People often treat facials as a self-care afterthought: they do it when they feel like some pampering and loving. As it turns out, professional facials shouldn’t be just an afterthought: they are essential in repairing the skin and a preventive care for ageing, dryness, sensitive and breakouts. While genetics play a big part in how your skin is, nurture and skin care also prevents (or worsens) your skin condition.
It is more important to maintain our skin than it is to correct it when it has deteriorated: imagine trying to treat severe breakouts after neglecting your skin for a good while. It’s similar to working out - while meal prepping and home exercises are essential, having a personal trainer with expertise will keep you on track and accountable so that you achieve your goals quickly and safely. Facials are crucial in maintaining skin health.
The Skin Hierarchy of Needs
Many people know about the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs - the base and most important building block is physiological needs. This includes food and water: the most basic human needs. Then comes safety: a human’s needs for an environment to be protected from external elements and have personal security. This is followed by our social need: to have love and acceptance in a community. When these needs are fulfilled, we look towards increased esteem: prestige and a feeling of accomplishment. Lastly, humans look for self-actualisation - which is to achieve one’s full potential and can go beyond monetary gains and status.
We are borrowing this analogy to explain skin needs:
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Cleansing and sun protection. This is the core building block of skin care - the necessities to healthy skin. Your skin needs to be cleansed of dirt and toxins daily for it to function healthily and promote good skin health. Sun protection is also vital in preventing premature ageing and other forms of skin conditions: dark spots, pigmentation and even skin cancer.
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Toners and Moisturisers. Once the bare necessities have been done for your skin, keeping it merely alive is insufficient for good skin. Without toning and moisturising the skin, it may look dehydrated, dull and tired. Our skin’s optimal pH lies between 5 and 5.5 - washing our skin with water brings it to pH 7, making the skin’s lipid barrier too alkaline. This will unbalance the skin’s pH and cause dullness and even sensitivity. Different moisturisers serve different purposes: but with the same goal, to keep your skin hydrated and improve the skin. This will depend on your skin type, be it to 1) rebalance sebum production and reduce acne outbreak, 2) nourish and hydrate dry skin, 3) prevent signs of ageing and plump the skin or more.
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Exfoliation and Masks. Bringing home care to the next level is doing weekly exfoliation and masks - this deep-cleanses your skin while nourishing it so that it looks brighter and healthier. Scrubbing the skin isn’t just about eliminating dead skin cells: it encourages cell turnover to reveal young, fresh cells and prevents clogged pores, which can lead to acne. Depending on your skin goals and type of mask used, your skin will look refreshed and renewed.
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Regular Facials with a Professional Salon. Doing home care is just not the same as professional care in a salon - the therapists have years of experience treating different skin. This allows them to prescribe the best treatment and skin care for your current skin type and needs - allowing you to see results you will not be able to with just self-prescribed home care. The skin is a complex organ and needs a good understanding and proper care to treat it - this is why good beauty therapists are essential. A good therapist should be able to explain your skin type, why it is so and how to best treat it for maximum results.
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Cosmetic Surgery. The best facials cannot beat the results of cosmetic surgery if the goal is to achieve a smaller bone structure, bigger eyes or a sharper nose.
What is a Facial?
In our terms, a good facial fulfils the skin’s hierarchy of needs: it should consist of cleansing, exfoliation, extractions, massage, treatment, mask and end off with a full set of products your skin needs.
How Often Should You Do Facials?
There is no hard and fast rule to how often you should do facials. According to experts, however, why you’re getting the facial is the most important question to answering the question.
If you are suffering from severe skin conditions: acne and inflammations, sagging skin lacking in tonicity or pigmentation, we recommend doing facials up to 3 to 4 times a month until you see results, and then every 4 to 6 weeks for maintenance after that. This is to maximise the results of each treatment as your skin is continuously treated and given the TLC (tender-loving care) it needs.
Otherwise, we recommend a facial once every 4 weeks for maintenance. The average cell turnover rate for adults is 28 days: a new cell is formed in the deepest layer of the skin and takes around 28 days to travel up to the uppermost layer of the skin. Once it reaches the top, it matures and becomes rough, dry and flaky. The regeneration of new skin will continue to travel up and push the old dead skin out of the way. By doing a facial monthly, you are ensuring the pores are not clogged by the mature cells, which can lead to acne and poor oxygenation in the skin. This can cause dull, tired looking skin that feels rough to the touch.
Getting Professional Care
With so many options to get your skin in the best shape, it is important to find a beauty salon and aesthetician you are comfortable with. They should be able to prescribe and create a customised treatment plan for your skin needs so that you can achieve your skin goals. A true professional should be able to explain your skin type, the treatment plan and how it will improve your skin and how much you will be spending.
Just like exercising, one wouldn’t go to the gym and expect to lose 10kg in one session. It is the same with facials - don’t expect a total 180 after just one session. After all, your skin did not become the way it was overnight. It is important to have patience, consistency, trust and time to achieve good skin. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your skin isn’t going to show significant results overnight, but diligence is key.
Call us at +65 6337 0060 for profession advice on how we can improve your skin and help achieve your desired skin. We don’t believe in hard-selling; we believe in treating the skin with respect and dignity to achieve the healthiest, radiant skin we can for all our customers.