From The Straits Times    |
2 best deep-cleansing facials in Singapore for instantly smoother skin! T

No time for downtime? It’s clinical facials to the rescue! Sure, there are a ton of topical potions and poultices on the market, but sometimes we need a little extra lovin’ – I like to think of these deep cleansing procedures as push-up bras for our faces. Because cleanliness is next to gorgeousness, right? Cheers, and have fun snoozing to the relaxing refrain of “jungle” spa music!

IDS Clinic Hydro Therapeutics Treatment, $198
8 Sinaran Drive, #05-07 to 10, Novena Specialist Center

Seriously, a certain colleague swears by this supersized facial and her face is “on fleek”, as the young’uns are wont to say these days.

Here’s what I can tell you from giving this a go myself: You’re signing up for a four-step targeted treatment that deeply decongests troubled skin. With any luck, you should be sashaying out of the clinic with a visibly brighter visage in 45 minutes or so: Perfect eleventh-hour prep for Very Important Events.

You kick off with what the lab-coated folks at IDS Clinic call a hydrafacial suctioning machine, which makes use of sturdy streams of a toner-type Multi Minerals lotion to loosen up the icky stuff encrusting your skin. This carefully calibrated in-house botanical blend is designed to calm discolouration and also does a neat job of wiping out your warpaint.

This is followed up by ultrasonic cleansing and scrubbing, both of which work in tandem to scour off surface spots and such for a comfortably clean complexion. (You can opt for manual extraction at this point, but feel free to skip this step if you want to avoid residual redness.)

Throw in a intensely invigorating shot of vitamin C via iontophoresis – “a technique of introducing ionic medicinal compounds into the body through the skin by applying a local electric current” (thanks, Google!) – and a customisable facial mask as a final flourish, and you’ve got all the ingredients for incredibly incandescent skin.

Bottomline: This fabulous facial is a crackin’ good choice if you’re looking for a deep clean and the sort of “poreless porcelain princess” complexion (a friend’s words, not mine!) that yours truly has been blessed with.

Porcelain Aesthetics Proionic Anti-Aging Facial, $406.60
277 & 218 Orchard Road, #03-13, Orchard Gateway

A single session was sufficient to breathe life and light into my skin – better at fending off signs of fatigue than snatching forty winks, in my opinion.

This new revitalising treatment commences with a double whammy of cleansing and exfoliation to sop up sebum, sunscreen and the day’s debris in one soapy swoop. Then you’re treated to a (painless!) radiofrequency massage – your therapist will wield a stethoscope-like wand over specific spots to warm up sagging skin – that’s said to revv up the skin’s renewal process without rocking its natural pH balance.

After that bit of high-tech sorcery, she’ll get down to business with a manual massage to smooth away sagging and bagging; you should be nodding off into slumberland at this point. With some luck, you’ll awaken to skin that’s supremely soft, pleasingly plump and pore-free.

The biggest plus has got to be the smooth-as-silk finish of your face once you’re done with this treatment – fending off the caresses of your #bae when you emerge from your boudoir may be an exercise in futility!