That’s a great question yet one that’s very hard to answer because it all depends on the spa and the aesthetician. Often facials are nothing more than a series of masks and fancy machines that provide no benefit for skin other than feeling relaxing and knowing you’re being pampered. Claims of getting rid of wrinkles, de-stressing, healing, cellulite removal, detoxing, and acne cures abound, yet almost without exception those services are a waste of time and money.
Many spas have very fancy-looking machines that use galvanic or some other wave energy, and claim these can drive a product’s active ingredients deeper into the skin. Even if that were the case, and it isn’t (there’s not a shred of research showing that to be true; it has never been measured or evaluated), what’s good about having those ingredients pushed farther into the skin? Antioxidants and cell-communicating ingredients, like any other worthwhile skin-care ingredients, don’t work in a day. They also don’t last: they are used up in a matter of hours. These ingredients have usefulness when they are applied twice a day and absorbed by skin. Depending on a single treatment would be just as problematic as eating a healthy meal only once a month.
Quality and professional capability are also factors to be wary of. Aestheticians are often poorly trained. They come out of beauty school with a cursory knowledge of hygiene, anatomy, and the same hype and misleading information rampant in the rest of the cosmetics industry. (I used to teach at a beauty school so I’m intimately aware of the limitations and what they want you to teach.) Once someone graduates from a beauty school they then seek a job at a spa or salon where they are further trained by the sales representative for the product lines being sold there. Turning your skin over to these “experts” is not a guarantee they’re capable of helping your skin.
When do facials have value? It completely depends on what treatments the facialist or aesthetician does. Chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and extractions (removing stubborn blackheads and blemishes) are the procedures that offer the most long-term benefit.
While there are reasons to consider having a facial, there are no spa services that come close to duplicating the benefits of your daily skin-care regime and sunscreen. Applying a facial mask does not detox the face or change anything. It may be relaxing, but that’s about it.
Let me emphasize the need to consult only a licensed aesthetician. Although “licensed” doesn’t tell you anything about the capability of the aesthetician, it does mean the person has been trained in sanitation and application techniques and, more to the point, has been tested on those procedures and is certified to be able to accomplish those tasks. Of course, while that is just the beginning of what you should expect in the care of your skin, it is essential to know that your skin will be handled in as safe and hygienic a manner as possible.