How to Do a European Facial at Home
There are many different kinds of facials that you can indulge in to pamper yourself and give yourself clear, beautiful skin. A European Facial is one of them and is also known as a French facial.
A European facial or French facial is a common spa treatment and has quickly become a favorite at home.
It is great for all skin types and ages and a good luxury treatment for anyone who wants to improve their complexion while enjoying a little pampering and self-care.
This truly indulgent skincare treatment cleanses your skin in ways you never thought possible and gives your face a whole new youthful look. This one at home will give you the same effect of luxury spas without any of the expensive price tags or travel expenses.
Contents
What is a European Facial?
A European Facial is a luxurious beauty treatment that is exfoliating, cleansing, and relaxing all in one!
The main goal of the treatment is to remove dead cells from the surface of your skin which makes your face appear dull and discolored. This treatment also helps to eliminate blackheads as well as excess oils on your face.
A European Facial can be done at home by yourself or with the help of a loved one. If you want the luxury feeling but don’t have the time or money for an actual spa treatment, then this at-home treatment will give you that same effect without spending tons of money.
It includes exfoliation, an invigorating massage, and the application of a mask so your skin is deeply clean, refreshed, and moisturized.
When you perform these steps regularly, you will see that your skin will be clearer with fewer blackheads and pimples. Your complexion evens out leaving it smoother, softer, and younger-looking.
What is included in a European Facial?
When going through the process of a European Facial, you’ll apply several steps to achieve the desired results. You usually start off with cleansing to remove all makeup, dirt, and debris.
Then you follow the process of
- Steaming, to open the pores
- exfoliation
- extractions
- toner
- treatment/serums
- a massage
- moisturizer
You can give yourself a massage at home! Let’s talk more about all these steps.
How to Do a European Facial at Home
Step One: Start by cleansing the skin.
Use a gentle cleanser or makeup remover to cleanse your skin. Even if you wipe off your makeup, there are still oils and debris on your face that are clogging your pores which causes acne to appear. You want to start with a very mild soap or get a special makeup remover for European Facials. The Squalane Cleanser from the Ordinary is perfect here. It removes makeup while being mild enough to not irritate the skin for all the steps to come.
When washing it is important to not scrub too hard as this can irritate the upper layers of the skin leaving behind redness and irritation.
Step Two: The Steam Treatment
Once your skin is visibly clean you’ll want to steam your face. This opens up all of your pores so that you are better able to remove the impurities in them. It also gets the skin ready to receive the treatments you’re about to apply.
You can achieve this by taking a hot shower, using a face steamer, or using a hot towel on your face, leaving it on until it begins to cool down. While doing any of these steam applications, make sure that you don’t overheat your face which can cause excessive redness and irritation to the skin. You just want to open up the pores to remove deeper impurities easier.
Step Three: Exfoliation
A scrub will be too harsh for a multi-step European facial. Here, you’ll want to exfoliate your skin using a paper mask, a chemical exfoliant, or a mud/cream-based mask. These are light but effective at removing dead skin cells without irritating the skin.
One of the best chemical exfoliants on the market right now is this one while this is an excellent cream-based exfoliating mask.
Step Four: The Extractions Step
After opening your pores and getting rid of the dead skin cells, it is time for extractions! This step is very important because it removes all of the whiteheads, blackheads, dirt, oil, and bacteria that have accumulated in your pores leaving them smoother than ever before!
There are several ways you can perform an extraction. The most common method is to use an over-the-counter glycolic acid or salicylic acid product. These work well and do a fine job at removing blackheads without causing too much redness or inflammation of your skin.
For any noticeable bumps on the skin, you can remove the oils using a special tool to empty your pores without leaving scars or being over-irritating. Just be sure to use it correctly and sparingly as you can cause more damage to the skin if you try to go too deep.
Step Five: Tone
Toning is an important part of a European Facial because it helps to close your pores and tighten any looseness in your skin that may be present. You’ll want to choose a clarifying and hydrating toner such as this one. Toning your skin prepares it for the most important step of all which is the treatment you choose.
Step Six: The Treatment/Serums
Your treatment or serum should be anti-aging and specifically address any issues you’re currently facing, such as hyperpigmentation, dullness, or acne. It should also help reduce wrinkles, fine lines, and other damage caused by free radicals.
This step is very important! It helps to repair damaged skin cells to prevent them from forming new wrinkles and lines in your face. If this step isn’t done the rest of your efforts may not be as effective as they could be.
You can achieve all this without spending hundreds of dollars on expensive serums with “miracle” ingredients by choosing effective drugstore brands such as this one. If you have a little more coin to spend, this serum is top-rated for giving you smooth, clear skin.
Step Seven: Moisturizing
Now that you’ve cleansed, extracted, toned, and treated, it’s time to lock this all in with a good moisturizer. This will keep your face dewy, healthy, and glowing! You have a myriad of options here depending on the time of day, the season of the year, and what your face needs right now. You could go with a lightweight oil such as jojoba oil with a few drops of essential oil or use a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid that’s known to attract moisture to the skin. This is my current favorite moisturizer for regular use.
At this step, it’s a good idea to give yourself an invigorating facial massage. This is usually incorporated at luxury spas here and will help your ingredients absorb deeper into your skin. This is difficult to do by yourself, but I recommend using a rose quartz or derma roller to achieve similar results. Using a roller such as these really relaxes your face while helping your ingredients to sink deeper.
Step Eight: Maintenance
Now, this step is important because it prevents you from getting more blackheads and impurities in your pores, which means no more peeling black or whiteheads to scar your face! What you want to do for maintenance is to exfoliate every other week with a light scrub or mask and use your topical treatments twice a day on clean skin. You can also use any serums or creams you like as well because they won’t interfere with maintenance, so choose one that addresses your current needs. I alternate between a Vitamin C Serum and a Retinol Serum.
How often should you get a European Facial?
Once a month is recommended in order to keep your skin as clean and radiant as possible. If that’s too often for your schedule then you should aim for at least once every three months depending on how much time you spend outside, what kind of sunscreen you use, and the condition of your skin.
It’s important to keep up your skincare regimen when exposing yourself to harmful environmental pollutants daily because neglecting your skin leads to a build-up of impurities that can cause an outbreak of acne.
If you follow these steps regularly then you can have a beautiful healthy complexion all year long!
What is the difference between a regular facial and a European facial?
A regular facial does not always include all the steps involved in a European facial. A European facial goes through the entire process each time to provide a deep pore cleansing and will usually take you an hour or more.
A European facial also includes the use of serums and anti-aging creams which regular facials may not offer. The goal of a European facial is to help repair damage to the skin while removing impurities for a youthful and radiant complexion! You can achieve all this at home without spending hundreds of dollars by following these steps regularly.
Be sure to stock up on the above beauty products in your at-home facial kit and pamper yourself ever so often.
