Confession: I’ve just come home from my first-ever facial. I’m not exactly sure why it took me so long, but there you have it.
I guess I’ve mentioned before that spa treatments were not something I grew up with. My first massage was in Thailand on my honeymoon. I didn’t get pedicures or use saunas until I was an adult—I’d never been to a spa before the age of 28. So I’m still finding myself having plenty of firsts.
And it’s not that I don’t enjoy said treatments (or pay attention to my skin), but it’s usually something I do for the experience’s sake—maybe on a trip (“When in Rome…”), or as part of a celebration with Aron. But for some reason I always shied away from anything having to do with my face.
Still—and maybe it was watching Busy Philipps getting her faced routinely rubbed on Instagram—I’ve been meaning to give it a try. In fact, when I started asking around, most of my friends told me that they get them routinely and even prefer facials to massages as the former generally includes the latter. I had no idea!
And sure enough, as the esthetician was massaging my feet today—while the fruit enzyme peel did its magic on my face (or so suggested the wonderful tingling)—I was so relieved I’d showered just before.
There was, in fact, a back and neck massage, a hand and arm massage, and a foot massage in addition to the many, many layers of things that were applied and removed (applied and removed) from my face and chest. There were no extractions, as I had pictured; though it seemed that she used a brush at one point, her only tools otherwise were her hands. It felt wonderful—and it all smelled amazing.
My favorite might have been the oil cleanser that she used first on my face. It felt incredible. I had her show it to me afterward and I will be using it again. Everything she used, I learned, was by the Australia-made Jurlique.
Am I magically transformed? Of course not. But my skin definitely feels very moisturized and I’m much more relaxed! But now, mostly, I’m just curious what else I’m missing out on!
Do you get facials? What treatments do you look for? What do you love about them? Please share!
P.S. My first mud bath, my first brow treatment, and a recipe for good skin. Also, some of the oddest beauty treatments I’ve tried.
[Lead photo: I’m certain that Bjork’s beautiful face is in fact always flawless and apologize for any implication otherwise. I love this photograph of her by Jane Bown. Bjork, copyright Jane Bown for The Observer, 1995]
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