My Favourite Things: Clarins Facials

This review has been a long time coming. And it's made it all the way into my list of Favourite Things.

The first time I ever started going for facials was only just last year, about three months prior to my wedding. Sad, but true. I've never been for a facial before that.

After considering several options, I decided to give Clarins' a try. And boy, am I in love!

A little note here before we continue that this won't be a detailed post about the facials I've gone for, but my experience in general and the results, which have been fantastic.

So like I said, I only started going for facials about three months prior to my wedding last August, so you can imagine it would have been one heck of a marathon to get my skin in top form, and it was. Of course, I'm not complaining about the fortnightly facial pleasures I had back then.

The options

Unlike most saloons where you decide what skin problem you want to tackle (ie. acne/ hydration/ freckles etc), then sign up for a facial package, Clarins kind of goes the other way around. You can either pick a one-off facial session, or sign up for a package.

Then every time you go for a session, the uhh... facialist, will help you choose what treatment you need most urgently, depending on your skin condition at the present time. Of course, however, me being me, I sometimes override her suggestions anyway and just go for what I want. And she usually obliges. Because she's nice like that. (More on my facialist later.)

My favourite, by far, is Truly Matte from Mogok. Having oily skin, this works great as a deep cleansing treatment, and tackles the problem of having oily and pimple-prone skin.

The only other one I've tried is Whitening from the Alps, which I used to help brighten up my skintone, on that last visit before the big day.

Can't say much about the rest here, although you can read what Kahani has to say about Hydration from Madagascar here.

The experience


What I really love about these facials is the fact that their treatment focus is on the hands. There are no fancy or elaborate machines. Everything the facialist does, she uses her hands, which really feels incredibly soft. The cleansing milk, cleanser, scrub, mask, serum etc. goes on, gets massaged in, wiped off, repeat. Pretty much along those lines.

What I also like is that they're not big on extraction, which I sometimes feel can do more harm than good to one's face.

The facial also comes with a shoulder, hands and head massage - which seems like a pretty good deal to me. At the end of the session, I feel incredibly relaxed, and my skin feels uber happy.

Here I'd like to add a little note. I've pretty much had all my facials done by the same girl - Corinne (Midvalley Metrojaya counter) and she's been very lovely. She's very professional and after so many sessions, she seems more of a friend already. This is not an endorsement, but more of a personal recommendation based on my own experience.

The results

After three months, my skin was at its all-time best. It was clear, it was glowy, it was pretty much problem free. I was incredibly happy. I think the photos below will be able to say enough.

Photo taken in Dec 2008 - before this and before facials. I've selected both photos with makeup, because my skin condition is evident even with makeup on. And my makeup application is generally light. Just powder foundation and blush for a base.

Photo taken Oct 2009 - after facials. Makeup would generally only be powder foundation, blush and lipbalm/lipstick.

Cost


Of course, good things in life never come cheap. But you can try to save some cash even while you're having a good time. Clarins has two set of prices - their counter prices and their boutique prices. For example: Counters charge RM148 for a 45min session for Truly Matte, while their boutiques charge RM208 (I believe) for 60mins of the same treatment.

I've never tried the boutique but I'm perfectly happy with the ones the counters have been providing. Also ask the beauty therapist if they are having any promotions/packages to help you further save. Clarins is currently having a buy-4-facials-free-4-eye treatment package, which I exchanged for a buy-4-free-1 facial package. That cost me RM592, which averages out to be about RM118 per session. Not cheap still, but worth it, in my opinion.

Conclusion

So anyway. After the wedding, since I already had glowing skin and all (and since funds were running a little short), I figured I could manage my skin on my own right? Not quite. It's been about 8 months since the wedding, and my skin has gone shites. So there. I'm back at Clarins for my monthly pleasure.

And it looks much happier already.