I hate facials.  And yes, I heard your audible intake of breath and I can totally see the horrified look on your face…but give me a second to explain.

Like a lot of other things connected to my health and my body, my skin is weird.  As a child i went to more dermatologists and doctors than I care to remember.  Not so much because of bad skin, although like the bulk of teenagers I had a few years of really bad skin, which I’m epically grateful I outgrew.  I still don’t have beautiful skin, but it’s calmed down to just well, normal skin, and that I can deal with.  The reason I had to see so many of them is because of odd skin conditions.  I’m prone to heat rashes (part of the reason I don’t particularly like summer or heat, I’m literally allergic to it), all kinds of strange forms of eczema, rashes and my skin as allergic to most products.

Growing up I remember a particularly bad tiny little “thing” that formed on my right calf.  It covered an area slightly larger than the size of a R5 coin, which nobody understood because rashes spread…so this was obviously not a rash.  Itched like hell and eventually all the little dots joined and formed this awkward and ugly sore that just wouldn’t go away.  I think i was prescribed a million different salves and tablets and saw more doctors and specialists than I want to remember, but nothing helped. The thing (as i had started calling it) simply got uglier and angrier by the day. They cut samples to send away for testing and still, nobody was able to figure out exactly what it was. Then one day a little old lady that was like my second grandmother in the little town I grew up in gave me a tub of some mystery concoction that a pharmacist in another little town mixed.  I was told to apply it a few times a day and see what happens.  I was 12 years old and desperate, so completely willing to try ANYTHING.  Within days the “thing” was gone, and my only reminder is the faint scar I still have. This is partly the reason why I hate doctors and dermatologists so much.

As I got older my skin allergies got worse.  There was a point when i was at varsity and shortly after I started working where I could ONLY use unscented white soap to wash and original aqueous cream.  EVERYTHING else caused my skin to become red and sore and sometimes even terrible breakouts. It seems to have calmed down slightly since then, but my choice of products is still limited to…well…dermalogica really.  It is an expensive range, but the only “intended for skin” products that I can safely use without any side effects.  I love dermalogica. I can use one or two selected products from Kiehl’s and Annique, but not the whole range.

I don’t wear base…like ever.  Because my skin can’t tolerate it.  I am however currently on a rather panicked search for a base that I’ll be able to wear for a full day without having to suffer the fallout because my cousin is getting married on 10 August and I’m the Maid of Honour.  I’ve tried a few and every single time I’ve had to deal with the itchiness, the redness and a bit of breakout.  Not ideal, since I’ll be leaving for my holiday the next day and I refuse to pitch up in Switzerland with a spotted face.

So here’s my problem with facials.  I love them.  They are relaxing and my skin usually feels great straight after.  I love being pampered and feeling like I’m being beautified.  The problem with facials is that even the most basic ones, using only products I KNOW I’m not allergic to and only a few products at that still leaves my skin feeling over stimulated.  Over stimulation means that the next few days is a pain in my ass with little spots everywhere.  And extractions of even the tiniest under the skin little thing, will cause inflammation and infection in that area, no matter how much disinfectant or what not they, and afterwards I, apply.  Which means that instead of being a good thing and my skin looking better, my skin looks worse than on even my normal bad days and it looks particularly weird because the skin is otherwise radiant because of the treatment. Ridiculous right?

So yes, as much as I love the concept of a facial, I hate them.  And this makes me sad.

Love
Ruby
xxxx