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There is nothing quite like that fresh facial feeling! After an expert Beauty Therapist has cleansed, massaged and custom-treated your skin, it has that addictively smooth, baby-soft radiance that’s impossible to achieve outside a professional skin space. It’s why we all go home, look into the mirror and wonder, “How soon can I go back?”

28 Days And Counting

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The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin. It has four layers and New skin cells are made in the deepest layer, the basal layer.

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Skin regeneration slows with age. It regenerates between every two to four weeks in our teens, monthly until we’re around 30, two monthly between 30-40, and three monthly over 50. New skin cells are made in the basal layer, the deepest of the four layers that make up the epidermis, which is the outermost layer of our skin. Thick and column-shaped, these new cells divide in two (a process called mitosis). Half remains where it is and the other pushes up through the different layers, changing shape and appearance as it moves along. Once it reaches the stratum corneum (the outermost layer), the cell dies and is shed.

How Often To Get A Facial? Generally speaking…

Given the time it takes new cells to generate and rise to the surface, having facials too frequently risks aggravating your skin. You want to be in the sweet spot between getting a facial often enough to achieve maximum effectiveness but not so much that you’re doing damage. After all, your skin is going through stages of recovery after a facial: Within 24 hours, your complexion is still pink after a chemical peel treatment; from 48 to 72 hours, the skin might continue to purge impurities, and up to five to seven days, the skin could still be healing from extractions. In addition, your skin is waiting for new cells to come to the surface.

Evidence-based best practice

I follow the cell renewal schedule for timing facials. Generally speaking, I recommend teens treating acne have a treatment every one to two weeks. Anyone under 30 should have a facial every four to six weeks since the skin will regenerate around every 28 days. If you are 30-40 years of age, I recommend every eight weeks, and for those 50+, seasonally. Not only does this sync with skin cell turnover, but it also means you are regularly checking in with your Beauty Therapist so that they can make sure your skincare routine is on track.

While a facial every one to three months is a safe bet, another factor to consider is the type of treatment you are having. Your skin goals will determine the type and frequency of treatment. Someone with severe acne or hyperpigmentation may initially visit the studio more frequently for a series of treatments.

Facial for Acne Treatment

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Acne treatments generally consist of a light chemical peel once or twice a week over four to eight weeks.

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Acne treatments will likely involve receiving a light chemical peel once or twice weekly over four to eight weeks. If you have blackheads–open pores compacted with dried sebum blocking the mouth of the pore, or whiteheads – “closed” comedones, clogged with built-up impurities but covered in a thin layer of skin, your facial also probably includes extractions. After you have completed your treatments, the Beauty Therapist will typically reassess your skin and follow up with monthly visits.

Facial For Hyperpigmentation

Like acne, hyperpigmentation facials also employ chemical peels to treat dark patches like dark spots, areas affected by injury and skin inflammation, and melasma, which sometimes appear on pregnant women or those taking birth control pills. Laser therapy or intense pulsed light are other hyperpigmentation procedures. Expect a weekly schedule of treatments for four to five weeks, the frequency of which will depend on your skin’s sensitivity. After the once-a-week facials, your Beauty Therapist will let your skin recover before starting another cycle if needed.

Acne and hyperpigmentation problems are treated with tried-and-true facials. But what about treatments like hydrabrasion, or LED?

An LED Facial a Week

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The other good news is you can have up to one LED facial a week!

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LED light therapy is an effective weapon against pimples. In the 1990s, the U.S. Navy SEALs used LED light to speed up the body’s recovery from skin wounds, which the skincare industry borrowed to tackle acne and ageing. Blue LED light reaches sebaceous glands where it targets an acne-producing bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes. Longer wavelength infrared penetrates deeper into the skin to stimulate collagen production and soothe inflammation for fuller, smoother-looking skin. These specific wavelengths of light energy are clinically verified to enhance your body’s natural ability to generate collagen and elastin by activating the fibroblast cells. According to Dr Hooman Khorasani, head of Dermatologic and Cosmetic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, combined blue and red LED light is beneficial for acne treatment and “may reduce the size of the sebaceous glands, so you don’t produce as much oil.” The other good news is you can have up to one LED facial weekly!

Monthly Hydrabrasion

Another high-tech treatment is hydrabrasion. Hydrabrasion is a microdermabrasion system that exfoliates with both a dry and a wet mode. The skin is deeply exfoliated with diamonds while simultaneously vacuuming and washing it. It is a lot like getting your carpets cleaned. This treatment is deep-cleaning, soothing, and refreshing.

Hydrabrasion makes aggressive microdermabrasion treatments a thing of the past. Hydrabrasion exfoliates your skin with a stream of tiny diamonds while gently suctioning up the dead cells, followed by a pore-flush for a super deep clean. Quick and non-invasive, hydrabrasion will brighten and smooth out your skin. With three end-points (softness, open pores and microtrauma), hydrabrasion is suitable for everyone. Softness will be your goal if you have an event that night and want a flawless makeup application. If your skin is congested, you will focus on open pores. If you have sluggish skin, the microtrauma end-point is for you. While it sounds scary, a microtrauma end-point is how we trick your skin into replacing old skin cells on the surface of your skin with new ones. How? By creating tiny little traumas, your skin responds as if it’s injured, which it is, in a way, though, gently. The immediate after-effects can be redness and sensitivity. It is best to keep these sessions to once a month.

what are you waiting for?

Check your calendar, consider your options and count the days until your next studio visit. What kind of facial do you need at your next studio appointment? Let me know in the comments below or share with me on social media.

What people are saying about Slow Beauty’s Facials:

“Natalie surpasses herself each time! An entire afternoon of relaxation and pampering always makes my day so much better! My feet went in sore and aching, and left soft and supple! Just what I needed! A facial with Natalie is not just a facial! Whilst some places just treat what they can see, it’s the extra attention to details that Natalie provides that makes you leave with a renewed look at the world!” Recommended! – Suzannah Ridley

“Natalie recommended the arctic berry peel facial…. and true to its promise, was complimented by a work colleague a few days later that I looked radiantly healthy. PMS week pimplefest didn’t happen either.” Recommended! – L. L.

“Natalie provides the most relaxing facials that work wonders and the proof is in the compliments I have received. My face is brighter, skin tone more even and my skin feels so good. Her customised facial and products have created a marked improvement in my hyperpigmentation and suit my sensitive skin the best so far.” Recommended! – Prea Eapen