acne – East Village Spa Blog

New to professional skincare? Try a DIY Facial Kit!

By guest blogger, Joni Etheredge, our Guest Experience Assistant

Shortly after I started working at East Village Spa, COVID19 forced our 3 month closure. During that time I ran out of my big box store facial products and needed to get more. I decided to switch up my skin care routine and try the spa’s Rhonda Allison products. During my quarantine, the spa’s online store made it super easy to order and pick up curbside or get it mailed.

*Joni with two of her favorite products, the Beta Green Tea cleanser and the Cleansing Pads.*

I started off with the acne DIY facial kit we were selling which included the Beta Green Tea Cleanser, Skin Brightening Enzyme, Wasabi Mask and the Hydrating Grape Seed Serum. Surprisingly I enjoyed the process even though I’ve never been much for spending time on my skin care. This may have been because quarantine meant I had lots of time on my hands.

Cleansing was easy with the beta green tea. Then I moved on to using the skin brightening enzyme that had to sit for 10-15 minutes so I checked emails that I didn’t have, and read a little to pass the time. DING, time to remove with a soft damp cloth as the instructions suggest. It was nice to not have water dripping down my arms from just running and splashing water. On to the Wasabi mask; at first this was a little spicy but after a minute my skin calmed down. The spicy feeling seemed to lessen after several weeks of using this product in my facial routine.

Last on to the Grape seed hydrating serum for moisturizing. It definitely was hydrating and made my skin feel great especially after the enzyme and wasabi. After getting my routine down I switched my moisturizer to the Aloe Matte for daily use since during the summer my skin can get oily. The grape seed serum could leave me feeling oily so I also switched to the Mandelic Au Lait on days I masked with the enzyme and wasabi since it could leave me feeling more dry.

I also was looking for the products that had antibacterial properties in them because I always deal with a lot of jawline and cheek acne and blemishes. I added the Mandelic Perfecting Polish later to my routine a couple times per week for exfoliation. It was fun to have something new to learn about during my quarantine time!

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Are you curious about our DIY Rhonda Allison Facials and aren’t able to visit yet, or still staying home as often as possible due to COVID19? Maybe you live further away but want the benefit of professional skincare with advice from licensed professionals. Visit www.ShopEastVillageSpa.com to see what we offer. Several include videos by East Village Spa’s Lead Esthetician, Camille Arbegast, to help you decide what will work for you! You’re welcome to e-mail us at [email protected] and put “skincare” in the subject line. Let us know your skin concerns and a licensed esthetician can make some professional suggestions for you!

“Maskne” Solutions

Masks are vital to return our communities to health and keep our business open, but the aren’t always skin-friendly, causing breakouts that have been referred to as “maskne.” Despite the fact that this term will probably get as irritating as the breakouts it refers to, at East Village Spa, we’re leaning into it with solutions.

NEW! Maskne Facial

This 60 minute service offers an hour of relaxation and stress relief for your mind and therapeutic care for your skin. Our estheticians will select products to relieve clogged pores, breakouts and irritation. For a limited time, your Maskne facial includes $15 toward the Rhonda Allison products suggested by your esthetician, as home care is essential to prevent and manage future breakouts. Book yours online!

Manage maskne at home

In addition to the Maskne Facial, we can help with home care to help keep these annoying breakouts at bay. Our lead esthetician, Camille’s top picks:

Beta Green Tea Cleanser: anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, exfoliating with salicylic acid and green tea. Unlike many salicylic acid cleansers, this will NOT dry out skin!
Mandelic Au Lait Moisturizer: Even if you feel your skin is getting oily from wearing a mask, you still need a moisturizer. If you skip moisturizing, your skin will produce more oil to overcompensate. This product absorbs quickly with lightweight hydration and mandelic acid to heal and provide antibacterial support.
Blemish Serum: This spot treatment for breakouts can be used after cleansing and before moisturizing, morning and night.
Mandelic Arginine Serum: Exfoliating and supportive for breakout prone and inflamed skin, this multi-benefit serum should be used after cleansing morning and/or evening and before moisturizing.

Breakouts are annoying, but the benefit of wearing your mask far outweighs this minor convenience. The more we wear our masks, and wear them properly, the sooner we can get back to business as usual. We can help your skin get through this trying time, and reduce some of your stress in the process.

Products available in spa and online at www.shopeastvillagespa.com

Hydrafacial returns with safety upgrades

We took our time learning the safest way to start offering facial services again in the middle of a pandemic. There hasn’t been a ton of solid guidance for our profession, so we’ve been studying the dental profession and their practices as we developed our safety upgrades.

Hydrafacial is currently the first facial skincare service we brought back after we re-opened. We love this service because it is the most effective of all of our facial services with maximum benefits in a shorter time. Because guests will be “unmasked” for most of the service, efficiency will help minimize risks for providers and guests/ Don’t worry though, this service still includes nurturing upgrades we’re known for. Read descriptions here.

