Skin Care

6 Dead Giveaways You're Getting a Bad Facial

Are you getting second-rate facials? How to tell when your skin care specialist is cutting corners

by Emily Woodruff | COMMENT

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Sign No. 1: You Don't Have to Fill Out an Annoying Form in the Waiting Room Just as a new doctor asks for your family history, an aesthetician who actually wants to get the story behind your skin will ask you to fill out a consultation card. Those forms that feel like busy work reveal all of the medications you're taking, products you use that might sensitize your face to a procedure, and lifestyle habits that could be the culprit behind your dry skin, hyperpigmentation or fine lines.

According to Mia Holm, senior educator at the International Dermal Institute, consultation cards are especially important for clients who aren't exactly skin care superstars, since they're apt to lie about their skin-destroying habits (think: smoking, sunscreen, etc.).

"A good skin analysis is like a CSI investigation. The consultation card is the clues, the skin is the scene of the crime," says Holm. Yikes.

SEE NEXT PAGE: Sign No. 2: She Doesn't Feel Up Your Face

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We've all been there: You glance into a mirror and you're suddenly shocked by the scary state of your skin. Spurred into action by your crossover into bad skin territory, you book the first facial appointment available. Surely, an hour on the table in some able aesthetician's hands will get you back to glowing. You zone out while your aesthetician slathers blissful-smelling concoctions on your face, with visions of clear, lit-from-within skin dancing in your head. You're so relaxed, you barely even remember swiping your credit card and being steered out the door. When you break out a few days later, you wonder: Is it a coincidence? Am I just purging? Or did I put my skin into the hands of a bad aesthetician?

In search of the secrets to superstar skin care, I headed to Dermalogica's International Dermal Institute, the No. 1 resource for post-graduate education in skin care. There, one of their senior educators taught me how to ID the signs of a less-than-stellar facial.