Bring on the Consultation!
Just last week I had a beautiful new client come in for a service. Our very first exchange upon meeting was about how lengthy my consultation form is. She said, ‘It’s just a facial.’
Yes, you are getting a facial, but don’t you want your therapist to understand the history of your skin before touching you? I sure do! The more your therapist knows, the better s/he can tailor your in-office treatment and build an appropriate treatment plan.
Whether your skin is misbehaving or not, your skin does have a history. It’s a culmination of genetics, environment, UV exposure, diet, medications, stress, skin treatments, skin care, TikTok DIY… you get the picture.
There is a reason we begin our journey together with a consultative visit with an ‘exploritative’ facial. This truly is an opportunity for me to get to know your skin. From here, we can better map out our treatment path to address your challenges and goals. And no, we are not jumping into the deep end before we test the waters. This may not be evident in our visits, but I work through phases with your skin. It’s not an exact science, but it’s the outline I follow:
Phase 1. Repair skin health. Here we are getting the skin in a happy, healthy stage. We’ll work on addressing inflammation and restoring barrier health. We may include modalities such as LED, the Qi Treatment, and Manual Lymphatic Drainage.
Phase 2. Preparation treatment phase. This is where we get your skin ready for more ‘advanced’ treatments. Side note… advanced treatments do not need to hurt. 😉 We start to prep your skin for the goals we have set. Because we’ve addressed overall skin and barrier health, much of what we’re trying to correct may have already been worked out. I see this a lot with acne skins. In addition to previously mentioned modalities, this phase may include the ‘foundational’ DMK treatments and Microcurrent ( I do LOVE Microcurrent. It’s a heavy hit of healthy aging, lymphatic drainage, and facial sculpting). I am loving microcurrent before the DMK enzyme. Wowzers! 😉
Phase 3. This is where we see more significant changes and renewal. We may introduce the Osmosis Facial Infusion, or of course, the more advanced DMK treatments that we’ve built up to. Here we will start to include light peels and muscle banding. We may stay in this phase, or re-visit every so often once we move onto Phase 4.
Phase 4. Maintenance phase.
Does a facial always have to be about skin correction? No, of course not. In fact, when I have a facial, I want allllll the massaging. 😉 Sometimes what is needed most is an hour to disconnect and center oneself. I feel the mental downtime of a facial can be just as therapeutic as those facials with more of a corrective focus. And often times, much more needed! 🙂 But even in this type of facial, I still want my skin therapist to have a little history of my skin. Don’t you?