We can be safe AND relaxing!

In addition to our regular COVID19 safety upgrades,

Your Hydrafacial will be performed by a licensed esthetician who is wearing both a mask and face shield.
We will run a HEPA air purifier designed for a much larger space in order to quickly exchange the air in the room.
Guests will arrive in a mask and leave in a mask. Consider bringing a clean, cotton mask to put on after the service.
You’ll first select one of three essential oil massage blends and your esthetician will help you relax (while masked) with some neck, arm, or scalp massage techniques (will vary by provider). You’ll get to keep the rest of your oil as a gift to enjoy at home.
If you select the Deluxe Hydrafacial option, we’ve changed the in-service mask to a custom selected mask your esthetician will send home with you. You’ll then apply this mask at home one-week following your Hydrafacial which will further enhance the results of your service.

Esthetician in a face mask and shield at East Village Spa

We feel confident we can provide Hydrafacial services with reasonable risk reduction, but please remember that no service is entirely risk free. For this reason, every one of our estheticians had a choice of whether to offer Hydrafacial services and some have decided to wait until cases significantly decline. This means that whomever you see is comfortable providing your service, which always makes for a more relaxing experience!

Book your Hydrafacial online now!

Hydrafacial FAQs

We’re so excited to offer exciting new Hydrafacial technology to our spa guests (and honestly, we’re super pumped to use it on ourselves!) Hydrafacial is quite different than a normal facial, but like all of our services, we want to make sure that our guests still have a relaxing and stress-relieving experience. Camille Arbegast, our managing esthetician and spa Hydrafacial Trainer has answered some of the most common questions our guests have.

Q: What is Hydrafacial?

A: Hydrafacial is a corrective treatment to address any kind of skin concern such as fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, and oily/congested skin. The treatment process removes dead skin and painlessly extracts congested pores while infusing hydrating, firming serums into the skin. There is no downtime or “peeling” process with a Hydrafacial like there is with chemical peels.

Before and after with a booster designed to plump skin and diminish the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

Q: I have oily/acne-prone skin. Is Hydrafacial good for that?

A: Yes! Hydrafacial helps to balance oil production and the pH of the skin. During the treatment, the skin is exfoliated with a glycolic/salicylic peel solution and then extractions are performed with a suction technology to painlessly remove impurities. If you find traditional extractions painful, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much more comfortable Hydrafacial extractions are! At the end of your service you can look at the canister and SEE the debris removed from your skin!

Hydrafacial suction gently extracted this large, painful pustule from my shoulder. By the next day it was completely healed.

Q: How long is a treatment? Is it relaxing, it looks kind or medical…

A: Our most popular Hydrafacial services are 30 or 60 minutes long. While at some clinics, Hydrafacial is a quick in-and-out but as with any of our services we value giving our guests an opportunity to relax and de-stress so we’ve incorporated the TLC you’ve come to expect from our treatments.

For those wanting a more abbreviated session, the 30 minute “Classic” Hydrafacial is a good option to start with. This is a great service for any skin type or for people who are just curious about what the Hydrafacial is all about. For those wanting more TLC and more corrective focus on fine lines, hyperpigmentation, or acne, the 60 minute “Deluxe” Hydrafacial is perfect. In addition to the Classic service, you’ll receive a Hydrafacial “booster” serum to focus on your specific concerns or extended extractions if needed. This service also incorporates LED light therapy. Your esthetician can also incorporate either a Rhonda Allison Mask and hydrating hand treatment or gentle lymphatic drainage. The 60 minute option gives your esthetician a greater range of treatment possibilities and flexibility.

Q: Will I get instant results?

A: You’ll notice instant firmness and a radiant skin tone after just one treatment. While there are no “quick fixes” the Hydrafacial is our most powerful tool yet. We recommend a Hydrafacial once a month to receive the maximum benefit and visibly reduce pigmentation, acne, and fine lines and wrinkles. If you have more corrective skin goals, your esthetician can recommend a customized series of Hydrafacial services or Hydrafacial services combined with Rhonda Allison Peels.

Hydrafacial before and after treatment for sun damage.

Q: Is special pricing available?

A: Yes! If you purchase a series of 3, you’ll get the 4th half price. If you purchase a series of 5, you’ll get the 6th FREE! These pre-paid packages make it easier and more affordable to enjoy regular Hydrafacial treatments.

You can book your Hydrafacial with a licensed esthetician who is Hydrafacial Certified online or call us at (515) 309-2904 to see if Hydrafacial is right for you (hint…it is!)

Breaking Out: Before and After

I’ve been lucky to have decent-enough skin for the moderate effort I put into it. I had some pimples as a teen, but definitely not acne. I have the rare hormonal breakout and my skin definitely shows signs of sun damage and aging, but I think I’ve been fortunate. Recently, a ton of changes at once caused my skin to freak out in a painful way.

