Sk;n Deep (Sk:n (East Finchley))

Member Name: Brooke3

Product:	Sk:n (East Finchley)
Date:	15/07/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The nurs was nice

Disadvantages: The treatment wasn't very good

In recent months my skin has been much worse than usual, it's been very dry and I'm noticing that I'm getting lines around my eyes and on my forehead. So, when I noticed there was an offer in a magazine for a "super facial" from sk;n for only £20 I decided to take the offer up, hoping that I would finally find something that would hydrate my skin for longer than a couple of days. I have had facials that keep my skin nice for up to a week but even with regular moisturising and various other products that have been recommended to me after a week my skin is dry again. A super facial seemed perfect and I was even willing to pay the usual £70 for it after the initial session if it worked.

-Before-
Booking was really easy. I called the number and when prompted left them my name and telephone number. They called me back within minutes and I asked to be booked in for the facial that was advertised in Grazia magazine and told them that I had a voucher.
I did have to pay in advance which I thought was a bit cheeky but I could understand why they did it, I'm sure that they get a lot of people who cancel at the last minute or just don't turn up.
After that I received an email confirmation, an SMS confirmation and just in case I had somehow not received the first two a confirmation in the post. I found this a bit annoying but it's easy enough just to ignore an email. They did send me some information on skincare and how to keep my skin healthy which I thought was a nice touch. It was actually really useful.

-During-
I arrived early at sk;n in East Finchley and rang the bell. I thought it was a bit odd that you had to ring a bell to get in and did not appreciate having to wait outside in the hot weather especially when no one came to answer! Finally someone noticed that I was stood outside and opened the door to me. I told them that I had rang the bell but they informed me that the bell didn't work and they just relied on the receptionist seeing people waiting. This seems like a really stupid system to me, I think they should either fix the bell or not lock the door.

The receptionist gave me a form to fill out and I did so. The receptionist was polite but I'm so used to the friendly receptionist in my usual beauty salon that her lack of conversation and friendliness seemed a bit cold.

The nurse who did my treatment was really lovely. She was very friendly and seemed to know absolutely everything about skin. Before my treatment she asked me various questions about my skin and was able to answer every query that I had. She then explained that I wasn't actually going to be having a facial and that most people were disappointed when they found out. Well, I'm obviously most people because I was very disappointed. She was so nice that I didn't have the heart to complain but why did they book me in for a facial if they do not do facials?

I had noticed upon entering the room that it was very clinical. It was nothing like the beauty salon I usually go to where it's all relaxing and dim lighting and you can just unwind for an hour. It felt more like being in a hospital and this is obviously not a good thing.

Although I was disappointed that I would not be getting a facial and a bit uncomfortable in the hospital like surroundings my main priority was sorting out my skin and if that treatment was going to help then I would happily sacrifice the hour that I would usually spend relaxing under face maks, steamers and moisturising products.
I had the glycolic peel. Basically she cleansed my face, put the peel on and then wiped it off and put on a moisturiser. When the peel was on my face she asked if I could feel anything, when I replied that I couldn't she said that next time she would have to put more on. I was a little bit annoyed because although I was getting it discounted I was still paying for it and felt that if nothing was happening, as it was supposed to, she should have done something about it there and then, not wait for me to pay £70 to have it done again.

The peel took about five minutes. At first I had been impressed at how much time she spent talking to me about my skin and giving me advice but then I realised that it was probably just to make up the time because the treatment was so short.

The whole thing was quite disappointing. After a stressful week at work I was looking forward to a nice facial, relaxing for half an hour or an hour and leaving feeling refreshed. It was not relaxing, it didn't feel indulgent and I left feeling disappointed. But as the nurse said, it wasn't a facial.
This isn't exactly their fault, Grazia had mislabelled it and they just didn't correct me when I called them.

-After-
When I left my skin felt really soft and smooth and I was thinking that although it hadn't been what I expected it was worth it for the soft skin. It wasn't as soft as it usually is when I get a facial but I assumed that it would last longer and be more beneficial in the long run.

Two days later, after following all of the advice from the nurse, my skin was back to normal. The short term effects were not as good as a normal facial and neither were the long term.

Overall the whole experience was a disappointment and although there were other treatments that I was interested in trying I won't be going back. I don't think sk;n are a company that you can trust, if they were they would have corrected me about the facial before I paid for it so I'm not going to take the risk of paying for an expensive treatment that may or may not work and may or may not be what they claim it is.

Summary: Not recommended