Ok, so my sister is getting married at the end of September. I want to make sure I am in tip top shape for the wedding since I am a bridesmaid. I’ve been on the go as of late and haven’t had the best diet or sleep. I spent a week in Atlanta modeling for a brand Zoey Grey during market week. My days were long and I was always meeting up with friends after work. Without much time to go to a grocery store to get healthy food, I ended up eating out a lot and trying fried catfish and grits. Hey, I was in ATL so don’t judge me. I needed to try the Atlanta classics!

Travel Affects on Sensitive Skin

After, I flew to New York for a few days and went home to Philadelphia for my sister’s bridal shower. With all the traveling and planning for my sister’s bridal shower and bachelorette, my skin was bound to break out. The air in New York is a lot dirtier than Los Angeles, and your skin can dry out a lot if you are flying frequently. So I decided to go to esthetician Zina for a special oxygen facial.

Zinas NYC

Zina is a very special woman who really knows her stuff. She had been practicing skin care in Russia for years before coming to New York. She was like my Russian Grandmother from another life. I loved how honest she was about how I had been treating my skin poorly and told me exactly what I needed to do to fix it.

She also makes her own skin products at home using all natural ingredients. Although it’s a secret as to what her amazing products are made from, I know milk was one ingredient and can verify they are legit.

Wash and Exfoliate Properly

Apparently I was being really aggressive with my skin. The soap I was using felt slippery and I thought it wasn’t cleaning my face enough and would do two washes. In retrospect I was rubbing off the epidermis of my skin, and it was giving my face an ashy look that kept flaking off. Super gross. Zina told me I needed just a bit of soap and to gently rub my face in small circular motions. Use less water too because that can aggrevate skin. She was a big advocate of using cotton to wash and polish the skin.

For exfoliator, my super sensitive skin needs something called gommage. gomm-what? It’s French for “to erase” and means to gently exfoliate your face in the dermatology world. But you’re not actually using beads or scrubbers to scrape away at dead skin cells. Instead you put the product on your face and let it sit for a few. Enzymes work to digest skin cells that will be rinsed off with the product.

The Oxygen Facial

After looking over the status of my skin quality, Zina set me up with an oxygen facial. I was thinking I would need a Guinot Hydradermie facial (which she does and are hard to find since it’s a European treatment. I had this done once in London) or microdermabrasion, but the oxygen facial would bring my skin back to life.

What is an oxygen facial? It starts with a serum that has hyaluronic acid and other antioxidants, all good for moisturizing and regenerating your skin cells, collagen, and elasticity. A wand is then gently touched over the serum on your face to infuse oxygen and help your skin absorb everything. The sound may be a little alarming at first, like a mosquito in a bug lamp, but I promise it doesn’t hurt. Oxygen is good for the skin because it kills acne-causing bacteria, closes large pores, and has a calming effect.

Zina washed my face and did minimal extractions pre-treatment. After the oxygen treatment, she put on a cooling mask and gave me a back and arm massage. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep and felt renewed after.

Do it Again?

I would definitely love to get another oxygen facial before the wedding to get my skin glowing and looking fresh. Zina also sent me home with two plastic tins of her homemade product which I put on every night before bed. It helped with the calming of my breakouts and brought things back to normal, balanced and clear. If you’re looking to freshen dull skin and get a glowing complexion, I would definitely recommend this non-invasive treatment!

Have you tried an oxygen facial? What are your thoughts? What facials do you usually get and how often? Comment below.

Check out more on Zina’s Skin Care here.