Exactly What Happened When I Got My First Ever Facial
Chloe is the Content Specialist at Adore Beauty. She spends most of her time crafting scroll-stopping content, but outside of work, you'll find her building on her Glasshouse collection, hanging out with her fur babies and probably cleaning. Her all-time favourite products include the Alpha-H Liquid Gold and Kérastase Elixir Ultime Original Hair Oil.
Do I have a plethora of skincare at home? Yes.
Do I consider myself a skincare nerd? Absolutely.
Have I ever had a facial? Actually, no.
Why, you ask?
To be quite frank I’ve never felt the need for it, I’ve always viewed skincare the same way I view my workouts - consistency is key.
You start off with the basics by building a solid, regular routine at home until you get results, once you reach a plateau, this is when you dial in the experts; and my skin has definitely plateaued.
It’s as dull as Melbourne’s weather, don’t get me wrong, my AHA’s and retinoids are fantastic, but I need something a bit more hardcore.
So that's why I finally decided to book in my first. ever. facial.
Keep scrolling for a breakdown of my experience and answer some burning questions I had as a facial virgin.
What Is a Facial or Skin Treatment?
A standard facial is basically a deep cleanse of your skin, where they remove all the gunk and build up off your face, maybe extract some blackheads or sebaceous filaments, followed by a nourishing mask and some products to plump up your skin.
Facials feel incredible afterwards. They leave you feeling brand new and juicy, but the results aren’t long-lasting.
Skin treatments like chemical peels, botox, microdermabrasion etc. are more targeted, and are great for anti-ageing, reducing the appearance of pigmentation or scarring.
Overall, it helps to improve the health of your skin.
What Happens When You Get a Treatment.
Before any products go on your skin, it is first assessed.
Having an expert analyse your skin that close up is incredibly handy, not only for the skincare newbies but for the skincare nerds too, just to pick up anything you might have missed.
Once they have a good look at your skin, they are able to recommend the type of facial for your skin goals (that's if you didn’t have a specific one already booked,) they are also able to tailor the treatment to you.
Depending on where you go there's usually a complimentary neck, shoulder or hand massage, in my case I got to decide between a hand massage and a foot bath.
I’ll let you guess what I chose.
After the facial, your therapist will let you know what to expect over the next few days and what your aftercare should look like.
This is when you can squeeze in some cheeky questions like, "What do you recommend I add to my skincare routine?" or "When should I book in my next facial?"
What I Learnt During My Skin Treatment.
For my first ever facial, I decided to go with the chemical peel, I know this is quite literally going from 0 to 100 but hear me out, my skin is used the strong stuff.
I use the Alpha-H Midnight Reboot Serum 50ml once a week which is 14% glycolic acid with 1% granactive retinoid and that isn’t my only exfoliant.
After analysing my skin, my skin therapist Samantha told me that I had relatively good skin that is oily throughout the T-zone.
She mentioned that we can be our own worst critic, I thought this was such a great reminder to be gentle with yourself and your skin.
During a chemical peel, a solution is applied to the skin to melt off the top layers revealing smoother, softer skin.
Peels are great for reducing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, scarring, uneven skin tone and help the skin look more radiant.
For whatever reason, I didn’t put two and two together/realise that a chemical peel can cause the top layers of the skin to shed like a snake over the following few days, which is quite nerve-racking.
Samantha's soothing voice reassured me that everyone’s skin reacts differently and that it doesn’t happen to everyone.
She walked me through all the steps of the facial so I knew exactly what was happening and what to expect.
To my surprise, the peel didn’t hurt at all, it just felt tingly at times.
My whole body felt so zen and relaxed throughout the treatment and the hour flew by.
Post-peel I was told to avoid actives for a week, keep it well hydrated and protected, so I did just that.
Let me tell you, the post-facial glow is unreal.
Final Verdict…
Everyone I encountered told me I was glowing. That alone was enough to hype me up.
There was a bit of tightness the day after, but other than that, nothing. Just pure radiance.
Thank goodness I wasn’t part of the skin peeling club, I had a few videos to film and didn’t want to look flakey.
I’m looking forward to zenning out more often and adding facials to my regular routine. For me, that means once every 3 months.
Does anyone need a facial? Not really, but they do feel luxurious and leave you feeling like a million bucks.
Facials can get quite pricey so you’d benefit more from having a consistent, daily, skincare routine at home rather than not having a skincare routine at all and going for facials every month or so.
To those who are new to the world of skincare getting an initial facial can really save you big bucks.
Hear me out, you have an expert analysing your skin, they can let you know what products work best for your skin type and concerns, this way you don’t have to waste your money with trial and error.
Facials are recommended every 3 to 4 weeks, that's roughly how long it takes for our skin cells to turnover.
This will ensure your skin stays glowing all year round. If that fits your budget - I say go for it!
Post-facial glow is unmatched and I can’t wait for my next facial in 3 months time.
PS. If you’re looking for a gift for a skincare nerd (birthday, Christmas any special occasion really), get them a facial.
Want more articles on facials? Check out the below BIQ articles:
James and Jo show you how to give yourself a facial at home in the YouTube video below.
