How Often Should You Get a Facial? A Frequency Guide by Skin Type

The table below is the answer we give across the desk, written out. It pairs each skin type and goal with a sensible gap between facials and the menu line that fits, using the names on the Spring House and Glenside menus. Treat it as a starting point rather than a prescription; your esthetician adjusts after seeing your skin, and a dermatologist's advice overrides all of it.

Two lines exist only at Spring House: the Classic Facial and the Back Facial. The rest are on both menus, booked through the Glenside facial page or the Spring House facial page. If how often should you get a facial still feels like a guess, start with the Mini Facial and let the esthetician set the gap.

A back facial is the facial routine applied to the skin of the back instead of the face: cleanse, exfoliate, extractions where the skin needs them, a mask and a hydrating finish. The back carries oil glands much as the face does and gets far less daily attention, so it collects the congestion a face wash would have handled. At Tao Spa Spring House it's 30 minutes, listed at $60.

You lie face down, draped as for a massage, with only the back uncovered. The esthetician moves more briskly than on a face, which is how the routine fits in half an hour; expect something closer to a very thorough wash with a cool mask than to a massage.

The back facial benefits guests mention are practical: skin that feels cleaner and smoother, sometimes fewer of the small bumps that build up under sports bras, backpacks and gym shirts, and a clear conscience before a backless dress or a week at the shore. One session clears what's on the surface now; it doesn't change how your skin behaves, and persistent breakouts across the back are a dermatologist's conversation.

Prepare for a facial by leaving your skin alone for a few days: no scrubs, peels or at-home exfoliating acids in the 2 to 3 days before, and pause retinoids for a few nights if your prescriber agrees, because exfoliating skin that has already been exfoliated is how facials end up red. Arrive 10 minutes early on a first visit and tell the esthetician what you use at home.

Afterwards the skin is clean, freshly exfoliated and more open to whatever touches it. Sunscreen comes first. Then go back to the gentle daily routine the AAD's face-washing guidance describes: lukewarm water, a mild cleanser, fingertips rather than a washcloth, no scrubbing. Skip the gym, sauna and heavy makeup for the rest of the day, and scrubs and acids for 2 or 3 days.

Our aftercare guide is written around massage but its day-of advice carries over, and the guide to tipping and spa etiquette explains gratuities; at Tao Spa a tip goes directly to whoever did the work.

You can, but we'd steer you to 5 to 7 days before. Extractions can leave small red marks for a day or two, exfoliated skin can look flushed the same evening, and makeup sits better on skin that has had a few days to settle. If the event is tomorrow, book the 30-minute Mini Facial, ask the esthetician to skip extractions, and keep the rest of the day quiet.

Yes, and both Tao Spa menus have a package for exactly that: Massage and Facial, 100 minutes, which pairs a 50-minute hot stone full-body massage with a 50-minute hydration facial under Tao's Specials. Ask for the massage first, so you arrive at the facial already relaxed and no oil or face-down time lands on freshly treated skin, and the whole appointment still finishes inside two hours.

The same order applies if you build your own pairing: massage, then facial. Spring House also lists a 100-minute Head to Toe Reset at $145; ask the desk what it includes. The Mayo Clinic's overview of massage describes massage as something many people use to manage stress and muscle tension, and a facial on the same afternoon extends that feeling. How often should you get a facial doesn't change inside a package; the 4-to-6-week gap still applies.