Free Facial

I really lucked out, I received a free facial today.  Some how one of my family members ended up with a gift certificate for a facial, it was passed around through a couple of women and then ended up in my hands.  Do you think I passed it on?  No way, I've been wanting a facial for a while I just couldn't justify the costs... and voila, a gift certificate appeared.  Good things come to those who wait, so they say!  The gift certificate allowed me to choose from multiple different beauticians throughout the country.  Obviously I'm not going to drive across the country to get a facial, especially considering I squeezed it into the few hours my daughter attends preschool in the morning, so I found someone local.  Well sort of, one town over.  There was a beauty salon located here in town but I would have had to parallel park on a busy road and well, I wouldn't say I have up kept my parallel parking skills since I managed to get my Dutch license last year.  So I opted for a salon in Waalre called Huidverzorgings Instituut Mireille.  Considering where I live it was about the same distance to either one.  It's quite common here that women run salons out of their homes, so this meant I could easily park in a driveway, yes! 

The gift certificate turned out to be more than just a facial, they also plucked my eyebrows, treated my hands, and gave a light face & shoulder massage.  Then at some point they walk away leaving you covered in Cenzaa products so you can relax and listen to music.  It was great, I can't remember the last time I was treated to this!  (Probably was the last time I received a gift certificate, ha-ha!)  The salon turned out to be much larger than I expected, there were at least two treatment rooms and a staff of three.  This might sound small to Americans but this is large on a Dutch scale.  Now, I wasn't helped by Mirelle herself but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the beautician that pampered me for around 2 hrs.  Yeah you read that right, 2 hours!  Too bad I don't remember her name, but the next time I make an appointment (still have a little left on the gift certificate) I'll be sure to request her, they must keep records, and it's not like American's walk through their door everyday so she should remember me.  Towards the end of the appointment as the next round of customers filtered in I realized I had used the back entrance, no wonder there was a sign on the door saying the salon entrance was around the other side, oops!  But hey, I still managed to get my driveway parking spot.  My only issue now is some of the products ended up in my hair, which means shower #2 will be happening today, I'll have to keep this in mind next time.  I also cut it close picking my daughter up from school, I had no idea the appointment was going to last so long, but in the end it all worked out.  So if any of you readers are in the Waalre area, be sure to make an appointment at Huidverzorgings Instituut Mirelle!