At the end of January I was invited to a local skincare clinic for a facial by the brand “CosMedix”. It’s funny, this clinic is on a street (and called) the Grove and I never knew it existed because it was about 5 minutes beyond the normal sightline and it never occurred to me to walk down the street beyond what I could see (which was a carpark and some houses). Turns out there’s a cute neighbourhood with some shops (and this clinic) but sadly a great portion of it has closed down from the recession.
Thankfully when I walked into the clinic (holding my breath with concern) I let out a sigh of relief because it wasn’t one of those dingy or chaotic places. It was clean, the receptionist knew I was coming and who I was…everything was bright and shiny and it was nothing like some of the scary Groupon facial places I’ve been to where I’ve walked out without ever receiving treatment because my gut instinct was screaming to run away.
When it came time for my facial I was lead into the treatment room and truthfully I have been in nicer facilities but the therapist did a pretty good job with the space she was given. Everything was organised, sanitary and I lost count of her hand washings and cleaning everything to ensure there weren’t any cross contamination. This felt a bit like a shop converted into a salon, when the last place I had a facial was Fortnum & Mason (or the Liberty Treatment Rooms) it’s a bit hard to compare the two! But it was okay, not really my favourite but about average.
The therapist (I feel terrible but I’ve forgotten her name) was very knowledgeable in the product range and what she was applying to my face. She never aggravated my skin and that can be complicated because my skin is so sensitive!
I am afraid that I have to end my review on a sour note…one of the reasons I avoid facials is my utter hatred of extractions. Sometimes I book facials and specifically ask for no extractions! During this facial everything was going fine and suddenly the therapist started doing extractions on my face. No warning, no permission…it felt like a huge violation of my space and consent. I didn’t agree to it and I wasn’t aware it was coming. For me that is all kinds of not okay. If you are going to attack my face you need warning and consent from me! It really brought down the entire experience and makes me question whether I want to go again. So I’m on the fence and I’m sorry I cannot give a more positive review. Until that point and beyond that point it was lovely. But I cannot move past the extractions without warning. It’s a big deal.
