In this post I’ll share my thoughts on whether acne facials with a professional esthetician will help reduce active acne and prevent new breakouts. If you’ve ever wondered if getting facials for acne is worth it, this is the post for you!
First, let’s talk about the different facials available to people with acne and the benefits of facials overall.
Types of facials for acne
There are lots of different kinds of facials and some of them are more suitable for acne than others. The idea of most of them is that they offer a deep cleansing action, a nice relaxing facial massage and sometimes include a high-frequency device, too.
Hydrafacials for acne
One of the most popular facials for acne is the Hydrafacial. It’s offered at a lot of salon and spas, as well as being recommended by some dermatologists.
Like most facials, this one starts by cleansing the skin with a gentle cleanser. Then, your facialist will apply a mix of chemical exfoliants such as salicylic acid and glycolic acid to the skin. These exfoliants go into the skin and break up clogs of dead skin cells and sebum.
Lastly, the step that gives the Hydrafacial it’s trademarked name, is a pen-like tool that essentially blasts water into your pores.
Anecdotally, I have had friends say that they’ve seen nice results from this treatment. My personal opinion is that, for the price, it is unlikely to solve your moderate-severe acne issues in any long term type of way. I have only had one facial in my life, which I’ll talk about later, but I personally believe facials are mostly best for a short term glow and relaxing.
Decongesting facial
Also known as acne treatment facials, a decongesting facial is to designed to specifically focus on clearing some of your clogged pores or ‘comedonal acne’. It’s unrealistic to expect a facial to be able to clear *all* of your pores, as there are so many and clogged pores are only visible to the eye in the later stage of their life.
This type of facial is often specifically designed for acne-prone skin.
This type of facial will start with cleansing to remove makeup, oil and debris, then the facialist will likely move onto chemical exfoliation. The exfoliant they use will likely depend on your skin type, which they often ask you about during your consultation.
Finally, decongesting facials often come with a round of extractions. This is where the facialist manually removes blackheads and the flesh-coloured bumps you see in comedonal acne.
I originally had a type of decongesting facial at Skinwork in Soho. I specifically went for the extractions because I wanted to avoid doing it myself and going overboard! Whilst I really enjoyed the facial and I did leave glowing, they didn’t remove *that* much of my skin texture and so I decided it wasn’t really worth the cost.
Medical facials
Don’t get sucked into the idea of medical facials or medical-grade skincare products – I’m just being honest!
It’s not that these products are bad, it’s that they’re not inherently much better than regular skincare products. There’ll always be ‘good’ and ‘bad’ skincare products, and whether they’re medical grade or not is not the deciding factor. There are a lot of rubbish ‘medical grade’ products. The term ‘medical’ itself is often overused and is actually unregulated, meaning anyone can call themselves this. The true medical grade is prescription-only – products you can only get with a prescription.
Nevertheless, the idea of medical facials continues and the facial may actually be quite a nice one. It will be similar to a decongesting facial in that it’s designed to help clear skin and includes a deep cleaning action to purify the oil glands.
I’ll repeat what I said earlier here: even with the best facials, if you are not repeatedly going to them, it’s unlikely they’re going to actually give you clearer skin in the long term. It’s a bit like going to the gym once every other month. That workout is not going to be the one to make a difference, it’s all of the days you show up and follow through with the right skincare at home consistently that creates the best results.
LED facial for acne
An LED handheld device might be used in combination with skincare products during a facial, or on their own. Often you can book in for light therapy without the facial, usually at a cost of about £50 per treatment. Blue light can kill acne bacteria which is beneficial for mild acne, in combination with your skincare routine.
I personally use my own LED mask at home by the brand Qure. They gifted it to me and I’ve used it every day since! I do believe it works, but you have to be consistent.
Benefits of facials for acne prone skin
In my opinion, the benefits of facials for acne prone skin are kind of short lived. I know I might be offending a few people here, but this is my honest opinion. Nevertheless, let’s discuss what kind of benefits you might see:
- Regular facials with blue light therapy can kill acne-causing bacteria on the skin, leading to reduced future breakouts.
- You may find that you have smoother skin in the days following your facial.
- Facials that includes chemical peels or chemical exfoliants can reduce the appearance of acne scars.
- Dark spots and skin tone might be temporarily improved.
- Active breakouts might be calmed faster.
The caveat is that, although these benefit you on the day, the results are unlikely to reduce oil production in the long term, and most of the time the oil production and hormones are what’s causing the severity of your acne.
Your at-home skincare routine that you do everyday is what can really make a difference for you. Did you know that consistently using a retinoid can reduce oil production over time? Read all about the benefits of retinoids and how to use them in my post here.
The point is that facials aren’t cheap, and although they are relaxing, there are longer lasting solutions in my opinion.
Possible side effects of facials
Usually every facial starts with a skin consultation with a ‘skin expert’, who will use your answers to tailor the facial to your specific needs. Sometimes a facial is simply plug and play, where you select what you want from a menu and they start on it straight away.
It’s possible you might experience some side effects after your facial:
- Allergic reactions are possible and aren’t always the fault of the salon. Sometimes if you have sensitive skin, you might just find you go a bit red or there is some stinging. If you experience any kind of swelling after you leave the salon, make sure to give them a call.
- Erythema is another common side effect of facials, and it’s just the technical term for redness. Some people (like me) are prone to erythema and go very red when the skin is stimulated. It’s simply just increased blood flow to the area, and nothing to worry about.
- Oral medications like Accutane can make the skin very sensitive and not suitable for a facial, so you should always tell your facialist if you’re using any.
- Acne medications like Tretinoin, or any kind of retinoid, should ideally be stopped for a few days before your facial to reduce any possible side effects.
- Skin irritation might occur as part of an allergic reaction.
- Purging might also occur. This is where a facial reveals some pimples that were already on their way to the surface of your skin. Chemical exfoliants can often have this effect.
So, will a facial help with acne?
Sure, they will help in the very short term. You will walk away with glowier skin and you will feel relaxed, it’s lovely. Overall, the best facial treatment is one that you can attend regularly, to ensure you see a difference.
But there are other, more effective ways to improve acne, excess oil, collagen production and fine lines, such as using a retinoid and sunscreen consistently.
You can also give yourself mini at-home facials once a month for example, where you can use an acid to polish off the top layer of the skin.
The type of acne you have will also impact the professional treatments that suit you best. For example hormonal acne is unlikely to be impacted by a classic facial, and instead you should look to optimise your diet and lifestyle. Inflammatory acne can also benefit from diet changes, and you could consider using clindamycin or benzoyl peroxide to kill the acne bacteria.
