Esthetician Extractions and How to Prepare Your Face
Facials are rarely invasive or painful and many people use them as a time to relax and wind down from their busy week. However, there are some instances where facials include extractions and these can be mildly painful, but overall work in your best interest to help keep your face clean and blemish-free.
Before going to get a facial that includes extractions, there are a few things you need to do to help prepare your face such as:
- Cleanse your face
- Remove all makeup
- Take a hot shower or steam your face
- Exfoliate gently
- Pat dry with a clean towel
Most likely your Esthetician will repeat all of the typical preparation steps once you arrive, but making sure your face is clean and ready when you get there can help the process of extraction go a bit smoother.
Is It Good To Get Extractions?
Facials help cleanse the face and remove dirt and extra skin cells from open pores, however, they often can’t get all the dirt from the deep pores and this is where you need a bit of help by getting an extraction. If you got microblading done prior to your extraction, is better if you follow the microblading after care for your face.
Extractions are extremely beneficial for your face since they can remove dirt and dead skin cells from deep into pores or from blackheads. When dirt and skin cells get into pores they can sometimes turn into closed comedones, otherwise known as those bumps that never end up with a head on them.
Once the dirt is removed from closed comedones your face can heal the pore and the bump will disappear. Extractions are great things to have done a few times a year depending on your skin and how much dirt actually gets trapped in your pores.
Do Estheticians Do Pore Extractions?
There is quite a bit of debate as to whether it is okay for Estheticians to do pore extractions since they are considered invasive and sometimes require the use of pointed sharp tools to break the skin before removing the dirt. The incorrect care and steps to doing an extraction can cause issues such as:
- Infection
- Other acne issues
- Broken capillaries
- Irritation
- Scabbing or scarring
Now, if your esthetician has been trained and licensed appropriately, they can absolutely do extractions, but you need to research and ensure that their training was done correctly.
How Do I Prepare My Face For Extractions?
Preparing your face for extractions is pretty simple, but there are likely a few more steps than your normal skincare routine. The first thing you need to do is remove all of your makeup, especially your makeup products for your oily acne-prone skin, this may take washing your face a couple of times but you need to ensure no extra dirt and debris will be in or around the pores while you are working.
Once your face is fully cleansed, you can take a hot shower, put a hot washcloth over your face or hold your face over a bowl of steaming water to open up your pores. This allows everything to be open more to make dirt and skin cells easier to extract.
Once your face is steamed well, you should gently exfoliate to remove any extra dirt and skin that is still on your face after cleaning. This can also remove some dirt from pores that have opened up which will reduce the amount you will need to extract.
From there your face should be ready for extraction. Your face should be clean and ready with minimal exposure to other germs and a lowered risk for infection and increased acne problems.
What Extraction Tools Do Estheticians Use?
There are several tools an Esthetician might use when doing extractions depending on the type of extraction necessary. For a blackhead, an Esthetician will use a comedone removal tool until the dirt is all removed.
There are several sizes of pushers or looped removal tools that they may gently push into your skin around the pore to remove the dirt. They will also use long skinny tweezers with sharp points in case they need to puncture the skin slightly or squeeze the skin to completely remove something.
Estheticians rarely have tools that are used for cutting or breaking the skin, but if they do, it’s only for breaking the skin on a pore to remove all of the dirt and skin cells.
How Do You Do Extractions Correctly?
There are many ways to perform an extraction, but not all of them are safe or correct. If you are breaking the skin or bursting a pimple at any point, you are likely creating a tear that will need to heal and can scar. Unless you are seeing a dermatologist you will also want to avoid any deep bumps or cysts, these are too deep to handle without the proper skills and equipment.
In reality, the only correct way to do an extraction is to only extract blackheads since they are open pores and do not require breaking the skin most of the time. It’s not recommended that you use your hands to do an extraction which is why Estheticians use tools to reduce bacteria and germs from spreading.
Using an extraction tool you want to press it in towards your skin with the blemish in the middle of the loop, once the dirt starts coming out you can gently drag the loop over the blemish to pull the rest of the dirt out. Once the extraction is done you need to cleanse the ara and let it air dry.
Final Thoughts
Estheticians are fantastic at making your skin look and feel great thanks to facials and teaching skincare routines. Many people don’t know that they can also help the blemishes on your face by performing extractions to help remove the dirt and dead skin cells from pores.
While this sounds rough, it’s actually a mostly pain-free way to gently clean your skin and reduce future acne.
