The Doctor Facial Treatment
I do not like going to the doctor. It is like a confessional of all my bad habits. Things start off pretty easy. “How have you been feeling?” the doctor asks innocently enough… But then the tough questions start. “Do you drink alcohol?” Obviously, I drink alcohol… The questionnaire continues with, “More than four drinks a week?” Again, obviously… More than that, it turns into a rabbit hole of questions and answers and I am not 100% sure how to gain ground. “Do you smoke?” usually comes next. “Well, let me think…”
If anything else, I always proceed with caution answering most questions with my favorite one word answer, “Socially.”
“Do you drink?” The doctor asks, “Socially” I answer.
“Do you smoke?” “…Socially.”
I repeat this over and over making sure she understands I do participate in all these past times that for some reason are deemed fun everywhere outside the doctor’s office, but it also let’s her know I am not an addict under the bridge heating up spoons with a fire I made of sticks.
Seeing my facialist goes about the same way. The difference is I can’t wait to answer all her questions and get some much-deserved affirmation on my good deeds. Same as the doctor’s questions, it starts out pretty easy, “Are you drinking 8 glasses of water a day?” she asks. “Yes!” I say with too much excitement.
“You aren’t sleeping in your make-up, are you?”
“Nope!” I reply so quickly she can’t even get the next sentence out of her mouth…
“You shouldn’t work out in your make-up either, you know?”
“I do know, and I definitely do not work out in my make-up” (mainly because I hardly work out at all.)
The thing that you should know is my facialist is Juila at Mario Badescu. She is kind of a legend and I am going to go ahead and say, she is also kind of a grandma… which I love.
She moves from quizzing me about taking off my make-up to applying eye cream, letting me know the skin around my eyes is much thinner than the rest of the skin on my face. “You have to apply it morning and night,” she says very assertively.
This assertiveness is also what makes her great at her job. Clogged pores are not safe in her presence. She is going to extract them, no matter what.
She starts off with some oils and detoxifying steam, which she says only lasts for 10 minutes, not gonna lie, it seems like an eternity. Either way… she comes back to the room and then gently cleanses my skin while lightly massaging around my face and neck area. Each time, she says,
Your face doesn’t stop at your chin, it stops at you shoulders. Always apply lotion and sunscreen on your neck the same as your face.
After my pores have opened up (or at least I assume that is what we’re waiting for) Julia proceeds to extract all the congested pores. Another reality for anyone who hasn’t indulged in a facial is this: the extraction of congested pores hurts a bit. I didn’t know that the first time I went, and I thought this would be a relaxing treatment. While parts of it are relaxing, the extraction is not.
But, good news – it doesn’t last long. The last several times I have gone, I have also done the Glycolic Acid Treatment. This costs extra, of course, but I think it is worth it. The Glycolic Acid Treatment takes off the top layer of dead, nasty, old skin and makes way for some fresh, baby butt skin. (That is the goal… baby butt skin on my face.) Finally, she wraps everything up with a custom mask made for your skin type. Mine always ends up being a “soothing” mask. This is the result of my super clogged pores + sensitive skin. Basically the combo makes me look like I jumped in a beehive for fun. No one wants to walk out into the world like this so… soothing mask. I wait patiently with the mask on for another 10 minutes (again feels longer.) Afterwards, she wipes my face down and spritzes some rose water.
Finally, she never forgets to remind me I didn’t answer all the questions with flying colors.
“Amanda, next appointment in 6 – 8 weeks! Not 6 months please…”
“Yes, yes. I promise to do better.”
And that sentence concludes every doctor’s visit I have ever had.
***beauty always comes from within, photos taken by Amanda Teague, xoxo behind the mirror***