Recently, I visited Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa for a massage to celebrate my first wedding anniversay. I enjoyed it so much and went back…this time for a Hand and Stone Facial.
{Hand and Stone Facial Experience}
I was greeted by Claudio at the Jarvis and Adelaide location. Since this was my first facial with them, they had me fill out a form with my skin history before I met with Julia, my aesthetician for the day. Julia talked me through each step of the process, starting with a double cleanse. For those (like me) who haven’t heard of it before, a double cleanse is when you start with a facial oil to help lift up impurities from your skin. Then, you apply water followed by your second cleanser to really get everything out. After that, I was treated to an exfoliation that included both chemical and physical exfoliants, like lactic acid (chemical) and silica (physical). I then had a thorough skin consultation under a microscope.
What is Facial Mapping?
Originally taught by the creator of the Dermalogica skincare line, Facial Mapping is a skin analysis that breaks down your face into 17 areas for a thorough look at the best approach for treatment. We talked about what I use on my skin now and how I can change things to better treat my skin. These were her recommendations for me:
- If you’re breaking out around your temples, it might be from your glasses! Be sure to exfoliate extra carefully there.
- After any extractions, use witch hazel or tea tree oil to prevent bacteria from spreading.
- When applying eye cream, put it on your orbital bone and not on your bags. That will prevent milia (tiny bumps) from forming on that delicate skin.
- If you’ve got oily skin, make sure you hydrate it! It sounds counterintuitive, but when you strip your face of natural oils, your face will overcompensate and you’ll be even oilier. A double cleanse with a facial oil will prevent your natural oils from being stripped.
The Experience
After some extractions on my nose, chin, and sides of face, I had a cooling clay mask applied while I got a relaxing massage. After the whole thing was done, I went home with a skin kit from Dermalogica. Dermalogica is a brand of skincare solutions exclusively available through aestheticians.
Unfortunately, you can’t find this stuff at the drugstore. The kit that was recommended to me was the Age Smart skin kit. It contains a cleanser, antioxidant hydrating mist, “hangover recovery” mask, eye cream, vitamin C powder concentrate (to brighten my skin and to use under a moisturizer), and a moisturizer with SPF50. I can’t wait to try these out and keep my skin looking bright and healthy!