It's been quite a while ever since I wrote an article on skincare and facials on my blog. Over the years, through regular skincare treatment and good skincare routines, my skin's texture and condition has improved by leaps and bounds though there would be occasional slight blemishes due to the body's hormonal changes, my skin now appears to be much clearer than before. I've been wanting to do a blog entry on my current skincare routine but somehow this idea has slipped off my mind as my list of to-do things kept piling up.
For a period of time, my skin's condition was pretty good with my current skincare routine and maintenance but for some reasons, the skin started to worsened or became more sensitive after I started going on a semi-vegan diet. The fruits and vegetable diet did clear up my skin and made felt good but the moment I started to snack on meat or dairy products, the oil glands in my skin started to became really active and before I knew it, the pores on my skin were heavily clogged and pimples started emerging. Then, my world started to turn upside down when I woke up one morning to find this cute but irritating huge raw pimple on my left cheek. I was tempted to flatten it with my fingers but remember how we were told by our mums, sisters, friends and beauty experts about not picking pimples with your dirty fingers? Right, so I tried applying Oxy10 pimple cream on my face but truth be told, the red bubble on my cheeks just didn't pop the way I wanted it to deflate or disappear.
That's why I was grinning from ear to ear when I received an invitation from Glomax Aesthetics - The Face Artistry, a boutique salon with several award-winning facials,situated near to Singapore's central business district, at Clarke Quay. Now I could finally get some help from the beauty experts to treat my 'life-threatening' zits which deters me from getting out of the house.
Glomax Aesthetics aims to provide highly personalized services and specially-crafted facial treatments for its customers who seek to treat or improve their skin conditions. Unlike other established beauty salons, this cosy boutique salon is not located in shopping malls or the neighbourhoods, but in a SOHO (Small Office Home Office) tower, at The Central.
It did take some time for me to figure out the way at first but once I got that figured, I realised that its location is pretty convenient as it takes about 5 minutes to walk from Clarke Quay MRT to the salon.
It was 11 am and I guess I was their first appointment of the day so the salon was quiet and serene which I like. The salon itself wasn't too spacious and so I believe they could only accommodate a few customers at any one time.
I was warmly greeted by one of the main beauty therapists the moment I entered. Part of the usual procedure at any beauty salon is to fill in a particulars form while they serve you some herbal tea. One interesting thing that I noted was the form required the customers themselves to write down their own skin diagnosis or problems. Usually, the beauty therapists will analyze your skin on the spot and start filling up the form with a dozens of skin problems which you might or might not actually have. Perhaps its their way of showing trust in customers or to see if customer's understood their own skin condition well enough. I understood my skin condition pretty well and not much difficulty in filling up the form.
Next, a short skin consultation session was carried out. Instead of going straight to highlight all the skin blemishes I have, she simply asked me what are the skin problems I have been facing and would like them to be treated. From there, she made suitable recommendations on the types of facials and services I could try out that day.She recommended that I try their Luminous Detox Energie Care treatment which could brighten up my uneven skin tone. I liked the fact that she did not put me down with all my skin conditions but had maintained professional throughout the consultation. She also suggested that I should take time to work on treating each skin problem one at a time using the right skincare products.
A cup of tea to soothe and calm the body before facial. But importantly, tea or water is served before facial to hydrate the body as the facial process usually last up to one or two hours.
As I visit beauty salons on a regular basis, I was familiarized with the routine of having to change into a robe first before lying down on the facial bed.But I must say that Glomax Aesthetics has got one of the most comfortable facial beds with a fluffy silk covers and soft cushions. You could practically doze off to sleep on such comfy beds.
Beauty facials usually start of with basic cleansing to remove any impurities followed by extraction, treatment, facial massage and lastly, the application of mask as the final step. Rather than to describe about the whole facial process here which can get rather lengthy, I would only talk about the highlights of this particular facial I had.
I personally hated the contact of machines on my skin because I always have this imagery of the machine suddenly going haywire and sending sparks as it race and cut through my skin. Since I could not afford to experience such horrors, I would choose facial treatments which does not require the use of machines. But somehow I've to admit that results from machines-aid treatments like microdermabrasion or diamond peel could be rather effective and astounding on the skin. When I did the microdermabrasion at Glomax Aesthetics, I was blown away by the effect it brought to my skin - there was an instant brightness and radiance on my facial skin.
The most excruciating part of facial which most females dreaded is extraction. Manual extraction also tests the true skills and expertise of the beauty therapists. After having done regular facials for several years, I noticed that very experienced therapists tend to have the patience to purge out all the impurities in the pores across the face while less experience therapists preferred to work on targeted areas at each time rather than squeezing out all the pores, til the face looked scarred and blemished.
What I came to understand is that experience therapists actually enjoy the process of extracting the dirt out of each pore and they prefer to get the cleansing job done for each session. But this would often ends up in overly-extracted skin that has several cuts and blemishes which that days for the wounds to heal. On the other hand, the new generation of beauty therapists would avoid over-extracting of the face so the customer could still leave the beaut salon looking fresh and radiant.
So here comes the crucial question, which is better for the skin? I guess it's all up to personal preference. For instance, in this facial, I had my pore thoroughly cleansed and the pores on my skin appeared so much smaller than before but the whole process was rather painful and intolerable for me as I had my zits being popped. There's redness in my skin but after a few days, the redness subsides and I start to enjoy a clear and smooth skin. All I could say is no pain, no gain. Girls, we are naturally born to suffer more for beauty's sake.
After all tearing and painful extractions, there comes the rainbow and sunshine when the beauty therapists massage a generous amount of essence (like vitamin C and green tea extracts) into my skin and used a cold compression machine to soothe my skin. In addition to this, she also trimmed my eyebrows neatly and gave me a good shoulder, neck and head massage. Finally, a charcoal masks which helps to cleanse the pores and to brightens the face. Well, it sure did because I walked right out of the salon with a super radiantly illuminated skin with a big smile albeit the patches of redness on my face.
To all ladies,
This is our love-hate relationship with facials.
One moment you would cringe in pain,
The next moment you would cooed in delight.
All in the pursuit of beauty.
- Deenise
Special thanks to Hazel for the invite and the beauty therapist at Glomax Aesthetics for their highly professional facial services and great skincare tips.
GLOMAX Aesthetics - The Face Artistry
12 Eu Tong Sen Street
The Central, Soho 2
#06-168
Quote "Blogger Deenise" to enjoy Luminous Detox Energie Care Treatment, 90mins at only $88* (UP $168) to enjoy the same facial treatment I had that day!
Luminous Detox Energie Care Treatment
The ultimate skin purification, this diamond microdermabrasion invigorates cellular renewal to treat clogged, pigmented and sallow skin. Designed with a cocktail of vitamins to refresh the appearance of the skin by aligning skin cells in the top layer of the skin to achieve clean and radiant glow.
*For first timers and by appointment only
