If you're an avid consumer of beauty content, you've definitely heard of the Hydrafacial by now. It seems that every beauty influencer, YouTuber, and editor on the planet has tried it — swears by it, even.
For those of you who don't know, the Hydrafacial is an extremely popular skin care treatment, during which a dermatologist or aesthetician uses a trademarked suction machine to infuse your skin with several different "formulas," literally suck dirt out of the skin, exfoliate, and enhance circulation.
Here's the part where I make a confession: I've been a beauty editor for years, and I've never gotten a facial, period. In my profession, that's practically a sin. But my skin's been feeling the greasy aftereffects from a long, humid summer — so I figured it was finally time to try it for myself.
I embarked on this skin care adventure at one of my favorite places, Haven Spa, in the NoHo neighborhood of New York City.
Haven offers a huge selection of hair, skin, and body treatments, the full menu of which you can see here.
I opted for the spa's shorter version of the Hydrafacial, which runs up a hefty $210 bill before tip. a full, 60-minute Hydrafacial with an extended massage would've cost $270.
Pre-facial, my normal-to-dry skin had no acne on the surface, but felt oilier than normal and incredibly dull thanks to New York's never-ending humidty. The area around my nose, as always, is the greasiest spot of them all, and it's full of tiny blackheads I can see up close.
Overall, not bad, I know. So let's see what this facial can do, then, huh?
Once inside Haven's doors, I am whisked to its back lounge, which is a full-on experience.
The ceiling looks like the night sky!
There are magazine and fancy free teas and crackers!
Anyway, once my very relaxing wait is over, I'm led to my ~private~ facial room, where I'm given a moment to strip from the waist up and lie down underneath the blankets.
(Yes, they did give me one of those über-sexy spa towels.)
Before doing anything, my specialist observes my skin under a magnifying glass. Once she has an idea of what she's working with, she gives my face a nice little massage with a run-of-the-mill cleanser to prep me, and I automatically understand the benefits of this whole facial thing.
Just by peeking at my skin in direct light, my facialist could tell me shit I never knew about my skin. For one, she could feel pimples deep underneath my skin I never even saw coming. Second, she told me my natural rosiness has actually been caused by broken capillaries underneath my eyes this entire fucking time.
Also, you might think having a stranger wash your face for you would feel invasive, but it actually feels really, really nice.
After the calming face cleanser rubdown, I'm wiped clean with hot towels before the star of the show, the Hydrafacial machine, is rolled in.
This video explains how the suction machine works way better than I can, but basically it uses water and other ingredients to flush out all the dirt that's stuck deep in your pores while simultaneously sucking it all out.
The actual Hydrafacial portion of the treatment has multiple steps, through which my specialist changes the machine's formula, suction tip, suction level, and application technique three different times.
The first step cleanses and rejuvenates with glucosamine; the next step eliminates oil with willow bark and leaf extract; the final step replenishes and plumps skin with antioxidants and hyaluronic acid.
You can learn more about each step of the process from the creators of the treatment, here.
At some points, my facialist uses gentle pats with the Hydrafacial machine, which feels like a tiny sea creature giving you love bites. But when she uses long, brash strokes during the extraction process, it eventually feels like a gentle scrape from a piece of soft sandpaper.
It's not painful in the slightest, but it does cause a tingle.
During the second step, the extraction process, the facialist also whips out a small, sterilized needle to puncture and empty out any and all pimples at or beneath the skin's surface.
Immediately after the Hydrafacial, I'm way more red than usual and looking very, very wet and shiny — that's entirely normal for most facials.
That being said, I can barely keep my hands off my face, because it's the softest and most plump I've ever felt it.
When I woke up the next morning, the underlying acne my specialist had pointed out to me came to the surface (also normal post-facial). Aside from that, my skin was damn near flawless.
More than it ever has, my skin's redness had faded temporarily faded away, and the softness from the day before had more than held up. Thanks to the salicylic acid in the Hydrafacial's extraction fluid, that acne faded away after a day and left nothing but smooth, clear skin underneath.
Score.
Final verdict? I'm not sure this specific facial is The One for me, but I know plenty of people with other skin types who'd fall head over heels.
Were I on the oilier side or more prone to breakouts and cystic acne, this facial would've done way more for me than it did. If you've tried everything to beat your acne and nothing's worked, ask your dermatologist about the Hydrafacial or see your local aesthetician for a consultation.
I loved the Hydrafacial, and although I'm not necessarily addicted, I finally understand the benefits and importance of getting at least one facial every couple of months — if you don't see a dermatologist regularly, a skin care specialist is the next best person to see to gauge what your skin's problems are and how it changes from season to season (and also as you age).
Aside from that, it's just really relaxing, dammit. I don't relax often, but lying down in a dark room and having your face and collarbone rubbed down isn't the worst thing you can spend a couple hundred bucks on.
