Halloween is coming up fast! Are you ready for whatever mask you will be wearing that day? If you’re planning on putting on that sexy pirate costume, slip into it a little easier after our awesome body wraps. You’ll be glad you did!

NEW to our Simply Beautiful website are client reviews! This is an exciting addition to our business as potential clients can now see what our current customers think of us. This is a credible review board powered by Customer Lobby where all truthful reviews are posted and never altered, deleted or ranked by bias. We encourage you to visit our site at www.simplybeautifulnewyou.com to read our reviews and write one yourself if you have visited our salon.

We appreciate your feedback and continued support!

We have been asked back to Kron4’s daytime show, Body Beautiful! Simply Beautiful owner, Michele Miller will be talking all about the wraps on Monday, September 21st at 11:30 a.m.

Simply Beautiful has also been contemplating a special monthly program for our clients. Upon signing up for this program, clients will receive one wrap per month for a super discounted rate that can automatically be deducted from their checking account. We would love to hear your feedback regarding this potential new program!

September’s almost over which means so will the 15% off discount! Don’t hold off on getting this discount. Call to schedule your appointment now! 1.888.WRAP.101

We hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Labor Day Weekend! Our 15% off discount was so popular in preparation for the long weekend that Simply Beautiful is actually extending this offer until the end of September! Call us today at 1.888.WRAP.101!

With Fall only a couple weeks away, we thought it would be appropriate to post a previously published article about what to do in autumn to keep that cellulite away:

Fall Into Cellulite Removal

Do you ever feel like you cannot get a grasp on the seasons of the year? By the time we get used to Summer, swim suits and hanging out by the pool, then the Fall season comes speeding up forcing us to cover-up our toned bodies that we worked so hard for. The fact of the matter is that every three months we have to buy a new wardrobe and filter out the clothes we won’t see for another year.

So now that Summer is just about over, we know that in about six more months those more revealing clothes are going to come out of the boxes in closet, which also means CELLULITE! It so convenient to put on the long pants and shirts that cover us up all Fall and Winter but it is so challenging to remove the cellulite. So let’s remove it for good!

Cellulite removal is difficult so it is important to know why. There are three components to why cellulite happens: 1) Waste, 2) Water Retention and 3) Poor Circulation. This vicious cycle starts with waste, or impurities, that clog and pollute our bodies. These are things like medications, sugar-free foods, smoke, pollution, alcohol, and preservatives. Basically, these are pollutants that your body cannot filter out naturally.

Secondly, water retention is an imbalance of fluids which is regulated by hormones, sodium and your kidneys. For example, if salty foods are consumed in excess, then your blood becomes saltier as well. This forces cells to pull water out to dilute the blood. Finally, poor circulation is a direct result of a lack of oxygen to the cells. Low oxygen decreases fat burning around the cellulite. In essence, cellulite is waste- and water-logged cells with no oxygen, making cellulite removal a definite challenge.

During the Fall and Winter we pile on the clothes and sometimes some pounds with warming comfort food and holiday sweets and treats. This also means the impurities build up around the holidays. Even if you hit the gym everyday you might not removal all your cellulite (This is why you see the fittest of people with the cellulite dimples on their legs and thighs.) So to survive in the cold seasons this year, remove those impurities and avoid the foods that create cellulite, especially artificial sweeteners like sucralose, aspartame, etc. If you’re going to have a soda, don’t do the diet. Your body can actually process the real sugar out – the fake stuff just gets stored in the body. Also drink plenty of water and avoid the high sodium foods. And lastly, get your exercise and you will easily fall into cellulite removal.

Vicki Espiritu
- Marketing Manager

It’s the first Friday in September which means get ready for that long weekend! You’ve worked hard all summer so take this weekend to relax and have fun! If you still need to get your body wrap for Labor Day and take advantage of our 15% off discount, then call us today at 1.888.WRAP.101!

We thought it would be a fun idea to republish one of our most popular articles for your reading pleasure! Take a look at this article about Brazilian Waxing:

The Brazilian Wax

What in the world possesses us to remove our bottoms in front of a stranger, have hot wax smoothed over our most sensitive area and have it ripped off a few seconds later in excruciating pain, all by nothing more than our own personal desire to get a Brazilian wax? Everyone has a different reason for why they get a Brazilian wax (convenience, less irritation than shaving, etc) but what’s the real process and the difference between a bikini wax and Brazilian wax. For some of the timid out there, let’s fill you in on the process.

1) Your friendly and licensed esthetician will allow you to dress out of your clothes in a private room. She will most likely give you something to wear or drape over yourself so you are not sitting and waiting uncomfortably.

