Facial virgin

I had my first facial yesterday, at the introduction of my dearie. I don’t think I qualify for the tag SNAG or metrosexual yet, but it was quite a nice experience.

We went to her regular place, which is one tucked away in the heartland of Ang Mo Kio, not one of those famous chains with much marketing through public ads or credit card discounts. Two-women show with a four-customer capacity, with sufficiently impressive array of ointments and equipment – at least to a facial newbie like me who doesn’t have a point of reference drawn from the big players.

Most customers are treated on the beds separated by curtain partitions, but I was given the sole room, possibly because I was the only male there. I was also denied the shoulder massage that apparently everyone else gets sexual discrimination, I say ;-/ In any case, I just lay down on the bed as relaxed and still as possible and commended my body to the mercy of the beautician. My dearie came to my rescue since the beautician’s language of preference is Chinese, but once the initial discussion was over (my involvement came into the picture only when I recognised the un-Chinese word “eczema” :-/)  and the course of treatment was determined, I just closed my eyes and tuned myself out.

I was interested in what happened throughout the treatment, so though my eyes were closed I kept from sleeping (this, however, was quite doubted by my dearie). There were application of ointments, wiping of face, application of other ointments, covering of face with clothes, squeezing and pricking with some sharp implement (I believe this was blackhead cleansing?), application of ointments, covering with clothes, application of ointments (gee, I sense a pattern here), facial massage, application of ointments (I do note that all were different ointments with different feel and aroma) … anyway, I lost track of how many ointments were applied and in what exact sequence (hence the doubt of my state of consciousness).

What’s clear though, was at the end of it, my face felt very clean and smooth. And as a bonus, I actually felt relaxed throughout and even a bit tingling – something that I didn’t expect from anything less than a full-body treatment like massage. Either there’s something to be said of facial massage, or of the very serene state of mind that I managed to put myself in – very rare since my mind usually can’t hold still. Apparently an ultrasonic device was also applied to my face (I didn’t recall this, and again, my consciousness was doubted) to push nutrient way deep under my skin. I don’t know how much that is supposed to factor, but there was result: the reddish peeling skin of the area enringing my spectacles frames was just like what a normal skin should be. And it lasted one and a half day so far. That’s already one day more than any cleansing agent + moisturiser has been able to do.

My verdict is: facial is good, I like. But not much enough for me to frequent one regularly. Especially now that I am armed with one of the ointments which is supposed to help me maintain the face to not have the reddishness anymore, with sufficient quantity to last me more than a year of dilligent nightly application. And that’s not yet factoring the fact I’m a stingy user of consumable stuff. And a forgetful one.