Hydrating facial – everything you need to know

For most people, going for a facial is an occasional treat, but for some, it’s a part of their skincare routine. Either way, picking an appropriate facial treatment for your skin can be tricky. The choice is massive. You can go for a facial peel, hydrating facial, lymphatic facial, LED facial or just a classical one. And each of them comes in different brands and types of products. Today, we are going to look into a hydrating facial.

What is hydrating facial?

A hydrating facial is a treatment where the main focus is on providing deep hydration to your skin. It still includes all the other aspects of a facial such as cleansing, exfoliating and moisturising, but there is a bigger emphasis on hydrating the skin.

If you didn’t know, hydrating the skin and moisturising it aren’t quite the same. When we hydrate our skin, we bring water back into our skin cells which can lead to our skin looking more plump and healthy. And when we moisturise our skin, we put on a layer (a moisturiser) that will help prevent that water from evaporating from our skin.

Hydrating facial treatment is suitable for anyone and at any age. But it would particularly suit those with dehydrated skin or with dry patches. And the best thing is that it’s also suitable for those with sensitive skin.

Benefits of hydrating facial

As you can already guess, the main benefit of a hydrating facial is deeply hydrated skin. But there are other benefits too.

They include:

• even skin tone
• reduced redness and itchiness
• smoother skin
• balanced production of oil
• better absorption of skincare products
• plumper skin

Hydrated skin

The number one benefit of a hydrating facial is hydrated skin. Once the skin is adequately hydrated, it’s much more resilient to external aggressors, looks healthier and feels more comfortable. That is particularly important for those who find their skin feeling tight and uncomfortable.

Even skin tone

By exfoliating the skin, we remove dead skin cells that can make our skin look patchy. And then, when we deeply hydrate it, we give our skin a chance to restore itself to its optimal state. Once in that state, our skin looks smooth and even.

Reduced redness and itchiness

The most common cause of redness and itchiness is dehydration. Dehydration leads to dry, flaky skin that just feels uncomfortable and as if it’s too tight. A hydrating facial helps restore the water levels in our skin cells, making it appear less red and reducing the itchiness.

Smoother skin

Hydrated skin will feel soft and smooth to the touch. A treatment like hydrating facial can help deeply rehydrate the skin, and if you take good aftercare, that feeling of soft skin can last longer. But you must use a good moisturiser that will prevent TEWL (trans epidermal water loss). It doesn’t have to be a heavy moisturiser, but using an appropriate product twice daily can keep your skin feeling soft and smooth for longer.

Balanced oil production

Often people with oily skin have dehydrated skin. And that dehydrated skin is trying to compensate by producing extra oil to hydrate itself. That’s why you should avoid all those products targeted for oily skin that promise a mattifying effect. Those products are usually not hydrating enough and can further dry out your skin. If your skin is hydrated enough, it can slow down the production of the oil and keep it balanced.

Better absorption of skincare products

Exfoliation is an essential part of any facial, including a hydrating one. When we exfoliate, we remove a top layer of dead skin cells revealing fresh, young skin. And once that layer is removed – our skin can absorb the skincare products much easier, and they can penetrate deeper into the skin. If we keep our skin hydrated even after the treatment, we can prolong the effects of it and get the best benefits out of our skincare.

Plumper skin

The hydration from this treatment can leave the skin looking plump, meaning it can make the fine lines and wrinkles less visible. And, if the treatment is supported by anti-ageing ingredients such as retinol in your daily routine, you can help reduce and prevent fine lines and wrinkles from happening to keep your skin looking younger for longer.

Who can benefit from hydrating facial?

As I already said, any skin type can benefit from a hydrating facial. Men or women of all ages and skin types could use a hydrating treatment every once in a while.

But hydrating facials can help with these conditions in particular:

• sagging skin
• dehydrated skin
• uneven skin tone
• flaky skin
• fine lines and wrinkles

How much does hydrating facial cost

The prices of this treatment differ by the brand of products used and the length of treatment. Generally, a hydrating facial is one of the more affordable treatments. In the US, the price for a 30-minute hydrating facial is about $100 to $150. For lengthier treatments (about an hour), the price is usually $200 to $250.

In Europe, the pricing is similar. Shorter treatment can cost anywhere between €100 and €150, and lengthier treatment €150 to €200.

If you add other boosters as part of your facial, the price might be higher.

How does hydrating facial treatment look like

Most facial treatments look similar in terms of the steps taken during the treatment. Most of them look like this:

1. skin consultations
2. cleansing
3. exfoliating
4. treatment
5. moisturising

Skin consultation

To be able to provide safe treatment, our skin therapist will need to know a bit more about us. So usually, you are given a form to fill out where they ask about any underlying conditions, allergies and details about yourself. It’s essential to provide accurate information because it is needed to get the best and safest possible treatment.

