I bought a Groupon here for a facial treatment for 99 CHF instead of CHF 350. The Groupon said…read moreeither 60 or 90 minutes, depending on what kind of facial you got. The options included: Anti-Aging, Deep cleansing of the skin and anti-aging, Anti-Acne, Anti-Wrinkle, Eye Contour, Pigmentation. I was curious as to which one they would recommend for me.
I called them to make an appointment, but no one answered the phone, so I just sent an email to the address listed on their web site. Jasim responded within 2 hours. Even though I wrote in English and she responded in German, through the magic of Google Translate we were able to confirm the appointment, yay! The booking was confirmed with Jasmin Ronchi for 1 hour of Deep Skin Cleansing with Microdermoabrasion.
Unfortunately, I had to reschedule my appointment, so Jasmin rebooked me for a new date with Dragica Zecevic instead. When I arrived, I asked if she spoke English, and she said not really, but she still knew enough to make basic conversation with me. Phew.
She handed me a form in English to fill out my contact info, birthday, and cosmetic/medical history. Then I was led to a large room where she proceeded to give me the anti-acne treatment.
Now, I'm not quite sure what to make of this facial. I've had a lot of facials in my life--especially acne ones--but this was nothing like I've ever experienced. For one, it wasn't relaxing. No massage at all. When I entered the treatment room, the TV was playing Family Guy in German, and it seemed like a Star Wars episode. I kept hearing Star Wars music as she was cleaning my face.
There was no extraction either. Instead, she used some type of nozzle and suctioned my entire face. Twice. Very carefully, using short strokes. I wonder it it worked to get all the gunk out of my pores without squeezing.
Then she used what sounded like a high frequency facial wand (I've had those treatments in the past) all over my face. But whereas in the past the wand was just a smooth stick that was rubbed all over my face, this one was more like a blunt knife that she literally scraped quite firmly all over my skin. It was kind of uncomfortable, especially around the nose area. I wondered if that also helped scrape more gunk out of my pores. Who knows.
After that, she got up and I heard a lot of rummaging around the cupboards. I had no idea what she was doing. Shouldn't she have had all her products ready before the treatment started? It almost seemed like she was doing each step on the fly. She then went to the TV and flipped through the channels for a bit before finally turning it off. So weird.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Another woman came in, apologized to me for the interruption, and said there was someone waiting for an appointment. So Dragica left the room--but only for a few minutes--and came back and apologized for the interruption.
Then I think she used ampules on my face and massaged it in before putting on an aloe vera mask. For some reason, the ampule smelled like something tasty and savory. Almost faintly of hot dogs.
The mask had to dry for 10 minutes, during which time Dragica left the room. I peeked at the clock on the wall to look at the time, and I think she came back before the 10 minutes were up. But the mask had already dried, so she could wash it off.
I did try to relax a bit during the mask, but this place is located on ground floor right off the Stockerstrasse tram stop, and I could hear the screeching from the tram tracks. It probably would have been better if they could have played some soft music or something to soften the outside noises. I could also hear a lot of chitter chatter from people outside. I don't know if white noise would have helped.
At the end, she handed me a mirror to check myself out. Usually I would expect to be puffy and red after a facial, but in this case, my skin was glowing! I looked beautiful! Perhaps it was because there was no harsh extraction. No steaming, either. So the unorthodox technique for cleaning my pores did kind of work well.
I was about 5 minutes late, so including the form-filling time and the few minutes interruption in between, I don't think my facial lasted the entire hour. So was it worth it? Even at the discounted Groupon rate, I still think 99 CHF was quite pricey for barely one hour of service. I don't think I would have paid their touted regular price of 350 CHF for this treatment... but maybe that was the price for the 90-minute facial.
So would I come back here again? I'm not sure. I didn't feel that her technique or the products she used were that great. But the end result really took me by surprise. My skin was literally shiny and glowing, and it looked soft and supple and clean. I'm still baffled by this facial. Perhaps someone else can also try them out and let me know what you think.
