Wellness 22nd March 2023 by Jade Carpenter
I Got My First Ever Facial And Here’s What Happened
I got a HydraFacial for the first time and here are my thoughts.
If you know me, you know that I’m a big self-care girly. I adore any form of activity that could be classed as taking care of oneself, from prioritising time for my favourite comfort show (New Girl at the moment – yes I’m very late to it I know), taking baths, shower steamers, lighting candles, scrapbooking, hot girl walks, podcasts, reading, the list goes on and on. So, it is surprising even to myself that I have never had a facial before.
Now, of course not everyone has facials all the time. It’s not unusual for someone to not get them regularly, but as someone who is into skincare and loves to try anything that seems glam and anything to romanticise my life, a facial is something I’ve wanted to do for years now, but I’ve just never made it happen. I even worked in a spa for about a year, so truly it was a long time coming.
When I was approached to experience a HydraFacial Treatment at Dr Emma Clinics in Dublin I was truly elated. I had seen it on many an Instagram story, the dirty skin water, the glow and I knew it was the one to get me started on my facial journey.
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I also happened to have a wedding coming up the following week so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect, fate anyone?
As a first timer, I said I’d pop on here and let you all know how I got on, in case you guys were thinking of trying it for yourself.
Emma was super friendly and accommodating to all my questions and chit chat.
Emma started by preparing the skin with a deep cleanse and exfoliation to remove any debris from the skin surface. This was one thing I noticed for days after, the exfoliation. My skin felt so smooth, and I would usually use a liquid exfoliant in my skincare routine but not super often, this smooth feeling reminded me how good it feels. It was definitely needed.
Next, she went in with the 7.5% Glysal Prep which helps to soften impurities in preparation for the extraction phase. Once the peel solution had been neutralised and removed, it was time for extraction. Which sounds so great, ‘extract all the impurities you want’, I thought as I lay there. Using vortex technology Emma extracted deep impurities from the pores, it felt a little bit like a skin hoover sucking out all the bad stuff, in the best way possible. After the treatment I got to see all the bad stuff that was sucked out, which was very satisfying.
If you don’t like dirty pore juice, look away now:
Following this step, Emma infused B-vitamins & Hyaluronic Acid (my favourite ingredient) to hydrate & protect the skin.
Before finishing she did LED blue light therapy as I had areas of congestion, this felt very Hollywood. I learned during my treatment that you can get similar types of treatments on other parts of your body, including your chest, stomach, booty & legs.
I couldn’t help but smile thinking about your booty getting a soft shiny makeover, but how nice would that feel?!
Before I left, Emma applied a H.A serum and SPF to finish. She told me there was no need to wash my face that evening, so I let all the goodness sit for the night.
As delighted as I was, I forgot to take a proper picture of the glow but believe me, it was glowing. Please enjoy this snap I sent into the girls group chat as I made my way back to the office. You know it’s good when you’re telling the WhatsApp group about it. Disclaimer it was LASHING rain outside and it wrecked my hair.
I waited two days to pop makeup on to make sure I gave my skin the time it needed to really soak up the goodness and feel clean. And when I did I felt like I was still glowing naturally, I took another little selfie for you then!
Overall, I was delighted with the experience, personally, a HydraFacial is something I would go for again to give my skin the TLC it needs sometimes.
While I was in there, I asked Emma how often someone should ideally get them, if they were going all in, and she said once a month for six months. But even if you didn’t want to commit to six, one will let you know how if you’d like to continue getting more.
I was kindly gifted the chance to experience it, but if it is in your budget, or you want to splurge, it could be a treatment to try out!
For more information and to see what else is available, check out their site.