I have a friend in the skin care business and she swears that the oxygen facials she offers can and will make the facial skin look ten years younger.
I know that she looks at every customer as a dollar sign, so it’s difficult to take her seriously.
Do facials give permanent results or just make your skin glow right afterward?
How much of a factor do good genes play in the aging of facial skin?
I have a friend in the skin care business and she swears that the oxygen facials she offers can and will make the facial skin look ten years younger.
I know that she looks at every customer as a dollar sign, so it’s difficult to take her seriously.
Do facials give permanent results or just make your skin glow right afterward?
How much of a factor do good genes play in the aging of facial skin?
Now really, think! How can a facial possibly give “permanent results”? Much less ‘oxygen’ facials. If that was the case, why would the botox, plastic surgery, and spa businesses even be in existence?
Anyone’s face is going to look a bit better after a facial to remove hairs, extract oil and dirt, and close wide pores. But your friend is trying to make a buck.
My wife gets a lot of this stuff. IMHO facials make you feel better but have no permanent effect on your skin. The stress to skin may cause mild swelling causing wrinkles to be puffed away for a few hours. But it’s largely just another in a series of spa services designed to remove money from purses.
Aging of facial skin, like aging of everything else, has to do with good genes, limiting UV exposure, good diet, good hygiene. (I think smoking and excessive drinking don’t do anything good for your skin either, but I don’t know.)
Not to mention that the outer layer of skin is dead, so oxygen wouldn’t do anything to it anyway. Buffing off the top bits of dead, dull skin cells makes you look nicer, as does applying some very shiny moisturizer, and yes, some minor swelling will smooth away some minor wrinkles.
Hope for good genetics, use sunscreen, and gently exfoliate those rough outer skin cells away.
I have nice skin. In general, I don’t put anything on it - I don’t use makeup more than about twice a year, and I don’t wash with anything but soap & water, and mostly just water.
I once got a facial as part of a spa day gift. “WTH?” I thought, “I’ll try it.” So I subjected myself to a couple hours of crap on my face. They even go over your face with a little instrument that pops any minor zits! Crazy stuff!
2 days later, I broke out. I had more zits on my face the week after that facial than I’ve had since I was a teenager.
So that’s my facial story. I’m never letting that much gunk get near my face again. I’ll stick to water.
Thank you so much for your replies!
I live in the plastic capital of the world…Beverly Hills…and I feel so outta it because I never get facials, spa treatments, etc. I’m a good old soap-and-water girl myself.
I’m surrounded on all sides by beauty salons, spas, make-up studios, waxing boutiques, eyebrow threading, and facialists. Everyone selling something!
It’s good to get outside opinions.
Thanks Again!
—H
The last one I had, which was part of a spa day before a friend’s wedding, was a brilliant experience. My face felt and looked good–not forever, but at least for the wedding.
But the really great improvement was the bride’s aunt (or somebody on her side), who went in looking like a 65-year-old woman and came out looking like a 35-year-old woman. (Actual age, somewhere in the middle.) Saggy chin, gone. Neck wrinkles, gone. droopy eyelids, gone. She looked fantastic. No idea how long that lasted, but she looked great!
It really depends on what is in the facial. Any number of ingredients can go into a facial, “natural” and synthetic. From there, only some will penetrate the skin, and only some will have an effect. Topical collagen cannot penetrate the skin and has no effect, for example. Many facial just contain intense moisturizers, so they plump up your face and it looks less wrinkly in the short term.
If there is a chemical exfoliant (alpha/beta hydroxy acid), short and long term effects can be observed. Immediately after the facial, the outermost layer of dead skin is removed, revealing smooth skin. In the long run, scars, discolorations, and wrinkles can be lessened. However, you need to do it regularly for lasting results… and there are cheaper ways to exfoliate than going to a spa twice a week.
Vitamin C can also be used, and while I’m not familiar with its use in facials, serums reportedly give decent results when applied daily (notice a pattern here?). However, vitamin C is unstable and breaks down when exposed to light, so even when you get a treatment the ingredient may be broken down already.
One facial will make you feel good, but not much else. Getting a facial every month will have visible results after 4 to 6 months, depending on the products used and the type of facial you are getting.
I went in about a month ago to start a laser hair removal treatment series and my esthetician looked to be about 28-30 years old. She was telling me about her experience in the industry and the math wasn’t adding up. She told me she was turning 50 this year. She was absolutely flawless, and it’s because she’s been taking care of her skin with professional dermatology products since she was in her early 20’s. I was blown away.
It takes repeated consistent applications of the facial products for them to be effective.