A HydraFacial is a wonderful treatment for restoring your skin and removing impurities, but professionals must do it carefully. Spas understand this and have refined the process to be as gentle as possible while still being effective, but the treatment’s effectiveness also depends on the client. Read on to learn the HydraFacial dos and don’ts before and after your treatment.
What Is a HydraFacial?
Before diving into what you need to do before and after your HydraFacial, you should learn about the process. This knowledge can make the guidelines and precautions feel more concrete instead of making them seem like rules you can try to skirt.
In the HydraFacial process, we cleanse, exfoliate, extract, and replenish your skin through a resurfacing procedure. This procedure removes surface impurities in the skin and leaves it restored with antioxidants through a Vortex-Fusion® serum delivery. The process may seem complicated at first, but when you break down the individual steps, it is much like traditional skin treatments, except we go the extra step of rejuvenating your skin.
We begin by cleansing and peeling the skin, delicately exfoliating and revealing newer, healthier layers of skin hidden underneath. We then extract debris in your pores through a painless suction method and apply intense moisturizers to nourish and hydrate the skin. Finally, we penetrate the surface of your skin with antioxidants and peptides to enhance your complexion’s glow. Throughout the process, we use water microdermabrasion instead of crystals, as this is gentler on the skin and improves elasticity while evening skin tone.
What To Avoid Before Treatment
Before your treatment, you’ll need to stop using many of your traditional skin care products, as they can interfere with a lot of the process and damage your skin. The first thing you need to know before a HydraFacial is to stop using Isotretinoin products such as Accutane for at least six months before your treatment. These medications alter your skin chemistry and can interact poorly with your treatment. However, using these items is okay if a clinician has given you clearance.
Similarly, you should stop using generic tretinoin creams or exfoliating treatments like glycolic acid for at least 48 hours before the treatment. Like Isotretinoin products, these treatments can interfere with the HydraFacial. Instead of uncovering healthier layers of skin, the HydraFacial could damage the skin that those treatments have already opened up. You must also avoid wax or depilatories and over-the-counter acne medications that include salicylic acid for 48 hours before the treatment.
What To Do Before Treatment
Before the treatment, you need to simply relax and not do anything extraneous that could impact your skin. For example, don’t go outside too much. Excess sun exposure could burn your skin or damage skin cells, making the HydraFacial treatment work differently. Additionally, avoid tanning beds for at least 72 hours before the treatment.
Similarly, let your skin be natural. Our goal is to bring out more of your natural and vibrant skin; any home treatments or alterations can make that process more difficult. Don’t come for a HydraFacial treatment if you’ve had Botox within the last two weeks. Injections like this change the way your muscles contract to soften wrinkles, but for a HydraFacial treatment to work its best, we need to be able to move those muscles properly. A stiff face will hamper our ability to provide you with the best treatment possible.
However, don’t worry about your face and tiny imperfections—that’s the point of the HydraFacial! In addition to stopping your face treatments and limiting sun exposure, be sure not to shave your face on the same day of the treatment. Shaving your face or trimming eyebrows also removes debris, skin cells, and oil from your face. If you’ve shaved before your HydraFacial treatment, we will end up hurting the new skin cells that you uncovered yourself.
What To Avoid After Treatment
After your treatment, you will need to avoid many of the same things that you cut out before your treatment. A lot of these products and variables interfere with your skin and can therefore lessen the rejuvenating effects of the treatment. In addition, your newer and healthier skin cells are more vulnerable than those we removed during treatment, and you need to protect them.
Limit sun exposure, and don’t use tanning beds for at least 72 hours after your treatment. Beyond the sun’s UV rays, the heat can be especially damaging. Because of this, you should take lukewarm showers, avoid saunas, and stay away from intense cardio or weight training. Exercises like these push the body, and the excessive movement and blood flow makes it more likely that your skin will bruise and swell.
In addition to limiting exercise and sun exposure, don’t use generic tretinoins, exfoliating treatments, over-the-counter acne medication, wax, or depilatories for at least 48 hours. Likewise, you should avoid chemical peels or laser treatments for at least two weeks. You should also wait at least 1 day before applying makeup. Stick to using a moderate amount of makeup—don’t go for a full glam look.
What To Do After Treatment
Now that you know what to avoid, you must understand what to do to take care of your new skin. The first thing you need to do is wash your face with a PCA face wash or HydroPeptide exfoliating cleanser the morning after treatment. Then, apply a HydroPeptide SPF 30 sunscreen every day for the next 3 to 5 days. In addition, use a PCA Hyaluronic boosting serum every day, morning and night, for the next 30 days. This may seem like a lot, but it ensures that your skin continues to look and feel healthy.
These HydraFacial treatment dos and don’ts are essential in delivering you great rejuvenation that can last. In addition to taking care of your face before and after the treatment, you must also find a reputable spa that offers quality treatments. At Boho Med Spa, we provide restorative and gentle skin HydraFacials in Allen, TX, to anyone who needs them. You can leave with nourished skin and a glowing complexion.
Holly is an international award-winning aesthetician and business owner with over 10 years of experience in the aesthetics industry. She was named the 2019 Top International Holistic Esthetician at the Skin Games and has owned BOHO Alternative Med Spa in Allen, TX since 2015. Holly is a wife, mother of five, and a skin fanatic whose personal mission is to help her clients create healthy, glowing skin through alternative methods.
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