2) The esthetician will apply some sort of product, like oil or talcum powder, to the skin so the wax will remove hair – not layers of skin.

Note: If the hair is longer than ¼ inch, expect you esthetician to trim the hair down so it is easier to wax.

3) Now the fun part starts. Hot wax is smoothed over a section of hair to be removed and allowed to cool for a few seconds. There are different types of wax popular for a Brazilian: strip and hard wax. Strip wax is what is used, for the most part, for eyebrow waxing and also used in that infamous waxing scene of the hit movie 40-Year-Old Virgin. Hard wax, on the other hand, hardens without the need of a strip and is pulled off when it has cooled enough to change from a liquid form to a solid (this is Chemistry at its best!). Many people prefer hard wax to strip wax but it is a personal preference. You may want to ask when you make an appointment what type of wax will be used for your own knowledge before you go in.

4) The removal: The strip/wax is pulled in the direction opposite of the hair growth in one swift, pain-free motion… Ok, so maybe not pain-free but won’t it look and feel nice when you’re done? Some people say to take an aspirin 30 to 60 minutes before to handle the pain, but you can live without it. Really, it’s not too bad.

5) This process is continued until you are as smooth as a baby’s bottom from front to back.

Note: It is very important that you make a note if the esthetician is double-dipping their stick. This is very unsanitary and can cause many bacterial infections.

6) Tweezers are used to remove any hairs that tried to escape the goopy wax. Some think this is the most tedious and painful part so beware.

7) Finally, soothing lotion or oil is applied to help with redness, irritation and ingrown hairs… Whew!

So that’s it! You’re done. I know it might not have been fun, but it’s like going to the gynecologist: You are forced by yourself to go and afterward, even though you hated it, you are glad you went for your personal well-being. Plus you only have to go back every 3 to 4 weeks.

Now I know you’re wondering the difference between a Brazilian wax and a bikini. Well, the Brazilian has a few options. You can have your esthetician remove everything from everywhere, or they can leave what many call a “landing strip” or a little vertical strip of hair in the front which will be trimmed. Estheticians can get creative by giving the remaining hair a design, such as a heart. A bikini wax, however, removes hair that follows the panty line. According to some estheticians, once you go past a certain point in the front it is considered a Brazilian so you may want to ask your particular esthetician where their boundaries are.

You are now a well-educated, informed individual about Brazilian waxing so go out and have fun getting waxed! And remember to thank your esthetician no matter how painful the session is – they are just doing their job.

For more information about our personal waxing services, visit our website at www.simplybeautifulnewyou.com

Vicki Espiritu
-Marketing Manager

Sometimes people forget that even though we go back to school, there is still one more chance for summer to have a last hurrah – Labor Day! This year, Labor Day is on Monday, September 7th and the weather could not be more perfect right now.

Right now, we are offering 15% off your body wrap which is our lowest advertised discount!

This special won’t last much longer once this vacation day is over so be sure to schedule your appointment before then! Mention this blog post when you make your body wrap appointment. Simply Beautiful looks forward to seeing you soon!

We are social networking!

- Become a Fan of us on Facebook at “Simply Beautiful”
- Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beautifulnewyou

Think of the game of Monopoly for a moment. The game is actually just a fast-paced version of our everyday life. You start off with a small fortune equivalent to that of some college graduation money and move on to start your career as a real estate mogul – buying low and charging rent for use of – or landing on – your property. Eventually, in this game you always have a “crossroads” moment. You can either be the player everyone is afraid of, hoping that your opponents land on your properties to wipe them out and watch them suffer; or you can be the player that is trying to survive by mortgaging everything you have, praying that you land on “Free Parking” instead of a hotel, even trying to borrow money from a fellow player who is still thinking in terms of real life and not “Monopoly Life”. Four hours after you start this game, it is over and normal life starts again. But like I said, this is just a fast version of that real life.

Everyday there are thousands of companies in the same industries competing for the same customers. Think about all those delayed response advertisements you hear on the radio for mattresses. Well, the mattress market constantly engages in what is call “price wars”, a competition for who can go the lowest in price for the sale. The danger of these wars is when the sale price falls below the cost charged from the manufacturer – the business actually loses money when they make a sale. Eventually, one of the businesses in the price war will have to pull out of the competition or go under before it is too late. In the end, neither business makes much of a profit but would rather make a good impression on the customer so they eventually come back in a couple years for another mattress.

These kind of tactics are common between business in competing industries. Here at Simply Beautiful, we want to remind our clients about why we are America’s #1 Body Wrap Salon.

