I admit I didn’t know much about facials before I took this assignment.
Still, I was pretty sure they didn’t involve spending $123 to lay half-naked in a dark room wearing big hot mittens. I mean, that always seemed like the kind of scenario where someone would be paying me.
But I learned that it is all a part of the high-end facial experience, an experience that is not just about cleansing your face. No, a “facial” at one of those places–and even to a large extent the lower-end joints–means lots of moisturizers, cleansers and gentle massages all the way from your forehead to your fingertips.
So that’s why my facial at the Tiffani Kim Institute at the Park Hyatt Hotel (800 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-239-4036) started with a visit to the plush teak and marble locker room, where I changed into a thick terry robe and a pair of bright white slippers. I returned to the tiny lobby and flipped through a copy of Day Spa magazine waiting for cup of tea that was offered but never arrived. Soon my facial technician Kim appeared, greeted me as Ellen (not sure why) and lead me into a spacious but cozy, dimly lit room where smooth jazz hung in the air.
Before she stepped out of the room to give me privacy, Kim reminded me I would need to make sure there was nothing on my arms or shoulders before I tucked myself under the sheet and velour blanket on the facial table. “Right,” I replied feeling like a dork for leaving on a bra and tank top under my robe.
When Kim returned, she placed something cool and soothing over my eyes, pulled back my hair in a soft head band, examined my skin under a bright light and magnifying glass. “You have a few blackheads, but I think we’ll be able to extract those,” she said confidently. Ouch.
First came a moisturizing cleanser that was applied and wiped off; next was a tingly exfoliant accompanied by a steam machine blowing on my face. While my face steamed, my neck, chest and shoulders got their own moisturizing cleanser, emollients and a massage. To seal in the emollients, Kim placed cotton mittens on my hands and then some heated devices over them. While my hands were being cooked, Kim wiped off the exfoliant from my face and began the gentle extractions. Next was a facial massage with a deep emollient full of herby essential oils, then a cool smooth clay facial mask. Solitude for 10 minutes, during which, of course, I lifted my head, peeled off the eye covers and looked at the big mittens. My hair came out of the band and I knew I would be busted.
She returned and wiped off the mask and then applied what felt like an inch of really oily lotion to my face. I felt ultra greasy.
If I didn’t have to race to work, I could have enjoyed a visit to the steam room, but instead I grabbed a free bottle of water and free towel to wipe some of that heavy lotion off my face. The bill for the facial was $110. You can put that on credit card but you can’t use a card for the tip, I was horrified to learn. After digging in my purse, I scraped together $13 and left it in an envelope at the desk.
The atmosphere at the tiny Ann’s Beauty Shop (2853 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-588-8898) was certainly less luxurious than the TKIAPH but the actual service (from part-time beautician Mui) was not much different. Instead of a robe and locker room, I changed into a strapless muumuu in the same back room where the facial would take place. I got a wire hanger for my coat and was asked to pile up my other clothes on some sort of swiveling lamp like machine. The series of head wraps, cleansers, exfoliants, steam, extractions (gentle, again), eye pads, emollients, masks, toners and massages was almost identical to the Tiffani Kim experience except for the following: no hot mittens, a much longer massage of shoulders, arms, hands and face. Also, part of the facial involved the application of fluffy, freshly beaten egg whites–which felt silky, puffy and moussey all at once. Dim lights and smooth jazz were replaced by bright lights and a Jackie Chan cartoon (to entertain my son) in the main salon.
The other major difference was the price: I was quoted $30 on the phone but it changed to $35 once I arrived (and could have gone up to $40 for the special seaweed mask). Still the whole thing with tip added up to a mere $42.
Walking out of Ann’s, there was no thick oiliness on my skin, just a super-duper soft face that I can’t stop touching.
