How Getting a Facial Will Change After COVID-19 Lockdowns — Investigation

Even in her own dermatology office, Elbuluk is not currently doing any chemical peels or cosmetic procedures involving the face. (That doesn’t include necessary medical procedures like skin-care surgeries, which have a whole different set of health and safety precautions.)

“I was supposed to have a facial a couple of weeks ago,” says Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Even though spas in her home state of Texas have reopened, she chose to cancel her appointment. “I just don’t see any way you can make (the facial) safer,” she says.

What Your Next Facial Will Look Like

Like so many activities during the pandemic, what your next facial looks like will be determined by your state and your comfort level. As of June 11, Houston, Texas Essential Body Bar owner Letrice Mason had instated new policies, such as adding a 30-minute threshold between clients, and booking appointments to 50 percent of spa capacity. Her employees wear masks, but facial customers do not. 

As of late June, COVID-19 cases spiked in Texas, hitting nearly 165,000 as of July 1, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center’s tracker. On June 26, Governor Greg Abbott scaled back on Texas’s reopening, ordering bars to close and restaurants to scale back to 50 percent capacity.

Facialist Joanna Vargas owns one spa location in New York City and another in Los Angeles, where both cities are in the process of reopening. (New York City is currently in Phase 2 of reopening, and is currently to enter Phase 3, which includes spas, on July 6. Many spas have reopened in Los Angeles County; Vargas has not yet confirmed the exact day when her L.A. location will reopen, but she’ll be ready with a 19-point-long cleanliness protocol that she shared with MakeupJet. 

On the list are items like “complimentary beverage service will be discontinued” and “plexiglass will be placed at the front desk.” As Vargas points out, “aestheticians have been trained and state-certified very specifically on cleanliness. It is actually built into our profession.”

Even when state restrictions lift, some spa owners like Vargas are choosing to wait before opening their doors. Joanna Czech Spa in Dallas was technically allowed to open on May 19, they reopened on June 10. According to Raquel Medina-Cleghorn, head of studios and lead aesthetician, they waited in order to make sure safety protocols were in place and staff were trained.