Beauty rule No. 1: Never get a new facial treatment before a big event. The reason? If you haven't tried it before, you can't know if your skin will have a bad reaction, like redness or a breakout.
An extreme (really extreme) example of this:
A beauty blogger in Singapore recently posted about the worst facial ever. Days after the treatment, she didn't have that perfectly-clean glow. Instead, her entire face was filled with white heads. And weeks later she's
still recovering. Yikes.
Related: This Will Really, Truly Fix Your Acne Scars
To find out what the heck happened to this poor girl at the spa, we asked Dr. Steven Rotter, Board Certified Dermatologist and Former Chief Resident in Dermatology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, for his take. He hasn't met the blogger but he did see the photos.
Related: True Story: How I Cured My Cystic Acne
"Oils applied to the face could clog and cause inflammation, and this is most likely a reaction to an oil," he said. "If this should happen to you, ask your dermatologist for a short course of antibiotics -- this should clear it up within a couple days. If you don't have a derm, you can try to take a steam shower or apply a warm compress to open your pores. Another helpful remedy could be an over the counter 1 percent hydrocortisone cream, applied a couple times a day for a couple days."
You can check out her blog for continuing updates, and in the meantime we'll be rooting for her.
Have you ever had a bad reaction to a spa treatment? Let's commiserate together; share your story in the comments below.
More from Total Beauty:
•
13 Everyday Habits That Are Giving You Acne
•
10 Plastic Surgery Mistakes No One Talks About
•
Disturbing Japanese Beauty Gadgets Straight from Our Nightmares