In the last line of a Yahoo! Homepage article called “Extreme Facial That Draws Blood,” the author, after having received a two hundred and fifty dollar facial from celebrity esthetician Christine Chin asks the question, “would I be willing to pay for the pain in order to gain?” The article claims that Chin’s process uniquely incorporates microdermabrasion before using a lancet to cut into the face in order to “make extractions from the skin.” In actuality, microdermabrasion is a common procedure found at many spas and salons. Indeed, for those of us who live busy lives and seek shortcuts to maintaining a fresh, young appearance, such an expensive and painful procedure is not ideal due to lack of noticeable improvements, that is unless done more than once a month for an indefinite amount of time. For this reason, it’s important to understand why some people choose to get facials, extreme or not, and whether the pain, time, and money are really worth the gain. Here’s the cold hard truth about facials. They have not been proven to have long-lasting effects. Skin experts from Paula’s Choice note that facials can NOT:

• Eliminate acne
• Permanently fade discolorations
• Replace cosmetic corrective procedures such as Botox, lasers, or dermal fillers
• Treat rosacea or persistent redness (oftentimes the products and the amount of manipulation involved during a facial make sensitive, reddened skin worse)
• Lift sagging skin
• Eliminate dark circles or puffy eyes

In fact, facials don’t even “decongest skin and/or eliminate ‘toxins,’” a myth that is often what attracts paying clients the most to these procedures, including that of Miss Chin. This is because your body naturally filters out toxins mainly through your kidneys and liver. Even if your reason for receiving a facial was purely leisure related, it is never guaranteed that your aesthetician will know how your unique complexion will react to the chemicals used in facials. One extreme case which has been circulating around the internet is that of Juli Bun Bun, the online celebrity beauty blogger who received gruesome reactions to her treatments. The idea alone that hair dressers can often offer facial treatments at their salons, given that the two professions are completely contrasting, shows that one does not need to understand the physiology of the face, skin, and what lies beneath in order to charge money whilst promising visible results that, simply put, cannot be promised.