Saving Face – The how and why of Facials at Ageless Wellness
From microneedling to lasers, Ageless Wellness offers a broad range of aesthetic services to help women feel better about their appearance. When you look good, you feel good. Facials are a great starting point on the road to looking good and ultimate skin health.
“I’ve never had anyone who did not enjoy getting a facial. It’s the very first step in getting on a skin care regimen,” says
Joan Birdsong, one of three licensed medical aestheticians at Ageless Wellness with extensive training and certifications in a variety of professional skin care protocols and devices.
“When a client first comes to me, I like to have a consult to discover what their concerns are,” Birdsong says. “We do a lot of talking during facials. Typically if they start out with facials, most clients will move on to other types of treatment as well.”
From birth to death, our skin never stops growing or changing. Remarkably, our skin cells completely regenerate themselves every 28 to 40 days, based on age. The skin needs specific ingredients to stay healthy such as alpha hydroxy acids, beta hydroxy acids, retinoids, peptides and stem cells. Facials can force the skin to renew itself.
“People get facials for lots of different reasons,” Birdsong says. “I have clients who come in on a monthly basis just to maintain beautiful, healthy skin. Then I have clients who have an event they’re going to and they just want their exfoliated skin to glow and look its best. And some people just want to be pampered, but they also benefit from having their skin treated and helping it look better.”
No matter their reason for coming in, every client’s facial is customized to their individual needs and skin.
“The first thing I do is look at the skin through a magnified light and ask some questions, to determine the best type of facial, and the ingredients they need,” Birdsong says. “Some need to be steamed and detoxified and extracted. With others, the skin has been compromised and just needs calming and hydrating. And for some the skin cells have built up almost like bricks and mortar and we’ll exfoliate that off to reveal the nice new skin underneath. So I absolutely customize every facial.”
Birdsong had an older client who was dealing with several skin conditions including adult acne. She also had dry flaky patches and was concerned about her dull complexion and wrinkling, saggy skin.
“By getting regular facials every two weeks. we were able to clear up the acne. We used detoxifying facials with ingredients to dry up the acne and reduce oil. We also did deep exfoliation with microdermabrasion. And I did a custom mask to hydrate and put nutrients back in her skin.”
After just three facials, the client’s face had cleared up. The deep exfoliating left her skin lighter, brighter and with a glow to it, so Birdsong next plumped up her skin with hydration so the wrinkles appeared less visible. And she still comes in at least every four weeks just for a facial.
“There are different levels of correction, and facials are really at the lowest level of correction, but in the facial realm we can do different types of exfoliation. So someone with very sensitive skin or rosacea might not be a candidate for microdermabrasion, but they might be a candidate for an enzyme exfoliation or an enzyme mask.”
If someone needs a lot of correction due to age or lifestyle, Birdsong might go beyond a facial and recommend more heavy-duty treatments such as
lasers or
microneedling. Among the array of tools is LED light therapy, which can treat acne with blue light and stimulate collagen with red light. Clients are always advised to follow up with a daily regimen of good skin care. And of course, to use sunscreen.
An 18-year-old actress on a locally produced TV series recently came in seeking treatment for her acne. After just two facial visits, and adherence to the recommended skin care regimen, her face cleared up beautifully and she was thrilled./div>
“Now she comes to see me whenever she’s in town,” Birdsong says. “It’s very rewarding to get such positive feedback from clients when they come in for something so specific and are so grateful that their skin is as beautiful as it can be.”
Ageless Wellness Center is located at
1000 Commerce Drive, Suite 300, Peachtree City. Custom facials start at $115. For more information or to make an appointment with licensed medical aestheticians
Joan Birdsong or
Stephanie Basile, call 678-364-8414.
