Whether you are in the market for your very first facial treatment, or you had already experienced the popular, pampering spa experience for the first time years ago, you might be wondering how much time is too much time in between appointments.
Make it every month or two if you can
Ideally, you will want to book your appointments every four to six weeks apart for the best possible results. Even at seven weeks, though, there are still some tips you can do to make sure the results are not reversing in between appointments. However, if it has been more than three months since your last facial, it is definitely time to book your next session now. At the very least, if you still want to see strong results, you should be booking a maintenance facial quarterly, at minimum.
But why exactly does a facial need to be offered at this frequency?
The skin has layers
A lot of things are happening beneath the surface of your skin at any given time. Much of what we see on the surface of the epidermis is a result of what is happening in the dermis and hypodermis over time. With regular routines, professional skincare products in the spa, and similar quality at-home products incorporated into your daily routine, much work can be done beyond the visible surface.
Since skin cells have a 28-day turnover period, every time you use a new product or experience an esthetics treatment, you slightly alter the cells’ situation in your skin. As well, professional exfoliation achieved with the help of equipment most people cannot have at home, and third-party manual extractions are done safely in a medical or spa setting, are going to allow the deepest parts of your pores to be cleared of debris, sebum build-up and dead skin cells. This will allow oxygen deep enough to work its magic against acne, large pores, and comedones. Again, these are tasks you cannot do in quite the same way on your own at home without professional skincare specialists and their equipment.
Targeting signs of aging, texture issues, hyperpigmentation, collagen production, and so on will all require that same time and care and professional expertise and gear. The more you receive a facial over the long term, the more your skin situation will improve at its deepest levels. It just requires time, effort, and consistency that we both know you deserve. Following that logic, the opposite is also true – once you stop going in for facial treatments or return infrequently, the results your skin has already achieved will be reversed with less care over time.
How to make your facial last longer
The good news is it is not the end of the world if you can only book your maintenance facial treatments every seven or eight weeks – or even every three months- if life gets hectic and you have a lot on your plate at times. However, there are some things you can do to make your facial results last as long as possible.
Following all the aftercare instructions your esthetician will have told you will be key for long-lasting results. As well, be sure to use all of the at-home products they recommended to you after your facial, exactly as instructed, to ensure the limited reversal of the progress your skin has made.
Some of these post-facial tips:
- Don’t wash your face that first night immediately after your facial.
- Don’t wear makeup for at least a day or two after the facial.
- Keep skin hydrated with a gentle cream daily.
- Drink plenty of water to help with hydration from the inside out.
- Exfoliate weekly with a gentle scrub (but not within the first 10 days of your facial.)
- Use a vitamin C serum to boost collagen and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
- Add nourishing oils to your daily skincare routine.
- Ensure you wear sunscreen with SPF 50 or higher in generous amounts, reapplied every two hours, or more frequently if you are sweating or swimming. If you will be wet, use a water-resistant sunscreen and reapply based on the instructions indicated on the bottle.
- Never pick at your skin, but especially not after a facial, even if it is flaking or peeling.
- Avoid any at-home peels or retinoids for the first week after your facial.
- Avoid the gym, saunas, or steam rooms for at least 48 hours post-treatment, so you do not over-exfoliate or burn the skin.
- Do not: tan, wax, shave or do any laser hair removal treatments.
- Book your next facial at the end of your appointment so you can be sure of the timeline in between them.
Every four to six weeks is best, but quarterly is fine too.
It might not be the answer you are looking for, but getting one professional facial treatment every few years will definitely not do nearly as much for you as the recommended every month or two.
This is because most beauty and wellness treatments you can find at a spa or salon are sequential services, requiring maintenance over the long term. A facial is no different.
In fact, too many facial treatments are often the most important spa service to maintain at the proper frequency. After all, more people will see your face at any time of day or year than they are likely to see, for example, your underarm, back, or legs.
It is also a place where proper care and maintenance can make a drastic difference in appearance, health, and feel. Since the skin of the face is connected directly to the facial muscles, unlike any other muscles on the body, the signs of age tend to show in the face first. Tending to the face with time, effort, and consistency through professional estheticians’ products and equipment can make all the difference in how your face looks and feels over the long term.