We are prided on our service and attentiveness, atmosphere and of course the quality of wraps that you, our client, receive. Our body wraps are often imitated, but never duplicated. We have done our best to stand out from the rest to prove why we should be your salon.

As we come up on our 5-year anniversary, we think it is important for you to know why we are who we are and what makes us different.

1.) Our Staff. The Simply Beautiful staff is amazing! These wrap technicians do not go through all their training and certification to have “just a job” – this is their career. In fact, most of the employees who joined the team in the salon’s first year are still here today! It is pretty clear that all the employees are working toward a common goal of helping clients get the results they want. We have worked hard at making our website more user-friendly. We make sure every phone call is answered during business hours. We answer e-mails constantly so potential and returning clients do not have to wait more that a few hours for a response to their question. The employees here have integrity. They try to relate to all their clients. If a client has a concern, they share that concern with others. They are incredible human beings.

2.) The Atmosphere. Over the course of these past 5 years, the face of Simply Beautiful has made a 180 degree turn. In October 2004, Simply Beautiful picked a convenient location and setup shop. Over the years, Simply Beautiful has turned into a gorgeous, cozy salon. From our relaxing color scheme to the soft lighting to the entertainment rooms where clients watch movies during their wraps, everything was again designed with the client in mind.

3.) The Body Wraps. We believe in our products. Simply Beautiful was not created to be a money-maker business; rather, the salon came to be because one life was changed. Since then, we have helped thousands of clients change their lives. We continually work with our licenser to find out new techniques, products and even wraps, like the Excellerator and Mini Fat Burner, to help clients get the best results possible. Our business is here because the body wraps work. Our business is successful because the body wraps, atmosphere and staff make successful.

The 2008-2009 recession has been difficult for everyone and we appreciate the clients who have openly shared their personal experiences with us. We feel it is important to focus on the fact we value our clients. Simply Beautiful stays true to the guarantee we have with our clients. Even after all these years, we would still rather help our clients than make a quick buck. As our anniversary of 5 years is right around the corner, coming up in October, we are extending our 15% off to new and returning clients as a thank you for coming to experience what we have to offer you. If you ever have questions or comments about our services please call us at 1.888.WRAP.101 or visit our website at www.simplybeautifulnewyou.com.

Now is the best time to come in for a body wrap at Simply Beautiful! Why? Because we are offering 15% off to everyone until August 31st 2009! Let us know you saw this post on our blog and we will happily discount you 15% off your body wrap when you come in. We are extending this offer to everyone – first time and regular clients! It’s also a great time to bring your friends!

*15% cannot apply to already purchased wraps/packages/services and cannot be applied to upgrades.

- Look for us on Best of the Bay on Wednesday, August 19th at 1:30 p.m.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beautifulnewyou

Summer is underway and Simply Beautiful is having a blast meeting all of new clients and visiting again with our returning clients. We love chatting about all your summer vacation plans. Those trips are definitely making me jealous! Hope everyone enjoys the warm weather and travels safe!

Many clients have been responding to our e-mail newsletters and joined our VIP program which is awesome. Our e-mails update clients monthly about what’s happening at Simply Beautiful, new products and of course, special deals! Call us for more information about joining our mailing list.

Our newest wrap upgrade, the Mini Fat Burner, has provided our clients with the best results yet! This solution is applied along with your wrap to detoxify the body and get the best inch loss possible! For more information on this upgrade and our other wraps, check out our website at www.simplybeautifulnewyou.com!

This past Monday, Michele Miller was welcomed back to Kron4’s Body Beautiful segment once again to discuss the amazing results of our Simply Beautiful body wraps. The response was astronomical! Thank you to those of you who watched!

Simply Beautiful is excited to announce that we have hopped on the social-network-blogging train! Check us out on Facebook and Twitter today!

Enjoy your Summer and call us if you have any questions about our services!

It has come to my attention that many people don’t actually know what they are putting into their bodies. As an attempt to solve America’s obesity problem, many people are exercising more and eating better… so we think! In fact, many of us don’t research all the foods that we consume and instead look for easy way out of weight loss by letting marketing and branding decide what we eat. What do you mean? Well, when you go to the grocery store, a lot of products are now saying “Low- Carb”, or “No Sugar Added”, or “Lowered Sodium”. Branders package items so consumers believe they need foods that has a limited amount of carbohydrates, no sugar and lower sodium. But marketers aren’t your medical doctor! Niether am I, but I do like researching! So before you pick up your next DIET drink, take a look at what you’re really consuming.

