Make a face

Today I’m going to talk about facials. Contrary to the eye-catching abstract, in this article "facial treatment" does not have any special meaning, it just means literally. The old-school professional name is "beauty and skin care", or it can also be said to be "skin management" to catch up with the Korean wave. ”.

My relationship with facial surgery can be traced back to when I was 19. When I went back to Pingtung during my birthday month, my mother asked me to give you Shi Shuya’s facial course as a birthday gift! In fact, she had purchased ten classes, but she was tired of beauticians always selling them while doing them, so she simply gave the last three classes to her daughters. The price of Shi Shuya was sky-high at the time. Even if you bought ten courses together, it would cost about 2,500 per session. The service was very good. Of course, I had little knowledge at that time, but I later learned that the service of any chain store was comparable.

When I was 19 years old, I was young and invincible. How could a facial surgery add any brilliance to my lovely and beautiful face? But I became obsessed with facials. As a college student, I didn’t have much money, so I took advantage of my job at a buffet restaurant (which saved me money for two meals a day). I would choose a Sunday every week to ride a motorcycle on the streets of Taichung City. Look for a facial spa trial in the alley for 299 or 399. Didn't you expect that? There are so many beauty and skin care shops in Taichung that I was able to spend only 299 or 399 on my face for three whole years. Occasionally, this shop will offer you NT$1,500 if you buy three sessions at a time, so I will pay for it, but most of the time I just like Like a disloyal person, he told the store managers with a determined look of "I will visit again in the future." Then he walked out and never looked back.

This is probably when I started to learn not to mean what I say: when I go for a trial, the beauticians are very keen-eyed and will quickly evaluate whether you are just passing by or whether you have the potential to become a real customer. Their judgment will also affect the seriousness of the service. So as soon as you enter the door, you have to have the right posture . For example, you should say that I have booked a course (this is half true and half false, after all, it is 1,500 yuan for three classes), I am not very satisfied, and I am looking for a new course. I am here to try it out. Evaluate whether this company is worth staying for a long time; or maybe I am very young, but I talk about my working experience while doing it. There is no need to say clearly what I am doing. In short, if I have money, I can buy courses. Ask "What courses do you have now?" After listening patiently, say "I have something to do in two hours, not sure if I want to do it?" Let the store explain that they have a trial price for you (usually they have this free time to introduce it to you) There must be a beautician waiting for customers on the other side of the course). Don’t look poor as soon as you enter the door and ask impatiently if there is a trial price of 299 or 399.

It's so scheming that it's incredible to type it out now. From children to adults, human beings have learned all kinds of deception and put on a false face in these trivial things . However, this article is not written for self-criticism. Business transactions are inherently spy-on-spy.

Since face-making has a long history, there must be progress in life. After I went to Taipei to study for a master's degree and work to make money, I started to buy courses. I usually bought them near the rental house for convenience. It was almost like buying a group (10 or 12 classes) a year. In the years before going to Germany, I always bought courses. I moved before I finished running, from Taishan to Ximending and then to Gongguan. I accidentally went to Taishan two years later. Thinking that I still have courses, I went back to do it. The beautician gritted his teeth and had no choice but to accept it.

The reason is actually very simple. The courses are advertised as having no time limit. In fact, the money received by each store in the current month is the performance. The course fees paid two years ago have already been used to pay utility bills in that month. Two years later, we will say that there is still money left. The next class, the store had to pay the beautician the salary for 1.5 hours, but never received the money again. So the beautician will try his best to sell more services. Should he add 600 yuan for an ampoule? How about a back exfoliation now only costs 899 yuan? At this time, they have to bargain. The materials are not worth much to them anyway, but no matter how much they charge or how little they charge, it is still a subsidy. At this time, they need to use this to negotiate the best deal within 500 yuan.

After buying the course a few times, I know that no matter how crazy the store sells it in the end, no matter how uncomfortable it is, I must go there firmly until the last time and insist on finishing it before buying a new one. If I ran away like my mother did at the beginning, I was basically fooled into a trap. The secret to avoiding this kind of sales pitch in the last few classes is to say it as soon as you go, "Just put it on your face for 10 minutes today. I have an appointment with the doctor later. I'm in a hurry." After you finish it, it's too late to say anything else. Got it! Just leave.

How much does the so-called course cost? In my long experience, this is just a random shout from the store manager. She will have a rationale to explain why this course costs 3,800 yuan, whether using top-quality caviar oil or original Bulgarian rose oil can rejuvenate you for thirty years, etc. Wait, wait. However, what is satisfactory to me is not the quality of skin care products, but the "hand skills" part of the process, which means facial massage. As long as it is available, I don't care if I use the most basic skin care products.

Based on this, I think the average course price is 1,250 yuan per class. If it’s too much, I’ll switch to another one (of course, inflation is serious now, so you may have to increase your budget). If you simply compare the export beauty chain stores, you get what you pay for. The skills and services of a beautician for 1,250 yuan will be more stable than those for 800 yuan. After passing the period of being a poor student and entering the period of single and mature women, facial surgery It was to reward myself, so I chose a hotel near the mansion and stayed there for several years.

Every time I negotiated for a new course, the store manager said that the price of the course has increased, but you can do whatever you want if you buy more than the price. But I always stick to my bottom line. When she mentioned the price increase, I said she would think about it again. After all, I am studying in Germany and have limited time to return to Taipei. I am afraid that I will not be able to finish it. The store manager immediately promised that there will be no time limit. As long as I pay today, no matter what the budget is, she can come up with complex formulas and calculate a number, 1,250 yuan. My bottom line.

