What You Should Know About Facial Exfoliation:

What You Should Know About Facial Exfoliation:

• Be extra careful with the delicate skin of your face.
• It's easy to overexfoliate. Talk to a good esthetician about the product and frequency that is best for your skin. Your should be especially cautious if you have sensitive or aging skin.


• Be careful not to overdo microdermabrasion. It can make thin, aging skin even thinner if you get too many treatments too quickly.
• Don't overexfoliate, especially in summer or in very sunny climates. You're making it easier for your skin to be damaged by the sun.
• Never use body scrubs on the face. They're too rough.
• Be very careful with peels. Don't get one peel and then go somewhere else to ask for another. You can remove too much of your protective layer and end up exposing the living dermis. Again, be careful about going out in the sun afterwards, or doing it in summer.
• Never wax if you've had a peel recently. It might expose raw, living skin, which will have to scab over to heal.

Why Is Exfoliation Important?

Why Is Exfoliation Important?

The skin is constantly generating new skin cells at the lower layer (the dermis) and sending them to the surface (the epidermis). As the cells rise to the surface they gradually die and become filled with keratin. These keratinized skin cells are essential because they give our skin its protective quality. But they are constantly sloughing off to make way for younger cells.

As we age the process of cell turnover slows down. Cells start to pile up unevenly on the skin's surface, giving it a dry, rough, dull appearance. Exfoliation is beneficial because it removes those cells that are clinging on, revealing the fresher, younger skin cells below.

It is possible, however, to overexfoliate, especially on the delicate skin of the face. Overexfoliating will dry and irritate the skin.

Chemical Exfoliation

Chemical Exfoliation. Enzymes, alphahydroxy acids (AHAs) or betahydroxy acids (BHAS) loosen the glue-like substance that holds the cells together, allowing them to slough away. Facial peels are a form of chemical exfoliation. Chemical peels can either be very gentle or very aggressive, depending on how the strong the peel is. Body treatments might use mild chemical exfoliants like pineapple enzymes.

Mechanical Exfoliation

1) Mechanical Exfoliation. The dead skin cells are physically rubbed off with an abrasive. Examples of mechanical exfoliation include a salt glow, a body scrub that might use sugar or coffee grounds, or skin brushing. On the face, mechanical exfoliation ranges from scrubs should use small, round, gentle abrasives like jojoba beads to more aggressive procedures like microdermabrasion.

What Is A Vichy Shower?

A Vichy shower is a metal arm with five to seven shower heads that runs parallel to a cushioned treatment table, so you can get a shower while lying down. It is usually part of a body treatment, like a salt scrub or body wrap. Instead of jumping up and getting in a shower to rinse off the salt or mud, you simply lie there.

The Vichy might be attached to the wall, or freestanding. It has a hinge so the therapist can turn the water on and adjust the temperature while it's away from the treatment table. Once it's the right temperature and pressure, he/she will swing it over your body. The cascade of water feels delicious!

During a Vichy shower you are usually draped with towels -- one between your legs and for women, one across your breasts. You can wear disposable underwear. When you're on your back, the therapist might put something over your face to minimize the water spray in your face.

If you're anxious about nudity, this is probably not the treatment for you. Turning over with wet towels tends to be a little sloppy.

Where Can I Find A Vichy Shower?

Check the spa menu to see if they have a Vichy shower as part of their body treatments, or ask the receptionist. Large day spas, resort spas and destination spas usually have a Vichy shower, but a small local day spa probably won't.

Thalassotherapy

Thalassotherapy is the therapeutic use of the ocean, its climate, and marine products like algae, seaweed, and alluvial mud. The name comes from the Greek words thalassa ("the sea") and therap ("treat").

The principle behind thalassotherapy is that repeated exposure to sea air and immersion in warm seawater, mud, clay, and protein-rich algae helps restore the body's natural chemical balance. Seawater and human plasma are very similar. When immersed in warm seawater the body absorbs the minerals it needs through the skin.

What You Need to Know About Thalassotherapy

• There are about 100 thalassotherapy spas in the world, most of them in Europe and Africa. Thalassotherapy was pioneered in France in the early 1900s, and it still has more thalassotherapy spas than any other country.


• Modern thalassotherapy centers are located by the ocean and have complex facilities, including pools of varying depths and temperatures for various purposes. The seawater comes from a depth of 40 feet so there is no surface pollution. It also comes from some distance from shore.


• You get a benefit from warm seawater that you don't get from swimming in cold seawater. The main component of seawater is sodium choride (salt), but it is also rich in minerals and trace elements. Immersion in warm seawater allows those minerals to pass through the skin.


• Thalassotherapy never took off in the United States so you can't find the same complex thalassotherapy facilities of Europe. Gurney's Inn & Spa in Montauk, New York is the closest thing to a thalassotherapy spa in America.


• If you're at a spa by the ocean, you can still get thalassotherapy benefits by walking on the beach, breathing the sea air, or getting a seaside massage. And seaweed wraps are a classic thalassotherapy treatment available at most spas.