Do you think facials really help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help with what? I'm not as extreme as PP who thinks anything you aren't prescribed by an MD is a scam-- products with salicylic acid, lactic acid, certain oils and so on can absolutely make a difference in your skin while you're using them. But I've never bought into facials because I don't even understand the mechanism of action that would cause them to "work." And what are they working on?

Certainly exfoliation will improve appearance temporarily, and if they apply any of the above (lactic acid, etc.) that will give a boost (that will only be temporary if you don't continue them at home). But like... what else? Relaxation? Nothing anyone can do manually can like, "rebalance your humours" or whatever. I'm happy to stand corrected, but I don't see it.

Facials have helped to clear my skin of blackheads and other breakouts quite a bit. I also use topical rx, but I noticed during covid when I wasn’t able to do the facials, but did continue the topicals, that my complexion went downhill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help with what? I'm not as extreme as PP who thinks anything you aren't prescribed by an MD is a scam-- products with salicylic acid, lactic acid, certain oils and so on can absolutely make a difference in your skin while you're using them. But I've never bought into facials because I don't even understand the mechanism of action that would cause them to "work." And what are they working on?

Certainly exfoliation will improve appearance temporarily, and if they apply any of the above (lactic acid, etc.) that will give a boost (that will only be temporary if you don't continue them at home). But like... what else? Relaxation? Nothing anyone can do manually can like, "rebalance your humours" or whatever. I'm happy to stand corrected, but I don't see it.

Facials have helped to clear my skin of blackheads and other breakouts quite a bit. I also use topical rx, but I noticed during covid when I wasn’t able to do the facials, but did continue the topicals, that my complexion went downhill.

Okay. Explain how. You don't have to know exactly, but what you've been told or how you understand it. This is not meant to be a gotcha question, I just truly don't understand how this would work. Except that extracting blackheads... it extracts them, temporarily of course. That's like saying a professional makeup blowout helps to... make your hair look nice for a few days or so. Or lash extensions make your lashes longer, until they fall out. What I'm interested in is why you seem to think (I'm inferring?) that facials help prevent/reduce breakouts. And if so, how often you get facials normally (and what happens during them, of course).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help with what? I'm not as extreme as PP who thinks anything you aren't prescribed by an MD is a scam-- products with salicylic acid, lactic acid, certain oils and so on can absolutely make a difference in your skin while you're using them. But I've never bought into facials because I don't even understand the mechanism of action that would cause them to "work." And what are they working on?

Certainly exfoliation will improve appearance temporarily, and if they apply any of the above (lactic acid, etc.) that will give a boost (that will only be temporary if you don't continue them at home). But like... what else? Relaxation? Nothing anyone can do manually can like, "rebalance your humours" or whatever. I'm happy to stand corrected, but I don't see it.

Facials have helped to clear my skin of blackheads and other breakouts quite a bit. I also use topical rx, but I noticed during covid when I wasn’t able to do the facials, but did continue the topicals, that my complexion went downhill.

Okay. Explain how. You don't have to know exactly, but what you've been told or how you understand it. This is not meant to be a gotcha question, I just truly don't understand how this would work. Except that extracting blackheads... it extracts them, temporarily of course. That's like saying a professional makeup blowout helps to... make your hair look nice for a few days or so. Or lash extensions make your lashes longer, until they fall out. What I'm interested in is why you seem to think (I'm inferring?) that facials help prevent/reduce breakouts. And if so, how often you get facials normally (and what happens during them, of course).

I get hydrafacials around every 4-6 weeks and the extractions absolutely help and certainly beyond a few days. You’d have to look online to see exactly what it is that they do to the skin process-wise. As I’ve said, Ive seen the difference in how my skin looks when I stay on top of the facials and when I dont, even when maintaining the prescription products. The plumping/brightening/moisturizing absolutely is short lived - I would say if that is what you are going for, then utilizing facials, like a day or two before a special event, would be smart.

Not everyone has problem skin like I do, so maybe you aren’t seeing the results I do because we don’t have the same skin concerns.

[Anonymous]

I don’t find them relaxing at all.

[Anonymous]

DH gets one a month and his skin looks dramatically better than 98% of the men his age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t find them relaxing at all.

I'm not crazy about massages at all, have done it twice and just can't get comfortable with that much hands on intimacy. But for me a facial is great, I get to lie there and relax and be warm and zone out and come out looking nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH gets one a month and his skin looks dramatically better than 98% of the men his age.

Go you, keep telling yourself that.

[Anonymous]

A regular facial is just for relaxation. Laser facials absolutely make a difference.