Cheong`s Facing A Facial:
Do I really need to get a facial to get a perfect complexion or is just cleansing and moisturizing at home enough? If I do need facials, how often should I get them?
The Right Brain Replies:
The first question is: why should you get a facial in the first place? What good does it really do? The answer depends on what kind of facial you get and who does it.
According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, Facial rejuvenation can effectively reduce wrinkles, treat sun spots, tighten loose skin, improve skin tone and color, remove blotchiness, and eliminate damaged blood vessels. They discuss 9 types of facial treatments including the use of Topical Products; Fillers and Botox; Chemical Peels; Dermabrasion and Microdermabrasion; Laser Resurfacing; Radiofrequency Technologies; Photodynamic Therapy; Surgical Excision; and Liposuction. If your complexion is really messed up, you may need one or more of these procedures to get it back in shape.
Most of these procedures must be performed by a doctor but a beautician or aesthetician can help you with topical products, chemical peels, and dermabrasion. Depending on the condition of your skin, these treatments may need to be repeated for best results. There`s no way to know how many treatments you`ll need or how often you`ll need them without actually examining your skin.
If your complexion just needs a touch up then you really only need basic facial care like cleansing, exfoliation, massage, and extraction of blackheads. If that`s all your skin needs, The Beauty Brains say that there`s no reason you can`t do that yourself at home. Of course, it`s always more pampering to have someone do it for you, but there`s no technical reason you couldn`t do it yourself. (Oh, and if you`re wondering about speciality treatments like oxygen mists or collagen sheets that spas offer, don`t worry about them too much. While they may feel great, they have little functional effect on your skin.)
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, this is my kind of site–the science behind the advertising.
Welcome aboard! Feel free to look through our archives to see some of the previous posts. It turns out people have a lot of questions about the beauty products they use everyday.
I have never found facials do anything for my skin. When I was a teenager, my mom used to pay for me to get a facial every other week, since I had awful skin. All it ever did was waste her money and my time. When I went to a dermatologist and got a prescription for topical Retin-A instead, it fixed the acne problem.
Good ole prescription Retin A. It really works. And so does tetracycline for some people.
As a general rule, going to a doctor works. Going to an aesthetician doesn’t.
Easy there – there’s not a single solution for everyone’s problem. My acne issue was *best* managed through an esthetician…deeper exfoliation and extractions were best done by her (I had both deep blackheads, as well as large painful cysts!), massage felt great and reduced stress and lines that showed on my face, and I got several great tips on skin care and acne prevention in general. Acne is a disease for which there’s no cure, but learning how to effectively manage it from a true skin care professional definitely helps. BTW, docs also put me on tetracycline, doxycycline, Retin-A, and Differin…helped in the short run, but got yeast infections and irritated skin after a while. For me, it wasn’t worth it!
I just found this site and I have to say that I have enjoyed reading it. I did want to comment on this just because I have had acne problems in the past and am currently seeing a dermatologist. I have also gone and done the facial thing as well. Truthfully I have learned a lot from both. My aesthetician was awesome and she helped me with the routine thing and what I should do for my face and I have to admit that whenever I left her I always felt beautiful and pampered. More of a treat kind of thing. My dermatologist has had me on the clindamyacin, Differin, Retin-A and the Accutane. I still have problems but honestly not as much as I use to and I would recommend a combination of both just depends on your needs and what you want accomplished.
Going to a facials spa–like facelogic for example–also encourages discipline and routine for minor acne treatments. Also, some wonderful anti-wrinkle serums are available now, substitutes for botox.
i personally prefer oxygen facials. there’s many different ways to go about it, some people go to oxygen bars and some get products with ‘oxygen’ already in it (which by the way is impossible to do, so avoid products claiming this).
personally i just have an air purifier running in my room at night, and in my office during the day.
i also do a once a week tomato scrub and finish off with a dab of olive oil as moisturizer. =)
I was considering to get a facial until I read this post. My skin doesn’t have much issues, I only thought it is dull looking or something. Perhaps, I’ll consider some soap and creams first.
I started out with mild acne in middle school, i began by using one of those five dollar scrubs from the grocery store. made it worse. after about every scrub/cleasner/lotion the store and countless others offered i went to the experts. they put me on pills, lotions, creams, and anything else they could legally perscribe. i lost faith in the crap they sell at the store, and even in the so called experts. then i decided to give the experts just one last try. i went to a different dermotologist. he heard me out on my long history. he then put me on acutane. a gov controlled drug. something they only put you on if NOTHING else works. it had me completly cleared up in less than 3 months. and i was off the pill in 4 and after 9 months have yet to have a zit. so, i think they want you to try all the products on the market and the facials and whatever else they can sell you, but in the end… they have a solution… they just don’t want everyone to know about it. it’s all hush, hush. otherwise, there would be no problem… and no products selling.
i wish the first dermatologist had just given me the freakn pill and i could have saved myself/parents thousands of dollars in the long run and also the low self-esteem that came along with it.
My bet is that they use accutane as a last resort not so that they can sell you other things, but because of the risk of a side effect from the accutane. All drugs come with some risk of side effects, but possibly there have been more people eager to sue over accutane side effects or more prominent warnings about them. I’m guessing that is what makes physicians relucant to offer the drug unless other options have been tried.
{ 1 trackback }