HOW TO | The at-home facial

FACIALS ARE a necessity, not a luxury. Many American and British women don't think so, but the beautiful complexions of continental European and Asian women show otherwise. Respect your complexion and do more than just pat on cream and quickly cleanse at night. The secret to wonderful skin is constant maintenance, not a wonder-cream you find in a store.

Ideally, you should have a facial monthly. Make room in your budget for three to six professional facials a year — buy them in bulk to save money — and do the rest at home because it's easy...

Read more or print the steps to use yourself at home!

Originally written for Sears Inc. at managemylife.com. Image credit: flickr.com/photos/40929849@N08/3762846985/sizes/m/in/photostream/

HOW TO | Pop a spot

YES, I'M really doing a post on how to pop a spot/zit/pimple at home. Having been prone to acne my entire post-pubescent life, I've learned a thing or two about how to and how NOT to pop a spot.

Every magazine you read, every dermatologist you visit will simply say don't do it because it's bad for your skin. Guess what? NO S**T! Did you need a medical degree to figure that one out? Those of us with acne can give you the exact medical reasons WHY it's bad. We pore (heh) over articles and studies about it. We, maybe even more so than you, understand. Yet we still choose to get rid of them because, boy, let me tell you, I'd rather pop it than have a giant whitehead waving hello to the PR Director of a skincare company while I'm walking in for a meeting. Counter-intuitive? Not at all. We ARE judged by our appearance, like it or not. Acne has a detrimental affect on that appearance, especially post-secondary school when it's not an acceptable trait to have. [editor's note: Fully aware that full-on acne is different from an occasional spot. Not downplaying how awful acne can be!]

And, really, you silly dermatologists, where do you get off? Did you go to the George Bush School of Abstinence Is The Only Way? As with teenagers and sex, you can teach them that they shouldn't do it, but it ain't going to stop them from bumping uglies.

Same with acne (although clearly without the resultant illegitimate child)... teaching people to simply not pop a spot because it's bad for your skin results in all sorts of heinous skin atrocities being wrought on poor, undeserving complexions at home due to simple ignorance. I've met people who literally scrape off the whitehead with their fingernail (ew), will go at it with unclean hands and fingers, who don't know what they can and can't pop and thus attack everything on their face with the same zest for destruction. I've even known someone to try to pop... a mole. Preaching pimple-popping abstinence leads to to all sorts of unmitigated skin disasters. Shame on you

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SPA WATCH | Elemis Modern Skin Facial

Beautywoome.com's intrepid beauty reporter Julia Rebaudo is on the London beat this week, testing out Elemis's Modern Skin Facial....

DESCRIPTION: Elemis – Modern Skin Facial The Facial

Not an anti-aging treatment, Elemis’ new Modern Skin Facial is designed for the younger lady, in her 20s and 30s, who’s skin suffers from the stresses of living in a polluted city environment, enduring the woes of public transport and of course the unavoidable post-work drinks, patchy diet, snacking on the go and detrimental sugar hits. Claims to raise mineral levels, regenerate skin cells, re-balance sebum levels, reduce rosacea and boost radiance.

THE TREATMENT

It takes a few minutes to adjust to the relaxed pace and comforting but hushed tones of the Elemis Day Spa just off bustling New Bond Street (bustling all the more due to a mobbed sale at the Mulberry store…). A refreshing water in a bowl-like cup in hand, I fill out a form detailing my skincare habits and lifestyle before the Sicilian Lola does a complexion analysis of my face in a futuristic-looking white machine.

The scan charts spots and small blackheads (all 14 of them I’m surprised to note, as they are really not visible to the eye, phew) wrinkles, texture, pores and UV spots. I’m slightly horrified by the UV exposure, as I’ve been panicking about burning my face a few weeks ago in LA, but unfortunately the analysis does not detail sun damage. Lola says overall I’m in good shape and takes me up to the darkened, sleek treatment room. I change into a robe – this always makes things feel so much more luxurious and relaxing – before slipping between the patterned blankets.

And what can I say, I am then subjected to one of the most glorious facial experiences ever. At first I’m a little put out there is no extraction (I always feel a little cheated without blackhead removal) but I quickly realise this facial is not about pain or feeling uncomfortable. My face is cleansed and toned before being expertly and lengthily massaged and then toned some more with one of my new favourite Elemis products -- the Papaya Enzyme Peel.

Next up another new favourite, the Visible Brilliance Radiance Serum (which I have successfully incorporated into my daily skincare by slipping on before my regular moisturiser) is applied before the Mineral-Rich Peel Off Mask and a delicious dry scalp massage. More toning, Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsule and then another mask, the Exotic Cream Moisturising Mask accompanied by a blissful neck and shoulder massage. Lola wraps things up with an eye serum and moisturiser. She also tells me I have excellent skin texture.

The procedure may sound quite straightforward but it was executed with such confident expertise and real, genuine care that I was gutted to leave. Also the products themselves must be pretty special given the excellent result (see below).

THE RESULT

First off I check my face out in a handheld mirror while still lying down. I’m struck by how balanced the tone of my skin looks. I’ve never seen it look like this without makeup or a tan. I leave the spa without applying any makeup whatsoever. I meet a friend an hour later in Covent Garden, she immediately says how good I look. Result. I’m thrilled. I check myself out in a pub mirror and am really pleased at how fresh and radiant my skin is looking. Then as we leave the pub, a young man comes up to me and asks if he can take me out for a coffee, “You look so pretty!” he says. Double result. Graciously I decline, but you are now looking at an Elemis Modern Skin Facial superfan. I can’t wait to have another.

This is a perfect pre-special-do facial as you will be left looking refreshed and fabulous with no risk of redness or outbreaks.

Available at the Elemis spas and salons nationwide from: £50-£90 for 60 mins www.elemis.com