Hi Nesters!I just had my first professional facial. I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to share it with you. I'm warning you it's a lengthy post. I just wanted to be thorough in the details you can clearly imagine my experience in your head.
For Christmas, my husband Jason gave me a gift card for a Signature Facial from facelogic (it's not a typo, they don't capitalize their name). I've never had any sort of pampering treatments before aside from having my hair cut/highlighted every three months and getting pink & white acrylics every other week (but those aren't really relaxing types of pampering). I've never even indulged in one of those quickie neck massages you can get at the mall. So I don't know what took me so long (6 months) to make my appointment but I finally did it. Perhaps I was afraid of the unknown or maybe the idea of a stranger touching my face didn’t appeal to me. Not sure.
So here's how my day went. . .
I arrived at facelogic at noon on Friday and was greeted by a friendly receptionist shortly after I walked through the door. The lobby/reception area (they call it the "boutique") was decorated in a soothing contemporary aqua, white, brown and black theme. The receptionist handed me a short questionnaire to fill out and I was greeted shortly thereafter by Tisa, my skin care therapist.
Tisa then escorted me through the treatment room and then through short hallway, to a nicely decorated private changing room (aka the bathroom) where Tisa handed me a spa gown (a strapless white terrycloth wrap that stays on with velcro), a wire basket with handles for my clothing, and a clear plastic zipper bag for my jewelry. She instructed me to remove all articles from the waist up, put my belongings in the containers and meet her back in the hallway.
So I'm dressed in my spa gown and ready to go. I followed Tisa into the treatment room and she showed me to my state of the art treatment chair (it's a nice cushy dark brown leather-like vinyl tri-fold chair). The treatment room consisted of 8 individual treatment areas (four on each side of the room). There is a divider between each of the four areas so you can't see your neighbor on either side. It's very dimly lit and the sounds of nature and world flutes are playing at a moderate volume. The music was not only soothing, but provided privacy for conversations between the skin care therapist and the client. Now that you've got an idea of the atmosphere, I'll get right to the treatment part.
THE CONSULTATION:
I sat down in the chair. Tisa covered me in a soft white sheet and gently tucked my feet in the sheet so they wouldn't be exposed to the air (great attention to detail). She affixed my hair off my face with a stretch velco headband and then tilted the chair back so I was in a reclining position with my legs in a more elevated position than my head.
She did an initial cleanse to remove my makeup and sunscreen using what I think were some sort of facial cleansing wipes and then she examined my skin under magnification.
Based on Tisa's examination and the information I provided her about my skin care regime, she recommended that I upgrade from the Signature Facial to an Elite Facial. Normally, I would be leery of an attempt by someone to up sell me, but in this case, I really feel that the recommendation was in my best interest since I do many at-home treatments (masks and scrubs) and use several products (glycolic acid, vitamin c, facial cleansing oils) that are a little outside of the typical soap and water routine that many people do. She said my skin would feel good after the basic facial but it could benefit more from the more extensive facial (which I was informed would include an MD Skincare Alpha-Beta Peel and other products targeted to my specific needs) so I gladly agreed to the upgrade.
THE TREATMENT (this part took about 50 minutes):
I received a double-cleanse using the Clarisonic Pro.
Then Tisa applied a salicylic acid based solution (designed to open up the pores and prepare the skin for extractions) under steam. While the salicylic acid solution was doing its thing, Tisa gave me a arm/hand massage.
After that, she performed the extractions using a little tool. I've never had this done before and it was mildly uncomfortable. I have very clear skin so there were only a few places she needed to treat -- thank goodness.
Next, Tisa performed a 3-step peel. She warned me in advance that it was going to be pretty hot and if it got unbearable to let her know and she would apply the neutralizing solution early. I wanted the full effect so I let her keep it on the whole time. I'm a tough cookie and I kind of knew what to expect from seeing similar procedures done on television.
After the peel was neutralized, she gave my entire face a massage using hyaluronic gel (this was my favorite part of the treatment). She was very generous with the gel and it felt like nothing I've ever had on my face before (I've got to get me some of that gel).
After the face massage, she applied (without rinsing the gel off) a self-heating white clay mask. While the mask worked its magic, I received a very relaxing upper chest, neck and scalp massage. Tisa removed the mask and followed with a spritz of toner, applied an intensive serum on areas that needed special attention, moisturizer on the remainder of my skin and a thick creamy balm on my lips. Voila!
I got dressed and met Tisa in the reception area where she did a quick application of a tinted mineral spf 30 and a little blush. She then handed me a cup of iced pomegranate green tea with acai berry extract for the ride home.
I was glowing both inside and out from the experience. I can't wait to do it again.
Robyn
*Words in italics are facelogic-specific terms.
Photo credit: facelogic flickr
