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I Broke a Major Skin-Care Rule, and My Skin Has Never Looked Better

Sometimes ignoring beauty advice is the best thing you can do.

Skin
I Broke a Major Skin-Care Rule, and My Skin Has Never Looked Better
Illustration
Meghann Stephenson
Me again. The editor who only had her first official facial at age 26. You’ll all be delighted to know I have since become obsessed with them, and am always looking for new ones that will work well on my combination (dry to oily), typically sensitive skin. My latest venture was with extractions. I’ve heard many different views on the subject—there are those who say they are the best thing you could do for your skin, while others advise staying away in the case of over-extraction (which typically causes a breakout). Picking or popping is, after all, a cardinal sin of skin care.

Not going to lie; going into the facial, I was a tad nervous for my aforementioned sensitive skin. But the facialist I saw at Tracie Martyn Salon took a long, hard look at my skin and promised me that I would be A-OK with them and that it would actually be beneficial for my skin that had, go figure, been dealing with a recent breakout. Not one to disagree with an expert, I happily obliged, and so we got started.

I was bracing myself for a super painful experience but was actually surprised at how painless it was. Of course, there were a few more tense moments when the larger extractions were happening, but for the most part, it was painless—I was lying there impatiently waiting for it to be over, just so that I could see the results. The process didn’t take long; I was lying down for about an hour, but that was only because we decided to follow the extractions with one of the salon’s signature Purple Ray treatments. The treatment involves red and blue LED lights revitalizing your skin—I felt it to be the perfect post-extraction treatment, as it was quite soothing, and the peptide-infused oxygen mist that was included with it was the perfect way to finish things off.

Once I sat up and looked in the mirror, there was nothing I could do to stop from smiling—not only were my pimples completely gone, but they weren’t even red! Maybe it’s normal, but for a girl who was a virgin to extractions, I was shocked. Not only was there no sign of redness, but my skin was fresh and absolutely glowing. The week following my facial, I noticed a few other pimples coming to the surface, which was slightly annoying but nothing some good concealer couldn’t help, and I’ll admit it was pretty satisfying to see everything leaving my pores. Fast-forward a few more weeks, and my skin has never looked better. Looks like I’ll be adding extractions to my list of semi-regular beauty treatments.
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