Except for body massages that I make time for every month, I do not have any other body pampering routine that I regularly do. Recently though, I decided to visit a skin pampering clinic and try a facial treatment.
Since it was my first time to do a facial spa, I bothered asking the aesthetician with whatever she is doing with my face. So, for anybody who is curious to know how a facial treatment is done, this one’s for you.
Step 1: Consultation/Skin check
Just when I thought everybody can have facial treatment all that easy, it’s not. Upon entering the aesthetic clinic, the first thing I asked if it is possible to work on my face with all the swollen pimples, dark marks, and red marks all around my face. The aesthetician said my acne condition is still mild compared to others and can be worked on, except that they would not touch the swollen ones, the cystic type and the ones that are not yet “open”.
Step 2: Preparation
The facial treatment is done with the patient lying down. The aesthetician puts a cloth headband on me to keep my hair away from my forehead/face while the process is being done. Washing the face before the process is essential. My aesthetician does this while I was lying down. Afterward, a cleansing substance (hydrocortisone?) is applied to my face using a cotton ball to clean the surface of my face. While doing this, the aesthetician checks the face fo the parts which are okay and not okay to touch. She gives me a bit of face massage as well.
Step 3: Steam
A 15- to 20-minutes steam of the face before the facial treatment proper is necessary to open up the pores and make it easy for the aesthetician to do blackhead/whitehead (comedones) extraction. I (kind of) love this process as it not only helps my skin to open up its pores, but it helps my nose to become less stuffy and less dry.
Step 4: Extraction
This is the gross but satisfying part of the facial spa process. During this process, the aesthetician will use an extractor to “scrape” comedones out of the pores. Aestheticians have the eyes to spot which among the pores are “full” of comedone, but nevertheless, they will scrape your entire face to make sure it is fully clean before moving to the next process. Hydrocortisone will then be again applied to clean up the face.
Step 5: Exfoliation/Masking
“Mask is a must,” one of the aestheticians told me when I asked if I can ditch that part (as it is an add-on charge). A gauze was used to cover my face before applying the seaweed face mask. The seaweed face mask will help hydrate my skin and, according to the aesthetician, is intended to help minimize pimple production as well. A seaweed face mask is also beneficial for sensitive skin just like mine.
Step 6: Closing of Pores
I am not sure if pores really “close” because I have this thinking that “if they do, how come dirt and oil get in and infect our skin and produce pimples”? but this is the last step that brings a facial treatment session to a close. CLosing the pores basically locks up all the topical treatment and applied to your face, keeping your pore clean until unwanted substances pollute it again.
Step 7: After-process skincare
I was offered a skin cleanse set after my facial treatment process that consists of a toner and a facial wash soap. I was advised not to wash or wet my face 5-6 hours after the treatment. The skin cleanser set offered to me is a combination of toner and face soap, both intended to minimize oil and control pimple production.
