What is a hydration facial?

 A hydration facial, also known as a hydrating facial, is a skin care treatment designed to help with dehydrated skin and moisture loss from the skin’s surface.

You will find these types of facials at a day spa and other skin care clinics that specialise in treating facial skin to help it look its best.

Let’s delve in to the details of what a hydration facial is, what it involves and why you should consider getting one.

Why is hydration good for skin?

Our bodies are made up of mostly water, and it’s an essential component of all of our cells. When cells are depleted of water and become dehydrated, they lose their plumpness.

The overall effect of this loss of water is the increased appearance of fine lines, dry patches, and a sagging appearance.

Properly hydrated skin cells are smoother and rounder, and as a result your entire face looks smoother and has a healthy glow.

What causes dehydration in the skin?

Firstly, it’s important to differentiate between dehydrated skin and dry skin. Dehydrated skin lacks water and is a skin condition, whereas dry skin is actually a skin type.

People who naturally have a dry skin type produce less oils,. This is opposed to those with oily skin who produce much more oil naturally.

Dehydrated skin can affect any skin type because it is about water loss and not about oil. Therefore even someone with oily skin can have dehydrated skin.

The main causes of dehydrated skin are:

• dry air because of central heating, air conditioning or cold weather
• drinking too much caffeine or alcohol which dehydrates the body
• using too-harsh skin care which strips out the moisture from skin cells
• normal activities like sweating from exercise or stress
• some health conditions and medications
• not drinking enough water

How is a hydration facial done?

A hydration facial treatment is usually a non-invasive treatment that provides intense hydration to the skin through the use of skincare products and facial massages.

Different facialists will use products from different brands to do this. However lots of the time they will use products with ingredient lists that are very similar.

Hydrating ingredients include:

• hyaluronic acid
• argan oil
• ceramides
• glycerin
• lactic acid
• jojoba oil

Your facialist will use products like a hydrating serum, hydrating moisturizer, oil cleanser, eye cream and other soothing products with water-rich properties.

The benefits of a hydrating facial

The aim of a deep hydration facial is to make the skin look plumper and more hydrated.

Restoring a healthy balance of water content within your skin cells is one of the best things you can do for healthy skin.

The right facial products help to attract water into thirsty skin and also form a barrier over it to prevent water evaporating into dry air.

The gentle exfoliation of active ingredients like lactic acid also remove dead skin cells, therefore revealing a new layer of skin.

The results of the facial are smooth, glowing and plump skin. This decreases the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, plumps out the skin to look fuller and more youthful, and gives you a healthy glow from within.

Does a hydrating facial give instant results?

The short answer is yes! This is the best part of getting a hydro facial. You will notice the difference immediately afterwards.

The skin’s surface has been treated with so much moisture and it has replenished it immediately.

What skin types should have a hydrating facial?

Anyone can have a hydration facial. As mentioned above, this treatment is to help restore moisture to dehydrated skin, which is a skin condition anyone can suffer from.

So whether you have dry, oily, combination or normal skin, you can still suffer from the effects of skin dehydration. If you do (and many of us do), this treatment will help.

How to avoid getting dehydrated skin

If you love the kind of results you get from the skin hydration facial, you’ll want to maintain them as much as possible.

To do this, you can try:

• drinking more water
• eating fruits and vegetables which are rich in water
• using a humidifier at home
• avoiding the use of harsh chemicals on the face (for example products that contain alcohol)
• practicing relaxation methods if you are stressed out
• adopting a skincare regimen which uses a lot of the rehydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid

If you’re looking for a facial in Altrincham, Rose & Lily Spa Bar has a range of facials suited to a variety of skin types!

Can you do a hydrating facial at home?

Yes, you can! Your results may not be the same as if you were to have one in a facial salon. This is because both the expertise of the facialist and the products they use may be more advanced.

However, there is now an at-home facial treatment machine called the HydraFacial which claims to mimic salon-quality results. It combines a microdermabrasion treatment with the added benefits of deep hydration.

They are very expensive, however, so you may choose to try out an at-home DIY HydraFacial instead. Be particularly careful doing it yourself if you have sensitive skin, as you may cause irritation.

Whether you go to a spa or stay at home to have one, a facial hydration treatment is a great idea no matter your skin type. The excellent results you will see from simply replacing the moisture in skin that we lose naturally might become addictive!