Instead of exercising more and eating right, people believe that consuming a product with the word “DIET” on the label will make it healthier, therefore, easier to lose weight. True? Fat chance. As a gradation requirement for my Mass Communication degree at Cal State East Bay, I took a Women’s Studies class. Part of the curriculum included a chapter on nutrition, eating disorders and dieting which coincided with the artificial food boom. Our course book was Our Bodies, Ourselves by The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective which is a great reference for anything women have questions about. In that book, I discovered that for some reason, people in our society love fake sugars! Splenda (sucralose), Nutrasweet (aspartame), Sweet N’ Low (saccharin) have become a marketer’s dream as our country become larger. Artificial sugars are categorized as “sweeteners” because they have a sweet taste; but they are artificial! How good can that be? So, let’s figure out what artificial sugars are made of.

Found on the website called Truth About Splenda, sucralose is chemical compound of chlorine molecules that have been added to sucrose to produce a chemical reaction with harsh chemicals. The artificial chlorinated sweetener is manufactured in a chemical plant in Alabama and is in no way considered a natural product. The site states, “While the FDA has ruled that the chemical compound sucralose is not in itself toxic, there is no question that it is unnatural and is a highly-processed chemical artificial sweetener that depends on the presence of chlorine for its intense sweetness.” Need a comparison? Sugar, or sucrose, is from sugar beets or sugar cane is found naturally – not in a lab.

Don’t get confused! Although sucrose (sugar) and sucralose (artificial sweetener) sound similar, they are produced very differently!

Although they have been approved by the FDA, no one is sure of the long-term effects fake sugars have on the body. The FDA actually stated possible side-effects from using Splenda as lowered white blood cell count, enlarged liver and kidneys, decreased fetal body weight, and reduced growth rate.

When I researched these fake sugars, I came across an interesting fact. The reason artificial sweeteners are low-calorie is because the body cannot metabolize them. (Ok, to me this is a big deal! If my body cannot process something I’m consumign, that is not a good sign!) Some of you might think that this is no big deal but let’s put it in perspective:

SUGAR
- Yes, real sugar contains more calories but a calorie is a unit of energy. So although sodas contain “empty calories” because they provide little nutrition but contain a lot of calories, your body can STILL process out the sugar!
- Sugar is all natural, grown from the earth, and has been safely consumed by humans for thousands of years.
- Sugar is low in cost.
- Sugar has NO bad aftertaste.

ARTIFICIAL SUGARS
- Fake sugars are unable to be metabolized by the body because they are made of synthetic chemicals.
- Certain artificial sugars can cause diarrhea in large amounts (sugar alcohols and tagatose) and like MSG, they can possibly cause headaches.
- In 1977, the FDA showed that saccharin caused cancer of the bladder, skin, ovaries, and other organs in lab rats.
- Artificial sugars are not natural.
- Artificial sugars are more expensive than regular sugar!

Ultimately, everyone makes their own decisions about what they consume. But just because the label says “DIET” or “NO SUGAR ADDED!” does not mean it is better for you. I admit, there is no long-term research on the effects of fake sugars and possible dangers; however, real sugar has been safely used by human for over 2,000 years. I’ll tell you that every time I see someone walking out of Costco with a big pack of Splenda, I cringe. I hate knowing that people think this stuff is ok and that artificial sweetener companies are content that they could be sending people some expensive medical bills in the future. However, if only a handle full of people change their lives because of the research done in this article, I’ll be a happier person.

Here are my tips to be artificial-free plus a few more:
- Say goodbye to the regular AND diet sodas from your life. It may be hard now, but you’ll be glad you did later!
- Only buy juice that says “100% Juice”.
- Avoid buying anything that says “diet”, “sugar free”, “no sugar added”. If in doubt, read the label before you put the item in your shopping cart. No one can give you a ticket for parking your cart while you read the ingredients on a nutrition label.
- Finally, and I know I’m a little bias on this, but exercise your butt off! As a competitive swimmer, I joke with my teammates that if I feel comfortable at the end of my practice or race then I’m not working hard enough. It takes a lot of self-motivation but you have to learn to get out of your comfort zone – that’s the only way you’ll see and feel a difference.

Check Out These Websites!
Truth About Splenda
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Simply Beautiful Body Wraps

Vicki Espiritu
Marketing Manager

Do body wraps work? Sometimes it is hard to find the truth – and the skinny –behind the wraps. There are many types of body wraps to choose between these days and most of us have heard of crazy wraps that make us sweat. So are there healthy body wraps out there? Let’s look at different wraps to see if body wraps work!

