Pampered: Let's face it

When it comes to facials, I'm always in a dilemma on which one to go for. While I consider the deep-cleansing facial as the most essential, my dry skin could also do with a hydrating facial and, as of late, a wrinkle-reducing one.

The paraffin-wax facial at Merle Norman Cosmetics promised to do all of the above. Naturally, I had to give it a try. As soon as I arrived at the venue, I was given a skin assessment to determine the type of my skin and work according to its needs.

Unlike many facials that smother your face with creams and moisturisers, and leave your blocked pores untreated, the first thing my aesthetician did was clean my face, apply steam and extract the blackheads and whiteheads, which left my pores deeply cleansed and ready for the next step. Followed by a gentle scrub, this procedure rid my skin of the dead cells which had resulted in dull-looking skin.

Hydrating came next with a thick moisturiser applied on my face along with a relaxing massage, which left me half-asleep by the end of it. However, what's special about this facial is the paraffin wax mask which came at the end of the process.

As my aesthetician explained, paraffin has the ability to clean the pores, reduce wrinkles and moisturise the skin — which makes it an all-in-one ingredient for facials.

My face was covered with a thin gauze mask on which warm paraffin was applied by brush, layer after layer, allowing the nutrients to get to the skin. After about 15 minutes, the wax mask was removed with my skin looking much cleaner and brighter.

As I left, I was satisfied with the result on my face and relieved to know that there is a one-stop facial to address all my needs.

Details

The paraffin-wax facial is available at Merle Norman Cosmetics branches in Mirdiff City Centre, Dubai Festival City and Sharjah Megamall and costs Dh350 for 60-90 minutes.