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Beauty Buff: My First Facial & Tips From a Licensed Esthetician

Image result for spa gif princess diaries

All last week I was itching to get to my appointment on Friday because despite all of the knowledge I'm constantly gathering from global internet sources, nothing beats hearing it from the mouth of a pro firsthand. I met with Jane Son at Woo Beauty Studio in midtown Manhattan for a therapeutic and enlightening two hour appointment that left my skin smoother than a celebrity's marble countertops. Since you guys gave me the green light on my Instagram poll, here's the play by play of my visit and what I learned.

Meeting Jane for the first time, you can't help being mesmerized by her dewy, near-blinding, glass skin and Disney princess features. You're already somehow reassured you're in great hands. First-time customers get a discount on the initial facial because it's extensive enough to ensure you've got a clean slate and as incentive to become a regular since every appointment following will be shorter and less pricey. The 90-minute Deep Cleansing Facial features double cleansing, extractions, an exfoliating mask, lymphatic drainage massage, sheet mask + cooling massage, LED light therapy, and moisturizer before sending you on your way.

Some important things to keep in mind before you schedule a facial appointment:

You will experience redness and/or peeling for at least 1 full day after your session
You should NOT go to a steam room or work up a sweat at the gym because you can irritate your skin while it's still in the process of healing and renewing after steaming, extractions, and exfoliation
You should NOT pick at your face or exfoliate for at least 2-3 days post-facial
You should avoid wearing heavy makeup for at least 2 days post-facial and would be safer not wearing ANY for at least the first full day afterwards

I had to fill out forms detailing my current skincare routine, the products I use, any allergies to ingredients or foods I've experienced, along with any medical conditions, surgeries, and medications I might be using. This ensures that your esthetician can customize your facial accordingly and avoid any mishaps. It's of utmost important you're transparent and thorough about these details for your health and safety.

She wiped my face down with cotton pads and what I assumed to be either makeup remover or micellar water, of course I went bare-faced but you never know what kinda gunk you missed out on. Then she double cleansed, first with a cream cleanser and then with a foam cleanser. Both were massaged in with small towel-like facial pads (You can order these Face Halo ones for $22 if you're interested) and washed off with a hot, damp towel.

Can't recall if she slapped something else on my face before turning on the steamer because the steamer clearly fogged up my brain along with my sinuses. When she hit the light, I was ready to hear that I had blackheads galore, and although she admitted I did have some she also said my skin actually looked really good and my nose was pretty clear to my surprise. This is when she took the opportunity to ask me to run through my current at-home routine and even complimented my work... Could not possibly avoid squealing from that approval. She proceeded to hack at my forehead, chin, and around my laugh lines for what she said was mostly lodged way deep in there. According to her, I should never EVER use oils on my face or any products with oils in them, that means essential/natural oils as well. She explained that the oils will not only keep my pores from looking smaller because they'll promote sebum collection, but will also push down whatever collects in each pore to make it harder to pull out with exfoliants. I was a bit shocked because recently I've seen a lot of people with combination and oily skin using facial oils so I thought I'd be alright, but in the bin they go!

After much poking and prodding, she cleaned me off with more hot towel goodness and then slathered an exfoliating mask on like I was a turkey getting basted and ready for the oven. She highlighted the importance of having a hyaluronic serum in my routine and that I could greatly benefit from microneedling which utilizes the pen to push a highly concentrated serum into the skin to deeply penetrate and boost collagen production while minimizing the appearance of pores. She 110% prefers this to microdermabrasion which she noted is not as clean of a process to her and also not as beneficial for pore care, but more suited for aging skin.

If you've never gotten a lymphatic drainage massage, after experiencing one for myself I'd say either run and find someone to do it or learn how to at home. With how popular jade rollers and gua sha have become in the West, it's become easy to do the mini version of the de-puffing massage. (Lisa Eldridge has a wonderful video sharing how to massage your face through this method at home) Jane said I was using the jade roller correctly aka:

Using the larger side -

Rolling down the chest
Down the sides of the neck and around the base of the throat
Outward from the chin and across the jawline
Upward strokes along the lower cheeks followed by the upper cheeks from the base of the nose
Outward across the brows
Upward strokes on the forehead

Using the smaller side -

Rolling outward under the eyes
Outward over closed eyelids from the inner corners
Over each side of the nose back and forth (if your nose gets sniffly it's working)

*NOTE: All of this should be done without added pressure, you should be using a very light touch. If irritation or excessive redness occur you're pressing too hard.

Already a jelly roll at this point, she pulled out a thick, hydrating sheet mask and using an ice cold device to massage my face even more before covering my eyes and leaving me to take a nap under the purple glow of a giant LED lamp. The combination of light rays in LED help to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, improve acne and help prevent future breakouts (including those evil cystic ones), and boost collagen production.

Jane comes in to say "good morning" and moisturizes my face before letting me know the fun is over. She gives me another sheet mask to put on later that night and two sample size collagen-peptide serums from Le Mieux cosmetics to use until my next visit. She also brewed a cup of jasmine tea for me as if she hadn't given me enough joy for the last two hours.

Days later my skin is still smoother than I truly believe it ever has been and my glow has definitely come in two shades brighter since. If you have anymore questions about my visit comment below or DM me on Instagram. I'll be updating you all with my at-home routine at some point later this month as I'm still working on it all the time.

If you want to see Jane's work or schedule an appointment with her you can find her at woobeautystudio.com