Facials are a luxurious way of pampering ourselves. We don’t mind splurging on them because they make us feel better and look better. But like anything in life, there are mistakes that can be made which can ruin the experience. As an esthetician, two things to avoid when performing a facial on a client are as follows:
- Stimulating without calming – This issue can be avoided very easily. First, talk to the client at the beginning of the session and find out their skin sensitivities and issues. Listen carefully and ask questions to find out exactly what treatments the client has tried in the past and what the results were. For those who have sensitive skin, it is important not to overstimulate with additional treatments without calming the skin afterwards. An example would be exfoliating with a scrub and following up with microdermabrasion. This can lead to discomfort and tingling if you don’t use the proper products to calm the skin’s nerve endings. This must be done immediately following all exfoliation treatments.
- Knowing when NOT to use a product – Contraindication is the understanding of an underlying factor or reason not to use a product as part of the treatment. An example would be the use of Retin-A. Retin-A is an extremely popular treatment for skin which comes in a variety of generic forms in a wide array of skin care products. For those clients who may react to Retin-A, it is important to know all of the various generic forms to ensure not accidentally applying it during a facial. It is also important to know what products may interact with any other medicines a client is taking, including oral medicines such as antidepressants. Be sure to stress the importance of the client’s honesty when asking medical history to ensure that issues do not come up during the facial that may cause damage to their skin instead of improving it.