DIY: Home Facials Step-by-Step Guide (Achieve Glowing Skin at the Comfort of Your Home)

I'm sure everyone loves facials. You get to rid your face of all the impurities and feed it with wholesome goodness while feeling relaxed and pampered.

But sometimes it's hard to go for facials regularly. You may not have the time to take 2 hours off from work, and it's hard to make appointments for after-work hours, or it may be because facials are oh-so-costly, ranging about $70 to $100++ even with packages.

I used to go for facials regularly when I had packages signed up, but now that I've completed them, I have yet to find another salon I like.

So I've began doing facials at home. With that $70-$100 a month, I can buy really good products that I can use again and again.

Of course you don't get all the frills that you enjoy at facial salons, you don't get people serving you and you don't get all the massages, but the price and convenience makes up for it.

What you will need:

1. your normal facial wash
2. a cleansing scrub
3. clarifying clay/mud mask
4. peel off mask
5. face steamer/hot water and a wide-base container or plate
6. pimple extractor
7. moisturizing mask
8. eye mask
9. relaxing soundtrack of your choice

So here's what you do.

Step 1: Play a relaxing soundtrack that you like. You can source for quite a few from youtube. 

Try searching under "relaxing spa music" if you don't know where to start. They have quite a few tracks that last for at least an hour so you don't have to keep getting up to switch tracks.

This is one track that I really like. But the down side is that it stops around 37 minutes before resuming again at 60 because that's the time when you're supposed to be 'asleep'. But I have to get up around that time anyway for the next steps so it wasn't a big issue for me.

Step 2: Clean your face with your normal facial cleanser, followed by the cleansing scrub. Pat your face dry.

Step 3: Apply a clarifying mud mask or clay mask.

The mask that I'm using for this step is the Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal facial clay mask. I tried this after reading glowing reviews about it online, and have been using it ever since. It has this pulsating feeling while drying which I really like, makes me feel as if all the impurities are sucked out from my pores. It also leaves your skin baby soft after use.

The Queen Helene Masque Mint Julep is another much raved mud mask that supposedly gives amazing results. I've yet to try that though, maybe after I've finished my tube of Freeman first.

The good thing about these two products is that they are both amazingly cheap. You can get Freeman products at either Mustafa or Guardian. Mustafa is cheaper though. I'm not so sure about Queen Helene, but drugstore.com definitely has it.

Step 4: Wash off the mud mask, and follow with a peel off mask. (optional step if you have sensitive skin)

I'm using the Kose black peel off mask that you see above. I feel that it helps to remove whatever impurities that my Freeman neglected, because the mud mask already drew all the impurities to the surface.

I tried using the Sophie Monk Strawberry Bye Bye Blackhead peel off mask, but it didn't work as well. I feel that Sophie Monk has this tendency to 'recede', so you find that as it dries, you see more and more dots of your skin exposed, and it makes me feel as if those spots are missed out.

Step 5: Steam your face with a face steamer for a few minutes to open up the pores. 

If you don't have one, you can substitute this by pouring hot water into a wide-base container or plate and bending your face over it.

Step 6: Use the round side of a metal pimple extractor and gently press against your nose in the areas prone to whiteheads and blackheads. 

So for me, I'll do it mostly on my forehead area near the bridge of my nose, my nose itself, and also my chin. This pushes out the stubborn blackheads and whiteheads that the mud mask and the peel off mask couldn't get out. Try not to prick it or squeeze too hard otherwise you'll damage your skin tissues.

Step 7: Wash your face with cold water to close back your pores.

Step 8: Apply a moisturizing mask of your choice, depending on what you want it to do for your skin (brightening, whitening, firming, etc). 

For me, I really like the My Beauty Diary Bird Nest masks, followed by beauty buffet masks. But this depends on whatever works for your skin type as well.

You can apply a eye mask after this step, or together. For me, I substitute the eye mask by pouring Hada Labo Hydrating lotion onto cotton pads then placing them over my eyes. It helps to brighten my eyes considerably.

The whole process will take about 1 and a half hours or 2 hours depending on how long you leave each product for.

There, now you have it, home facial that gives you cost-savings and convenience while keeping your skin healthy. :)