An all-new beauty treatment proves you don’t have to suck it up when it comes to general skin problems, but it helps to know the HydraFacial can do just that.

Words Hayley Barnett / Photos Salina Galvan + supplied

If you spend any amount of time on social media, or read magazines or beauty blogs, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the much-hyped HydraFacial. It’s being recommended by everyone from well-respected dermatologists, to highly-influential celebrities like Kate Winslet. Being the first in the Bay to offer the HydraFacial, it wasn’t hard for Constance Santos from Epidermis & Sage to convince me to give it a try.

Walking into the treatment room I was met with a large machine that looks like it belongs in a surgery, which is slightly intimidating when you think you’re there for a facial. Fittingly, the person who invented it is a plastic surgeon who wanted to offer clients with all skin types the opportunity to extract impurities from their skin, with a more gentle treatment, compared to, say, microdermabrasion procedures. And the tagline, '3 steps. 30 minutes. The best skin of your life', sounds promising. 

The reason the machine is so big is because it has three main functions – firstly to cleanse and peel, with gentle exfoliation and resurfacing; secondly to extract and hydrate, with painless suction and nourishing moisturisers; and lastly to fuse and protect with antioxidants and peptides. To do this, it uses a patented Vortex-Fusion delivery system, or what I would describe as a sucky pen thing attached to a machine by a clear tube, extracting debris from your pores. You can literally see the gunk being sucked out of your face as the pen glides across your skin like a deep-cleaning, moisturising vacuum cleaner.

“So it’s a vacuum for your face?” I asked. “Uh, yes,” came the reply, accompanied by a sideways glance. My very scientific description was confirmed when Constance held up a large, clear container full of liquid with a whole lot of small, black floaties – my blackheads. It’s safe to say a whole lot of gunk was removed from my skin, which was embarrassing yet satisfying. Add to that, my face felt naked, but also like it was breathing for the first time. 

The whole experience was much more relaxing than it sounds. The procedure is completely painless, and Constance says it combats any skin problem – from pigmentation to acne. But it's also suitable as a regular cleanse. She recommended I have it done once a month, to keep my skin clean and clear, but the frequency depends on your skin type. Oily skin, for example, may need a couple of treatments within one to two weeks of each other, before moving to monthly. 

A few weeks later, my skin still feels clean and naked without my usual blackheads filling my now-empty pores. I might try to stretch it out to every six weeks, but rest assured that I’ll certainly be back for more. 

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