Electrotherapy is a method of supercharging your facial by applying a low electrical current directly onto the skin. Your cleanse & exfoliation is deeper and pulls out more grime; your face mask penetrates further into the skin, your zits can be zapped and your facial muscles toned. In fact, there are all sorts of wonderful results that can be achieved when you add a few volts.

Electrical facials are not as scary as they sound; they’re not invasive, they won’t supercharge you like Frankenstein’s Monster and you won’t wake up a radioactive superhero (unfortunately!). It’s a tried and tested method of achieving excellent skincare results without being invasive and with no reaction time. In fact, if done well, the skin looks great instantly afterwards – unlike many other facials.

So, here’s how it works (in a nutshell). There are many different ways current can be used and you’ll find various therapists will pick their favourite combinations of the following.

Galvanic

Galvanic current pushes products deeper into the skin. Generally, the skincare products used will be negatively charged and the direct current will also be negatively charged. What happens when two negatives are put together? They repel – so the products are repelled into the skin.

Galvanic can be used in 2 ways:

  • Desincrustation: A more pleasant way to describe this is ‘deep cleansing’ the skin. The negatively charged products are repelled into the skin but they contain an ingredient called Sodium Carbonate which saponifies… (meaning?) The dirt & oil in your skin reacts with it to create Sodium Hydroxide. Sodium Hydroxide has a positive polarity and is therefore drawn back out of the skin (with all the dirt and oil) and back towards the (negative) electrode to be cleansed away. This is said to be 7 times more effective than a manual cleanse. Added benefits of desincrustation are exfoliation and relaxation of the pores, making it very easy to extract blockages (aka blackheads) afterwards. This gives a beautifully clean and smooth finish.

  • Iontophoresis: This is simply the process of pushing the negatively charged products into the skin. Whatever active ingredients these products contain will then travel much deeper where they can be of greater benefit. I always find that Iontophoresis hydrates the skin more than anything else I’ve worked with. Grey skins are instantly revitalised and all those dehydration lines that make us look tired and old, disappear. ESPECIALLY if the product also contain some vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid. Yummy!!!

Micro-current

Micro-current facials have acquired a reputation for acting like a non-surgical facelift. They’re often referred to as CACI facials as this is the most famous brand to offer the treatment, however the science is the same whichever brand you choose. Micro-Current takes the facial muscles through a full workout. It increases circulation, drains toxins and stimulates (tones) the muscles. This results in a significant and visible lift. It doesn’t hurt, but you can sometimes experience tingling, the feeling of a pulse and/or flashing lights. Some people have just a micro-current lift, but my personal opinion is that the skin needs to be strong and healthy to support that lift. In addition to this, a lot of the signs of ageing come from dehydration which won’t be addressed by a ‘lift’ alone. I would therefore always suggest a facial that combines microcurrent with excellent skincare and/or Galvanic to achieve optimal results.

High Frequency

This is probably the most disconcerting part of an electrical facial that you may (or may not) come across. It’s used less and less nowadays because it sounds quite alarming. When the therapist turns on the HF machine you will hear a dentist-style buzzing! The electrode used contains a gas called Argon which reacts with the skin to create ozone. This has an antibacterial effect on the skin so is great for oily/acneic skin-types. Generally HF is painless, however, it can double-up as a zit-zapper. The therapist will hold the electrode a few milimeters from the skin to cause a tiny electric shock (a bit like a tiny bolt of lightening) that zaps the blemish and helps to dry it out and heal it. This is a lot of fun for the therapist…less so for the customer…but it does help to achieve a lovely clear complexion.

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