Yikes! I have never had breakouts this bad, this was actually a bit painful.

I recently cut heavier bangs and switched shampoos. I’ve increased the amount of sweat, gross lake water, heavy duty sport sun screen, and dog-slobber my skin sees. In hindsight, skin-rebellion was a sure thing.

To be fair, I should have gotten bad breakouts long before now considering the gross things I do to my skin!

My breaking point came the day laying down for a massage became too uncomfortable with the breakout on my forehead. I asked our esthetician Cassandra to overhaul my Rhonda Allison home care routine. She’s struggled with breakouts off and on and has lots of empathy and experience in treating them. She looked at what I was doing, subtracted a few products, and added some more. Surprisingly, she INCREASED the moisturizing I was doing.

My recommendations from Cassandra, which I followed pretty well (though sometimes used my BB Creme as my SPF.) I kept the image of the instructions on my phone to have handy while I got ready am/pm. The only fairly pricey product was the Mandelic Arginine and I decided it was worth the cost for the results.

Instead of masking just once, I used the wasabi mask twice in the week per Cassandra’s suggestion. She was right…it does start off a bit hot and tingly but it cooled off quickly and I think it really kick-started the healing for me the first night.

My first time using the Wasabi Mask. It was a bit toasty for a few minutes!

Within a couple of days the pain was gone and the hardest thing was not picking! I admit that I picked one area, which you’ll notice in the “after” image, but overall, I was thrilled with my results in a week of being very diligent with the home care. Too often we hear people say they don’t see results, but then they confess that they only used half of the recommended routine, or only did the routine for a couple of days then gave up.

In typical business-owner fashion, I decided to look on the bright side and see my skin “freak out” as a test of our professional advice and products and be glad I could document my progress for others who might be struggling. I tried guessing at a routine on my own for a few weeks, but it wasn’t working even though I was using good products. That’s where a licensed, professional esthetician comes in. Obviously what worked for me won’t work for everyone and I’m honestly surprised things cleared up so quickly.

After photo, totally smooth skin (minus the spot I couldn’t resist picking) just over a week after I started my home care.

If you are struggling with a breakout, or you have a history inflamed and uncomfortable acne, we have a few facial services that can be helpful in kicking off the healing when partnered with a good routine at home. The key is to stick to the advice and keep in touch with your professional esthetician. Want more information or to schedule? Consider starting with the “Clear Results” facial for true acne or the Wellness Facial for occasional breakouts.

3 counterintuitive skin care facts your esthetician wants you to know

Our estheticians want to shed light on a few common misconceptions about skincare. It is easy to see why people get confused because these ideas are sometimes completely counterintuitive!

Myth: The best way to treat excessively oily skin is by drying it out.

Truth: While it seems like drying out oily skin is the best route, skipping moisturizer or using a harsh toner to try to dry skin can actually strip natural oils from the skin causing the skin to over-produce oil to protect itself. The best option to hydrate oily skin is a serum or gel moisturizer. These products will absorb quickly and skin won’t “panic” and produce even more oil.

Serums or gels, like the Rhonda Allison Blushed Wine Gel are great light moisturizers to hydrate oily skin.

Myth: Acids are harsh chemicals and aggressive on skin

Truth: The acids we use in skincare are naturally derived and vary in strength and benefit. For example, Hyaluronic Acid, which may sound scary, is naturally occurring in the body in synovial (joint) fluid and in the eye. This acid is used in products to plump and hydrate skin and some medical professionals recommend this for wound and burn healing. Lactic acid is derived from milk and is beneficial for dry, mature skin and is often used to exfoliate without over-drying. Some acids are more potent, but just because a product or ingredient is labeled an “acid” doesn’t mean it is scary.

Cassie getting a light facial peel using a variety of acids from our esthetician, Cammie.

Myth: If you have true acne, you need a good facial (or body) scrub to help unclog pores.

Truth: True acne occurs when excess skin cells, oil, and debris clog pores, potentially leading to infection. Using a mechanical scrub over acneic skin may spread bacteria and increase inflammation, worsening the problem. Depending on the severity of the acne, a chemical exfoliation (don’t let the word “chemical” scare you!) is best. For example, glycolic or salicylic acids, applied topically as recommended by your esthetician or dermatologist, will help to break down skin cells and excess oil without spreading bacteria or increasing irritation.

Gritty scrubs like those pictured can spread bacteria and further inflame acneic skin. — Gritty scrubs like those pictured above can spread bacteria and further inflame acneic skin. It is best to stick with an acid based exfoliation instead of a manual exfoliation during a breakout.

If you have questions about your skin care or want to find out whether or not something you read online or heard from a friend is accurate, ask your esthetician! To schedule a facial for an in-depth consultation and treatment, click here.