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.

I think back to all of the facials I've had over the years, where the facialist walked into the room, slapped exfoliator on my face and left me alone with a mask for 15 minutes. According to skin care school, this is exactly what they are not supposed to do.

Before she slathers you in caviar, kelp or any other skin treatment, your aesthetician should be getting up close and very personal with your face.

"If an aesthetician looks at your skin and doesn't do an analysis, it's a red flag," says Holm.

Most of the time, we shy away from other people's hands on our face -- they carry pore-clogging bacteria, dirt, oil and goodness knows what else. But during a facial, an aesthetican should be using touch to look for texture, roughness, dryness, oiliness, congestion (this is a nice aesthetician's way of saying pores clogged with gunk) or acne.

I'm going to let you in on a family secret: My mother is obsessed with her children's ears being clean. For a long time, I thought it was totally normal for my mother to suddenly lean over mid-conversation and start shining a flashlight in my ear. So it came as no surprise to me when my class instructor informed us that we all probably have acne and congestion in our ears. What I was surprised to hear, however, is that it isn't my mom's job to extract them -- it's my aestheticians. "If your aesthetician isn't checking your ears, she's not doing a thorough job," says Holm.

Our ears contain pretty large pores, so it's easy for dirt and bacteria to get trapped in them -- especially if you're regularly sweating with your headphones in or talking on your cellphone.

No aesthetician has ever checked my ears, so I raise my hand and ask how I should bring up such a thing. "Just ask them," says the instructor. Apparently, it's in the job description.

One way to avoid a bad facial? Scope out the equipment. If she's got one of these high-tech gadgets, you know she means business.

The Mag Lamp: It shines light and magnifies your pores, freckles and scars to terrifying proportions, so the aesthetician can see just how badly you were lying about wearing sunscreen and never performing extractions on yourself.

The Woods' Lamp: This handheld lamp uses ultraviolet light to allow the aesthetician to zone in on areas of dryness, congestion and hyperpigmentation. Certain skin conditions that involve bacteria or infection will show up as bright white under the Woods' lamp. If you're infected, a good aesthetician will refuse to work on you, instead directing you to a doctor.

The Skin Scanner: A black box equipped with ultraviolet light that you stick your head in. When the light turns on, the sun damage comes out., meaning you see all of the freckles that are currently on your skin, plus the brown spots under the surface that might come at a later date. Dry skin is seen as white, while oily skin or clogged pores is orange. Aestheticians use these to diagnose skin conditions early on -- and perhaps to scare their clients into wearing sunscreen.

Recently, one of the newer members of our editorial team had the chance to get a facial for free. And she wanted to turn it down. Because that's weird, I cornered her, and she confessed: She was scared. "What if, um, the facialist is mean to me? Because I have some acne?" she asked. I had to set her straight. First of all, an aesthetician is never going to be mean to you. If she is, walk out. And secondly, if I know one thing after leaving IDI, it's that these aestheticians love extractions. The more, the better. Seriously, they live for them.

Proof: When we covered skin conditions, a picture of what are known as "solar comedones" flashed on to the screen. They're basically really, really deep blackheads that have become compacted due to overexposure to the sun or pollution. As Holm explained how they form, she turned to us, eyes wide. "How fun would that be to extract," she says, gesturing to the screen. I find myself murmuring agreement and nodding along with the others. "They smell really bad when they come out," she reveals. Instead of being disgusted, I start searching for YouTube videos of solar comedone extractions.

The takeaway: Don't Google "solar comedone extraction videos" unless you want to be horrified. Oh, and your aesthetician actually likes performing extractions. If she doesn't, she's in the wrong business.