The week before a facial: what to do and what to skip
A few days of the right preparation is the difference between a good facial and a great one — and it mostly means doing less.
A deep cleansing facial involves exfoliation and extraction. Skin that arrives already stripped, sensitised or freshly treated cannot take that well, so preparation is mostly about backing off.
Stop a few days before
- Retinol and retinoids — pause about five days before. This is the big one. Retinised skin is thinner and far more reactive to exfoliation.
- Strong acids (glycolic, salicylic, heavy AHA/BHA) — pause three to five days before.
- Scrubs and exfoliating tools — stop three days before. Let the surface settle.
- Waxing or threading on the face — leave at least a week between that and a facial.
Leave a proper gap after these
If you have had injectables, laser, microneedling, a peel or any clinical treatment, follow your practitioner's timing and tell us when you book. A facial too soon afterwards is a genuinely bad idea.
Do this instead
- Hydrate. Water through the week and a plain moisturiser twice a day. Well-hydrated skin extracts far more comfortably.
- Wear SPF. Sunburnt or freshly tanned skin cannot be treated. If you have been in strong sun, tell us.
- Come with a clean face if you can — no makeup is ideal, but we will cleanse thoroughly either way.
- Bring your actual routine, or a photo of the products. It tells us more about your skin than looking at it does.
Timing it around an event
This is the mistake people make most often. Do not book a deep cleansing facial with extractions for the day before a wedding. Extraction can leave small marks and slight redness for a day or two — that is normal and it settles, but not on your schedule.
Book a deep cleanse 7–10 days before an event. If you want something the day before, have a hydrating treatment or a lymphatic drainage face massage instead — de-puffing and glow, no extraction, no downtime.
Afterwards
- Leave the skin bare for the rest of the day if you can.
- No makeup for around 12 hours after extractions.
- No gym, sauna, steam or swimming for 24 hours.
- Hold off on retinol and acids for about three days.
- SPF every day — freshly exfoliated skin burns easily.
- Don't pick. Whatever we could safely extract, we extracted.
And be honest about frequency
Skin renews on roughly a four-week cycle. A deep cleanse every four to six weeks is a sensible rhythm for congested skin; more often than that is usually counterproductive. What happens on the other 29 days matters more than the facial.
A note on all of this: everything here is general guidance based on standard practice, not medical advice. If something is painful, spreading, or simply not settling, please see a GP or pharmacist rather than waiting for your next appointment.