First, there are saran wraps that enclose the body in cellophane to reduce inches. I’m sorry, does this sound healthy? No! This is an extremely dangerous process! Saran wraps literally suffocate the skin and prohibits the natural exchange of oxygen to the skin. Yikes! We are humans that need oxygen so let’s not deprive ourselves of it. So, saran wraps are not even close to working wonders for the body – in fact, it is just the opposite.

Other “hot” body wraps do not work because they involve lying in uncomfortably warm blankets to “sweat-out” the inches, which is the equivalent to sitting in a sauna. I know, I know. I’m sure a bunch of you sit in the sauna after working out at the gym or at spas so what’s the problem with this? Again, these are not healthy for the body. “Hot” wraps, and saunas while on the subject, cause people to lose vital body fluids needed to function. This equation equals dehydration – a serious health concern that people are actually hospitalized for.

According to Benjamin C. Wedro, MD, FAAEM, at MedicineNet.com, “Dehydration occurs when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount being taken in.” People lose water by doing everyday things, even involuntary tasks such as breathing, sweating to cool the body, and through urination and bowel movements, so people need to replace this water by drinking a significant amount of water each day (par. 2).

Dehydration does not sound like a positive way to get inch loss! So the question: Do these body wraps work? The answer: No, not in any “healthy” or “natural” way, that is.

However, those who are looking for a safe, all-natural process that does work can find a light at the end of the metaphorical body wrap tunnel! There is a process that uses trace minerals to help people lose inches, get rid of cellulite and tighten skin. According to Trace Minerals Research, trace minerals are minerals that the body needs a certain, amount of to function healthily (minerals like iron, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, chromium, selenium, and zinc) (par. 4). Body wraps that use these trace minerals are incredibly beneficial for people even just to increase mineral intake. (It is estimated by Trace Minerals Research that 90 percent of Americans have a mineral deficiency) (par. 1).

Here is how the body wraps work:
First of all, trace mineral body wraps require certain wraps, or bandages, which are porous and make it easy for the skin to breathe while being wrapped. The bandages are similar to ACE sport bandages. The permeable material allows oxygen to be exchanged through the skin which is extremely important since the skin is the body’s largest organ. The bandages soak in mineral solution thoroughly before being tightly applied to the body for compaction of the fat cells. Fat cells hold many impurities like alcohol, pollution and cigarette smoke, excess medications, and fake sugars (sucralose, aspartame, etc.).

I’m going to stop you right there. I can hear the rebuttals now: My diet soda has 0 calories. That means it’s better than regular! … WRONG! Diet drinks are worse for you because the body cannot recognize the chemical so it never gets processed all the way out!

Think about this too: The next time you pick up a Sweet N Low packet, look at the back and read the cancer warning. Fake sugars have been proven to cause cancer in lab rats. Just think what that will do to us humans if the sweeteners never get processed out!

Let’s continue! Through circulation, the trace minerals enter the body’s fat cells to exchange for the impurities that may have entered the body over the past months or years.

Once a person is wrapped in the bandages, they need to perform very light movement to keep the blood and circulation moving constantly in the body in order for the body wrap to work. The movement increases the exchange that occurs between the trace minerals and impurities. Mineral solution is constantly reapplied to the body and bandages which also increases hydration. Ahh, yes, hydration is good, right? The impurities are pulled out through the pores and discarded. Through the replacement of impurities for minerals, the tight pressure of the bandages forces the fat cells to shrink in size and encourage inch loss, reduce the appearance of cellulite and tighten the skin.

This type of mineral body wrap actually has a cooling-effect which makes it virtually impossible to overheat and become dehydrated.

Need proof that these body wraps work? Salons that offer this type of mineral wrap measure clients before and after to prove that the body wraps work. Proof can be visible by evaluation of certain body parts or by slipping on any normally tight clothing – the clothing should be looser! The best part, though, is that these trace minerals stay in the body to work continually for up to two days for further amazing results.

So do body wraps work? After evaluating saran and “hot” body wraps, the importance of keeping body fluids, and understanding trace mineral body wraps, the choice is clear. Maybe being wrapped up like something from the blockbuster hit, The Mummy, doesn’t sound like a bad way to detox, lose inches and cellulite, and tighten up loose skin. Do trace mineral body wraps sound goofy? Sure. Are they safe? Of course. Do these body wraps work? YES!

Works Cited

“Dehydration.” 2009. MedicineNet. 20 Feb. 2009
“Trace Minerals Story.” Trace Minerals Research. 20 Feb. 2009

For more information, check out Simply Beautiful Body Wraps

- Vicki Espiritu
Marketing Manager