I think I'm gonna fall asleep during this.
No way!
This feels like a...
Like it's going to be relaxing. You're at the gym!
Oh, yeah, I forgot.
No naps!
Ahhhh!
Hey guys, it's Mi-Anne, and this is Beauty With Mi.
Today, I got a facial.
At the gym.
Sort of?
I went to FaceGym.
It's a spa that has made very, very intense facial massage it's bread and butter.
I've been hearing about FaceGym for quite some time now, so when the brand reached out
to us to give us the exclusive to film the brand's new Skin IV machine, which is an add
on to any of FaceGym's original facials, I jumped on the opportunity to try it out.
And we filmed it for your viewing pleasure.
Before we show you, please make sure you are subscribed down below.
Beauty With Mi comes out every Monday at 11AM.
FaceGym isn't your typical spa.
In fact, it's founder, Inge Theron, would describe it more as a place that you go to
"work out" your face.
Instead of having you know, your typical private rooms, there are four chairs lined up where
their trainers, so their facialists, will do their work on your face.
Hey guys, I am here with Inge Theron.
She is the founder of FaceGym, and I am going to get my first workout today.
I am very excited because I've heard a lot of very good things about this.
I've been dying to know how FaceGym came about.
I've done a ton of different facials, but I have never done one like this before.
I realized that muscle manipulation wasn't being done effectively enough.
People were still doing facials, and product-on, product-off just doesn't give you that long-term
efficacy that I think you can actually get when you work and manipulate the muscles.
And so I was like, there's got to be a different way.
Why don't I take a training approach, which I'm doing with my body,
and apply that to beauty.
And that's when I started working with a plethora of experts to try and create a protocol that
actually stimulates the forgotten – what we call "Forgotten 40" muscles in the face.
At Theron's suggestion, I went for the "Game Face" treatment, which like most workouts,
starts with a slow warm-up.
My facialist, Elle, started with stretching my neck, cleansing my skin, giving me a gentle
facial massage, before whipping out a little red yoga ball that she used to stretch, relieve
tension on my face, open up my sinuses, the whole shebang.
So, how's your skin feeling today?
Um, actually, my skin feels pretty good.
I'm just prone to congestion.
Okay.
We use our training serum.
Since you say you are prone to breakouts, I'm going to be using our "Clear Skin."
Then after applying the serum to my face, Elle whipped out the big guns, and that was
a radio frequency machine.
Now, radio frequency is a type of energy that encourages cell turnover and stimulates the
production of collagen and elastin by heating up the layers of the skin.
This is actually a device I have never used before, so I was a little bit worried that
it would burn.
It actually didn't at all.
It felt really good.
It had this rotating knob on it that felt like a little massage.
There were sections of my face where it was a little bit uncomfortable, but overall,
it was a really pleasurable experience.
Then it was time for the cardio portion, which was essentially a very intense, super like,
whipping fast facial massage that stimulates circulation, brings blood to the surface of
the skin, and improves texture.
Elle's hands like, worked so quickly like, gliding past your skin.
It looks like it would hurt, but it actually felt really good.
It felt like just a really fast, strange facial massage.
It helps drain lymph.
It helps improve circulation.
I generally really, really liked it.
Then it was time to sculpt my face, and not going to lie, this was the portion that was
actually the most uncomfortable.
Imagine a masseuse working out knots on your back, but doing that on your face.
The pressure was pretty firm.
But afterward, I really do think I could see a slight difference in the contours of my
face, and just overall lifting.
Once the cardio workout was done, Elle moved on to another device.
It's a microcurrent device.
The microcurrent device basically uses electricity
to stimulate muscles and cause them to tighten.
I could actually feel my lips and my eyelid like, twitching
as the device glided over those areas.
Finally, we got to the main event, which was the new Skin IV machine.
Inspired by the vitamin drips – an intravenous fluid that people get
when they're just feeling kind of bleh...
Inge was inspired by that kind of technology and wanted to create something for the face
that had similar boosting effects without a needle.
It's essentially a customizable form of hydradermabrasion,
which uses water, oxygen, and special serums
to exfoliate and help with dark spots and hyperpigmentation.
After spraying the detox water on my skin as the first step, which contained silver
oxide, which is antibacterial, hyaluronic acid, which is hydrating, and aloe vera juice
that's very soothing, she moved on to a serum.
Elle decided to use two different serums on my face.
The Clear Skin Cocktail and the Glow Shot.
Both serums combined fight acne with a mix of acids and vitamin B-5
to hydrate and tone the skin.
The best way to describe this treatment is...
Prickly.
It's not painful, but you're definitely aware that there's a spray going like,
200 MPH on your skin.
It doesn't hurt, but you definitely feel a little bit of that sensation.
After my skin was sufficiently sprayed, Elle moved on to some facial Gua Sha, and finished
off with some products just to keep my skin nice and hydrated and protected
after I left the studio.
I've got to admit that before I went to FaceGym I did have a little too much wine the night
before, so my skin was definitely feeling puffy.
After I got the facial, I could definitely see a difference in
just the general contours of my face.
It was kind of cool to see that like, slight effect without makeup.
In truth, though, I think I might be a little bit too young
to see drastic results from FaceGym.
They're treatments range from $70 for the signature facial to $275 for the Game Face,
which is what I got.
I think that to really see market results, you'd have to go back multiple times, actually
Inge recommends six times.
For me, though, I think this is something that I would do before a big event or if I'm
just feeling like, just gross, congested and puffy because it really does help with
lymphatic drainage and helps reduce inflammation.
For those of you who don't have a FaceGym near you or simply just don't want to
spend the cash on it, I'd recommend doing some facial massage at home.
You can do it just with your fingers as you put on your moisturizer
or when you do an oil cleanse.
Or you can spring for a facial massage tool.
I just got this new facial Gua Sha tool.
I got this one at Herbivore Botanicals.
You can use it to give yourself a little facial massage in the evening
or in the morning when you're just applying your product.
It's good to get a little bit of a deeper massage than you can get with your fingers.
But, honestly, I highly recommend both.
Okay!
That is it.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
I really enjoyed making this video.
Please let me know in the comments what you'd like to see on Beauty With Mi in the future,
and I will catch you guys next week.
Bye!
Thanks so much for watching, guys.
Click here to subscribe to Refinery29.
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And follow me on Instagram, @mianne.chan so we can hang out there, too.
Bye!