My experience with facials is limited (har, har) but I do remember how in the past, the immediate afterglow would dissipate and within days I was left with the same ol’ patchy skin, visible pores, tired face. Wah, wah, wah.

Last week I got a facial at Ritual Spa and I was thrilled with the immediate results. Within an hour the mild redness subsided to reveal dewy, perfect skin – clean and bright and super soft to the touch. Everything somehow looked better; I’m pretty certain I was glowing. Maybe even levitating. But I’d been burned before, so my skeptical side decided to hold off writing about it and let time be the judge.

It’s now been exactly a week, and my skin STILL looks and feels incredible. I haven’t had to wear makeup at all, with the exception of a tinted moisturizer with SPF that I was given by Crystal, who performed all my skin treatments. She easily won me over with her knowledge and super good vibes despite the fact that she took a SCALPEL TO MY FACE!

Prior to my Ritual experience, I slacked off….a lot….when it came to skincare. I had no routine and despite a bathroom stuffed full of beauty products and cleansers I used nothing. I’d paint my face on in the morning and go to bed at night. Following morning I would reapply whatever rubbed off on my pillow. Rinse and repeat. On occasion, if water splashed across my face during a bath or shower I’d allow it, but other than that, I left it up to the skin gods above.

They must have heard me, because I feel like my face has had a rebirth thanks to Crystal. She’s a Virgo who loves busy work so when it came to those pesky extractions and detail oriented skin things, she was on it like a boss.

Now, I WANT to start maintaining my skin properly.  Knowing how hard Crystal worked, I feel like I owe it to her to take care of my face and not fall into greasy old patterns. It’s only been a week, but I have actually cleansed and moisturized my face everyday and am doing my best to stick with this routine.

The first procedure I had done was Dermaplaning, which is a manual exfoliation treatment that uses a surgical blade at a 45-degree angle to remove dead skin cells. This treatment also removes peach fuzz, or vellus hair from face. (Fun Fact: it is vellus hair that often traps dirt, excess product and oils on skin causing breakouts.) The blade-to-face-for-pay paradigm also allows for better penetration of skin if you’re having additional treatments.

Now, makeup practically glides onto my skin. It looks much more natural and even because my skin is so darn smooth. The process itself feels neat, like a kitten chiseling away at your face with it’s tongue. There’s no pain at all. You can hear the scraping taking place so you KNOW it’s working.

Next on the docket was a Microcurrent Lift, AKA Pilates for your face. This made me a bit nervous because Pilates is hard, but thankfully I didn’t have to do any of the heavy lifting: a Facial Toning Device delivers a low current, awakening your face. When the optic nerve gets stimulated you see a flash of light. Maaaagggiccc!

We came in for a soft landing with a gust of fresh air. This oxygen treatment using Intraceuticals saturates the skin with usable energy which plumps it and reduces wrinkles. After this treatment, my cheeks sat a little higher, brows arched a little fiercer, and my chin looked more pronounced.

It works by driving cellular energy production which is needed to produce key structural proteins collagen and elastin through the skin. Crystal did half of my face first so I got a chance to compare, and there was noticeable difference. It’s an ideal treatment to get before an important event as it is most pronounced for 48 hours after you get ‘er done. It’s one of those things that makes you look better though outsiders can’t quite put a finger on why.

And then my life changed, like for real. Crystal mentioned that she received her training for the treatment from Madonna’s make up artist!!!! Do you know what this means? There are now TWO degrees of separation between the Queen and I. Merry Christmas to me.

Overall, I didn’t really believe that I would be able to see long term results but I did. As a mild skeptic going in I was very pleasantly surprised and have even been moved to update my make-up cleansing routine. You can start your own beauty ritual at Ritual Spa–you won’t be sorry.