common Lane
Radlett
WD7 8PH
01923 858052 or 01923 850465
Monday & Saturday: 9am-5pm
Tuesday & Friday: 9am-6pm
Wednesday: 9am-7pm
Thursday: 9am-8pm
Sunday: 10am-4pm

Book Online Now!

Follow Us For Our Latest News and Offers

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

On the Blog

  • Our Launch and Name Change!
  • December 2017 Celebrations & News!
  • Spring News!
  • Fabulous Friday – Dec 2nd – Festive Shopping Event
  • Autumn News!

Best beauty salon hertfordshire


Secret Salons

Best Day Spa Hertfordshire

Salon with great customer service

Copyright © 2021 Espiritu Salon and Spa · Site Design by DigitalJen ·