Standard Facials
A standard facial is a salon treatment that is well over 100 years old, perhaps even more. It derives from Helena Rubinstein’s original categorisation of skin types (normal, oily, dry, combination, acne prone etc).
What usually happens is preparation of the skin (removal of products, makeup, cleansing), deep cleaning (extraction, unblocking pores) and, if required, moisturising or soothing and stimulation or massage. Products often used are witch hazel, calamine, kaolin, fullers earth and rosewater.
The facial is tailored to your individual skin type, so the first time you have one your beauty therapist will spend a few minutes examining your skin under a magnifying lamp.
After the first facial you may actually look worse(!) due to the deep cleaning and manipulation of the skin. However your skin soon recovers and after a course of several treatments you can then choose to have a facial less often to ‘top up’ the effects.
If you suffer from acne you may find a salon facial is better at treating the problem than prescription medicine.