My First Facial

I had my first facial at the Oculus skin care center.  My mom had bought it on living social; she bought it back in August and hadn’t gotten around to using it.  When she saw my “30 before 30 list” she was incredibly thoughtful and offered it to me.  The first part was both interesting and slightly depressing.  They did a complexion analysis.  The good news is I’m in the 85^th percentile for my age for wrinkles and fine lines, which means out of 100 women my age only 15 have less wrinkles than I do.  The depressing news was that I’m in the 8^th percentile for sun damage.  I was really bothered by this because I am almost obsessive about the use of sun screen, I generally wear hats when I’m in the fun for long periods of time, and I have NEVER been in a tanning bed.  After the good and bad news we headed into the facial room.  It was such a relaxing experience.  I have a zero or one step skin care program at home and during this facial she went through step after step of pampering my skin.  She also gave me suggestions for easy things to add into my routine at home.  I also learned that not all sunscreen in created equal and she gave me some really helpful suggestions.  It is the cleanest and softest my skin has ever felt.  Next time you see a deal on living social or groupon for a facial go ahead and get it, you won’t regret it!   

* Extended version with skin care tips, sorry to leave you hanging Leah! :-) *

Sunscreen - I thought I was so smart for buying moisturizer and foundation with sunscreen already built in. The issue is that unless it has at least 7% zinc oxide it is only protecting you from UVB (causes obvious sun burn) and not UVA (causes sun damage underneath the skin).  She suggested first applying a sunscreen underneath my foundation that has at least 7% zinc oxide and then use a light foundation as another layer of defense.

Exfoliating - I thought this was a something that need to be once every month or two, not the case.  She suggested just an exfloiant at least 2-3 times per week.  She recommended finding a cleanser with an exfoliant already built in so I don't have to add another step since I am lazy about skin care.  She also suggested finding one with glycolic acid for women my age since it is strong but not too hard, she recommended a product with 10 - 12% glycolic acid.

Multi-Vitamins - she suggested applying topical vitamins like Vitamin C to help restore my skin

Skin Analysis - she suggested coming back once or twice a year to measure the increases or decreases in areas like sun damage, texture, pore size, fine lines/wrinkles, etc