Ain't no facial like a Japanese facial cause a Japanese facial dont stop

January 6, 2014 3:11 PM

A friend says that when she was in Japan, she got her first facial and it was amazing. But then, when she came back to the States, she got another, and it was not so amazing. What kind of Japanese facial did she get, and is it possible to get one in the States?

She describes the one in Japan as “a bunch of deep massaging with knuckles, and almost painfully hot steams, and squeezing of pores, and so on,” and the one back home as “a bunch of light rubbing of scented oils and new age music. I left feeling greasy. Total bs.”

So, is there a name or brand or signifier for the awesome version that she could look for here? Also, if there are any recommendations for places either in the Twin Cities, Minnesota or Albuquerque, New Mexico, that would be super helpful.

posted by ochenk to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

I don't know of anything in your geographic area but I suspect your friend is looking for a facial with keywords in the description like purifying, detoxifying, increased blood flow, deep cleansing, etc. Basically NOT a facial that is described as gentle or soothing in any way.
posted by joan_holloway at 3:21 PM on January 6, 2014

Response by poster: Oh, and in case it's helpful, here's the Japanese place where she got the awesome facial. (Of course, it's in Japanese, which neither of us can understand.)
posted by ochenk at 3:26 PM on January 6, 2014

Best answer: It sounds like she wants an extraction facial. They're far more intense and there's usually lots of steaming pores open, maybe an enzyme mask prep, and then squeezing all of the junk out of your pores. It sounds like she got a moisturizing facial, which tends to be far more gentle and you leave with lots of emollients on your face.
posted by quince at 3:31 PM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here's the description of the US facial I got last weekend that included massage, hot steam, and pore-squeezing:

DEEP CLEANSING FACIAL
Designed for both men and women, this customized facial provides a deep pore cleansing and toning to restore fitness and vitality to your complexion. Cleanse, exfoliate, extractions (when needed) massage, mask and moisturize.

"Extractions" is pore-squeezing.

I wonder if her latest facial was a "mini-facial" or a "30 minute facial" or something along those lines. Here's the associated description for a mini-facial:

MINI FACIAL
Designed for the person with limited time to spare, this 30 minute treatment is perfect for the person that’s on the go! Cleanse, mask and moisturize.

posted by muddgirl at 3:33 PM on January 6, 2014

I took a look at the treatments page, and there isn't really a detailed description of the actual techniques used.

My wife mentioned that, compared to "esthetic treatments" in Japan, Korea and other Asian countries, the massage you get in North America is a total joke.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:33 PM on January 6, 2014

It sounds like she got a moisturizing facial, which tends to be far more gentle and you leave with lots of emollients on your face.

The treatments page I linked-to above mentions a clay mask. The rest of the description is a bunch of non-specific loanword/invented word gobbildy-gook (I actually do marketing for a number of salons so am familiar with some of the English buzzwords).
posted by KokuRyu at 3:34 PM on January 6, 2014

Ten Thousand Waves, in Santa Fe.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 7:06 PM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks!
posted by ochenk at 9:30 PM on January 6, 2014