Of Facials and Tolerance for Pain
Do facials really hurt?
My male friend and colleague, who at that time was a month away from getting hitched, was asking me on our Friday drive to the office the tragedy of facials and if they are really worth the pain.
Ever the pseudo philosopher, I cruised through Shaw Boulevard and responded with what I hoped was my best poker face, "Nothing hurts you until you let it." And then we erupted into boisterous laughter.
The mask is just one thing. They rarely picture the pricking.
The truth about facials is that they're ridiculously uncomfortable and hardly enjoyable. Facial specialists put you under steam for at least 30 hours and poke at your face with those metal sticks until you involuntary shed a tear after which said facialist would ask you, "Ma'am, masakit po ba?" You wish you can break into a litany of profanity.
I was wary --- that much, I admit. I was wary that the facial I was invited to try at the newest addition of Facial Care Centre's roster of branches in Eastwood would hurt I'd be lost for words to say. I had my fair share of horror stories and many of them from trying out facial treatments that made my skin worse. Or plainly made me cry. If I wanted to do some cleaning, why not try a peel?
Then again, peels are far more expensive and requires down time so there I go going back to facials. Facials take off the baggage of dead skin cells and moisturize the skin better than we do and you know, that's the time they blow up the pores {ergo, the steam} so they take out whiteheads, blackheads and whatever impurities they can find.
The first thing I had to do as I availed of Facial Care Centre's Purifying Indulgence, a treatment meant to deeply clean the skin{always a problem, or maybe I'm just too vain}, I was led to a consultation room where my skin was assessed. It was the first time I found out I had such sensitive skin. Aside from the fact I always break out on the chin area {a sign of hormonal imbalance}, my skin reacted fairly quickly to any weather change.
After which, I was led to a very sunny room and saw these:
The devil is in the details.
Breaking out is hard to do.
Pristine. Just the way I like it.
After a facial, skin is going to be a little red. Don't fret.
... because it's going to be amazing the next day. Or at least, in my case, a lot better. See the pimple on my chin? Gone!
{Well, I had them injected at FCC} Heh. xx
My specialist was attentive to details, as I carefully instructed her not to detrimentally poke me to my death. I hated pricking but she made it bearable {a real talent, I know}. She also chatted me up on really important things like the scent of my hair {haha, hello Foxy Curls}, school {she thought I was 19, NAKS}, and the importance of knowing what you want in life.
Deep.
To date, I'd say this was the most thorough facial I have tried, without the necessary pain. We all know how pain is directly proportionate to how much vanity we want to indulge into but as I've said, nothing can hurt if we don't let it. There are painless options. And while this facial was nothing painless, it was considerably less painful than those I've undergone in the past.
Special mentions would have to be the extremely clean interiors, the privacy {no one seems to care about privacy anymore nowadays}, the lights which were not too bright and the crowd. There were no annoying crowds such as noisy teenagers experimenting withmommy's favorite facial place and daddy's credit card {LOL, sounds like me in my teens HAHA}.
And so, with that litany of the science of facial, my friend did end up getting a facial {on the same place, too} and came back to me with clearer skin and the glow of love.
What's your story on facials? Sakit di ba? xx
Facial Care Centre is located at 30F Unit C MDC Building, E Rodriguez Jr. Ave. cor. Eastwood Ave., Bagumbayan, Quezon City