What is a facial?
A common question a lot of people ask is “What is a facial?” A facial is a skincare treatment that cleanses, exfoliates, and sometimes extracts impurities from the skin, often followed by a massage and a customized mask.
Cleansers, exfoliators, and masks can all be customized to help target a skin concern as well as serums if needed. A facial typically lasts between 30 minutes to an hour and a message is included with every facial, using touch therapy to stimulate the skin and provide a relaxing experience to the client.
First a skincare professional will do a consultation with you and assess what products need to be used on the skin.
Then a facial can be scheduled or if already scheduled, it will begin.
There are 5 main steps to a facial:
- Precleanse – often oil-based, designed to remove makeup, dirt, and excess oil from the skin before cleanser. It’s part of a double cleansing. The double cleanse technique ensures a thorough and effective clean.
- Cleanser – removes remaining impurities and any leftover makeup or residue following the pre-cleanse, ensuring a deeper and more thorough cleanse. Pre-cleanse prepares the skin by dissolving oil-based residues like makeup and sunscreen, while the second cleanser tackles water-based impurities.
- Exfoliation – removes dead skin cells from the outer layer of the skin, revealing fresher, healthier skin underneath.
- Treatment – All treatments are customized based on your skin goals and concerns.
- Mask – a mask provides concentrated benefits and can address various skin concerns like dryness, oiliness, or uneven tone.
Electrotherapy is an additional treatment that can be used with or without a facial service, but is a great enhancement and may show results faster. Examples include:
- High frequency wand therapy: uses electric currents to stimulate collagen and elastin production, lowers inflammation, and destroys harmful bacteria
- LED light therapy masks: different light spectrums are focused onto the facial skin for a variety of benefits specific to the light frequency used, such as anti-aging with red light, or anti-bacterial with blue light, or inflammation reduction with yellow light therapy.
- Hydrafacial therapy: uses patented technology and formulas for extractions of contaminants and provides advanced skin hydration
Why should I get a facial?
For those with limited knowledge about facials, they might ask… “What’s the point? I can wash my face at home.”
Facials are so much more than a deep cleanse of your skin and pores…
While cleaning your face is something you should be doing everyday, many people experience common skin issues for which daily routines at home alone are insufficient:
- Damaged skin barriers
- Skin texture concerns,
- Inflammation,
- Aging signs such as fine lines, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation
- Acne and hormonal related issues
- Dark circles, and more…
Further, everyone’s skin is different and may react differently to extrinsic and intrinsic factors, age, and lifestyle choices.
A person may come in to get a facial treatment as part of a comprehensive skin treatment plan. One of the ways a facial can help is in protecting and healing the natural skin barrier.
What is a skin barrier and how does it get damaged?
What is a skin barrier and why is it so important to keep it balanced? The skin barrier refers to the outermost layer of the skin, known as the epidermis.
The epidermis acts as a protective shield that protects the skin from irritants, prevents moisture loss, maintains skin structure, and keeps outside bacteria from coming in. When the skin barrier is compromised, it can lead to skin conditions such as dryness, irritation, sensitivity, and breakouts.
There are many reasons as to why a skin barrier may get damaged, here are a few common possibilities:
- Harsh skincare products/over-exfoliation
- Environment (pollution/sun exposure)
- Hormonal changes
- Stress
- Poor diet
- Genetics (rosacea/eczema)
What are the benefits of a facial?
How does a facial help repair the skin barrier? A facial involves a skin consultation during which a skin care professional can assess what products might be used in order to treat the skin concern.
Skin care professionals have access to medical and professional grade products that are highly concentrated with ingredients designed to target the skin concern and go deeper than surface level to penetrate and restore the skin.
Creams used by licensed estheticians penetrate much deeper through the skin layers than commercial products available to the public, getting to the root cause of various skin issues.
The facial is customized based on the client’s skin conditions and their personal concerns.
The skincare professional will assess the skin, gather the products needed for the specific skin issue, and begin the treatment.
For example, if the client’s concern is skin congestion, active exfoliants or acids that go deeper than the surface may be used in the facial along with detoxifying products to help clear the skin.
For rosacea, the facial will focus on calming/cooling agents using anti-redness/ anti-inflammatory products.
To address signs of aging, the esthetician may use exfoliation productions and products with vitamins such as vitamin A, C, and E. These products can encourage cell turnover revealing younger, fresher skin cells.
These are just a few examples of common skin concerns and treatments applied during the facial procedure. There are many more treatments including electrotherapy and others that can be even more beneficial as an add on to a facial procedure.
How do facials work to improve skin health and tone?
Daily cleansing can prevent damage and maintain the skin barrier, but some people may have a damaged barrier that needs restored.
Stress is also a big factor in breakouts and imbalance which an at home cleanser can’t ideally fix.
Cleansing with a product from Ulta or your nearest drugstore generally will not rebalance a barrier once it is damaged. Depending on the severity of damage, the treatment intensity will need to be fine tuned by the esthetician.
After your facial, tips for maintenance and ongoing home care are provided to you by the esthetician. These tips are essential to help you maintain balance and are suited for every client’s own individual needs.
What are some other benefits of facials?
Glowing skin with a dose of pampering
A facial does not always have to target a skin concern. For example, maybe a client does not struggle with acne/pigmentation/aging, but would like to have a glowing skin appearance and to restore skin vitality.
Facials are a very relaxing, pampering service that provides treatments to address skin concerns, and alleviate skin issues that can contribute to insecurities.
Holistic health and skin care
A client may want to try a holistic approach by getting a facial along with other esthetics skin treatments prior to resorting to use of a prescribed medication to treat a skin concern.
Some prescription acne medications may interfere with someone’s personal lifestyle or have adverse systemic side effects, while facial treatments are localized to the skin and its layers alone.
Support between facial and esthetic procedures is provided post procedure in the form of maintenance and home care instructions that are individualized to you.
How can Lancaster Wellness help me with my skin care needs?
Our esthetics team is here to help you achieve your best skin health and maximize your skin’s beauty!
If you’re struggling with breakouts or any other skin concerns stop in today for a free consultation or book online through our website! We’re here to enhance your natural beauty and make you feel like your best self. Not everyone has clear skin, but it is possible and anyone can get there!