To have blackheads extracted properly is the main reason to go to good facialist. A facialist is like a therapist for the skin and is a professional who has had intensive training and knows how to diagnose common skin conditions and their causes. A facilist is trained to analyze the skin, discuss potential problems and how to solve or avoid them, recommend an appropriate skincare regimen, and suggest the best products for the skin type and condition.

What Your Facialist Should Know About You

If it is first time with a facialist, you'll be questioned or required to fill out a questionnaire. Below are the lists that a facialist should know:

• Your age
• Your normal skincare regimen
• Any allergies
• Any medications you are taking, including antibiotics or the birth control pill (this might account for blotchiness)
• Whether you use alpha-hydroxy acids, Retin-A, or Renova (if you do, your skin is hypersensitized and she should skip the exfoliation)
• If you have sensitive skin or your skin has had a reaction to essential oils
• Your history of acne and/or how often your skin breaks out

At-Home Facials

Apply a mask when your skin is showing sings of stress, when you are dehydrated after an airplane flight or a long day in a dry, climate-controlled office, or when you just need a pause from your frenetic life. A relaxing mask applied in the comfort of your own home can make you feel fresher and cleaner, like a new and improved version of yourself, in just a few minutes.

Don't forget that your skin doesn't stop at your jaw. When you have time, apply the facial mask to your neck and decollete, too. And always apply moisturizer and sun protection to the neck as well.

Never underestimate what you and a mask can accomplish with a few minutes together. Talk about instant gratification. A quick mask can improve the look and feel of your skin almost immediately. Below is the list for a simple, satisfying, quickie facial:

1. Wash your face with warm water and a cleanser.
2. Apply a mask. Leave it on for five minutes, while you lie comfortably on the floor or bed with your eyes closed.
3. Rinse with lukewarm water.
4. Moisturize. You'll be much revived and ready to face the world again.

Make Your Own Mask

To make your own mask, all you need is some clay (available at health food stores) and some stuff from your pantry.

• Use green clay for dry, sensitive, aging, or sun-damaged skin.
• Use white kaolin or fuller's earth for normal or oily skin.
• To make a clay mask, mix two parts water to one part clay. And more water - in driblets - if it is too dry. Also add honey, herbs, and so on.
• Then add favorite essential oil, such as lavender, rose, or geranium. For a richer mask, substitute whole milk for water in any of the following recipes. Milk is soothing, and it contains Vitamin A and protein.
• Before applying any mask, always wash the face with warm water and a cleanser.

Swamp Thing

The avocado is a very effective moisturizer and high in Vitamin E.

4 tablespoons clay / 2 teaspoons avocado oil or 1/2 avocado, mashed / 2 teaspoons water / 4 drops lavender oil or rose oil (optional)

1. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
2. Pat the mask on the face, avoiding the eye area.
3. Leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Apply moisturizer.

The Queen Bee

4 tablespoons clay / 2 teaspoons honey / 2 teaspoons water or milk / 4 drops neroli oil or wheat germ oil (optional)

1. Mix the ingredients
2. Apply to face.
3. Leave on for about 15 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Apply moisturizer.

Oats and Groats

You can make other homemade exfoliants with a simple paste of baking soda, sugar, or salt and water.

1/2 cup dry cornmeal / 1/2 cup dry oatmeal

1. Put the cornmeal and oatmeal in a blender and "pulverize."
2. Shake out a palmful and mix with warm water to make a paste.
3. Gently press the mask onto the face.
4. Leave on for 5 minutes.
5. Rinse off with warm water. Apply moisturizer.

Lemon Aid

Lemon posses astringent and exfoliant properties, making it a natural choice for oily skin.

4 tablespoons clay / 2 teaspoons lemon pulp / 2 teaspoons honey / 2 teaspoons water / 2 drops eucalyputs oil or jojoba oil (optional)

1. Mix the ingredients thoroughly
2. Apply to face.
3. Leave on for 15 minutes.
4. Rinse off with warm water. Apply moisturizer.

If you are in a hurry, you can mix equal parts lemon juice and water. Pat on your face, leave on until dry, then wash off with cool water.

Skin Tighteners and the Antigravity Facial

As people are getting older, it is not just the skin that succumbs to the pull of gravity. The muscle underneath can lose its snap as well. A facial or a topical tightening cream obviously won't resuscitate flabby muscle tone, but it can temporarily tighteen the look of the face or eye area.

If your skin is getting older or sun-damaged, use the tighteening products with the directions specified below. The effects of the tighteening treatment should last you through a special day or evening.

1. Splash the face with warm water and apply cleanser.
2. With the cleanser on, give yourself a brief massage to stimulate circulation. Starting at the nose, use fingers to lightly pinch and knead the skin, as if it were squeezing a baby's cheeks, moving out to the sides of the face and down to the jawline. Knead along the jawline and out toward the ears. Then, starting at the collarbone, lightly push the skin upward toward the chin in smooth, flowing movements.
3. Remove the cleanser with warm water, and pat the face with a damp, warm washcloth.
4. Apply a tighteening mask with clean fingers; use outward, circular motions. Leave on, lie down, and relax for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Remove the mask with warm water and a washcloth, and apply the tighteening products you have had.

What Not to Do to The Face

Don't pick or extract blackheads or whiteheads yourself: If you do a bad job of it, you can spread the contents deep into the oil gland and surrounding tissue and cause an infection. And you can stretch the pore permanently.

Don't use a tweezer on anything except eyebrows and splinters: Tweezers are a woman's worst enemy. If you pluck facial hair, it will grow out flattened or curled in the wrong direction, with a coarser texture. Wax, depilate, or find a good electrologist to remove hairs permanently.

Don't allow haircare products to stray onto the face beacuse some of their ingredients can aggravate the skin.