5 Things You Should Tell Your Esthetician

Whether it’s your very first facial or your quar­ter­ly injecta­bles touch-up, it’s impor­tant to be hon­est with your estheti­cian and der­ma­tol­o­gist so that they can make the entire process more relax­ing, infor­ma­tive and suc­cess­ful. Here are the top five things you should share with your estheti­cian or der­ma­tol­o­gist at every appointment: 

Med­ical his­to­ry includ­ing recent ill­ness­es, preg­nan­cies and medications

Be hon­est about your med­ical sta­tus such as recent ill­ness, preg­nan­cy or even the pos­si­bil­i­ty of preg­nan­cy, and the start­ing or dis­con­tin­u­ing of med­ica­tion. Some chem­i­cal peels are not advis­able dur­ing preg­nan­cy and if you aren’t sure, it is bet­ter to avoid them just in case. If you were recent­ly sick, you may have been on an antibi­ot­ic that will make you more sen­si­tive to light or laser treat­ments. And if you just recent­ly stopped tak­ing oral con­tra­cep­tives, it may be a con­tribut­ing fac­tor to an acne flare-up. You may need to adjust your skin­care régime or see a der­ma­tol­o­gist help you through the tran­si­tion but with the right infor­ma­tion, your estheti­cian can choose the bet­ter treat­ment plan for you.

Any recent use of top­i­cal med­ica­tions or treatments

Let them know if you have used any top­i­cal med­ica­tion recent­ly. Know the names of your med­ica­tions. Using a top­i­cal with tretinoin or acids may make the treat­ment you are about to receive a stronger one than intend­ed. A very mild chem­i­cal peel can turn into a very strong one if you have recent­ly exfo­li­at­ed or for­got to stop your retinol. There are many times that even a sim­ple brow or lip wax can turn into an ugly scab because the use of a retinoid top­i­cal and the wax removed not just the hair, but the skin as well.

Recent sun expo­sure, with or with­out sun protection

Be hon­est about any recent sun expo­sure. Even unin­ten­tion­al sun expo­sure is sun expo­sure. It’s easy to think that because you aren’t lay­ing out try­ing to get sun, you aren’t get­ting exposed. Being in the pool, going to sports games, gar­den­ing, golf­ing, or any out­side activ­i­ty is sun expo­sure. Sun­screen is help­ful only if you are apply­ing it every 2 hours and using shade as much as pos­si­ble with hats and umbrel­las and even then, sun­screen is only giv­ing you a per­cent­age of pro­tec­tion. Even a slight tan from recent sun expo­sure can cause unwant­ed burns or hyper­pig­men­ta­tion when using a light ther­a­py treat­ment, such as laser hair removal and pho­to facials.

Your favorite and not-so-favorite skin­care products

Let them know of any prod­ucts or ser­vices that have not worked for you in the past. Whether you just do not like the prod­uct or ser­vice, or you expe­ri­enced irri­ta­tion, this will help your estheti­cian tai­lor your skin care pro­gram with­out these aggra­va­tors. If some­one says they have used a very well-known TV line that treats acne and they say it caused an acne flare or irri­ta­tion, I usu­al­ly try to avoid using ben­zyl per­ox­ide, which is the main ingre­di­ent, and sug­gests a dif­fer­ent top­i­cal. And even treat­ments that have caused irri­ta­tion can be a clue into what to avoid and what oth­er ser­vices may be more beneficial.

How you’re feel­ing, every step of the way

Final­ly, always let your estheti­cian know if some­thing does not feel right or if you are uncom­fort­able with a treat­ment or ser­vice. Specif­i­cal­ly do not be afraid to speak up if you are uncom­fort­able dur­ing a treat­ment because every­body has a dif­fer­ent pain tol­er­ance or com­fort lev­el. Cer­tain pro­ce­dures like laser hair removal, pho­to facials, and even extrac­tions are not nec­es­sar­i­ly pleas­ant, but they should not be unbear­able either. If we can posi­tion your neck more com­fort­ably, or low­er the inten­si­ty of a treat­ment to make it bet­ter for you, we def­i­nite­ly will and can. Most estheti­cians appre­ci­ate feed­back because we want to give the best pos­si­ble treat­ment and make it enjoy­able at the same time. Please com­mu­ni­cate when it is needed.

Our licensed estheti­cians and board-cer­ti­fied der­ma­tol­o­gists are here to help you achieve hap­pi­er, health­i­er skin. Request a com­pli­men­ta­ry skin­care con­sul­ta­tion today!