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How to Care for Your Skin After Using a Facial Steamer

By 5 Mins Read

In your journey to finding the best skincare routine, you may have already tried a lot of skincare products including different skincare gadgets. In fact, you may have already tried steaming.

People have used steam for years to relax and rejuvenate the body. And until today, people still engage in different ways of steaming such as spas, saunas, or even a hot shower. Not only does it provide many benefits for the body but it also provides a lot of skin care benefits.

Steaming also helps enhance your skin care routine. So, to make sure that you are making the most out of facial steaming, here are some of the things that you might want to know.

Various techniques of facial steaming

There are different techniques to do facial steaming. And here are some of them that you may be familiar with:

Steam over a bowl

  1. You can do spa-like steam using a bowl and dry towel. Make sure that you secure your hair and that you have already cleansed your face including your neck.
  1. Pour some clean, hot water in a large bowl and drape a towel over the back of your head. The towel will trap the steam coming out of the bowl. You can choose to add some herbs while the water is boiling and use them for your steam. On the other hand, if you are using an essential oil, add a few drops to the hot water that is already in your bowl.
  1. Place your face 6-inches away to make sure that you will not get burned. Steam for about 5-10 minutes.

Steam using hot towels

This is an old-fashioned method of steaming your face. Here’s what to do:

  1. Put a clean, small towel in a bowl. Pour hot, not boiling, water over the towel. Allow the water to soak the towel.
  1. Secure your hair so that it’s off your face. Again, make sure that your face is clean including your neck.
  1. Wring out the towel and lay it on your face. Lean back on a comfy chair or lie down. Adjust the towel so that it will completely cover your whole face. Relax for about 5 minutes.

Steam with a home facial steamer

  1. Read your facial steamer’s instructions and fill up the tank using distilled water. Choose a place where you can be comfortable and near an outlet so you can plug it in. Turn on the device to start emitting steam.
  2. Secure your hair so that it’s off your face during the steaming process. Make sure that you have already washed and exfoliated your face.
  3. Take a seat, be comfortable, and set your face inside the cone attachment or whatever design your home facial steamer has. Stay about 5-10 inches away from the device to avoid burns.
  4. Steam for about 2-3 minutes at a time with a minute break in between the process to see how your skin reacts with the steam.

Facial steamers offer more powerful steam than any other method.

You can engage in a professional spa facial if you don’t mind splurging a bit. During the steaming session, the aesthetician will use a steam machine to prepare your skin. There are some who also exfoliate your skin to produce the best result for your skin. The steam is adjusted based on your sensitivity level to make a relaxing experience and ensure that you can see results.

What to do after the facial steaming process?

Rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry

After the steam session, your skin will be quite sensitive so don’t rub it with a towel to avoid irritating your skin. Make sure that rinse it with lukewarm water and carefully pat dry your face.

Apply a moisturising cream or serum

The effects of your serum or moisturising cream will be enhanced after steam. Hence, it is best to use your serum or moisturiser after the session. This will help your skin to stay hydrated and nourished. If you are after younger-looking skin, this is the best time to use your anti-ageing cream or serum.

Massage your face

There’s no better way to end the process but with a gentle and relaxing massage. Use your fingers to gently massage your forehead, cheeks including your neck. Make sure that you use upward strokes to improve blood circulation. You can also use facial rollers to help with lymphatic drainage. If you have sensitive skin, try adding a bit of facial oil to enhance the massage.

When massaging under your eyes, it is best to use gentle tapping motions. Start from your inner towards the outer corner. Do the same for your eyebrows.

Use a comedone extractor

This process can only be optional. If your device has an extractor kit in the package, then you can use it to remove skin impurities such as blackheads. The warm steam can help relax your pore which softens the dirt and oils trapped underneath the skin. Hence, making it easier to remove the blockages.

When using these extractors, you need to be very careful. Not all dermatologist recommends using them. So, it is something that you may or may not do. The key to using a comedone extractor is to know how to properly use them.

To use your extractor, make sure that you are not applying too much pressure on your skin. Move the extractor at different angles and apply light pressure. Don’t use them to scrape the skin. Since steaming helps loosen these impurities, it can be easy to remove.

Always sterilise your extractor before and after using it. This will help protect your skin from getting infected and developing more skin problems.

Latest posts by Nicola Brennan (see all)
Author

Nicola is always on the lookout for the best beauty tools and skincare products. She believes in "prevention is better than cure" so she is always trying to perfect her beauty routine to avoid premature aging. Fun fact about Nicola: She owns a lot of sunscreens as she carries a mini sunscreen in each of her handbags and backpacks.

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