Fear of having a facial is real. I should know…I was 36 before I had my first one.

The fear of breakouts.

The fear of having a bad reaction.

The fear of wasting money on a seemingly frivolous service.

Those were all things I worried about.

How about you? Have you thought those things too?

You may laugh, but my first facial was given by an esthetician student that literally knew as little as I did. I couldn’t even help her because I was so lost. It was my worst fear coming true! I knew we had to do facials on each other but I wasn’t mentally ready by any means. As students we were literally thrown into the deep end and it was now, sink or swim time. We didn’t know our products and we were hoping our teachers would be able to help us through. We learned the basics of course but the products were what I was most worried about. I thought, “Crappy school products…how on earth could they be good for me?” If you’ve been following me for a while I am a habitual clean product user. I’m very aware of the toxic chemicals that are in beauty products and most made me react in a terrible way. Rashes that itch, eczema that burns. I’ve even got chemical burns that left me almost scarred. To say I was super anxious about having a random girl put crap on my face was not very appealing to me BUT it was go time. I had to. It was part of being an esthetician student.

Product knowledge is a HUGE part of being an esthetician and one of the hardest parts because there are so many lines available out there. All claiming to be great. All claiming to be the best. But you know they aren’t. But, back to the story, I was about to get my first facial and part of the facial is cleansing and diagnosing.

Cleansing and Diagnosing-Step 1

Step one is cleansing the skin 2x and then once everything is removed (makeup, dirt + debris) the student had to diagnose my skin under a bright light with a magnifying glass. She could see all my bare face in all its glory. I felt very…exposed and vulnerable. But it is an intricate part of EVERY facial. This part should always be thorough. I’ll spare you the intricate details of my skin but at the end of the day I am a 1) Oily Skin Type 2) Reactive/Sensitive 3) some black heads 4) No current breakouts

Treatment Plan moving forward-Step 2

Reactive skin is skin that is very sensitive and can will react to products more then others, so you must be very selective on your products. I usually turn red very easily. Even a touch of the neck makes me look like I’m breaking out or having some type of reaction. It’s annoying as an adult but its simply how my skin is. Knowing this we immediately canceled out some products in the routine. This made me feel better as I felt like the girl was listening to me and had my best interest at heart. Products we canceled out were

1)Vitamin C- Amazing for the skin but can be a bit spicy for someone with sensitivities. Vitamins C is

• hydrating
• brightening
• helps reduce redness and even out your skin tone
• helps fade hyperpigmentation
• reduces the appearance of under-eye circles
• promotes collagen production
• may help prevent skin sagging

2)Manual Exfoliant- a manual exfoliant is a form of exfoliant used to sloth off the top layer of dead skin, revealing the beautiful skin underneath by smearing a granulated cream over your face. Due to the rough edges in the beads or granuals of the manual exfoliate and constant motion over the skin ultimately leads to unnecessary irritation and redness so we nixed that right away. We ended up choosing a light chemical enzyme exfoliant. It was papaya based and left my skin feeling amazing.

Next was blackhead removal-Step 3

I’m not gonna lie, this sucked for me but for my esthi friend, she was like cheering every time she got a black head out. Now, I understand the pure joy of getting those deep, gross, blackheads out but as the person extracting them, not client. Its like someone working their hardest to pop a pimple that simply won’t pop…that’s what it feels like. Not fun. BUUUUT important! You can’t keep blackheads in your skin and think your skin will have the changes you desire. They need to come out for your skin health.

In my practice blackhead removal comes after the next step. This allows your skin to be open and ready for extraction alleviating any unnecessary pore trauma or pain.

On to the best part of my facial…The Massage-Step 4

One thing I grew to love and am now known for is the massage part of the facial. A facial massage is the most blissful, amazing, most relaxing thing I experience on the planet. You may think that is an extreme comment but seriously, its heavenly.

The massage not only feels good but it is so important for a good facial. The skin needs movement in order to keep it healthy. Dull, lifeless skin usually lacks movement. Movement brings much needed oxygen to the face improving its appearance almost instantly

Botox, gravity and our own facial expressions work against us as we age. With the movement of the massage we are working against Mother Nature & sluggish skin for a little while. We move the skin in different directions and really get to the bottom layer of the skin. It is amazing to watch the skin react so quickly to simply a little movement. After ONE facial you can see true change in your face shape after a great face massage. This is why it is the core of my facials.

Calming, Moisturizing & Sunscreen-Last Step

Since my face was so red and angry from my extractions step one was cooling my face, then adding in a light moisturizer and ending with sunscreen. EVERY FACIAL SHOULD END WITH SUNSCREEN.

Why?

You should always have sunscreen on but specifically after a facial you will have had some type of exfoliation. Your skin is very exposed and extremely susceptible to sunburn.

So that was my first facial experience! I didn’t die. I didn’t break out. I enjoyed it immensely and I am now forever addicted to how my face looks and feels afterwards. I then went on to have a minimum of 3 facials a week for months by all types of students. To say I got over my fear real quick was an understatement.

In the comments I would love to know what age you were when you had your first facial and if you had/have a fear like I did✍🏽👇🏽