Until three years ago when she finally insisted on an average of 1,450 yuan per class, I stopped buying courses.

After moving to Canada, prices doubled and tips were required. Naturally, I no longer wanted to make faces. Will this affect my skin type? In fact, no. What affects skin quality is your own health conditions, climate and age. Facial surgery can neither add youthful brilliance nor save aging skin. So why do you need to make a face?

For me, doing facials is an old-fashioned way of "loving yourself". All I want is a moment of pure relaxation in the hustle and bustle of life. Besides, although I don't think facials can really beautify my face, but The slight pain during facial massage or facial scraping can still make me feel temporarily refreshed (?) when I always feel that life is boring.

Without the course, every time I return to Taiwan from Canada, I return to free experience. In the past few years, the price of facial surgery in Taipei has remained flat, about 800-1200 for a single visit. Most of them can be walked in, but in recent years, when I return I always go directly back to Pingtung from Taiwan. The first few times, I found it difficult to make a face in Pingtung.

No matter what good beauty and skin care store I search on the website, if the single-time price is within my budget, but if I make an appointment one month later, the single-time price will be more than 3,000 yuan (Pingtung’s consumption level always surprises me) ), the appointment was still scheduled for three weeks later (I was also surprised by the generosity of Pingtung people with their money), which made me very frustrated: I returned to Taiwan just to do all the things I couldn’t do in Canada!

Until last month, I passed by an area near the Pacific Department Store from Pingtung Central Market (a bit like Dihua Street in Taipei but smaller). The alley was filled with flags and hanging cloths, and they probably said "150 for face-turning" on them. RMB, 100 RMB for acne treatment, 150 RMB for facial spa... Most of the store names are Xiaoyan, Lili, Ahua, Alice Beauty and Nail Studio, etc. I watched with interest all the way, and happened to be standing at Xiaoyan At the door, I was welcomed in.

Discover a new world of face-making.

The new world is transparent, bright, approachable, and has no class thresholds.

If you have ever been to a chain (or non-chain) beauty and skin care store, you will find that although it has a transparent facade and you can see the high-end decoration of the store from the outside, you cannot open the door. You have to ring the doorbell first (to protect female customers) before you can enter. When you walk in, you can only see a front desk, some product displays, and a set of tables and chairs for drinking tea and marketing. No price is publicly displayed. You have to sit down first and let the store evaluate your needs (x) Financial resources (o ), after agreeing on the course, he was taken to the back room, each one euphemistically called privacy. The store will do its best to prevent you from chatting with Mrs. Lin in the next room about how much your respective courses are. . The people who serve you will call you by your first name (under 40 years old) or Manager Hu, Teacher Dong, Professor Su (people with titles). They seem to be chatting with you, but in fact, every sentence leads to the same conclusion: your body It is collapsing, and the only way to survive is by "strengthening" the maintenance of certain parts.

As for the small beauty studios in these alleys, most of them are joint ventures between two or three new immigrants. The store doors are open, the internal environment is clear at a glance, and the services in the store are clearly written. In traditional beauty and skin care shops, facial treatments always have some shiny but unclear names, such as "Crystal Brightening Care", "Aurora Moisturizing Molecule Course", and "Age-Reverse Fascial Lift". However, the secret is that no matter it is No matter what the name is, in the end they are just cleansing, exfoliating, clearing acne, calming, facial massage or not, essence introduction, and facial application (while waiting, some shoulder and neck massage will be done). After these small shops break down the various items, Each item only costs 100-150 yuan, and you can arrange and combine them according to your own situation.

No matter who the beautician calls "sister", she is neither flattering nor alienated, just like the familiar vegetable vendors and regular customers at the vegetable market, like the neighbors when waiting for the garbage truck, where you can make money in silence At the end of the day, you can just chat and have no course sales. They rely on word of mouth. She knows that as long as she serves you seriously, she will come back. And the money she earns after deducting the monthly rent is her own, so there is nothing to promote, and both parties are relaxed. comfortable. A good beautician can quietly gather information through chatting and help customer A sell a house to customer B, but that's a story for another day.

And these beauticians are also proficient in all kinds of martial arts, from the top of the head to the soles of the feet, essential oil massage to acupressure cupping. Or do some people question the quality of skin care products? It doesn't matter to them, "Sister, if you have essential oils or ampoules that you are more accustomed to, you can also bring them for us to use." Once again, after all, the beauty of the face is not the effect of the store's skin care products, but the skills of the beautician. So what are the skills of these beauticians? Facial SPA only costs 100 yuan per session, so you can do it as painlessly as you want and find the best one (you don’t have to suffer from the conscience of being greedy for cheap, because that’s the price). In fact, compared to the employees who come and go in the chain store, the graduation certificates and beauty certificates of these beauticians who have received vocational training are hanging on the wall. They are also proud of it. This is how they, as new immigrants, transformed from housewives. A testament to the efforts of working women.

Therefore, getting facials done here is more relatable, and the beautician and I can share the difficulties of trying to integrate into the local area after marrying in a foreign country.

From the young people who are greedy for petty gains and are obsessed with finding trial prices, to the young and mature women who believe that being able to take facial surgery courses is a material proof that "you have the ability to love yourself", to the middle-aged women who no longer pay attention to gorgeous packaging but focus on benefits. The skills and face-making are also reflecting the changes in my own values.

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