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Jan 10, 2024

Why facials are important, how often to have them and other Q's answered

Face it: our faces give away the state of our lives daily. All those sleepless

Face it: our faces give away the state of our lives daily.

All those sleepless nights, that unhealthy diet, the overtime rendered at work, and the minutes spent walking under the sun on a hot summer day—all these can be seen on our faces.

In fact, all these spell S-T-R-E-S-S which is one of the reasons why we need to have regular facials done.

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"With the numerous causes and sources of pollution in our environment nowadays together with all other stresses that we face in our daily lives including traffic, pressure at work and the intense exposure under the humid climate and the sun, definitely we need counter aging and oxidative processes which our regular facial treatments in our responsible facial clinic and spa can offer our skin," said Dr. Claudia Y. Samonte, a fellow of the Philippine Dermatological Society and the Philippine Academy of Dermatologic Society Foundation Inc., and dermatology section head of De La Salle University Medical Center.

The dirt and dead skin cells build up over time on our skin and these cannot be removed easily by daily washing, according to Jacqueline Yang-Guerrero, director for skills, training and development of AesthetiQ Wellness and Spa (formerly BodyLite Center).

"A complete facial," she said, "is best to maintain youthfulness of skin and prevent premature aging due to lifestyle, pollution, and other factors," she said. "For older skin, it is important to get an advanced facial to address lines and wrinkles, and even dehydration," she added.

We know what your next questions are, so we took the liberty to ask experts.

Q: How often should one have a facial? At what age should one start having facials and see a dermatologist?

Samonte: It depends on the skin condition of a patient. If the patient has acne, acne scars, skin pigmentation, uneven skin tone, dryness, severe oiliness and other signs of aging like wrinkles, then I recommend having facial treatments as often as once a week to every two weeks.

For patients wanting simple rejuvenation therapies, a once a month visit is adequate.

As to how young one should start, there is no age requirement nor limitation to perform procedures unless the patient is below 18. Nowadays, younger patients are becoming more and more conscious of how they look. We deal with them as young as 10 to 15 years old. It is always more advantageous to bring patients to a qualified and certified dermatologist since he or she is more qualified to handle skin problems.

Guerrero: Ideally once a month for normal skin, but for people who have oily skin which produces more blackheads and whiteheads, they should have their facial at least every two to three weeks.

Parents should bring their adolescents to a dermatologist or a reputable skin center upon seeing signs of excessive oiliness and pore enlargement which causes comedone proliferation, and eventually, acne.

Q: Is DIY facial at home advisable, and if so, any tips on doing so?

Samonte: As a dermatologist, I would not want to encourage people to do DIY facials at home, primarily because our facial skin is a very sensitive part of our body.

It can easily react to products no matter how organic or natural these may be. I do not advise my patients to use home remedies such as vegetables, fruits, root crops, honey, salt, sugar, etc. as these may cause adverse results such as contact dermatitis, burns, abrasions from sap or from the natural product itself.

I would prefer that they just use mild facial wash and sunblock commercially available and bought at the nearest drugstore.

Guerrero: DIY facials are safe so long as they do not use chemical peeling. With chemical peeling, people tend to like how the peel tightens and exfoliates the skin. This makes them keep using the chemical too much up to the point that they do not know when to stop. When this happens, their skin becomes very thin, and more often than not, exposed to the UV radiation from the sun without sunscreen and therefore causing deep pigmentation that is very difficult and costly to treat.

It is important to use the correct products in this particular order: cleanser, toner, exfoliant (gentle scrub), eye cream, mask, moisturizer, and sunscreen (to be used during daytime).

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Q: What are the facials suited for dry skin, oily skin, and normal skin?

Samonte: For dry skin, I recommend facials that will give hydration through products with emulsifying moisturizing effects like hyaluronic acid and lanolin and are soap-free and colloidal.

For oily skin, use facials that have polyhydroxyacids, fruit acids such as lactic mandelic acid and malic acid. For normal skin, use ph 5.5 facial soaps, solutions, and creams.

Guerrero: At AesthetiQ, we have AQ Hydraglow which is suitable for all skin types. It uses a gentle chemical exfoliant along with a vacuum-powered machine that removes impurities such as blackheads and whiteheads.

For oily and acne-prone skin, we can customize the treatment by selecting a different solution which has salicylic acid that targets acne and regulates oil production. It is then followed by a soothing and calming solution with antioxidants to nourish and hydrate the skin. Our facials are carefully studied and researched before we offer them to our patrons.

Q: Is pricking necessary?

Samonte: Pricking the skin is basically a dangerous procedure to do. Normally when we use instruments already to perform pricking the comedones (whiteheads and blackheads especially acystic acne, milia) we already call this acne surgery which ideally should only be performed by a dermatologist. Aestheticians may do so only if they are trained to address possible complications such as infection, scarring, and post inflammatory pigmentation.

Guerrero: Pricking and extraction are two different things. Pricking, by its definition, is using a very thin needle (BD gauge 30 normally) to create a hole in a lesion, particularly a pustule (a.k.a. pimple), to release the buildup of blood, dirt, and bacteria. This is necessary for acne patients.

Extraction is the process of removing blackheads, whiteheads, and other congestion on the skin. At AesthetiQ, we do not prick these impurities, but we extract them instead without using needles. — LA, GMA News

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