Face Off!

Yesterday, le soir, I went for facial at Leonard Drake MidValley. This is under the same company that brings us Dermalogica, Bioxil, Eve Taylor, Averine and Clinelle. Admittedly, I really need a corrective treatment after being neglecting to care for it. My skin is congested, and I don't need the beautician to tell me that, I can feel it myself.

In this post, I'd like to share my insights on my experience. When I first walked into the salon, nobody greeted me. It was only until I walked to the counter, the staff who was sitting in the room next to it saw me. She sat me down and explain the treatments they have. We check my skin under the UV light; nothing I've never experienced before.

I chose to do the Soothing Aroma facial under the corrective treatment and Total Eye Care Plus treatment.

Leonard Drake salons provides you a locker to keep all your stuff and your clothes. This is a plus point because at least, your things are locked away. The treatment room is not as cozy as the room in Sothys, if I may say so. In the latter, you can feel the luxurious surrounding, but in Leonard Drake, it's spartan.

The treatment starts with the beautician asking me to inhale lavender oil for calming effect. After that, she removes traces of make up and powder. She did the double cleansing routine, layering one after another. And then without washing off the cleanser, she started to put on the scrub. While cleansing and scrubbing is done, the steamer is at work. At the same time, she was also doing a milder cleansing around my eyes area. She then washed off the cleanser and scrub using room temperature water.

She left the steamer on my face for a while more. Then come the torturous part; the extraction. I have to say, she was the roughest so far in my experience. It was the first time I actually cringed when undergoing extraction process. I told her not to it so hard, but I don't think she actually heed me. She just said that extraction is supposed to be painful (WTH?!). Then she cleansed my face and asked me to see the result. She was sort of validating why it hurt during the extraction; she blamed my blackheads for being small and tiny. :-p

After, came the relaxing part, the massage. The massage on the face and eye areas were done with the special serum for each. For the shoulder and upper chest area with aromatherapy oil. Once she finished with this, she starts to apply the hydrating masque for the eye area and the face. Two different masque, for two different spots (remember the separate eye treatment). These were top off with a cold masque on top. She left me for about 20 minutes.

When she came back, she took off the masque and started to pat my face all over. She sprayed the toner and pat it in. Put on eye cream and moisturiser for the face. And I was done. The whole treatment took about 90 minutes, I think.

Now, these are the things that I noticed during my visit there:

• The staff was slow in attending to you, not really friendly greeting either
• There's a lack of privacy while you're in the treatment room, the beautician always left the door opened when she goes out from the room, and sometimes, even when she's in the room
• They didn't offer you a drink until after you've finished the treatment, and even then it was only plain cold water
• The company has the policy not to accept Debit card, eventhough you're using VISA Debit (this is really weird, when I could use my Cherry card even when I was in Paris!)

They use Demalogica products for the treatment. And when you leave, they give you some free samples to try. All in all, it's a very nice facial, CapalPerak said my face looks really clean compared to before. I have to admit that my face feels lighter, and my nose, no more blackheads! I hope with the combination of my ritual at home, it will stay this way for a long time. At least long enough until I have to splurge for a salon visit again!

Total damage: RM253 (Soothing Aroma Facial Treatment RM198 & Total Eye Care Plus RM55)