I spent the long weekend in Vegas, and while I was there, I splurged on a few spa treatments, including a facial that I dashed off to just moments after landing. One of the perks to being a beauty editor is reviewing spa services, so I've had quite a few facials. I normally get the same speech: "Your skin is pretty but your pores are just a little clogged." But this time, I heard something I've never heard before.
The facialist told me, "You have especially thick skin," she said. "It's beautiful, but it's thick." With this observation came good and bad: "The thickness makes your skin look young and plump, but it could be causing you to break out." Her tip: "Massage your skin care products outward to help move the blood and oil to your lymph nodes." After she did this, my skin looked and felt better, and I copied her motions the night and day following my facial. And as soon as I got back to New York, I dialed up dermatologist Jeannette Graf to get the scoop on this theory. She interpreted the facialist's "thick" comment to mean "young, plump skin that isn't thinning out with age"—good!—and liked the massaging technique, though she says breakouts aren't affected by whether skin is thick or thin.
"Massaging lymphatic channels is always a good thing to do," she says. "It pushes the wastes and toxins out of your skin. You can do this at home by using directional moving while you cleanse, which is what facialists do. Start at the middle of your forehead and work in small, circular motions toward your temples, then to your ears. This is great for eye puffiness and sinuses. Continue on from your nose, moving outwards, and from your chin, moving to your ears and neck." This is how I'll be cleansing from now on!
