With our team, acne facials are built around your skin, not some standard spa protocol. Whether you’re a teenager dealing with your first breakouts or an adult who’s been managing acne for years, our aestheticians use targeted techniques and professional-grade products to help clear congestion, calm inflammation, and improve your skin over time. This is a spa acne facial with clinical backing behind every step.
Acne is frustrating.. Period. When it keeps coming back no matter what you try at home, it’s fair to be exhausted. An acne facial gives your skin a professional reset, clearing what’s already there and helping prevent what’s building beneath the surface.
You’ll likely be a good candidate for an acne facial if:
If you’re a teen or have a teen looking for a specialized facial, check out our teen facial page for more details!
Depending on what may be included along with your acne facial, the cost can range from $130 to $165.
This is considered elective and is not covered by insurance. It is self-pay but we accept a variety of payment methods. We’re happy to discuss all of your options to help make your wellness journey accessible and stress-free.
We offer CareCredit payment plans as a convenient option to consumer credit cards, cash or checks for purchases over $200. CareCredit allows you to pay over time often without incurring interest charges rather than paying a lump sum prior to treatment. Applying is easy!
Come to your appointment with clean skin and no makeup. Avoid using retinoids, strong exfoliants, or prescription topicals for 24 to 48 hours before your appointment, as these can increase sensitivity and affect how your skin responds during your facial.
If you’re currently on any acne medications, including topical or oral prescriptions, let your aesthetician know when you book. It’s also advised to limit sun exposure in the days before your appointment.
Your aesthetician begins with a thorough cleanse followed by a skin analysis to assess your breakout patterns, congestion, and sensitivity level. From there, the treatment is customized to what your skin needs that day. This often includes exfoliation to remove dead skin cells and clear the surface, steam to loosen congestion, extractions to clear blocked pores where appropriate, and a targeted treatment mask to calm inflammation and reduce bacteria.
Professional-grade products are selected based on your skin type so we maximize the results of the entire treatment. You can expect a full acne facial appointment to run about 60 minutes.
For the first 24 hours, keep your skin clean and avoid anything that could cause irritation or introduce bacteria, including heavy makeup, touching your face, sweating, and direct sun. Your skin may look slightly red or feel more sensitive immediately after, particularly if extractions were part of your treatment. This is normal and typically settles within a few hours.
After around 24 hours, reintroduce your regular routine gradually. Your aesthetician will give you specific product guidance at the end of your appointment based on what was used during your facial.
The short answer is, yes, but how much they help depends on the type of facial, how it’s performed, and how consistently you come in. A standard spa facial and a targeted acne facial are different services, and the distinction matters.
A professional acne facial works on multiple levels at once.
What separates a professional acne facial from anything you can do at home is the combination of technique, product potency, and your aesthetician’s ability to read your skin and adjust in real time. At-home masks and cleansers are formulated for general use. The products used by our team are stronger, more targeted, and applied in a specific sequence that maximizes their effect without compromising your skin barrier.
For guests asking whether facials for acne are worth it, the most consistent results come from a series of treatments rather than a single session. Acne develops over weeks inside your follicle before it’s visible on the surface. One facial addresses what’s there now while a consistent series interrupts the cycle at multiple stages. Most guests see meaningful improvement after three to four sessions spaced two to four weeks apart.
Immediately after your acne facial, your skin may look slightly flushed and feel more sensitive than usual. If extractions were performed, you may notice some redness around those areas for a few hours. This is a normal response and not a sign that anything went wrong.
Over the following days, you may experience some purging, where breakouts that were forming beneath the surface come up faster than they would have otherwise. While this can feel discouraging, it’s actually a good sign of treatment efficacy. The treatment is moving congestion through your skin rather than leaving it to develop on its own timeline. Purging typically settles within one to two weeks and is followed by a clearer baseline.
The best acne facial results come when the treatment is paired with a consistent home routine that your aesthetician helps you build. What you do between appointments matters as much as the appointment itself.
For active acne, every two to four weeks is the standard recommendation. This spacing works with the skin’s natural cell turnover cycle and gives each treatment the best chance of interrupting the breakout cycle before new congestion fully develops. Once your skin has cleared and you’re in a maintenance phase, monthly appointments are typically enough to keep results consistent.
Yes, when it’s customized appropriately. Sensitive skin and acne-prone skin frequently overlap, and a good aesthetician adjusts the treatment to account for both. That means gentler exfoliation, lighter extractions if needed, and masks formulated to calm rather than further irritate. Let your aesthetician know about your sensitivity at booking so they can plan accordingly before your appointment.
A regular facial is designed for general skin health, hydration, and maintenance. An acne facial is specifically targeted at clearing congestion, reducing bacteria, and calming the inflammation that drives breakouts. The products used, the techniques applied, and the focus of the treatment are all different. If you have acne-prone skin, a standard facial may not address what’s actually causing your breakouts and could potentially use ingredients that make congestion worse.
Yes. Acne facials are designed to treat active breakouts, not just prevent them. Your aesthetician will assess the type and severity of your breakouts before starting and adjust the treatment accordingly. Cystic or inflamed acne requires a different approach than surface-level congestion, but neither rules out treatment. If you’re unsure whether your skin is in the right condition for a facial, call ahead and describe what’s going on so your aesthetician is best prepared before your appointment.
It can, and this is worth knowing before your first appointment. Purging is a common response after an acne facial, particularly the first one. As the treatment accelerates cell turnover and moves congestion to the surface, breakouts that were already forming beneath your skin can appear faster than they would have otherwise. This is temporary. Most guests see purging settle within one to two weeks, followed by a clearer baseline than before the treatment. It’s not a sign that the facial didn’t work or made things worse permanently.
