#aboutface #services

Last week, I finally decided to have a face cleaning. The last time I had a blackhead and whitehead removal was maybe about 10 years ago (seriously). I thought doing proper skin care was enough to keep my skin clear and clean but I was wrong.

I mean, not that I was completely clueless about the importance of having a facial once in a while, but I just didn't think it would make a whole lot of difference. I noticed my blackheads during the seventh month of my pregnancy when my nose got bigger from the hormones. I noticed my pores were bigger and the blackheads were more noticeable. Being pregnant, I had to wait a few months after giving birth before I could have a good facial.

FLAWLESS Face and Body Clinic, 4th Floor SM Makati

Since SM Makati was the nearest to where I live, this is where I went for my treatment. I was greeted by reception (and beauty technician) Romalyn. I didn't know she was the one who was going to do the treatment too! As it turned out, mornings are really slow for Flawless SM Makati, so they only have one staff in the morning.

But during lunch, customers pick up and clients will keep coming in until closing time at 9PM. So if you would like to have your facial in this branch, go as soon as they open at 10!
They make you fill up a form for their records. They ask for a basic background of your health history, etc. It takes less than 5 minutes to fill up so don't worry about being late for your appointment.
In the treatment room where the beds are, there were 4 beds that were close together, but they separate them when they get full sometime during the day. But since I was the second customer of the day, I was placed on the outer most bed. My treatment started at 10:45am.
I love how everything is equipped with disposable covers, cotton pads, swabs, needles, and even that pricking instrument is disposable! So rest assured that the stuff they use on your face is sterilized, sealed, and are guaranteed brand new.
Here are just some of the treatment stuff they put on your face.
Here is the kit I mentioned earlier. You get your own cleaning kit, and there's a waiver and a place for you to sign. It's sealed and everything in the kit is brand new and sterilized.
This instrument is the apparatus that they use to remove those nasty blackheads and whiteheads, this too is disposable.
And so my treatment begins... Roma begins by putting on a hair band to keep the hair away from my face. It's freshly washed so you won't be using someone else's hair band.
STEP ONE: Roma begins with a FOAMING CLEANSER. She massages the cleanser on my face to make sure that my skin is squeaky clean for the procedure.
STEP TWO: After she wipes my face clean with a cleansing cloth soaked with water, she then massages a CLEANSING CREAM on my face. This is to soften any hardened blackheads and whiteheads on my face since cleansing creams are extremely moisturising, softening, and hydrating on the skin.
STEP THREE: Next comes the FACIAL SCRUB, this has got to be my favorite! I love facial scrubs because the skin feels so smooth and really supple after exfoliating!
Roma uses an exfoliator machine that promotes blood circulation as well and a really great facial massage!
STEP FOUR: She then applies an EYE DE-STRESSING LOTION under my eyes to get rid of puffy and tired looking baggies. It's sort of a cooling gel to me but they call it lotion. I love how Roma explains everything she puts on my face before doing so. I am not sure if they do this in all branches or if all beauty technicians do this but Roma did, and I loved it because I was able to take down notes too for my blog.
STEP FIVE: Steaming. Aside from the facial scrub, I guess you can say that STEAMING was the next best thing for me. It can get pretty hot on the face but the machine moves around on your face so it doesn't stay too long in one area. I love the feel of it on my skin because I can really feel the pores opening.
While they are steaming your face, they will apply the HOT MOIST PACK on your hands to promote  blood circulation to prep your hands for a very quick, but very good hand massage.
STEP SIX: The PRICKING. Since I haven't had a facial in a decade, it was the most painful thing next to having to pull hair from your big toe. I had so much black and whiteheads on my face that I just had to take a photo of it! Some of it are not seen in photos but they actually grosser in person.
STEP EIGHT: The they applied a gauze on top of my face and they did a LASER TREATMENT which actually stings a little on the skin and it sounds like a bug zapper. This disinfects the skin and tightens the pores.
STEP NINE: After the "light sabre" treatment on my face, Roma then applied a multi-vitamin serum on my face and used a small electric fan to make the serum absorb faster on my skin.
STEP TEN: I love this MASK and I'm glad I opted to go for the mask too. This soothed my skin and that stinging aftermath of the pricking really was cooled down and soothed by the Anti-aging Vitamin Vegetable Mask. She then turns the tiny fan back on and lets it soak to my skin faster and cool down the skin too.
After 10-15 minutes, the mask was peeled off and fresh, hydrated and plump skin was revealed!


The entire treatment lasted about an hour. I wouldn't go for a facial on the day you have somewhere to go to like a party or a wedding or something. You won't be allowed to put anything on your face for the next 9 hours, so best to have it a week ago or if you want to be a bit risky, up to the day before.

If you haven't done a facial in so long (like me!), there's a big chance that your face will turn really red and may have really deep ones that they extract and could cause a bit of bleeding, so I would definitely have my facial about a week before a special occasion to make sure.

Here's how my skin looked like the morning after the procedure:
So the question is, will I visit Flawless again? Yes. I do love Roma, she is the one who did my facial and I love how light her touch is. Even though the pricking was really painful, she did it slowly and gently.

Get a facial twice a week until all the deeply rooted black and whiteheads are all gone, and then once they're all removed (because they can't remove all of it in one go otherwise it will scar), you can then reduce to having a facial once a month for maintenance.


PROS

• Facility is clean and smells very good.
• No hard selling on their services or products!
• They use a lot of disposable stuff.
• They use only a fresh, sterilized kit on you every time.
• Clean work, my face was really smooth and clear after the procedure.
• Easy to book an appointment! Just know when the slow hours at the branch you're planning to go to and book ahead!
• Very friendly staff, and ask them anything, they know what they're doing, why they're doing, and very knowledgeable on their products!
• Pores appeared smaller after the procedure!
• Anti-aging mask really soothed sore skin after the pricking.
• My skin felt so smooth after, the technician didn't miss out on any black or whitehead!
• Affordable at PhP 980 with mask, and PhP 399 without mask.

CONS

• They don't wear gloves during the procedure, and I don't see them washing their hands before beginning. But maybe I'm wrong and I just missed them wash their hands. Hand sanitisers don't count because hand washing is still best.

MY OVERALL RATING: ★★★★★