Cleansing

The most important step of every facial treatment and even your skincare routine is cleansing. First, if you are wearing makeup, the therapist will first remove the makeup with a balm or an oil cleanser (they will choose the best product for your skin type). Then they will do a second cleanse to ensure your skin is clean before continuing the treatment.

Exfoliating

As I have said earlier, exfoliating is a process of removing dead skin cells from the top layer of your skin. During a facial, your therapist can do it in a few ways. For example, they can use a physical or a chemical exfoliant or even electric tools to do so. Once exfoliated, your skin is ready for the other parts of your facial. By removing that layer of dead skin cells, the skin gets in an optimal state to be hydrated.

Treatment

That is where most facials differ. This part is usually customized for every skin to suit its needs best. But in hydrating facials, it doesn’t vary too much. A therapist uses special serums full of hydrating and antioxidant ingredients to deeply hydrate and nourish your skin.

Moisturising

To finish the treatment, a therapist will apply a moisturiser to prevent all that hydration from escaping from the skin. That will ensure your skin stays hydrated for longer.

Treatment length

A hydrating facial can take half an hour or a full hour, depending on how long you want it.

Aftercare

To ensure you get the best bang for your buck, you must take good care of your skin post-treatment. The best way to do it is to protect and moisturise your skin.

Use SPF

Using SPF daily should be a staple in your skincare routine. But especially after any kind of skin treatment. Because your skin is exfoliated, it can be more sensitive to the sun and can burn easier. So wearing an SPF of at least 30 is essential. In fact, wearing SPF will prevent not only getting sunburnt but can slow down the ageing process.

Moisturise

Another essential step is to moisturise. We want to keep all that hydration in our skin, not let it evaporate as soon as possible. Keeping your skin moisturised will do exactly that – it will prevent transepidermal water loss, keeping our skin looking plump for longer.

Avoid makeup

Even though they say you can apply your makeup and go back to work straight away after the treatment, I think it’s better to skip the makeup. It would be a shame to cover your skin in makeup and not let it breathe after the treatment. If you need to wear makeup, choose mineral makeup that will let the skin breathe and provide some cover.

Can I DIY hydrating facial at home?

You will never be able to recreate the same environment and the same effect a professional hydrating facial you get in a salon gives you. That being said, if you are on a budget, you can still create a nice pampering experience that will leave your skin feeling soft and hydrated. I already have a post about how to recreate a facial at home, but here is the gist.

1. Cleanse

Like in a salon, we will also do a double cleansing method to deeply cleanse our skin. To take it a step further, you can use a dedicated eye and lip makeup remover and first cleanse those areas. Then you can go in with your balm or oil to melt the rest of your makeup from your face. Lastly, go in with your gel or foam cleanser to thoroughly remove everything from the first cleanse and leave your skin cleansed.

2. Toner

This step is optional but can help keep your skin’s pH balanced. You can either apply your toner with cotton pads or spray it on. Keep in mind that the toner you use in this step is a hydrating one, not an exfoliating one. You can even use plain rosewater if you’d like.

3. Preheat

This step is also optional, but it can be of great benefit to open the pores and allow the hydrating product to get absorbed better. You can do it in two ways – with a warm wet towel placed on your face or with a facial steamer. The steamer can be a plug-in one, or you can simply fill a bowl with warm water (warm enough to be steaming but not hot enough to burn you). If you have sensitive skin or your skin doesn’t tolerate heat well, you should skip this step.

4. Deep cleanse

In this step, we use an exfoliant to remove the dead skin cells to allow for better product absorption. You can use a chemical, enzymatic or mechanical exfoliant. I think an enzymatic exfoliant would work best in this routine, but you can use what you have at home. If you want to try a fantastic enzyme exfoliant, I would recommend the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant.

5. Hydrating treatment

That is the main event. To make it slightly different from your day-to-day routine and more hydrating – you can do a seven-step skin method. That is a method in which you apply your hydrating product seven times in a row. That could be a hydrating toner or an essence. Between each application, wait about ten seconds until it gets slightly absorbed and reapply. You can reapply your product seven times or until you notice your skin is not absorbing the product anymore. There are a lot of hydrating toners and essences available, but the ones I liked in the past are Hada Labo Tokyo Lotion No. 1 Super Hydrator and Bielenda Super Power Mezo Tonic.

6. Moisturiser

And the last step in your at-home hydrating facial is moisturiser. Apply a thin layer of your favourite moisturiser after your hydrating product has been absorbed to prevent it from evaporating and to keep the skin hydrated.

Conclusion about hydrating facial

A hydrating facial is a fantastic addition to any skincare routine. Even if you do it yourself at home – it can still benefit your skin.

A hydrating facial can help reduce redness, even out skin tone, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and make the skin smoother and softer. And it suits everyone. No matter what skin type, age or gender, everyone can benefit from hydrating facial every once in a while.

And if you don’t want to or can’t go to a salon to get a hydrating facial, you can do it at home and still get similar benefits. Of course, it won’t be as impactful as a professional one, but it can still benefit your skin.